Environment

Forests and forest resources are regularly the subject of extensive climate and environmental reports, while the greenhouse effect, a global problem which affects us all to varying degrees, can hardly have escaped anyone's attention. According to a report published by the UN organisation FAO, the net annual forest loss between 2000 and 2005 amounted to 7.3 million hectares each year, which corresponds to the entire surface of Panama or 200 km2 per day!

Approximately 30 percent of the earth's land surface is covered by forests, 26 percent of which are tropical rain forests. It is estimated that the world's forests store 283 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide in their biomass alone and 638 Gt in the ecosystem as a whole. Thus, forests contain more carbon dioxide than the entire atmosphere. Yet vast areas are lost to deforestation and forest degradation every year. To call this a disaster is no exaggeration - the environmental effects will be significant and will affect us all.

Source: Vergara and Briones, 1987, Global Forest Resources

Past, present and future concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide and the temperature of the earth's surface

Source: The Interngovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

It is predicted that more than 60 percent of the sustainable wood supply in Latin America and the Caribbean will come from planted forests by the year 2020, leaving more natural forests untouched. "The more wood that comes from planted forests, the more natural forests in Latin America and the Caribbean will be conserved. This is definitely a positive trend."

Source: Olman Serrano, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United nations) 2006-08-01

Forwoods environmental work

Forwood applies meticulous care in fulfilling its responsibility as one of Panama's largest owners and managers of cultivated teak. The Group works on a long-term basis, in particular with Panama's national forest and environment authority Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente (ANAM), on forest conservation and nature issues. Forwood is clear in its appreciation of the absolute value of soil and water as resources and that poor management can result in serious problems in the future.