Back to ContentsThis section provides background information to the policy debate and a useful resource on forestry and the forestry industry in South Africa.
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All South Africans have a stake in forestry in South Africa. We all benefit, or should benefit, from products such as construction timber, paper, mining timber, fuelwood and other products that satisfy our material needs. We all benefit from the environmental values of our forests and woodlands. Shareholders of the 400 or more companies which have invested in forestry are also important stakeholders. But the people mostinvolved in forestry are rural people and the workers in the forest industry.
4.1.2 The need for rural development
Rural people constitute 40% (about 16 million) of the total population of South Africans, and they are predominantly women and children. Average income earned by rural households is much less than that earned by urban households. In 1988/9, 51% of African households earned an average monthly income of less than R400.
Rural unemployment in the Eastern Cape is 56.3% and in the Northern Transvaal is 50.7% - compared with 16.4% in Gauteng and 4.64% in the Western Cape. More than 80% of rural people in the Eastern Cape, 61.7% in the Northern Transvaal and 69.4% in KwaZulu/Natal have no tap water in or near their homes. A lack of electricity affects 92.9% of rural residents in the Eastern Cape, 90.7% in the Northwest, 86.7% in Northern Transvaal and 77.1% in the Free State. There are disproportionately high levels of unemployment for women, particularly in rural areas.
Women are especially important among our rural people. Women between the ages of 16 and 65 outnumber men by 40%. They are often the effective heads of households in the countryside, and bear the major burden for maintaining the wellbeing of those households.
Rural areas have a history of restricted resources, forced settlement, lack of democratic control of development, poor education and in white farming areas and forestry plantations, inadequate protection of labour rights. These are the issues to be addressed through rural development in the RDP. Forestry has an important contribution to make to integrated rural development.
4.1.3 Rural energy
One-third of households in South Africa are estimated to rely on fuelwood. Women in these households often walk great distances to fetch firewood. Average time spent this way is estimated conservatively at five hours per household per week. Use of this kind is estimated at about 11 million tons of wood per year, of which about 6.6 million tons is estimated to be harvested from natural woodlands. The amount of wood consumed for household needs equates nearly to that used in the formal forestry industry, which provides sales of R8 billion per year.
The motivation for social forestry begins with the perceived need to supply energy for the great majority of rural households who rely on wood or other biomass for this purpose. But wood is just one of the forms of energy available, and many households have already substituted wood with other fuels, such as paraffin. This is especially so in districts where wood is scarce and expensive. Many forms of renewable energy are available, at falling prices. Wood fires usually pollute the home, and cause much disease. Households will therefore make choices on economics and preference, and wood need not necessarily be supplied everywhere. Woodlots are offered as the solution for social forestry, but wood from woodlots have been shown to become more valuable for other purposes than fuelwood and the intended beneficiaries find they cannot afford it. Woodlot programmes sometimes cause more problems than they solve.
However, alternatives to woodfuel are not readily nor soon available. Rural households spend excessive time on collecting wood because there is no way of earning money to buy fuel. The current, massive household electrification programme will first deliver to urban communities, and will require decades to reach the majority of families in the countryside. In the mean time, sources of wood are being depleted.
Social forestry and wood energy programmes need to be designed within the larger framework of district-level plans for energy supply. Ways of reducing demand for wood, by the marketing of the many effective designs of stove available, must also enter the equation - these pay the extra dividend of improving hygiene in the home.
4.1.4 Working in forestry
Employment in the forestry and wood processing industries
The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry estimates formal employment in forestry at about 141,000 people, of whom nearly 80% are in the Eastern Transvaal and KwaZulu/Natal. This estimate may be too high - other statistics suggest about 80,000 forestry workers. An estimated 121,000 people are employed in those industries which use wood as a primary input. Therefore, between 200,000 and 260,000 people probably find direct employment in the forests and the processing industries.
About 40% of these are employed in sawmilling, 30% in pulp and paper manufacturing, and the balance in secondary processing. In addition there are those employed by the smaller primary converters such as in making poles, matches, and charcoal.
Labour intensity varies greatly in the processing sectors. Sawmilling employs about one worker for every 80 cubic metres processed; in pulp and paper, the ratio is one worker for every 250 cubic metres.
These figures are uncertain, but the forestry and forest products industry is a major employer and of great importance in the South African labour market.
Current conditions in forestry - wages, employment conditions and bargaining procedures
Average wage rates for the large companies range from R570 to R2,400 per month. Unskilled workers in these firms earn R570-R600 per month, semi-skilled earn R880-R920, and skilled R2,200-R2,400. Only 5% of workers fall into the skilled category.
No comprehensive figures are available for employees of small growers and forestry contractors.
Trade union members report that in some areas, wages are as low as R200 per month. On average, the small employers probably pay 50% to 70% of the wages paid by the large companies. This would mean that for the unskilled jobs, the average pay is about R300 to R400 per month. The South African Agriculture, Plantation and Allied Workers' Union (SAAPAWU) argues that no employee in the sector should earn less than R750 per month before benefits, to ensure a reasonable minimum standard of living.
In addition to the cash wage, most of the large companies also provide a range of benefits including pensions, housing, subsidised meals, medical facilities and schooling. The Forest Owners Association estimates the costs to the employers of providing these benefits at about R250 per worker per month. Few small employers, including sub-contractors, provide these benefits.
Other employment conditions also vary from one employer to the next. One of these conditions is training (see section 4.5).
Occupational safety and health
Forestry is often a dangerous occupation, and, since many tasks are performed outdoors, workers frequently experience difficult working conditions. Management of safety and working environments is a special need.
All forestry companies, of necessity, comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and all major companies participate in the NOSA programme. Safety standards have steadily improved in many companies, including Safcol. Nevertheless, workers in the industry express
ongoing concern regarding health and safety provisions. Continuous improvement is needed; there is a long way to go in ensuring uniform minimum health and safety standards in the forests and the wood processing industries.
Trade union rights
There is also an uneven application of trade union rights. Some employers have recognised trade unions for many years, and others since legislation has included forest workers. Among some, however, there is still a reluctance to accept trade unions' and other worker rights.
Forestry contractors
There has been a strong trend in recent years towards using contractors in forestry operations. This includes transport, planting and harvesting, although each company differs in the work that it is subcontracting. About 15,000 people are estimated to be employed by forestry contractors.
Problems have been experienced by both forestry companies and workers as a result of this trend including:
Contractors tend to employ labour-intensive methods. The trend for contracting has probably helped to maintain employment levels in the industry.
Forestry contracting offers an important avenue for creation of new black enterprises in rural areas, as is already happening. The promotion of small business is an important part of South Africa's national economic strategy. On the other hand, however, satisfactory working conditions and human resource management must be achieved if these businesses are to be sustainable.
4.1.5 Land claims in forestry areas
Claims for restitution by the victims of forced removal (e.g. in the Tsitsikamma, or in the St Lucia area) are to be treated through the mechanisms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act of 1994. The Act provides that people who were prevented from retaining or obtaining rights to land as a result of a racially discriminatory law shall be entitled to restitution of the land they lost. This includes any registered or unregistered right (and may include customary rights) or simply the right arising from beneficial occupation for a continuous period of not less than 10 years prior to dispossession. Claimants are assisted by Regional Land Claims Commissioners. Only where disputes cannot be resolved, are they referred to the Land Claims Court for adjudication. In all cases the settlements reached are reviewed by the Court and the results confirmed by Court Orders. Certain State Forest land, and State land in Safcol's hands, as well as privately owned forests, is likely to become subject to restitution claims.
Other claims, such as of ownership or security of tenure by labour tenants where their prior rights have been jeopardised by sale of the land to a forestry company (for example, in the Eastern Transvaal), or claims of need arising from land shortages and lack of alternatives (e.g. land invasion and high population density of newcomers or squatters on forestry land), are not addressed through the restitution process.
Prompted by pressure from labour tenants, various forestry companies have developed innovative negotiations underlying claims of need and long-term occupation (Box 4.1).
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Box 4.1 Land claims and disputes: current initiatives in forestry areas Progress in resolving land disputes in forestry through negotiations have not arisen solely as a result of new legislation or changes in government policy. Prompted by claims to forestry land made by labour tenants communities, and supported by NGOs, forestry companies have individually entered negotiation to address such claims, aiming also in the process to find solutions to problems of instability which threatened company business. HL&H took the lead with the new approach. Senior management agreed to negotiate with labour tenants on their land whom they had previously attempted to evict, recognising that the tenants had valid land claims based on moral and equity considerations, not rights established under the law as it existed at that time (1993). The company indicated its preparedness to transfer ownership rights to labour tenants, but only within the constraints of company profitability. Labour tenants put forward proposals for land other than that already afforested. Tenants also suggested a constitution which imposed much stricter control on numbers of people in the settlement area than the company had ever been able to introduce. The community developed detailed and extensive rules and proposals in respect of controls on fire, grazing and fencing. As prospective owners of the land, their priorities changed from perpetually trying to outwit the company by breaking its rules, to making their own rules in order to preserve the land asset for themselves and future generations. Mondi has employed a similar policy to resolve long-term conflicts and disputes. They began by acknowledging the rights and needs of people who already have homesteads on Mondi land. Where, in the past, every concession was wrung from the company in an adversarial dispute of counter-claims and mutual denial of the other party's rights, Mondi now explains the constraints and parameters within which the company can negotiate and invites the land claimants to put forward proposals within these parameters. This process puts a great burden on both the claimants and the companies. They have to establish new processes of negotiation, often in a context of previous animosity and mistrust and in a context where the negotiating parties have very different kinds and levels of skills and life experience. Furthermore, both parties have to contend with inappropriate laws such as the Sub-division of Agricultural Land Act and other laws which make the group ownership systems proposed by the claimants difficult to register. Sappi follows a simpler route, that of making large areas of land available to the Eastern Transvaal Government on condition that the people who are then granted land rights, receive government housing subsidies. While there is much to recommend this strategy in areas where there are land occupations based on need alone, it may not sufficiently recognise the claims of labour tenant families. These approaches have in common a preparedness by forestry companies to contribute not just time, effort and initiative in attempting to resolve and stabilise land disputes, but also to contribute land as an integral part of the solution. This is a realistic policy if viewed from the perspective that by donating land towards achieving legitimacy and long-term stability in local property relations, companies manage to secure and protect those areas of forestry land which are crucial to their operations. Furthermore, because of the Sub-division of Agricultural Land Act and other "market" constraints, companies often in the past had to purchase blocks of land, including areas not suited to forestry. It is now relatively "cheap" for them to use such land towards a long-term solution to ongoing and endemic land disputes. |
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South Africa has never been rich in natural forests. Climate and the age-old effect of fires have confined natural forests to about 0.2% of South Africa's land area (see Table 1.1). The small extent of natural forest has been depleted especially by European settlers during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and by people forced to settle in the former homelands in the twentieth century, when serious loss of forests occurred on some areas. Overall, however, much of our natural forest has survived.
Our largest natural forests occur in the Knysna region. Except for the forests of the Amatolas and Woodbush, forests elsewhere are small and scattered. In the former Transkei, no forests are larger than 1 800 ha; the forests in the mountains are all smaller than 700 ha.
The largest areas of natural forest occur in the Eastern Cape (about 140,000 ha) and in KwaZulu/Natal (about 91,200 ha). This is followed by the Western Cape (about 60,000 ha) and the Northern Province and Eastern Transvaal (about 35,000 ha). Most of these areas are owned by the State, which since April 1994 also includes the forest areas in the former homelands. Only in KwaZulu/Natal is a substantial portion of natural forest in private ownership.
The history of policy, conservation, and use of our forests is illustrated by way of example in Box 2.1.
Small amounts of timber are harvested from the forests of Knysna and the Eastern Cape. The annual incremental yield from all these forests is probably about 600,000 to 700,000 cubic metres per year, of which only about 4,000 cubic metres is harvested. This is a negligible amount relative to the country's need for wood. Currently, the greatest value of these forests is for environmental protection, biodiversity, and ecotourism.
4.2.2 Woodlands
Vast areas of woodlands occur in the semi-arid to sub-humid parts of the country. Although humans have been using woodlands for thousands of years, perhaps depleting resources locally, it was not until the policies of the twentieth century took hold, that overcrowding in the former homelands resulted in rapid degradation in many parts.
Today, the condition of woodlands conserved in national parks, statutory nature reserves and privately managed conservation areas is generally good. However, approximately 65% of the former homelands are located within the woodland regions. Elsewhere, white commercial farmers have significantly reduced the extent of woodlands through bush-clearing for agriculture. Generally, though, woodlands used for stock farming, are in reasonable to good condition, although in some areas bush encroachment has transformed the woodlands to thickets.
Although the productivity of savanna woodlands is generally low, about 0.1 to 2 cubic metres per ha per annum, the aggregate wood production is large, estimated at 10 or more million cubic metres per year. This production still plays an important part in the rural economy.
4.2.3 The use and management of natural forests and woodlands
Conservation of natural forests and woodlands
A large proportion of South Africa's natural forests and woodlands occur in statutory reserves. About 182,000 ha of the country's natural forests, 56% of the total, are on demarcated State forests, and more occur in conservation areas, including most of the significant mountain forests, the lowland forests, and Indian Ocean coastal belt forests. On the whole, mountain forests have been little depleted over time. Coastal forest, on the other hand, have been severely depleted, mainly through agricultural development.
Although most forests are statutorily protected, many people from adjacent communities have traditional-use rights to forests. New ways for joint management will need to be applied. Increasing demands for medicinal materials from forests deplete the tree populations; ways of supplying this demand, including domestication of the target species, are required.
About 7% of the country's woodlands are well conserved in a range of national parks and nature reserves. A larger area of conserved woodlands is in privately owned, proclaimed conservation areas, maintained for ecotourism purposes.
Some of the woodlands in the former homelands were included in reserves, but these were few. Conservation of woodlands in these areas will depend on ways of managing the ecosystems jointly with interested and affected communities.
The value of indigenous forests and woodlands to communities
Trees and tree products of the woodlands and forests play an important and often under-estimated role for rural communities, and are central to their lives. Rural people use natural forests and especially woodlands for many purposes. These include:
Management of woodland and forest resources on communal land
Most woodlands in the rural areas of the former homelands are communally owned. Under the old Bantu Laws and Administration Act, the use and management of natural resources was assigned to Tribal Authorities. Each former homeland then developed its own set of regulations. Generally, woodland management was governed at the level of the Tribal Authority, although some national regulations could overrule the Tribal Authority. Because of the confused administration, controls
did not work, leading to confusion and inadequate resource management. This arrangement will change in the new political dispensation, though experience elsewhere has shown that customary arrangements for the ownership and use of woodland resources remain important.
Management of woodlands within communal areas is closely linked to land tenure. Communal land falls into four categories, each with its own rules for resource management: the area around the household; the area of agricultural fields; the grazing area; and resource management areas, which have been established in a few cases.
Broadly speaking, the land holders of homestead areas, cultivated fields and grazing areas have access to and control of the resources in these areas. Tribal Authorities may, however, impose restrictions on resource use, such as for example on the harvesting of live wood (see Box 4.2).
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Box 4.2 Some restrictions on the harvesting of live wood which may be imposed
by Tribal Authorities
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Some communities have demarcated and proclaimed resource management areas for sustainable resource management to the benefit to the community as a whole. Pilot projects are in progress in the former Bophuthatswana, KaNgwane and KwaZulu. These areas are mostly managed as game reserves, with tourism as an additional revenue. Access is restricted. Such areas are often managed jointly with a parks board, or conservation authority. All members of the community have equitable access to income generated and to resources such as wood, thatching and meat.
In spite of the traditional control of harvesting of natural products, woodlands have been overutilised in many areas. Increasing population pressure, coupled with the eroding of traditional structures of authority and beliefs, has resulted in breakdowns in the controls on natural resource utilization. In areas such as rural KaNgwane, the woodlands are still in a relatively good condition, but in others most of the woody plants have been removed or are being heavily utilised. In much of KwaZulu/Natal the controls of cutting of live trees have lapsed and some large forests have disappeared as a result.
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From the late nineteenth century onwards, authorities implemented programmes for woodlot establishment in the former homeland districts. Despite the continuing demand for fuelwood and wood for other household purposes, only about 62,000 ha of woodlots have been established in these districts (Box 4.3).
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Box 4.3 The historical phases in the growth of the South African forestry
industry From about 1876 to 1920, experimental plantings by the State in the Knysna area and the Eastern Cape, and early work in the Northern and Eastern Transvaal gradually led to large afforestation. Net annual afforestation amounted to about 10,000 ha from 1900 to 1920. From about 1920 to 1950, about 20,000 ha per year was planted to forestry. This afforestation was still mainly by the State, but farmers and mining houses entered the business to produce wattle for tan bark and eucalypts for mining timber. Many forest farmers from this period continue today. Government afforestation in the Cape and the Eastern Transvaal was accelerated through a public works programme to create employment after the depression. Hans Merensky Holdings and HL&H Mining Timber were established in this period, but other companies have not survived. The State established sawmills and pole treatment plants; private sector processing capacity was limited. After the Second World War, large companies entered forestry. South African Forest Investments afforested large areas in the Eastern Transvaal, and was later incorporated into the Mondi Paper Company, formed in 1967. The domestic market for pulp and paper led to the growth of corporations such as Mondi Paper Co and Sappi, with rapid import replacement. Afforestation reached a maximum net rate of about 36,000 ha per annum between 1965 and 1975, when the afforested area grew to about 1,250,000 ha. Growth continued into the 1980s, when the corporations acquired large areas of farmland, bought out smaller companies, and made huge investments in such facilities as the Sappi pulp and paper factory at Ngodwana and that of Mondi Paper Co at Richards Bay. Afforestation was mainly with eucalypts, driven by the growing international demand for short-fibre pulp. The pulp and paper industry became externally focused, and exports grew. The corporate business sector entered a period of consolidation and vertical integration. Government closed certain of its sawmills, and managed other mills as partners with the private sector. The last phase, from about the late 1980s to now, has been complex. Afforestation rates have fallen, mainly due to increasing competition for suitable land, relatively low roundwood prices, and limitations imposed by the afforestation permit system. Extensive outgrower schemes have been launched (though their aggregate production is low - see later). Investment in processing capacity has been high, but less than before, the most significant being the expansion to Sappi's Saiccor plant in KwaZulu/Natal. South African corporations have invested overseas, growing internationally by acquisition. Domestic markets have been depressed; output from the formal sawmilling sector has declined steadily for 15 years. Net afforestation rates have fallen to about 6,000 ha per annum on average. In this period, Safcol was established as a State corporation and homeland forests have reverted to central government. Companies have begun to look to afforestation in neighbouring countries. |
The absence of trees in grassland areas, with their severe winters, which caused the planting of trees for shelterbelts and as multipurpose woodlots on commercial farms (Box 4.4). The extent of these is unknown, though satellite surveys of part of the Eastern Transvaal indicate that woodlots may equate to 10% or more of the afforested area in the province. Many of these farm woodlots are neglected, and over-aged. Many are of wattle, which create problems through the invasion of neighbouring habitats. During wood shortages in the 1980s, Sappi bought in large volumes of eucalypt pulpwood from these sources for its Enstra plant.
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Box 4.4 The principal elements of social forestry in South Africa Use and management of woodlands in traditional systems. This has been described in section 4.2.3. Woodlots for rural communities. In districts where land is communally owned, especially in the former Transkei and KwaZulu, government authorities established small plantations around natural forests (often, at least initially, through negotiation with traditional authorities), to create alternative resources for the supply of wood for households. These usually passed to the control of the traditional authority and, for various reasons, became neglected. Farm forestry. Extension efforts from about 1900 onwards led to extensive planting of windbreaks and woodlots of pine, eucalypts and wattle, most prominently in the grassland districts of the country. Outgrower schemes. Several projects initiated by corporate business are listed in section 4.4.2. Nursery projects. Trial nurseries have been established in the 1990s at villages (communal), schools, and individual enterprises throughout South Africa in the Biomass Initiative of the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs, working mainly through NGOs, and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry; many proved unsustainable, but markets for trees in peri-urban areas are evidently sustaining financially viable nurseries established by NGOs. Agroforestry projects. Limited projects of various kinds such as trials of Leucaena leucocephala by the (now) Agricultural Research Council, and by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry with communities in the Northern Transvaal, and others in the Eastern Cape. The Department has supported an extensive array of trails of new species throughout the country since about 1985. NGOs working in rural development have fostered the use of fruit trees in household gardens and fields. Limited progress has, however, been made in extending agroforestry in South Africa. |
Agroforestry, a form of social forestry which refers to a mix of trees, crops and even livestock grazing on a single plot, has been little practised in South Africa (Box 4.4), in contrast to many other parts of the world. Nurseries, from which to supply the seedlings for this mix of crops, tend to be part of the operations of the corporate forestry sector, larger-scale commercial nursery firms, or are in State hands (in the previous homeland forestry institutions). Tree seedlings are seldom raised at the village level and sold in local markets, as is the case in countries such as Kenya.
There have been several phases in and forms of social forestry in South Africa (see Box 4.4), but, overall, social forestry has had little consequence in the country. Several factors have evidently caused this failure:
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Today, the forestry and forest products industry (i.e. all those industries using wood and wood products as raw material) is a significant part of the South African economy, contributing about 2% to the GDP, and earning about R1 billion in net foreign exchange. Its relative contribution to the economy has grown steadily in the past 20 years. The many jobs involved in these industries mean that over one million mainly rural people depend on this industry directly. A recent study of employment generated by the Ngodwana Pulp Mill and the forests which support it indicates that up to six jobs are created for every one in the industry.
Although commercial forestry began with government projects, the main investment has been by the private sector, initially by the mining sector, but later by companies focusing on other markets. The largest part of this industry has proved a highly profitable use of natural resources, although the profits come at an environmental and social cost.
The pulp and paper sector has proved especially successful. This is because the companies employed modern technology and improved continually, both in the plantations and in the manufacturing process, and moved quickly to an export-led strategy when production exceeded domestic demand. This success contrasts strongly with the sawmilling sector, which had a protectionist strategy, where exports were slow to develop, innovation has been weak, and the industry has declined.
Plantation forestry
Plantation forests grew rapidly during the period from about 1920 to 1985, slowing recently and culminating at about 1.39 million hectares (see Box 4.3). Currently, 75% of plantations are owned by large companies and Safcol, the recently established State company.
The State, other than Safcol, now has just 11% of the total. There are also many farmers who participate in forestry. Of these farmers, 1,050 are growers registered with the South African Timber Growers Association (SATGA), who now own 212,000 hectares; these numbers and share of the planted area have declined recently.
Plantation forests are located mainly in the Northern and Eastern Transvaal, KwaZulu/Natal, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape Provinces, where climatic conditions are suitable, with the largest plantation areas in the Eastern Transvaal (571,000 ha) and KwaZulu/Natal (529,000 ha). Overall, of the planted areas, 53% is pines, 39% is eucalypts and 8% is wattle. Departmental statistics indicate that the most land suitable for further afforestation is in KwaZulu/Natal, the Eastern Transvaal and the Eastern Cape.
Productivity of these forests is relatively high, averaging about 20 cubic metres per ha per annum. They currently yield about 16 million cubic metres of wood per year, which satisfies about 94% of domestic demand and provides for a surplus for export, largely as pulp, paper, wood chips and other products. The balance of domestic demand is for special woods or certain papers, which we do not as yet produce locally. The value of annual sales of roundwood from the plantations is about R1 billion. The land and the timber is valued at R8 billion.
Box 4.5 addresses the dilemma of whether we need to afforest more land in South Africa. The area currently afforested amounts to about 60% of the total area that could be biologically suitable for forestry. Expansion will be driven by economic need, and constrained by the competition for water resources, by environmental concerns and by social concerns.
Multiple-use forestry
Many plantation forests are being used for purposes in addition to that of the wood that they supply. These include, for example,
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Box 4.5 Do we need to afforest more land in South Africa? The supply and
demand dilemma Government and the forestry industry are concerned about the future supply of wood in South Africa. The prevailing view is that a substantial increase in the afforested area in South Africa is needed. The country will need a lot more wood in future. Consumption per person will increase if our economy improves. This demand will be mainly for pulp and paper, and assuming no further increase in exports. The Forest Industries Association estimates that an additional 16 million cubic metres of wood per year will be needed in 2020 to fill the gap between the expected demand (that is, if our economy grows at 4% per annum) and the supply from the currently afforested land at that time. Since tree-breeding techniques and general other improvements in forestry will increase the yield from current afforested areas by about 40% in around 2014, the country does not, however need to double the area under plantations in order to meet this demand. Nevertheless, in order to meet future demands from our own land, FIA estimates another 300,000 ha would need to be planted. Shortages are already being experienced in some regions for certain kinds of wood. |
Neighbouring communities do not often have access to these opportunities. In some cases, such as where women from neighbouring communities used to earn an income by collecting fruit from plantations for sale to juice manufacturers, the
licensing arrangements have been terminated by foresters anxious to tighten their controls. The case of groundnut farming in plantations of the Northern Transvaal (see Box 4.6) illustrates how multiple use involving neighbouring communities can benefit both parties. There is potential for much wider sharing of benefits in this way.
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For many years, the forestry plantations of HL&H Mining Timber and hans Merensky Holdings have existed side by side with rural communities, many of whom do not have access to agricultural land. Growing landlessness sometimes led to illegal utilisation of forestry land by neighbouring communities. A valuable form of multiple land use has developed gradually over the last 10 years. Farmers, mainly women living close to company land, raise agricultural crops in eucalypt plantations in exchange for manually weeding and clearing the land in preparation for new planting. They cultivate common groundnuts and bambara nuts between rows of young trees. Apart from weeding, the farmers also have to mark the sapling positions with wooden pegs and to destroy eucalypt coppices in replanted areas. Cultivation of groundnuts continues for two years after the trees have been felled and replanted; farmers then move on to the next block of clearfelled land. About 60% of the produce is for home consumption, and the rest is sold. The people have established access to transport and marketing brokers. They use taxis and bakkies for transport to work in the plantations. They work two to five days a week and produce one harvest a year. If all of the 660 ha of land available for cultivation is put under groundnuts, and all the produce is sold, then there is a potential annual income of about R1 million to the community. If every family cultivates 0,5 ha, about 1,320 farmers can participate annually, although some entrepreneurs cultivate larger plots. The crop residue (top growth) is also a valuable high-protein stock feed, which farmers cart home to feed their livestock in winter. The input costs to the farmer are limited to time and energy for labour. Seeds are obtained from the previous year's harvest. In return, the companies receive direct benefits through reduced costs of forest management and less risk of fire. Improved tree growth is apparent. The scheme has helped improve the companies' relations with participating farmers, who now have a greater sense of ownership of the resources in plantations. For example, farmers give voluntary help when forest fires occur. |
The wood processing industries
Almost 60% (about 9 million cubic metres) of the wood produced in South Africa per year is processed for pulp and paper. Sales of products from this subsector amount to about R7.2 billion annually, accounting for about 92% of the money generated by processing wood (excluding secondary processing of wood for furniture and other purposes). Goods to the value of about R3 billion are exported annually, but most domestic demand is met from the balance, other than for fine papers.
Sawmilling in the formal sector uses about 4 million cubic metres per year. The sawn wood is supplied to truss manufacturers for the construction sector (about 1 million cubic metres, 30%), and the balance is supplied as industrial wood to the furniture industry, pallet manufacturers, and other purposes. Most value is added in the secondary processing of wood, such as in furniture manufacturing. In addition to the larger sawmills, about 300 small, often mobile sawmills process about 700,000 cubic metres per year.
Mining timber is the next most important part of the industry, consuming just less than 2 million cubic metres of wood per year. The wood is used to manufacture supports for underground mining. Use has declined at about 3% per year, but wooden supports remain vital to the gold-mining industry.
The balance of the wood supply (just more than 2 million cubic metres per year) is used in pole manufacturing, and in composite board manufacture.
Assets in the wood processing industries are valued at R11 billion. The total economic output of the sector amounts to about 5% of the manufacturing sector in the country.
Secondary manufacturing is an important sector. In 1988, 1,320 furniture manufacturing establishments were estimated to be in operation. Of these, 84% were small firms, employing less than 50 people each. There is significant potential for creating new small firms, and then employment, especially to supply to markets arising from the housing programme in the country, and also for exports.
Exports
Exports of forestry products amount to 14% by value of the manufacturing exports from South Africa. These exports arise from opportunities in the global market for pulp and paper, the need among growers to secure better prices for their wood, the availability of material arising from the decline in mining timber demand, and the opportunity to sell material which might otherwise be wasted.
Exports are dominated by pulp and paper (see Table 4.1). This equates to about 10% of total commercial wood products. Other exports are:
Table 4.1 Summary of export statistics for 1993/94. Values for logs are estimates. Volumes have been calculated as roundwood equivalent, i.e. the volume of logs consumed in the products.
Category Volume, cubic metres Value, rands ----------------------------------------------------------------- Paper and pulp 575,493 1,937,000,000 Furniture, 150,000 24,218,324 mouldings and sawn boards Wood chips 708,397 130,000,000 Logs 300,000 28,300,000 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Overall, export successes are in pulp and paper, wood chips, and wattle bark products. Exports of high-value sawn boards, furniture and moulded products have been relatively weak, compared with other Southern Hemisphere countries.
On the whole, however, South African firms have been slow to develop these export markets which have grown rapidly for other Southern Hemisphere countries. Significant opportunities for value addition inside South Africa are available in these industries.
Value addition
The Forest Industries Association estimates the following ratios of value-addition in forestry industries:
There has been a marked decline in imports of hardwoods during the past decade, reflecting the rising prices of timber from south-east Asia (principally meranti) and falling quality. Some substitution has occurred through the use of locally grown eucalypt wood. In 1990 155,000 tons of paper was imported into the country. This is 10% of the volume of paper and board consumed in South Africa annually. 25,000 tons of pulp were imported during that period and this was of a specific grade not produced in South Africa.
Waste and waste utilisation
Forestry and wood processing generates about 4-6 million tons of wood waste per year, mainly as residue in the plantations and as sawdust and offcuts at the mills. This waste is used for energy generation locally, and for sale to pulp and board mills where distances render this economical. Some is sold as firewood to suppliers to rural households.
All of this waste can potentially be used in higher-value products, such as composite boards. Distance to the nearest processing plants, and hence transport costs, is an important constraint. New technologies for less capital-intensive processing plants, located close to the source, offer solutions.
About 38% of paper and cardboard produced in South Africa is recycled.
The present structure of the industry
There is a marked degree of concentration of ownership in commercial forestry in South Africa, together with a high degree of vertical integration (the companies which own the forests also tend to be those that own the processing plants). Even retail outlets are owned by the big companies. Large companies own most of the forests, and farmers own relatively little. The exception is Safcol, which owns few processing plants.
Some reasons for the present industry structure are:
There is nonetheless significant opportunity for smaller enterprises to become involved in secondary processing and value addition activities.
Industry organisation
The South African forestry industry is well organised. Organisations were supported for a period by statutory levies which have now ceased. Current industry associations are:
Unions which have been recognised in the industry are the Pulp Paper and Allied Workers Union (PPAWU) and the new Forest and Farmworkers Association.
4.4.2 Outgrowers and small emergent farmers in forestry
The last 10 years or so has seen rapid growth in the numbers of black farmers participating in forestry. Three lines of development are important here:
Farmers with use rights to communal land in districts close to the markets, such as near Richards Bay, have planted Eucalyptus grandis or wattle (Acacia mearnsii) in lots of about 0.5 to 2 ha, entering the industry at their own initiative.
Sappi and Mondi have initiated outgrower (contract farming) schemes in KwaZulu/Natal and the Eastern Transvaal, as part of corporate social investment programmes, or as commercial schemes with the goal of securing raw material supplies.
Thirdly, the South African Wattle Growers Union (SAWGU) has opened its membership to small growers of wattle, and actively supports the expansion of the small-grower sector through extension services, training and loans.
In addition, the Natal Timber Cooperative is actively providing extension services to aspirant tree-growers in the small-farmer sector and is establishing technology transfer agreements with the CSIR and others to ensure quality support to these growers.
As many as 7,000 farmers may be involved in forestry in this way. The contribution to thewood supply is small, probably less than 2%, but income from timber sales is or can be an important contributor to household income, and there is significant potential for growth.
Outgrowers for eucalypt production in KwaZulu/Natal
Since 1983, more than 4,000 black farmers in KwaZulu/Natal have joined the small-grower commercial timber schemes administered by Sappi Forests, Mondi Timber and the Lima Rural Development Foundation (a non-government organization contracted to Sappi).
Farmers join the schemes under contract and are provided with technical assistance, subsidized inputs and loans for the establishment and maintenance of small Eucalyptus grandis plantations.
The average size of these plantations is 1.2 ha. Trees are planted in plots on land where individual farmers have rights to use the land this way. After six to eight years the timber companies expect to purchase all trees subsidized by the schemes. They retain first rights to the timber from subsequent coppice regrowth. The cost of loans and certain inputs are then deducted from the gross payment to farmers.
The timber is processed in pulp mills at Mandini, Richards Bay and Umkomaas. At present, small-grower schemes contribute less than 1% of the total intake at these mills, a contribution which will grow to about 2.5% when these woodlots are in full production.
The strengths and weaknesses of forestry outgrower scheme in KwaZulu/Natal need to be understood if policy for future forestry programmes is to be effective. Factors to consider in the further development of such schemes are outlined in Box 4.7.
Progress with these outgrower programmes is slow compared with the sugar industry in the same province, where about 45,000 outgrowers are involved (about 94% of the total). These small cane growers farm 90,000 ha (23% of industry total) to produce 2 million tons of cane annually (9% of industry production). It is unlikely that
outgrowing in forestry will make the needed contribution to wood production unless the industry applies some of the lessons from the sugar sector, in working more closely with government, and building stronger institutions to support the outgrowers.
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Box 4.7 Current strengths and weaknesses in the outgrower schemes in
KwaZulu/Natal Strengths
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there is significant capacity for education and training in forestry in South Africa.
Formal education
Formal education in forestry in the form of B, M and D degrees and diplomas is offered at three tertiary institutions in South Africa. Furthermore, several universities and Technikons offer degree and diploma courses in natural resource management which include forestry as part of their curricula. These deliver about 42 graduates and 108 diplomates per annum. Most are male. The Fort Cox College for Agriculture has only black diplomates; 40% of the students at Saasveld (Port Elizabeth Technikon) are black. The students at the Faculty of Forestry of the University of Stellenbosch (an Afrikaans medium university) have been predominantly white males but 25% of the first-year students in 1995 are black.
Formal tertiary training in the life sciences
Most South African universities and technikons offer undergraduate and post-graduate courses in the life sciences (botany, biology, genetics, microbiology, genetics, ecology, zoology). People with these qualifications often pursue a career in forestry. At the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry of the University of the Orange Free State, which receives industry support, a large component of the focus is on tree pathology.
Industry training
Vocational training
Timber Industry Manpower Services (TIMS), established by the Forestry Council in 1975, served principally to train trainers in forestry and sawmilling, but also trained more than 25,000 workers until 1992. TIMS was closed in 1992, by which time companies had sufficient trainers available in-house.
The Baynesfield Training Centre, supported by a grant from the Forest Owners Association and contributions from the South African Timber Growers' Association (SATGA), the South African Wattle Growers' Union (SAWGU) and timber cooperatives, now incorporates part of the former TIMS and offer plantation-orientated courses (such as chainsaw operation, pruning and fire protection), catering for the needs of smaller timber growers.
Part of the TIMS's programme was transferred to the Sabie Training Centre, run by the South African Lumber Millers' Association (SALMA). The centre offers a full range of courses on timber processing, and courses on construction of timber-frame houses and carpentry training.
Larger companies offer high-level employee training. One forestry company trains about 4 500 employees annually in some 60 courses in silviculture, transport, harvesting, processing and management skills.
Vocational training is also offered by:
Industry players are directing increasing resources at training and education not directly related to forestry skills. The most important of these is literacy training. For example, one forestry company started literacy training in 1991 and trained 878 employees in functional literacy and 94 trainers over a three-year period. Other areas of training relate to basic adult education, hygiene, nutrition, family planning, and basic business skills. These programmes are vital to address the still high levels of illiteracy among forestry workers and their dependents.
Workers' views of further needs in training and development
Workers and their trade unions emphasise four principal areas of need in training and development:
Community health and training
Most major forestry companies employ qualified nursing personnel at clinics on site. In rural areas, these clinics provide health care to neighbouring communities in the form of basic education in sanitation, nutrition, birth control and AIDS education.
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Box 4.8 Aspects of past and current forestry research in South Africa Research since the late 1800s up to the present has focused on and is addressing the following:
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Current scope of forestry and forest products research
Forestry research includes the research and development required for forest resources as its major focus, but is closely interfaced with several fields such as water resource and catchment management, forest products and timber processing development, land resources management in general, environmental conservation, and rural economic and social development. Also important are the impacts of industrial pollution and global change.
The total current expenditure on R&D and technology in the forest products sector is estimated at between R18 million and R20 million per year. Most of this research is conducted by international or in-house facilities.
Forestry research
The significant capacity for forest research in South Africa is distributed among the science councils (Forestek at the CSIR, the Plant Protection Research Institute, at the Agricultural Research Council, universities, and the forestry companies, who all have significant capacity in-house, as well as in the Institute for Commercial Forestry Research, primarily funded by contributions from members of the Forestry Owners Association. The capacity for research on commercial forestry has declined by probably 20-30% in the past five years, with budget reductions and retrenchments or reassignments.
In forestry (excluding forest products), the investment in R&D is about 3% of industry turnover. In 1994/95, the expenditure was estimated at R28 million (about R8 m at Forestek, R6 m at the ICFR), and nearly R14 m in the company laboratories). Grants from the Foundation for Research Development may indirectly (through research grants to individual academics) and directly (through the forestry development programme) support forestry R&D. At this stage, the State is funding about 30% of R&D in forestry; in 1990/91, it was about 50%.
Research organisations in South African forestry are listed in Table 4.2, indicating their key areas of research and development, research staff and sources and amounts of funding.
Certain prominent weaknesses in past programmes are the following:
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The forest legislation and governance of today originated from British Colonial forest laws. The Cape Forest Act was in many respects the forerunner of the Union Forest Act of 1913, and its many successors, including the statutes promulgated for forestry in the former homeland states.
The essential features of the body of forest law are:
Table 4.2 Research organisations in South African forestry, their key areas of R&D, research staff and funding. Excludes research on wood processing
| Organisation | Key R&D areas | No. of research staff, full-time equivalents | Funding (millions of rands per year - approx) | Sources of funding 1994/5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Institute for Commercial Forestry Research | Forest Establishment; growth and horticulture; forest management | 16 | 6.0 | Forestry companies through the FOA, SATGA & SAWGU |
| Sappi | Tree breeding; propagation; land management | 19 | 3.0 | Own |
| Mondi | Plant genetics; plant physiology; plant biology | 20 | 3.0 | Own |
| HL&H | Tree improvement; biotechnology; applied silviculture; forestry and geographical information systems | 10 | 3.0 | Own |
| University of Stellenbosch | Wood science; forest science; nature conservation | 15 | 4.0 | Government, FOA, and large forestry companies |
| Safcol | Tree breeding; tree improvement | 7 | 3.0 | Own and government |
| Forestek, CSIR | Tree improvement; forest management; applied silviculture; environmental management; land-use and hydrology; timber utilisation; forestry for development | 80 | 18.0 | R7,9 million from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry; approximately R5,0 million from CSIR parliamentary grant; balance from other contracts |
| University of the OFS, Dept. of Microbiology and Biochemistry | Tree pathology; molecular screening | 20 | 0.4 | Forestry companies, FOA |
| Institute of Natural Resources | Rural development with social forestry as part | - | 0.4 | Grants, donors and contracts |
| Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Council | - | - | 1.0 | ARC parliamentary grant; contracts |
| Energy for Development Research Centre | Energy, as well as aspects of social forestry | - | - | - |
| Land and Agriculture Policy Centre | Policy issues, sometimes including forestry and social forestry | 1 | 0.2 | Grants, donors and contracts |
| TOTAL | - | -188 | 42.0 | - |
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Box 4.9 The provisions of the Forest Act, Act 122 of 1984 This Act includes provisions not directly concerned with forest policy, such as those regarding the National Botanical Institute. Relevant provisions are summarised here. Control over afforestation: this provides for the afforestation permit system; there is provision for incentives through government loans for afforestation. Control over State Forests: this provides for the demarcation of State Forests through notice in the Gazette; the approval of Parliament is required to withdraw the demarcation; permission for servitudes on demarcated forest land must be granted by the Minister and approved by Parliament; permission for temporary rights to carry out activities such as trading, grazing and agriculture may be obtained from the Director-General. Protection of biota and ecosystems: this provides for the protection of trees on private land by notice in the Gazette; provision is made for single trees for scenic beauty, groups of trees for erosion prevention and trees of a particular species for conservation; the land owner may receive compensation to cover loss suffered as a result of such protection being imposed; provision is made for State forest to be set aside as nature reserve and wilderness areas by the Minister to protect particular natural forest, plants or animals; a resolution of parliament is required to withdraw land from this status. Control over quality of timber and settling of disputes over prices: the Minister may prohibit the removal, purchase, sale or disposal of certain grades or standards of timber; provision is made for parties to a contract for the supply of timber in the round that are unable to agree on a price in terms of the price review provisions of the contract to refer the dispute to the director-general who may determine the price. Prevention and combating of veld, forest and mountain fires: this provides for the declaration of fire control areas and regions and the establishment of fire control committees who prepare a fire protection scheme which, after publication in the Government Gazette, is binding on each land owner in the areas under the committee's jurisdiction; provision for funding for the fire control committees; the clearing and maintenance of fire belts is required of land owners in control areas; provision is made for extraordinary precautions in times of fire hazard when the director-general may prevent the lighting of fires, and the burning of vegetation for a particular period. Forestry Council: the Council was to promote and encourage the development of the forest and timber industry; members are appointed by the Minister. The Council has now been replaced by the Forestry Forum. The powers of forest officers, the nature of offences, and the powers of the police and magistrates regarding the Act: forest or police officers may arrest any person suspected of committing an offence in terms of the Act and seize forest products unlawfully obtained; offences include damaging or removing forest produce including seven-week ferns, starting a fire, carrying out activities on State forest land without authority, failure to take reasonable steps to extinguish a fire, hunting or catching game, birds or insects; in the event of criminal proceedings where it is alleged that any forest produce or timber is the property of the State or a particular person, this is presumed until the contrary is proved; in respect of a veld, forest or mountain fire on land outside a fire control area, negligence is presumed until the contrary is proved. |
This law reflects an integrated approach, centred on the concept of conservation being all of protection, management, and utilisation. The law includes plantation forests as well as natural forests and woodlands. On a State forest, or private forest identified under the provisions of the law, all things were identified as "forest products" - plants, animals, soil and rocks. Initially, management and utilisation were indeed integrated. Later, a divergence arose within forestry and within the larger body of conservation in South Africa, setting utilisation against conservation principles. This was reinforced by the growing role of the State as a commercial forestry agent. The question as to whether forestry legislation should continue to have this form, or whether a single body of law should provide for environmental protection and a special law for commercial forestry, is now controversial.
South Africa's provisions for control of afforestation for the benefit of water resources are unique (see Box 4.10).
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Box 4.10 The afforestation permit system The Forest Act provides for the control of afforestation for the benefit of water resources, both through limitations of afforestation, and through provisions governing the management of the forest estate. Initially, this did not apply to the former homelands, but the permit system now applies everywhere in South Africa. Deep controversy country-wide about the effects of afforestation on water supplies emerged from about the 1920s, mainly from farmers complaining that their water supplies were diminishing. Investigations indicated that problems were often related to drought rather than afforestation. Scientific opinion was divided, some forest scientists holding to the view that forests increased river flow! This controversy is well documented in the report of the Committee on Afforestation and Water Supplies (Department of Forestry 1968) and earlier publications. The government responded by establishing a series of catchment hydrological experiments, in the Cape, Kwazulu/Natal and the Transvaal, starting in 1935. Results indicated unequivocally that afforestation increased evaporation from the catchments, and thus decreased river flow. These results later allowed effects to be quantified. Any landowner intending to plant a stand of trees on new land or where trees have not been grown for five years, is obliged to apply for permission to plant. A permit is granted or withheld after inspection on site, and calculation of the probable effects on water resources. The permits are issued or withheld according to their expected influence on runoff, noting the requirements of all users in each catchment. For this purpose, the country's catchments have been divided into three categories. In Category I no further afforestation is permitted, because water supplies were already under pressure in 1972. In Categories II and III, additional areas in potentially afforestable regions are limited to the further reduction of the mean annual runoff (MAR) as at 1972 by 5% and 10% respectively. From November 1994 this classification has been superseded by provision for regulation at the quaternary catchment level, and amended to limit impacts on low flows. Permits determine that no more than about 75% of land may be afforested, and prohibit planting of commercial forest trees in riparian zones (usually defined as the land within 30 m of any perennial stream, and 50 m from the border of wetlands). It prescribes annual removal of invasive trees and shrubs from unafforested land, and encourages consultation with experts from relevant government departments. Procedures have been adapted to provide for the relevant stipulations of the Agricultural Resources Act with respect to planting virgin soil and steep land, although landowners must deal separately with other stipulations of the Act. Permits may be attached to the title deeds to the property (this provision has not been applied), but lapse after three years if unused (previously, the validity was for five years). From 1972 to the present, permits have been issued for over a million hectares of afforestation on about 4,000 different properties, but only 38% of the land earmarked has been afforested. The system has been criticised for many reasons: that it discriminates against the forestry sector, that field control is inadequate, that the hydrological information used to calculate impacts of water underestimate effects when river flow is low, or in drier areas of the country, that local effects on water resources are not adequately addressed, that the system was applied secretively. Environmental pressure groups have seized on the system to go beyond the provisions of the law and use it to protect habitats and biodiversity. Recently, the Minister has adapted the policy and determined that permit applications be widely publicised, that opportunity be given for hearing the views of all interested and affected parties, and that contentious cases be made subject to environmental impact assessment. |
The forest laws of the former homelands were repealed in 1994 and the current Forest Act with its amendments now applies to all of South Africa.
Government reported prosecutions under the Act until 1985/86. Numbers reported varied from about 300 per year to 3,000, overwhelmingly local people convicted of trespass or theft of wood and other forest produce. Prosecutions for causing fires became frequent in the 1980s.
National laws relating to forests and forestry
The Interim Constitution for South Africa determines that forestry should be a function of central government, on the grounds that the natural and man-made forest resources of the country are small, and that their conservation and development should therefore be centrally controlled. Apart from the Forest Act (Act 122 of 1984), there are a number of other policies and laws applicable to forestry. These are summarised in Table 4.3.
Table 4.3 Current national laws relating to forest and forestry
| Act or policy | Administered by | Provisions |
|---|---|---|
| Forest Act (Act 122 of 1984) | Department of Water Affairs and Forestry | See Box 4.9 |
| Management of State Forest Act (Act 128 of 1992) | An independent Board of Directors responsible to the Minister for Public Enterprises | The South African Forestry Company Ltd (Safcol) is established as a private company registered in terms of the Companies Act. Safcol is run on private-sector, profit-making lines, with due and proper regard for the environment, its employees, its customers, and for the well-being of the forest industry generally. |
| The Environment Conservation Act (Act 73 of 1989) | Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism | Provides for the effective protection and controlled utilisation of the environment; its focal point is "sustainable development", which is called upon to be exercised by each Minister, Administrator, local authority, and government institution having duties in connection with the environment. Forest management must fall within that description. Essentially an enabling statute, little used. Draft regulations prescribing the implementation of integrated environmental management are under discussion (Government Notice 171 of 1994, 172 of 1994). |
| The National Parks Act (Act 57 of 1976) | The National Parks Board under the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism | Provides for the designation and management of national parks, and for the constitution and work of the National Parks Board of Trustees. The Act provides absolute protection to all trees and other 'forest produce' in parks. |
| The Physical Planning Act (Act 125 of 1991) | Department of Land Affairs | To promote the orderly physical development of the Republic, and may affect forest lands and afforestation permits. |
| The Water Act (Act 54 of 1956) | Department of Water Affairs and Forestry | Provides for water supply and water treatment. The Water Act overlaps with the provisions for protection of water resources in the Forest Act. The Water Act is currently being revised through a process of public involvement. |
| Mountain Catchment Areas Act (Act 63 of 1970) | Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, but with the powers delegated to the Provinces | Provides for the conservation, use, management and control of land situated in the mountain catchment areas, and provides for matters incidental thereto, inclusive of forestry for watershed protection. |
| The Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act (Act 43 of 1983) | Department of Agriculture | Provides for land rehabilitation measures inclusive of agroforestry and other tree-planting projects for soil conservation. Ploughing new land, planting steep land. |
| Restitution of Land Rights (Act 22 of 1994); Land Administration (Act 2 of 1995); Labour Tenants Bill (Proposed) | Department of Land Affairs | In line with the RDP, land restitution and land redistribution will affect tree-planting and afforestation in the future. |
| The Wattle Bark Control Act (Act 23 of 1960) | Department of Water Affairs and Forestry | To effect agreement between growers, millers and manufacturers of wattle bark products. |
| The Plant Improvement Act (Act 53 of 1976) | Department of Agriculture | Controls the development of plant cultivars |
| The Land Bank Act (Act 13 of 1944) | Land Bank | Amongst other things, provides for advances for the cultivation of trees. |
International conventions relating to forests and forestry
There are several international conventions relating to forests and forestry, summarised in Table 4.4.
Table 4.4 International conventions relating to forests and forestry International convention
| International Convention | Provisions |
|---|---|
| The Forest Declaration adopted by heads of governments at the UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992, officially "the non-legally binding authoritative statement of principles for a global consensus on the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests" | Forest resources and forest lands should be sustainably managed to meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual human needs of present and future generations. These needs are for forest products and services, such as wood products, water, food, fodder, medicine, fuel, shelter, employment, recreation, habitats for wildlife, landscape diversity, and other forest products. Appropriate measures should be taken to protect forests against harmful effects of pollution, including air-borne pollution, fires, pests and diseases in order to maintain their full multiple value. |
| Agenda 21 on combating deforestation developed at the UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992 | Provisions for four programme areas to be pursued:
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| The general guidelines for the sustainable management of forests in Europe developed at the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, Helsinki, 1993 | Sustainable forest management means the stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fulfil, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and social functions, at local, national, and global levels, and that does not cause damage to other ecosystems. |
These conventions were developed to address issues relevant to countries such as Brazil and Indonesia, whose forests are extensive, and forest protection and management concerns are prominent on national and international agendas. They are not equally relevant to a forest-poor country such as South Africa.
The effect that these conventions, and the values which underlie them, have on trade is important. For example, paper companies throughout the world now often win or lose sales on the basis of whether or not their raw materials come from sustainablymanaged forests, whether plantations or not.
South Africa, and hence the Minister, has an obligation to consider the terms of international law and give effect to the principles of both formal international conventions, the customary international law, and the "soft" international law. The last category refers to principles which have gained widespread moral and political acceptance. The norms contained in the Rio Declaration are an example of this.
These conventions apply in the first place to natural forests and woodlands, the products and benefits they yield, and associated matters. They apply to wood products in general, and therefore at least in part to plantations. Insofar as plantation forests affect biodiversity, the biodiversity convention would also be applicable.
The creation of Safcol
Safcol (the South African Forestry Company Limited) was created in 1992 (see Table 4.3) to operate on the State Forests of the then South African Government (i.e. excluding the forests of the former homelands) as a profit-making company managing the plantation forests and processing plants of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. The State Forests were deproclaimed in 1994, but the land remains the property of the State.
This change was aimed at focusing the role of the State on matters of policy and the public good, rather than on commercial forestry, and at increasing the commercial value and profitability of the forestry operations. Safcol has operated for a brief period, but is proving profitable.
Incentives for afforestation
The Forest Act provides for incentives for afforestation through government loans. The programmes based on this provision all failed because they were too cumbersome to implement, or because funds could not be found.
Fiscal incentives in the form of plantation tax benefits has attracted investment in timber farms and may have contributed to the conversion by some farmers from other agricultural activities to forestry. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has recently proposed to the RDP Office a scheme to encourage emergent forest farmers through subsidising the cost of plantation establishment, and enhanced training and extension services.
Market, trade and tariff policy
Current legislation provides for intervention on prices, for control of quality of wood products, and various other measures relevant to the marketing and trade of forest products.
Until recently, government played a central role, if indirect, in controlling the timber markets and the industry, through a uniform pricing policy for sawlog contracts.
The Timber Marketing Agreement (between formal sawmillers) provided for control of the domestic prices of sawlogs. This was abandoned in 1987 under pressure from the Monopolies Board. The production and marketing of wattle bark is still controlled, through a quota system and an inspectorate.
Overall, the forestry industry now has little protection against foreign trade. Current tariff protection on timber is zero, that on pulp zero, and on paper products, 10% (falling to 5% on the GATT and 10% on coated paper). These tariffs are higher than in the EC (9%) and the USA (4%) but less than in countries such as Brazil (25%). In South Africa, sugar has a 120% import tariff (falling to 80% under the GATT over the next 10 years), motor vehicles 100% (50%), textiles 60% (30%). The average for other manufactured goods is (15%).
South African firms enjoyed a subsidy for exports through the GEIS (general export incentive scheme). GEIS applied to the pulp and paper sector but not to roundwood and sawn boards. GEIS will be phased out over about five years.
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Commercial plantations are largely confined to the few parts of the country with an annual rainfall of more than 800 mm. These are also the source areas of many of the rivers on which the country relies for its water supply.
Water is used by vegetation through the evaporation of intercepted water and through transpiration. In South Africa, commercial forest plantations mostly replace low, seasonally dormant grassland, open deciduous woodland, or low to medium-height evergreen fynbos. Because of the size of the plantation trees, their deep rooting, and evergreen habit, they use more water than the indigenous vegetation.
Stands of mature pines and eucalypts use about 300-600 mm per year of rainfall equivalent more than the natural vegetation they replace. Mean yearly reductions in runoff over the rotation range from 200 to 300 mm.
Vegetation in the riparian zone, the land near a stream or wetland, uses up to twice as much water as it would elsewhere in the catchment. Afforestation permits recognise this fact and bar afforestation within these zones (see Box 4.10). On average, riparian zones occupy about 10% of the area of afforested catchments.
4.8.2 Current and predicted effects of afforestation on water resources
Currently, commercial forestry plantations are estimated to reduce available surface water by about 3.5% (equating to about 7.6% of total current demand). A scenario of an additional 300,000 hectares, as suggested by the Forest Industries Association, would imply about 18% increase in this consumption. This water would be used anyway; the question is what the most beneficial use would be, and how much would be most beneficially used by forestry.
Most of this reduction has been in the Eastern Transvaal (8% of total river runoff). Afforestation of land currently permitted for new afforestation in the Eastern Transvaal would consume an additional 2%. The total would amount to about half the current consumption for irrigation in that province.
4.8.3 Concerns about afforestation and water supplies
People are concerned about this issue for the following kinds of reasons:
Full cost-benefit analyses and social-welfare analyses of forestry and its alternatives have not been conducted in South Africa. In terms of water consumption, however, forestry is often highly beneficial. For example, the income from the sale of logs is about the same as that of the sugar industry, yet the latter consumes about twice as much water as does forestry.
Irrigated agriculture as a whole is highly consumptive of water, relative to forestry, and pays low prices for water which do not reflect the economic value of the irrigation water. Some irrigated agricultural communities, such as tobacco, yield greater financial returns that does wood.
Forestry's economic benefits lie in processing, rather than in growing.
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Afforestation involves the replacement of natural vegetation such as grassland or woodland, ancient communities rich in species. Such fundamental habitat change obviously impacts upon biodiversity (Box 4.11).
Various types of grassland are most affected. About 11% of the grasslands of the mountains and higher-lying parts of South Africa are afforested. But certain types are more heavily afforested. For example, about 25% of the grassland typical of the Eastern Transvaal escarpment is afforested.
In certain cases, such as in the coastal forest zone of KwaZulu/Natal, afforestation has seldom replaced natural habitats, but rather sugar plantations or other agricultural crops. Concern about impacts on biodiversity arises principally in mountainous regions, such as the Wolkberg centre of endemism in the Northern and Eastern Transvaal Provinces. This is because the grassland habitats in the mountainous regions contain many native species of which a large percentage does not occur elsewhere.
Although forestry displaces many of the original species, it does provide habitats for new species suited to arboreal habitats. Nevertheless, biodiversity in plantations is lower than otherwise, except in comparison with other mono-crops such as many agricultural crops, and degraded land.
The forest industry can and does contribute significantly to the conservation of biodiversity and habitats in the country. This is because negative impacts are confined to planted land, and are mitigated by survival of adapted species, and because of biodiversity on unafforested land within the estate (Box 4.11). Much unafforested land within forest estates has been demarcated for conservation.
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Box 4.11 Influence of afforestation on biodiversity The density of plantations with closed canopies eliminate the majority of grassland and other native species that previously occurred in the natural habitat. Nevertheless, some species do survive in plantations either by dispersing into the new habitat or by remaining and adapting to the changed habitat. For example, a study on the Eastern Shores of Lake St Lucia in Zululand indicated that 64 plant species were recorded within plantations, compared with 114 species in the adjacent secondary grasslands and 142 species in the adjacent secondary thicket and forest. The plantations replaced these two vegetation types. A total of 330 plant species were recorded in young second-rotation pine plantations along the Eastern Transvaal Escarpment. Most of these species were weedy species or woody species, and in general were not grassland species. Nevertheless, biodiversity is substantially reduced. In the Western Cape, natural vegetation surrounding plantations has three times as many birds as adjacent young plantations and ten times as many birds as adjacent old plantations. At a larger scale, i.e. the scale of the landscape, the impacts of afforestation on biodiversity are less severe than at the scale of planted habitats because on average about 60% to 70% of the average forest estate is planted to trees, with most of the unplanted areas being managed for conservation. Disruption of natural ecological processes such as fires is another major impact of afforestation on biodiversity at the landscape scale. Fires would have occurred naturally in most habitats, but are now being excluded or controlled. Furthermore, annual firebreaks in grassland areas adjacent to plantations are undertaken during early autumn. Fire during autumn is not a good season for maintaining grassland biodiversity. The result of these disruptions to fire disturbance processes in grassland is a change in grassland composition and a loss of species. Other effects include fragmentation of habitats, which inhibits animal and plant dispersal processes with the potential to cause local extinction, disruptions to hydrological processes, which often cause wetlands to dry up, with the associated loss of wetland species, and the spread of invasive exotic trees and shrubs from the plantations (most endangered plant species like the fynbos are threatened by these invasives). Thus, though forest estates do contribute to conservation of biodiversity, the indirect effects of afforestation would need to be carefully managed. |
Overall, afforestation reduces biodiversity, a cost which is inevitable if we are to meet our needs for wood. The concerns presently are that:
4.9.2 Forestry and soil fertility
Most commercial forests in South Africa were established in grassland ecosystems on naturally acid soils which are prone to loss of mineral nutrients. Where mineral nutrients in the wood are exported by harvesting, or if the forest litter is not effectively recycled, the already acid soils lose fertility.
Acidification and forestry effects together have been found to be comparable to areas worst affected by 'acid rain' in the industrialised countries of the northern hemisphere. The leaching loss of nutrients is exacerbated by the increasing acidity of rainfall over much of the region, caused principally by industrial pollution. About one sixth (0.23 million ha out of 1.39 million hectares) of the plantations in South Africa are on soils with a high risk of acidification due to their shallowness, low buffer capacity, or low base status. On these sites, plantation forestry would be unsustainable in the long term in the absence of fertilization.
Negative impacts on forest productivity will be apparent long before the ecosystem nutrient stock is depleted - perhaps as soon as the second or third rotation. The application of fertilizer is technically feasible, but has an economic impact, and unless carefully applied, could have an environmental impact as well.
4.9.3 Environmental impacts beyond the afforested area
Forestry has wider-scale impacts. Alteration of the landscape affects perceived scenic value. This is controversial. Injudicious layout of plantations frequently offends the eye; the forestry industry has instituted guidelines to prevent this, and is implementing them. For example, forestry companies have cleared and maintained at least 2800 km of riparian zones on their estates, which would effect a significant aesthetic improvement.
Afforested landscapes are perceived differently by different observers. It seems that many visitors to such areas as the Eastern Transvaal perceive the afforested landscape as attractive, but many people who appreciate the South African landscape, do not.
A second wider-scale impact is that on water in rivers which flow through conserved areas, such as the Kruger National Park. Many of these are no longer perennial. Most of the upstream abstraction is not owing to forestry. Consumption by forestry of water which would otherwise have flowed to the Park is estimated at about 8.4%, that by irrigation, 24%.
However, in the Sabie River, water use attributable to plantation forests is equal to 27% of the river flow as it would be before afforestation, nearly twice that of irrigation use.
4.9.4 Environmental policies of South African forestry firms
All forestry companies subscribe voluntarily to best-practice guidelines for environmental management, developed by a working group representing all major forestry interests, public and private, and issued in 1990. The document has recently been revised and published as "Guidelines for environmental conservation management in commercial forests in South Africa". It is a collective commitment to ensuring that development takes place in the most economic and environmentally acceptable way and that the forestry enterprise remains sustainable.
Forestry companies have developed self-assessment procedures to ensure application of the guidelines, incorporating them into their internal procedural manuals and instituting monitoring and evaluation procedures (environmental audits). The S A Timber Growers' Association actively encourages smaller private growers to use the guidelines.
The South African guidelines deal with both planning and operations. They propose that Integrated Environmental Management procedures be followed in planning afforestation or reafforestation.
Companies have also begun to apply environmental impact assessment procedures in terms of the integrated environmental management policy of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, a policy derived from the concept of environmentally sustainable development. However, the fact that the system is not legally underpinned, with the industry being both referee and player, is a significant weakness. It opens companies and the sector as a whole to the risk of intervention by lobby groups who could readily engage apparently independent authoritative experts to discredit the environmental management standards. Enforcement through the law and an independent authority with the resources to provide clear evaluations and certifications of environmental management in forestry could protect the interests of the sector.
4.9.5 Impacts of environmental change on commercial forestry
Atmospheric pollution from the Eastern Transvaal Highveld is high, with the potential for regional environmental impacts. Gaseous pollutants do not evidently reach high levels in forestry areas, although some widespread symptoms of foliar damage to Pinus patula are difficult to explain without invoking atmospheric pollution. Deposition of particulates and acidified rain in the Eastern Transvaal has the potential to affect soils and hence productivity, especially on soils most prone to acidification. Afforestation itself causes
soil acidification so that mutually reinforcing effects are possible. These impacts would need to be mitigated if pollution continues.
The influence of increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and of potential climate change, and the interaction with forests, are difficult to understand and predict (see Box 4.12). It is likely that the forestry sector will need to gear itself to manage such impacts.
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Box 4.12 Forestry and global change When trees grow, they take CO2 out of the atmosphere, thus reducing the amount of this greenhouse gas. But the benefit is only maintained as long as the tree parts are prevented from decaying or being burned. When this happens, the CO2 is released again. Timber production by the South African forestry industry annually stores carbon equivalent to about 5.8 million tons of CO2. This is less than 2% of the CO2 generated in South Africa from various sources. Therefore, afforestation does make a contribution to alleviating the greenhouse effect, albeit a small one. If afforestation were to be significantly increased, the negative environmental impacts through water use and loss of natural habitats would need to be weighed against the advantages of reducing the greenhouse effect. |
4.9.6 Atmospheric pollution
In forestry districts, both the forestry operations and the wood processing plants, contribute to atmospheric pollution. This comes from wild fires in forests, burning of forest waste and the generation of energy in processing plants from the combustion of waste wood and coal.
A study in the Eastern Transvaal shows that emissions from forestry districts, are the most important source of atmospheric pollutants locally. However, the amounts of pollution per square kilometre are very small when compared to, for example, the Eastern Transvaal Highveld (2-5% of emissions on the Highveld, except for hydrocarbons, 67%).
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Views presented at the National Forestry Policy Conference at the World Trade Centre on 2 and 3 March 1995 have also been captured, as best possible within the constraints of time and the need to limit the length of this document.
This background justifies the policy and strategy options outlined in the first part of this discussion paper. We now need to look forward. It is the policy options, and the issues they address, which must be the subject of comment and debate.
There has not been an overview of this kind in South Africa for many years. We have learnt much in the task of putting it together. Clearly, there are many deficiencies in our knowledge and understanding of the many issues at stake here. Hopefully, the process of formulating and implementing the new forest policy will stimulate debate and research that will continue to improve our understanding of the management of forests, woodland, and plantation resources in the country, and improve the design of the policies needed to sustain these resources.
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