Forest and wood are popular. We already saw during the corona period that forests are highly appreciated by the Dutch. And wood is also increasingly valued more highly as a raw material than fossil and mineral raw materials. Yet there is also a lot of discussion about the meaning of forests and the harvesting of wood. One thinks that forests are nature and states that we should stay away from trees. The other sees that forests buffer carbon and sees wood as the sustainable alternative to concrete, steel and fossil raw materials. Both insights are understandable as far as I am concerned.
Forest history
The Netherlands was once a wooded country. Due to excessive logging (for shipbuilding) and exploitation, the forest area decreased significantly. In 1750, the Netherlands only had about 50.000 hectares of forest. In the 19e century, the construction of new forests has therefore started. Large-scale forestation in the second half of the 19e century took place to protect man from nature. Shifting sands had to be controlled and undeveloped wastelands were given economic significance. We now have approximately 365.000 hectares of forest (approx. 9% of the land area). This puts us at the European rear. Wood production has long been an important source of income for the forest owner. Later, when more forests came into public hands, other functions also became more important to society. In the post-war years, people began to need space for relaxation and recreation. And since the 70s, nature has become more important. The legal framework for forests was regulated in the Forest Act of 1961. In 2017, the Forest Act was incorporated into the Nature Act (Nature Conservation Act). Timber production and timber harvesting can take place within the framework of the natural law. Because forest policy has become part of the natural law, the perception of timber harvesting appears to have changed. Partly because of this, timber harvesting is less appreciated or disapproved by some.
Functions of forest
Forests fulfill multiple functions and are important for more than just nature and biodiversity. Forests purify the air, dampen the climate and noise, produce oxygen, filter and buffer water, capture carbon and supply wood for furniture and construction, for example. And you can also relax in the forest, find inspiration, enjoy nature and exercise. This makes forests multifunctional by definition. In the context of this argument, I would like to consider the function of forests as a carbon sequester. That is good for the climate and it can be even better by using the wood that we can harvest from it as a raw material with which we replace fossil and mineral raw materials. The production and processing of fossil and mineral raw materials produces a lot of CO2in the atmosphere. By replacing these materials with wood, not only carbon is captured in the product, but an even greater effect is the prevention of CO2emissions from the production of fossil and mineral raw materials. Wood is therefore a hopeful alternative from a sustainability perspective and good for the climate.
Nature or wood plantation
Although most people value forests, there is also discussion about what we should or should not do with forests. Some people find wood harvesting undesirable because it would be bad for the forest, others think wood is important and trees have to be cut down for that. In our polarized society I notice a hardening of positions and that also applies to this subject. The LNV Forest Vision states that the aim is a slight increase in timber harvest. In practice, less and less wood is harvested in the Netherlands. Provinces are responsible for the implementation of nature policy. And despite the government policy in the Forest Vision, forests are increasingly being labeled as natural forests, in which timber harvesting is not simply permitted. That is contrary to policy. In addition, the image of wood is created real production forests must be achieved. The point is that we don't have these real production forests in the Netherlands. Forestry in the Netherlands is not a form of agriculture, but a form of management that aims to allow different functions to work side by side in an optimized form. In the sector we call these multifunctional forests. And although I don't think this is a sexy name, I am a passionate advocate of this type of forest. Although wood is produced and harvested in this type of forest, these forests also provide more structure, partly through the implementation of measures, than forests in which no management is carried out. As a result, these forests also offer space for the development of biodiversity.
In the short term, a study will be started into differences between forests with and without timber harvesting, specifically looking at biodiversity. I am curious about the results of this research. I dare to predict that natural forest and multifunctional forest each have specific values when it comes to biodiversity, that they are probably complementary to each other and that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The advantage of multifunctional forests is that their climate impact is much greater than natural forests. This is due to the substitution effect due to the use of wood. I can therefore hope that provinces will take the climate into account when making choices for one or another forest type. That provinces will therefore not opt for natural forests on a large scale without timber harvesting and forest plantations, but opt for nature and climate. So for multifunctional forest in which sustainable timber harvesting is permitted.
About the author
Henk Wanningen
Forestry Commission
Henk Wanningen has a forest and nature management background and works at Staatsbosbeheer on high-quality use of green raw materials from the green environment. He works closely with land management organizations and with companies that realize innovations and development, aiming to ensure that the use of these bio-raw materials through sustainable applications leads to a high climate impact. This includes timber construction, insulation materials, bio-based materials, green chemistry and renewable energy.
