Cutting trees for timber good for forest growth
Posted: July 15, 2015Source: Sun Star
UNDERSTANDING the environmental impacts when using certain materials, specifically wood, is important so end-users could see its realbenefits.
American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) executive director Michael Snow said it is also equally important for people to understand why trees have to be harvested before they die.
“By not harvesting mature trees, we are allowing carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere,” he told participants of AHEC’s 20th Annual Greater China and Southeast Asia Convention in Nanning City in China.
Snow said that what should be done ideally to trees in forest lands is to cut the mature ones to allow sunlight into the soil, thereby allowing new species to grow.
AHEC, an international trade association for the US hardwood industry, is advocating the use of this natural resource, being one of the world’s most environmentally friendly raw materials.
“The more people learn about the environmental credentials of wood—throughout its life cycle—the clearer it becomes that wood has important environmental advantages over almost every other material. Wood is not only recyclable and renewable, but also uses much less energy in its manufacturing process and creates much less waste than materials such as concrete, steel, aluminum or plastics,” it said in a statement.
Use wood
This is why, Snow said, it is important for stakeholders in the wood industry to convince policy makers of the benefits in using wood in the light of misconceptions about promoting the use of such resource.
“The message (to promote the use of wood) is slowly starting to get out and we are slowly convincing architects to use wood,” Snow said during the convention.
David Venables, AHEC European Director, stressed that better understanding of the materials used leads to greater innovation and creativity.
“We are seeing wood now in environments where synthetic materials used to be aplenty… It is a time for timber and it is an exciting time for us,” he added.