Biotechnology in Forestry: Considering the Costs and Benefits

Forestry today is on the threshold of promising change as biotechnology is introduced into its operations. Sophisticated tissue cultures for cloned seedlings and genetically modified organisms portend many benefits as more of the world’s industrial wood is being produced on planted forests. In many cases biotechnology in forestry is simply an extension of agricultural innovations, such as herbicide resistance. However, biotechnology also has applications unique to forestry, such as fiber modification, lignin reduction and extraction, and sterility, which is an important factor to prevent modified genes from “leaking” into the natural environment. The economic benefits from the introduction of biotechnology to forestry will be lower costs and increased availability of wood and wood products. Additionally, innovations in forest biotechnology have the potential to address important environmental issues, including the rehabilitation of habitats altered by disease, like the American Chestnut blight, or invasive exotics. Moreover, the increased productivity of tree plantations may free large areas of natural, or primary, forest from pressures to supply industrial wood and thus improve their ability to preserve biodiversity. And as trees are modified to grow in previously unsuitable areas—such as arid lands or saline soils—the new forests could not only produce more wood but also enhance watershed protection and sequester carbon for climate change mitigation. Some History