Forest resources - Far Eastern and Pacific regions

By the Staff of FAO's Division of Forestry and Forest Products

During the summer of 1948 FAO published the results of its first systematic inquiry regarding forest resources under the title "Forest Resources of the World." Information in this report was obtained through a special forest inventory questionnaire sent by the Director-General to all governments.

The information relating to forested areas, recomputed from a continental to a regional basis, is summarized in Tables 1 and 2. Areas in these tables are expressed in millions of hectares so that the relative situations in different countries may be grasped easily. This arrangement admittedly precludes statement of areas of less than one-half million hectares, which may be of considerable relative importance in certain countries, but more complete data can be obtained from the world report.

As was to be expected, the forest inventory inquiry revealed great differences in the completeness and precision of information respecting forest resources in different countries. Some countries felt that they were not yet in a position to reply to the questionnaire at all, and others were able to answer only in part. Thus it is evident that the information we now have is not final and that much of it will be subject to revision when the next inquiry is undertaken. Nevertheless, the present information is believed to be more complete and more consistent than any that has previously been available. It is hoped that all countries will be able to improve their knowledge of the extent and potential productivity of their forest resources in the near future, and FAO will be glad to furnish or secure advice regarding inventory methods for countries that desire it.

The tables show that 24 percent of the total land area of the Far Eastern region and 19 percent of the Pacific region is occupied by forests. In each case only about two-thirds of the total forested area is classed as productive forest; that is to say, forest capable of yielding regular crops of forest products under sustained-yield management. The remaining forest areas, classed as "other forests," include lands which are occupied by trees but which are incapable of systematic forest management because the conditions of site and climate are so severe and tree growth so poor. In the Far East the average area of productive forest per inhabitant is estimated to be 0.3 hectares, but in the Pacific region the corresponding figure is 4.2 hectares. In both regions roughly one-half of the productive forest area is classed as inaccessible.

These regional averages are interesting as a basis for comparison with other regions of the world; but reference to the tables will show that they conceal wide variations between countries within the regions.

Particularly in the Far East, some countries possess relatively large forest resources in comparison with their populations while others have very little. Hence it appears that one of the most important problems in Asia is to determine the extent to which well-forested countries of the region can supplement the limited supplies of forest products available to the people of less fortunate countries. In the long run, the large populations of China and India are likely to provide an almost limitless market for forest products.

In the Pacific region all the reporting countries have relatively large areas of productive forest per inhabitant, although both total population and total forest area are small as compared with other forest regions. The two larger countries, Australia and New Zealand, have been importers of forest products; but the extent of their resources seems favorable to the eventual establishment of a relatively high degree of self-sufficiency and, in the case of New Zealand, to the early possibility of exportable softwood supplies.

The productive forests which consist of coniferous species are 22 percent of the total in the Far East and 16 percent in the Pacific. These proportions are much higher than in Latin America, but much lower than in Europe and North America. For use as fuelwood, broadleaved species are usually more acceptable than conifers, but for industrial purposes the demand for coniferous species has greatly exceeded that for broadleaved species. Thus it may be anticipated that further development of industrialization in the Far East and the Pacific will require adaptation of broadleaved woods to purposes for which conifers are preferred in the North Temperate Zone. The alternative will be the extension of coniferous forests by planting.*

* Note: For information on the production, trade, and consumption of forest products, see the FAO Yearbook of Forest Products Statistics, 1948.

To sum up, available information indicates that in China and India there is great need for extending forested areas by artificial means, primarily to increase supplies of fuelwood but also to provide building timber and wood for industrial use. Also, productive forests now classed as inaccessible should be opened up and placed under management as rapidly as economic conditions permit. Most of the remaining countries of Asia are relatively well forested, but large areas of forest have not vet been developed and, consequently, are as yet making little or no contribution to human welfare. In the Pacific region the principal forestry problems are centered in the industrialized countries, Australia and New Zealand, but the extent of existing resources indicates that these problems can be solved by improvements in forest management.

TABLE 1. - FOREST RESOURCES RELATIVE TO POPULATION AND LAND AREA FAR EAST AND PACIFIC REGIONS, 1947

Country		Population	Total land area	Productive forests	Other forests	All forests		Productive forest area per caput
						Area	Percentage of total area
		Million	Million hectares				Percent	Hectares
Far East
	North Borneo and Brunei	0,4	8	1	5	6	82	2,6
	Burma	17	68	25	14	39	58	1,5
	Ceylon	7	7	1	3	4	55	0,2
	China	456	944	56	27	83	9	0,1
	India and Pakistan1	311	222	33	11	44	20	0,1
	Japan	75	37	22	22	59	0,3
	Malaya	6	13	7	3	10	77	1,2
	Indonesia	75	190	70	50	120	63	0,9
	Philippines	19	30	13	4	17	59	0,7
	Sarawak	1	12	4	7	11	89	7,8
	Siam	18	51	33	33	63	1,8
	Total, Reporting Countries	985	1,582	265	124	389	25	0,3
	Total, Nonreporting Countries	167	450	70	30	100	22	0,4
	TOTAL, FAR EAST	1,152	2,032	335	154	489	24	0,3
Pacific
	Australia	7,5	770	20	11	31	4	2,7
	Fiji Islands	0,3	2	1	-	1	52	3,2
	Hawaii	0,5	2	1	-	1	46	1,6
	New Caledonia	0,1	2	-	-	4	1,3
	New Zealand	1,8	26	2	57	26	1,1
	Total, Reporting Countries	10	802	24	16	40	5	2,4
	Total, Non reporting Countries	2	53	26	14	40	76	13,0
	TOTAL, PACIFIC	12	855	50	30	80	4,2
	TOTAL, FAR EAST AND PACIFIC	2,887	385	184	569	19	0,3

¹ 1938, estimated for areas formerly included in British India only.
... None, or less than 500,000 hectares.

TABLE 2. - FOREST RESOURCES: CLASSIFICATION OF PRODUCTIVE FORESTS, FAR EAST AND PACIFIC REGIONS

Country		Accessible forests			Inaccessible forests
		Conifers	Broadleaved	Total	Conifers	Broadleaved	Total
		Million hectares
Far East
	North Borneo and Brunei	-	-	-	-	1	1
	Burma	-	25	25	-	-	-
	Ceylon	-	1	1	-	-	-
	China	14	3	17	35	4	39
	India and Pakistan*	3	30	33	-	-	-
	Japan	8	12	20	1	1	2
	Malaya	-	2	2	-5	5
	Indonesia	-	11	11	-	59	59
	Sarawak	-	4	4	-	-	-
	Siam	-	11	11	-22	22
	Total, Reporting Countries	25	99	124	36	92	128
	Total, Nonreporting Countries	6	34	40	6	37	43
	TOTAL, FAR EAST	31	133	164	42	129	171
Pacific
	Australia	1	12	13	-	7	7
	Fiji Islands	-	1	1	-	-	-
	Hawaii	-	1	1	-	-	-
	New Caledonia	-	-	-	-	-
	New Zealand	1	-	1	-	1	1
	Total, Reporting Countries	2	14	16	-	8	8
	Total, Non reporting Countries	2	67	8	4	14	18
	TOTAL, PACIFIC	4	20	24	4	22	26
	TOTAL, FAR EAST AND PACIFIC	35	153	188	46	151	197

*Estimates for areas formerly included in British India only. None, or less than 500,000 hectares.