Negative perceptions of forestry are harming the planet

Misinformation about paper and its impact on our planet is increasing. The nay-sayers ignore the science-based facts that sustainably grown trees act as carbon sinks and farmed wood is a renewable resource. Instead, myths about the forestry and paper sector are invading social media, news sites, literature, school curricula, government policies and activists.

J ane Molony, executive director of the Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA), recently published an opinion piece on this subject.

“I would be sipping piña coladas on a luxury island resort if I had a rand (or maybe a US dollar) every time I’ve seen the words ‘please consider the environment before you print’.

Variations of this phrase can be found at the bottom of emails and countless pieces of pro-digital and paper-recycling messages.

“We have been taught to protect trees. We have been made to believe that the production of timber and paper causes deforestation and that using digital communication, advertising, and reading will save our planet,” she said.

Digital Footprint

Climate scientists predict this year will be the hottest ever as the warming El Niño effect continues. While many human-influenced impacts are at play, we rarely consider the impact of our digital footprint on the planet.

The International Energy Association found that the world’s data transmission networks and centres are responsible for nearly 1% of energy-related global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually, accounting for approximately 300 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e) in 2020.

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study found that cloud computing and data services now have a greater carbon footprint than the entire airline industry. A single data centre can consume the same electricity as 50,000 homes.

Get the facts straight

“I am not saying, ‘Unplug the Internet and print everything’. I am saying that we need to get our facts straight.

There are always two sides to an issue like this. The digital world is a part of how we live and thrive. However, we are doing our economy and society a disservice to see the forest and paper industry as an environmental villain.

“Greenwashing is when an organisation or sector spends more time and money on marketing itself as being environmentally conscious than it does on minimising its environmental impact. Unfortunately, paper has been an easy target for this misdirection,” Molony commented.

“Some banks in South Africa are guilty of greenwashing, and we have taken them to task. One particularly green bank has pushed its paperless transition by urging consumers to join a ‘movement towards a cleaner, greener, paperless world’. Another bank had a message on its ATM screens: “If everyone said no to a receipt just for one month, we would save 45 trees’”.

It is not deforestation

“Producing timber, pulp and paper does not cause deforestation. Deforestation is the removal of trees without replanting and changing land use, such as cattle farming, urban development or human settlements”, she said.

Like wheat crops and fruit trees, trees in plantations are farmed. There are always trees of different stages of maturity growing, and forestry companies use the same land repeatedly, with thousands of hectares audited, certified and declared to be sustainably managed.

Deforestation is a concern in countries where illegal logging of tropical forests is happening at an alarming rate. “It’s why forest certification is so important and where consumers can wield their power by only purchasing paper packaging, books, or other wood-based goods labelled Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). These certification symbols indicate that the wood or paper is from sustainable sources”.

Perceived visible Vs real invisible impacts

If you see an image of a clear-felled forest plantation, it is easy to think the trees are lost forever. “I am willing to bet that the same area will show 50 shades of green within a year as the trees coppice or saplings are planted”, said Molony.

We do not see the impact of storing terabytes of data in the cloud, posting our holiday snaps on Instagram or sending electronic messages. We do not see the mountains of metals, cables, fans, switches, or electricity needed to power or keep the servers cool. We do perhaps see the increasing volumes of e-waste going to landfills.

Biodiversity

Like fields of sugar cane and tunnel farming, forestry plantations are a monoculture at the compartment level. Zoom out to a landscape level, and you will find that PAMSA members’ forest management practices support biodiversity conservation with incredible success and often in collaboration with environmental organisations.

“A third of forestry-owned land is not planted with commercial trees. It is managed to conserve natural habitats and biodiversity. This balances the ecosystem and ensures healthy, productive plantations”.

Water Stewardship

All life on earth requires water. When a pine or eucalyptus tree is planted near a watercourse, it will take up more water. The amount of water they need and use depends on several factors, from abiotic (soil, climate) to biotic, such as the plant’s size, age and health.

“Water stewardship ensures that trees are never planted beyond the buffer zones between plantations and riverine areas. There are ongoing programmes to ensure that such species, along with other alien invasive species, are removed from environmentally sensitive areas.

“Our country’s 1.2 million plantations are not irrigated. The average annual water used for forestry plantations is 428 million cubic metres, about 3% of South Africa’s total water usage. By comparison, crop irrigation is 7,920 million cubic metres (62%), and urban domestic use is just under 3 million cubic metres (23%)”.

Paperless is impossible

While digital media has increased our access to information, delivered convenience and opened up new economies, Molony said, “the idea that it will render print and paper obsolete is ridiculous”.

Many people forget that paper is more than the stuff we stick into our copiers. The same stuff that makes A4 paper makes cardboard boxes, gift bags, toilet paper, facial tissue, magazines, books, labels, and countless cellulose-based products such as sponges, textiles and cellulose acetate (cellophane).

“They all started as trees and wood fibre. These everyday products are all renewable, and many are recyclable”.

What can you do

• Put down the greenwashing paintbrush. Digital media does not grow on trees.
• Change or remove that email signature footer. Please.
• Ensure your paper is sustainably sourced by looking for certification symbols like FSC or PEFC.
• Recycle paper, paper-based packaging, and other recyclable paper products.

Farmed trees and paper do not need to compete with digital, or vice versa. The two worlds co-exist and fulfil functions that the other cannot. Forest, pulp, and paper companies are committed to being environmentally conscious, resource-efficient and sustainable.

“We invest incredible amounts of time and resources to make the most of our trees and support society and a future founded on a circular economy”, Molony concluded.

Source: Woodbiz Magazine – October 2023 (Pages 20 – 23)

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