AVAILABILITY OF WORLD TIMBER RESOURCES 



133 



Table 104. — Land and forest areas in the world 

 [Million acres] 



Area 



Total 

 land area 



Forest land 



Forest land 

 available 





Total 



Softwood 



Hardwood 



for wood 

 production 



North America 



4,633 

 5, 019 

 1, 129 

 7, 339 

 6,580 

 247 

 5, 297 

 2,081 



1, 754 

 1,962 



366 



1,757 



1, 233 



59 



1, 824 



227 



1,087 



86 



213 



10 



183 



25 



1,366 



7 



642 

 1, 831 



153 



1, 700 



1,016 



32 



432 



210 



1, 013 



Latin America _ _ 



862 



Europe 



Africa _ _______ 



312 

 729 



Asia (except Japan and U.S. S.R.). - __ 



Japan 



U.S.S.R 



815 



57 



1, 730 



Pacific area _ 



118 







World _--. ---------- 



32, 205 



9, 172 



2,978 



6,017 



5, 636 







Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Supply of wood materials for housing. World Con- 

 sultation on the Use of Wood in Housing, Secretariat Pap., Sect. 2. 1971. 



A large part of the total forest area is not avail- 

 able for timber harvest — that is, it is reserved 

 for other uses or is not productive enough to 

 produce commercial crops of timber. However, 

 some 5.6 billion acres, or 61 percent of the world's 

 forest area, may be sufficiently productive and 

 available for commercial timber production. 



Timber Volumes 



The forests of the world contain an estimated 

 12.6 trillion cubic feet of timber (table 105). 

 Softwoods make up only one-third of this timber 

 inventory. North America and the USSR con- 

 tain the largest volumes of softwood growing 

 stock, while Latin America, Africa, and Southeast 

 Asia have most of the hardwood volumes. 



Table 105. — Forest growing stock in the world, 

 by area and species group 



[Billion cubic feet] 



Area 



Total 



Soft- 

 woods 



Hard- 

 woods 



North America _, 



2,083 



4, 340 



473 



1,232 



1,444 



67 



2,807 



177 



1,395 



99 



290 



11 



212 



35 



2,345 



11 



689 



Latin America _____ 



4, 241 



Europe _ . _____ 



184 



Africa 



1, 222 



Asia (except Japan and 



U.S.S.R.) 



Japan 



1,232 

 32 



U.S.S.R 



463 



Pacific Area 



166 







World 



12, 623 



4,396 



8, 227 







Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the 

 United Nations. Supply of wood materials for housing. 

 World Consultation on the Use of Wood Housing, 

 Secretariat Pap., Sect. 2. 1971. 



Timber Production 



Total timber inventory volumes are not neces- 

 sarily indicators of an area's importance as a 

 timber producer. Other factors such as species and 

 quality of timber, physical and economic accessi- 

 bility, and institutional or political limitations also 

 affect timber harvests and manufacturing. Thus 

 about three-fourths of all timber cut for industrial 

 use in 1967-69 was produced from softwood forests 

 in North America, the USSR, Europe, and other 

 countries (table 106). In recent decades growth in 

 softwood production has been most rapid in the 

 USSR, which has the greatest volume of untapped 

 softwood forest resources. 



Production of industrial wood products from 

 hardwoods amounted to nearly one-fourth of the 

 world harvest of roundwood in 1967-69. About 

 two-thirds of this industrial hardwood timber pro- 

 duction came from North America, Asia, and 

 Europe — even though these areas contain only 25 

 percent of the world's hardwood growing stock 

 inventory. Latin America contains over half the 

 total world hardwood resources, but has accounted 

 for less than 10 percent of world production of 

 hardwood products. 



Timber Supply Potential 



Prospects for significant additions to softwood 

 timber production and exports from existing but 

 unutilized resources seem limited to the northern 

 parts of Canada and Siberia. Both Canada and the 

 USSR have indicated a desire to develop their 

 forest resources. Unused timber in both countries 

 is under government control and hence government 

 policies, as well as trends in prices and market 

 and availability of investment capital, will^ be 

 significant factors in determining how rapidly 

 expansion of timber industries take place. 



