28 March 2012
The UNECE/FAO North American Forest Sector Outlook Study (NAFSOS) projects possible futures for the US and Canada in 2030. This study is a companion to the European Forest Sector Outlook Study II (EFSOS II) launched in September 2011. The study concludes that over the next decades North American forests are expected to meet increasing and sometimes conflicting environmental, social and economic demands: issues that warrant policymakers' attention.
The U.S. is projected to lose an average of about 0.2% of its forests each year mainly due to expansion of urban areas, while Canada is not projected to lose any forest. Stock levels (standing timber inventory volumes) are projected to increase in North America under all scenarios.
Markets for wood products, which mainly are destined for the construction sector in North America, are projected to recover from the housing market contraction by 2015 under all three scenarios examined. The pulp and paper sector is projected to continue to face an onslaught of changes in the coming decades: new and quickly growing production capacity outside of North America, rapid consumption growth in Asia, declining uses of newsprint and printing and writing paper in communications in many countries, and continued growth in the use of recycled fibre in manufacture.
A large wood-based bioenergy sector, the study finds, would divert increasing amounts of industrial wood away from the manufacture of many categories of wood and paper products. Such diversion would push up wood input prices paid by wood and paper product manufacturers in North America and reduce supplies. The effects of a wood-based bioenergy sector are contingent on the emergence of enabling policies or technology advances in wood energy conversion, which in North America are so far largely absent.
Further info:
The publication is available online at http://www.unece.org/forests/outlook/outputs/mop1.html
For any additional comments or questions kindly contact
David Ellul
Economic Affairs Officer
UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section
Tel: +41 (0)22 917 1390
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: http://www.unece.org/forests