Even though South Africa is a lightly forested country, forestry and tree cultivation still plays a major role in its environment and economy. TWK Agri highlights some of the most important facts about tree cultivation.

Forestry, as well as the cultivation of trees for growing food, is an important contributor to South Africa’s vegetation and economy. Here are five interesting facts about trees in South Africa that you may not have been aware of.

Fact #1: How Much Distance Do Forests Cover in South Africa?

South Africa is lightly forested. It has a plantation area of only about 1.27 million ha. Most of these forests are found in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, with others spread across the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Limpopo.

Fact #2: What is The Employment Stats?

The South African forestry sector employees about 160 000 people and makes up about 11% of the country’s agricultural GDP.

Fact #3: How Do Forest Products Rank?

The forest products industry ranks among the country’s top exporting industries. The forest products industry is among the biggest in the world- internationally the global forestry and logging market grew from $981.76 billion in 2022 to $1083.25 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3%.

Fact #4: How Many Tree and Shrub Species are There?

There are around 1 700 different species of tree and shrub in South Africa, which makes the country highly biodiverse. Some of these species are threated – there are 47 currently on the protected list.

Fact #5: Is There a Great Demand For Wood in South Africa?

Commercial forests meet most of South Africa’s demand for wood, making us entirely self-sufficient when it comes to timber. The most numerous and important trees grown in commercial forests in South Africa are pine, eucalyptus and wattle.