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A comprehensive guide on the innovative use of fast-growing trees

The International Commission on Poplars and Other Fast-Growing Trees Sustaining People and the Environment (IPC) hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) published a comprehensive guide on the innovative use of fast-growing trees to help sustain people and the environment amid the climate crisis. Source: Timberbiz Innovative practices in the sustainable management of fast-growing trees: lessons learnt from poplars, willow and experiences with other fast-growing trees around the world explains the qualities of different species of fast-growing trees and the economic and environmental benefits they bring in a wide range of settings when managed sustainably. It also outlines the potential to maximise those benefits globally using the latest science and innovative practices. “Fast-growing trees have a strategic role to developing a thriving global bioeconomy,” said Zhimin Wu, Director of FAO’s Forestry Division. “They also provide livelihoods for local communities and hold significant potential for combating climate change.” Fast-growing trees such as poplar, eucalyptus, pine and spruce grow rapidly in suitable conditions, and these and other fast-growing species have been developed and used for millennia around the world to provide timber, fibre, energy and non-wood products. Many of these tree species not only grow fast but can colonize bare or degraded lands and adapt to poor conditions, rapidly turning dry areas green and productive by providing ‘ecosystem services’ such as watershed protection, climate regulation, better quality soil. With climate change posing threats to all forests, planting fast growing trees has increasingly become a vital part of the strategy in the global effort to reverse deforestation and mitigate the effects of climate change. The FAO-IPC publication emphasises the need for investment in planning and cultivating fast-growing trees as effectively and widely as possible to support the transition towards sustainable and productive agrifood systems and as part of action to restore degraded land, driven by the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2020-2030), to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Currently, 93% of the forest area worldwide is composed of naturally regenerating forests and 7% is planted, according to FAOs Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020. With global demand for wood products expected to increase by a third by 2050 and global temperatures and extreme weather requiring rapid adaptation and resilience-building, the new IPC publication aims to provide vital information to a wide range of stakeholders including researchers, landowners, land managers and planners and policymakers. Divided into eight sections, it explains the potential of fast-growing trees and their vulnerabilities, the ecosystem services they provide, their socioeconomic benefits and best practices for sustainable management of fast-growing trees in different environments and for different uses. These include landscape restoration, wood production, agroforestry and urban and peri-urban forests. Providing clear facts and figures and examples of best practice and innovations, with scientific references and graphs illustrating trends, it aims to enable the scaling up of successful planting of fast-growing trees worldwide.