Page 13 - LandscapeSA_121(digital)

FEATURE

he assumption, which happens to paper demand, we have seen a switch from instead. When you go into a lumber
be false, is that using less paper will from plastic to paper and cellulose-based (wood) yard, you are given the impression
Tprotect the environment. What we fail innovations, which is encouraging. But that by buying wood you are causing the
to realise however, is that the digital world there is more to our sector’s impact than forest to be lost, when in fact what you are
comes at a cost to the environment, a cost its contribution to gross domestic product. doing is sending a signal into the market
that – unlike paper – runs on fossil fuels to Plantations are grown in rural areas, to plant more trees.”
a large extent. supporting thousands of households,
It is too easy to ignore the impact of our families and communities. The South Circular economies
digital lives, because we don’t see the effect African forestry and forest products sector In addition to growing trees and making
of the energy required to power the cloud. employs around 150 000 people and paper products, the recovery of paper
We don’t see the electricity consumption it nearly 700 000 people depend on the and other materials for recycling serves
takes to send a thousand emails a month. industry for their livelihoods. as a means of income generation for
We don’t see the burgeoning e-waste The sector employs people who research informal waste collectors and small
problem as technology becomes obsolete tree health, grow seedlings that are more recycling businesses. Moreover, with
and isn’t properly discarded. resilient to climate change and disease, much of the forestry-owned land and
plant trees responsibly, nurture them to paper mills situated in rural or semi-rural
Sustainable forestry their required age, harvest them and then areas, the forestry and forest product
Part of the problem is that people don’t take the timber to the mill. A chain of sectors contribute to basic infrastructure
understand how sustainable forestry people is required to operate wood yards, such as roads, clinics, schools, investment
works. They don’t realise that a recently the pulp mill and paper machines. in community development and eco-
felled plantation will be replanted with Considering that planted forests are in tourism.
new trees within the same year. They essence crops, businesses going paperless This all represents an investment in
don’t realise that the trees in plantations is similar to limiting our consumption of people, communities and the country, not
remove tonnes of carbon dioxide from carrots or cabbage and ultimately not least of which is an investment in the future
the atmosphere and return it as oxygen. supporting farmers and their jobs by as we tackle the effects of climate change.
They also don’t realise that carbon remains consuming their produce. So think again about that little blurb at
stored in wood even after it’s been turned The words of Greenpeace co-founder Dr the bottom of your email and consider
into pulp for paper making and other Patrick Moore back this up: “We should be the environment and the economy, before
cellulose products. They simply think that growing more trees and using more wood. you go paperless.
paper equals deforestation. If landowners had no market for wood,
Sustainable forestry, however, is the they would clear the forest away and grow Photos courtesy of Mondi South Africa and
antithesis of deforestation, which is the something else they could make money Devin Lester n
removal of trees and natural forests
without replanting, such as some forms
of agriculture and the development of
housing estates, shopping malls and urban
environments. This is why greening these
areas with indigenous plants helps to offset
their impact.
South Africa’s sustainable forestry
centres around the circular approach
of planting, growing, harvesting and
replanting fast-growing species. Wood for
the country’s forest products comes from
sustainably managed exotic trees, not
indigenous forests. This requires that our
sector also manages the land and water
that plantations share with other biomes,
such as grasslands and indigenous forests.
While around 850 million trees are farmed
over 676 000 hectares by the country’s
forestry sector for pulp and paper products,
a significant portion is reserved for its
biodiversity and conservation value.
South Africa’s pulp, paper, packaging
and tissue products are made from fresh
or virgin wood fibres from sustainably
cultivated trees, recycled fibre from used
paper products or a mixture of both,
depending on the end use. Technological
advances to make these products are also
more resource-efficient than they were a
few centuries ago, which makes for even
more responsible forest management.
The actual cost of businesses
going paperless
In 2021, the pulp and paper sector
contributed around R28 billion to the
South African economy. Although there
has been a decline in printing and writing

Landscape SA • Issue 121 2023 11
IMAGE CREDIT: DEVIN LESTER 048