PLANTATION FORESTRY IN THAILAND (TEAK, RUBBERWOOD, EUCALYPT) CASE STUDY IN CHIANG RAI PROVINCE

PLANTATION FORESTRY IN THAILAND (TEAK, RUBBERWOOD, EUCALYPT) CASE STUDY IN CHIANG RAI PROVINCE Abdulbasit Elmagboul Wathinee Kritsanaphan Suvi Niemi Priyanto Marko Tynkkynen Maria Ulfah Jinsun Zhu Eveliina Varis Moderators: Dr. Damrong Pipatwattanakul Syed Ashraful Alam List of Contents 1. Introduction and background…………………………………………………………… 3 2. Land use management …………………………………………………………………... 6 3. Species requirements…………………………………………………………………….. 8 3.1 Tectona grandis…………………………………………………………………………… 8 3.2 Hevea brasiliensis………………………………………………………………………… 9 3.3 Eucalyptus camaldulensis…………………………...…………………………………… 9 4. Silvicultural practices…………………………………………………………………….. 10 4.1 Species selection………………………………………………………………….. 10 4.2 Nursery techniques……………………………………………………………….. 10 5. Environmental impacts of plantation forestry………………………………………….. 12 5.1 Soil………………………………………………………………….…………….. 12 5.2 Water……………………………………………………………….…………….. 12 5.3 Biodiversity………………………………………………………….…………… 13 5.4 Global Warming and Carbon Sequestration………………………….………….. 13 6. Management of tree plantations…………………………………………………………. 15 6.1 Management in general…………………………………………….……………... 15 6.2 Biotechnology and genetic modification………………………….…………….... 15 6.3 Pests and diseases…………………………………………….…………………... 15 6.4 Fertilizers………………………………………………………….…………….... 15 6.5 Fire management………………………………………………….…………….... 16 6.6 Management practices by species………………………………….…………….. 16 7. Utilization of the tree species…………………………………………………………….. 20 7.1 Tecona grandis…………………………………………………….……………... 20 7.2 Hevea brasiliensis………………………………………………….……………... 20 7.3 Eucalyptus camaldulensis………………………………………….……………... 21 8. Case Study on Plantation Forestry in Chiang Rai Province………………………….... 22 8.1 Result of Interview: Forest Resource Management Office………….…………… 22 8.2 Result of interview: Forest Industry Organization, FIO………….………………. 23 8.2.1 Mae Yao-Mae Sai plantation…………………………….…………….. 23 8.2.2 Management of teak (Tectona grandis) ………………….…………….. 24 8.2.3 Management of Eucalyptus camaldulensis………………….………….. 24 8.3 Result of interview: Office of Rubber Replanting Aid Fund………….………….. 24 9. Discussion………………………………………………………………………………….. 26 10. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………... 27 11. Recommendations……………………………………………………………………...... 28 12. Implications for forest restoration…………………………………………………….... 29 13. References………………………………………………………………………………… 31 2 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The Kingdom of Thailand is located in the southeastern part of continental Asia, bordered by Myanmar, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Cambodia and Malaysia. It has a land area of 51.3 million hectares and a population of 63 million people. In the 1980s and 1990s, Thailand’s economy was one of the fastest growing in the world, but this coincided with the rapid depletion of its natural resources. Estimates of forest cover range from 13.0 million hectares to 14.8 million hectares (for 2000; FAO 2005). The Thailand’s forest can be classified as: (i) evergreen forests with three sub-types – tropical rainforests, semi-evergreen forests and hill evergreen forests (43% of the forest area), dominated by species of the genera Dipterocarpus, Hopea, Shorea, Lagerstroemia, Diospyros, Terminalia, and Artocarpus; (ii) pine forests, mainly of Pinus merkusii (2%); (iii) mangrove and coastal forests (2%), the main mangrove genera being Rhizophora, Avicennia and Bruguiera and the main beach genera Diospyros, Lagerstroemia and Casuarina; (iv) mixed deciduous forest (22%), the dominant species being Tectona grandis (teak), Xylia kerrii, Pterocarpus macrocarpus, Dalbergia spp. and Afzelia xylocarpa; and (v) dry dipterocarp forest (31%) (FAO 2005). In 2000, the area of planted forest in Thailand was estimated altogether 2,81 million hectares. The species planted were: teak – 836,000 hectares; Eucalyptus spp – 443,000 hectares; Acacia mangium and other Acacia spp – 148,000 hectares; other broadleaved species – 541,000 hectares; Pinus merkusii and other Pinus spp – 689,000 hectares; and other conifers – 148,000 (FAO 2001). In the history of Thailand deforestation has been rapid, particularly in the 70´s and 80´s. In the mid 70´s deforestation rate was about 500 000 hectares annually. After that deforestation rate started to decline but in the late 80´s 200 000 hectares was still deforested annually. Main reason for declining was logging ban on commercial operations in natural forests, declared after a devastating flood in 1988. Other reasons are change in the international agricultural markets, which discouraged the planting of cassava and rising price of forest land which effected mainly on the migrating farmers will to convert forest land into agricultural land (Tongpan et al. 1990). 3 Deforestation led to reduced timber production and protection of remaining forests. Situation led to shortages in domestic timber supply and timber importing. Importing timber from neighbouring countries can lead to similar restrictions in these countries. In the long run Thailand will be forced to secure wood and timber demand with forest plantations. Final aim could be to fulfil the demand by a combination of the sustainable management of natural forests and efficient wood production from forest plantations (Niskanen, A., Saastamoinen, O. 1996). In 1980´s tree planting started to spread on individual owned farmland mainly due the Northeaster pulp and paper industries in Khon Kaen (Niskanen et al. 1993). Until 1993 totally 800 000 hectares of land has been planted in Thailand in which approximately 600 000 hectares at government cost, 146 000 hectares by consessionaires, and 32 000 hectares by Forest Industry Organization, FIO (RDF 1993). In North and Northeast planting has been done by the government, private concession owners, and industries. In South and East farmers planting efforts have been the highest mainly due very profitable para rubber plantations (Niskanen, A., Saastamoinen, O. 1996). In the North most important tree species include teak (Tectona grandis) and Pinus spp., in the Northeast teak and Eucalyptus spp, and in the South and East the para rubbertree (Hevea brasilensis). Teak and pine goes for sawn timber and eucalyptus mainly for poles and pulp industry. Para rubbertree can be used for to produce latex, sawn timber and veneer. Para rubbertree plantations have been expanding rapidly due subsidies for plantation establishment costs (Niskanen, A., Saastamoinen, O. 1996). Despite long history of tree planting reforestation programmes have not reached the targets. To achieve targets greater involvement by private farmers is needed. The problem lies on insecurity of land tenure, insufficient capital and weaknesses in the wood and timber markets. (Niskanen, A., Saastamoinen, O. 1996). Given that there have been almost 20 years of policy shift; this paper aims to provide data on plantation forests in Thailand and in Chiang Rai Province with special focus on the issues 4 affecting the successfulness of both the policy and practice of forest plantations of teak, rubber wood, and eucalypt on the region. 5 ... - tailieumienphi.vn