CHAPTER THREE: FORESTRY AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
3.3 GEOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF FOREST DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA
3.3.4 Current Status of Forestry Plantations in South Africa .1 Geographical Distribution and Ownership
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3.3.4 Current Status of Forestry Plantations in South Africa
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Table 3.3: Ownership and extent (ha) of South African timber plantations Member Description Number Hectares Percentage Private Sector
Corporate Companies 9 810 620 68
Commercial Farmers (Individual, Partnerships or Family Trusts)
5 166 469 13
Other Private Institutions 1303 191 0.02
Subtotal 1 317 977 280 82
Government Sector
Government Departments (Including SAFCOL)
19000 208 835 17.54
Local Authorities 1 001 5523 0.46
Subtotal 20 001 214 358 18
Total 21 318 1 191 638 100
Source: DAFF (2019)
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Figure 3.8: Plantation Areas in South Africa from 1980 to 2017 Source: DAFF (2019)
Most of South Africa’s timber is grown in Mpumalanga (41%) and KwaZulu-Natal (39.6%), with the Eastern Cape becoming an increasingly important area (11.9%) and presenting the greatest opportunities for expansion. The importance of commercial forestry in the Western Cape (3.1%) is declining, whilst approximately 4.3% of South Africa’s plantations are in Limpopo. Despite a shift (indicated in Figure 3.8) towards eucalyptus species from 2007, most of South Africa’s plantations are still dominated by softwood, i.e., pine (49%), hardwoods (eucalyptus (43%), wattle (8%), and other hardwood species (0.4%) making up the balance (Figure 3.9). Mpumalanga has the largest area of pine plantations, while Kwa-Zulu Natal has the largest area of eucalyptus and wattle (DAFF, 2019). These details are summarised in Figure 3.9.
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Figure 3.9: Overview of forest species planted per province in 2018 Source: DAFF (2019)
Eucalyptus, pine and wattle and a few other tree types are grown under different rotational lengths (7-30 years) for several purposes. The plantations are managed through species rotation and according to their intended purpose. Commercial plantations provide feedstock to several industries in the form of roundwood or logs, and are then converted into a number of products, as illustrated in Figure 3.10.
According to DAFF (2019), in 2018, 57% of the plantation area was intended for pulpwood, 38% for sawn logs, and about five percent (5%) for mining timber and other purposes. About 75% of pine (softwood) plantations is intended for use in the sawmills, with 25% intended for the pulp market. Almost 87% of the hard woods are intended for pulpwood, with mining timber (5% only) and poles (3%) being the next most significant on the market (Figure 3.11).
Ownership of commercial plantations by previously disadvantaged groups is estimated at less than five percent (5%). This is based on small-scale grower schemes and the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) percentage in privatized Category A plantation packages. The growth in the small-scale grower industry, supported by the major forestry companies, is encouraging. However, much more will need to be done
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to ensure equitable ownership patterns; this will not be achieved solely through the small-scale grower sector (DAFF, 2019).
Figure 3.10: The forestry value chain Source: Crafford et al. (2004)
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Figure 3.11: Provincial forest plantation area by management objectives Source: DAFF (2019)
Equity participation in the pulp and paper sector is limited, although some companies have begun to engage with black economic empowerment companies. Equity participation in hardwood chip-exporting companies is very limited, except in cases where raw material is supplied from small grower schemes.
There is also participation in small-scale softwood sawmills, with 240 out of the 320 sawmills in the country being black-owned. However, these produce only 25% of the country’s sawn timber. Many operate at marginal levels of sustainability, with black participation in formal large-scale saw milling and in local hardwood saw milling being
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extremely limited. However, there have been some late developments in this sub- sector that have raised the level of black participation. The participation by black people in imported lumber distribution and value-added processing is negligible.
In forestry contracting, more than 40% of businesses involve endeavours into some form of black economic empowerment. However, there are huge challenges of viability in this industry which have resulted from the unequal power relations between large forestry companies and their contractors. This leads to a cycle marked by a lack of training, limited management skills, low wages, and marginal profitability. Therefore, there are concerns about the sustainability of the forestry outsourcing/contracting sector, as well as the need for effective empowerment. More generally, black people, especially black women, are poorly represented in the national industry bodies. While institutions of higher learning offering forestry education have a 56% black enrolment, there appear to be limited job opportunities for graduates, and there are very few black women in forestry education (Clarke, 2018).
3.3.4.2 Shrinkage of forest plantations in South Africa
Over the past few years, there has been a net loss in the area of forestry growing in South Africa, as illustrated by Figure 3.8. The demand already exceeds the supply of sawn logs, whilst shortages in the other sectors are predicted for the near future.
Forestry South Africa (FSA) and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) have identified a number of reasons for the low rate of afforestation currently being experienced. These include the licensing process; uncertainties in and the non- resolution of land claims; risks associated with forestry, such as fires, pests and diseases affecting financial returns; low profiles, unawareness and misunderstandings about forestry; the lack of appropriate financing packages and of afforestation incentives and tax concessions to encourage development (DAFF, 2011; FSA, 2008).
The long-term nature of forestry (07 to 30 years) has also been identified as a key issue because of the difficulty in facilitating the development of new growers in areas where it is necessary to invest for several years before any income is generated.
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Figure 3.12: Net gain and losses in forestry growing areas – 1970 - 2017 Source: DAFF (2019)
The variations indicated in Figure 3.12 are attributed to several factors:
• The introduction of policies and strategies in South Africa from 1998 that call for the withdrawal of the existing plantations from priority water catchments and newly created protected areas (e.g., Isimangaliso Wetland Park, Table Mountain National Park);
• Some of the forestry land area converted to agricultural land;
• Fire damage, pests and diseases, and drought causing damage to plantations, but having only a small impact on the areas that have been permanently withdrawn (DAFF, 2019).