Paper has been made from grasses and other non-wood materials for over 1900 years. Wood is a relatively new papermaking fibre, only 100 years old. Today the commercial non-wood pulp production accounts for 6% of the global pulp production. The main source for the raw material is plants of the Gramineae family. Research on nonwood material has concentrated on grasses like Miscanthus, Phalaris, S...

The forest sector represents a large source of income for Canadians. In 2013, the forest sector contributed $19.2 billion or 1.25% of Canada’s GDP [1]. Harvested wood products (HWPs), which are manufactured using wood harvested from forests, have also made headlines recently, with the world’s tallest wood building at 18 storeys having completed construction at the University of British Columbia...

The global forest products industry’s carbon and greenhouse gas profile is composed of emissions, sequestration, and avoided emissions. Emissions from the forest products value chain are comprised of direct emissions from manufacturing (~260 million tonnes CO2 per year), as well as a number of different types of indirect emissions including those associated with electricity purchases (~190 mill...

In the forestry sector, discussions on trade, environmental and gender aspects tend to be conducted separately from one another. This overview paper attempts to bring these three areas together. Section II outlines the important goods and services derived from forests. Section III examines international trade in forest products, with a focus on recent trends in trade restrictions. Section IV lo...

The approach used to track the flow of carbon sequestered in the forest through harvest, processing into products, and final disposition of products is described. The methodology is broadly flexible and applicable to forest-based carbon balance assessments. A carbon balance is computed across all forestland ownerships for the production facility of interest. The balance considers forest uptake,...

China’s forest cover has been increasing in the past three decades, which is in sharp contrast to rapid declines in other natural resources. Understanding the mechanisms of forest recovery and their effects is essential for sustaining forests in China and elsewhere. Some studies suggest that imports of forest products have contributed to the increase in forest cover of China and the decline in ...

As a large carbon pool, global forest ecosystems are a critical component of the global carbon cycle. Accurate estimations of global forest aboveground biomass (AGB) can improve the understanding of global carbon dynamics and help to quantify anthropogenic carbon emissions. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) techniques have been proven that can accurately capture both horizontal and vertical f...

A greenhouse gas and carbon accounting profile was developed for the U.S. forest products industry value chain for 1990 and 2004-2005 by examining net atmospheric fluxes of CO(2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) using a variety of methods and data sources. Major GHG emission sources include direct and indirect (from purchased electricity generation) emissions from manufacturing and methane emi...

Many products are harvested from the forests of the eastern United States that are nottimberbased but originate from plant materials. Over the past decade, concern has grown about the sustainability of the forest resources from which these products originate, and an associated interest in managing for these products has materialized. A content analysis of the management plans of 32 eastern nati...