Forest plantations were originally established to provide industrial timber mainly in countries such as the United Kingdom and South Africa. However it became a more established practice particularly in countries such as Australia and New Zealand where large areas are planted with forest species not only to cater for industrial uses but also for other uses such as furniture and the manufacture of paper products. There are several countries where forest plantations are highly important in the provision of goods and services. Africa has a sizeable area planted with forests, Mauritus with 40.5%, Swaziland with 21.1 % and South Africa with 15.5 %. Ninety nine percent of New Zealand’s industrial wood came from plantations and industrial woods has become the third largest export after dairy products and manufacturing.  In Swaziland, the forest plantations are of great importance for the provision of timber and forest products. In Bangladesh forest plantations make up of 32% of the forest estate and has become the centre of livelihood to those who live near the forests by harvesting forest products and also using firewood for their cooking.  There are various reasons why planted forests are established. Some of the reasons are detailed below;

a)    Large tract of arid land are not put to good use due to the prevailing soil conditions of these land. These could be attributed due to being too sandy, too acidic or even too clayey for plants to be planted. However such land which may not be suitable for agricultural purposes could be put to good use by planting them with certain forest species that could thrive on these types of poor soil. Special mangrove plant species are able to grow in water logged land and similarly there are forest species that could grow on very sandy soil that cannot support the growth of other plants. Thus rather than allowing the land to be unproductive, by having planted forests established in these type of areas help to put in good use to land that has been deemed to be useless and bring some economical benefit.  

b)    Land has also been used due to activities of man such as mining and mineral activities. Such activities have made the land where the mines have been established to be unproductive for other activities once the extraction of the minerals have been completed and the land despite of it having been rehabilitated, agricultural activities are deemed to be unsuitable on these type of land as most of them are void of nutrients and also the soil which have been exposed for long to sun and wind are found unsuitable for agricultural activities. But there are forest species that can grow on these type of poor soil and as such the land could be converted into planted forests. In countries such as Australia and South Africa, large tracts of once mining land have been planted with planted forests and the land which have been considered to be unproductive have been turned to be productive.

c)     Forests which have been logged for their timber need to be rehabilitated so that the land is put to good use. While secondary forests do get established in a matter of time, the plants that are found in such logged areas do not grow as fast as envisaged. The residuals that comprise the next crop are heavily damaged due to logging activities and may not respond  with fast growth and also are not uniformly spaced to cover up the whole area leaving patches of empty space. However if fast growing timber species are planted in such areas, much of the degradation of the soil and also the environment could be arrested. These fast growing species help in rejuvenating the land that have been destroyed by poor logging methods. The species planted help to establish an uniform type of planting and not having patches of empty spaces found in the logged areas when no proper forest re-establishment  is carried out.

d)    Sometimes it becomes essential for planted forests to be established for their economic resources. For example an area which is unproductive without proper agricultural activities would make the land unproductive. Even the grasses and shrubs that grow on the land  are of no use to anyone as animals such as cattle and ruminants would not be able to find sufficient fodder for their survival. In the event the land is not suitable for agriculture or even animal husbandry, it becomes essential to establish some planting that could make the land productive. In such situation establishing planted forests would be the ideal solution. A planted forests does not need much attention and after planting has been carried out, it only needs minimum maintenance and in fact it becomes more or less like a natural forest except that most of the plantings are carried out systematically without much vacant space.

e)     Having a planted forests enables species that are marketable and are of use to man be planted. Species that have been found in natural forests but due to extensive logging become difficult to be obtained. In such circumstances species of such nature could be established and used for economical purposes. Apart from that these species grow much faster and reach mature stage at an earlier stage when compared to the situation when they are in their natural conditions. There is a tendency for such species to grow faster because most of the planting is carried out on a monoclonal basis which allows for the full potential of the species to be exploited. Apart from that, the full potential of the site could be exploited through efficient use of the available space which does not allow secondary unusable species to grow and thus making it economically feasible. In order to make the planted forests more sustainable, rattan species are planted in between trees as these rattan plants become a source of income to the locals who live in the surroundings. Most natives who live in the surroundings harvest these rattan to be made into baskets and chairs. Thus indirectly the forest plantations help the natives to make a living out the forests.

f)    In natural forests there is considerable variation in the growth rates of the various species that are found in the forests. Apart from that carrying out silviculture in a forest environment is very difficult due to many factors such as the existence of different species that are found there and also due to the different terrains which makes accessibility very difficult. On the other hand in a planted forest proper silviculture could be carried out with the application of nutrients to the trees if they lack them and also by applying various  agricultural processes such as thinning for spacing and also supplying the empty space to have fully planted areas can result in optimum growth of the trees planted in the planted forest. In one way it enables to maximise the use of the land for economical purposes.

g)    Planted forest also help in one way to preserve the environment. Land that has been destroyed for example by fire as in the case of that of Australia or even land that has been barren without any growth bring problems to the environment by causing soil erosion and the exposure of the such barren land degrades the land further. But if such land were to be planted with planted forests, not only do they become economically useful, but they also contribute towards preservation of the environment. Soil erosion could be prevented as the undergrowth that grow below the trees would be able to contain erosions from occurring . Apart from that, water that is easily washed down in barren areas could be arrested and their flow would be controlled. In respect to this most of the catchment areas are established  with planted forests so that the trees from the forests could prevent erosion and also prevent siltation occurring in the catchment area.  The trees  also prevent  the siltation of the drains and rivers which would be otherwise be clogged with the silt that are washed down by the fast flow of the rain water. Thus having a planted forest would in one way reduce the heat from such barren land and would help to reduce the heat in the surroundings. This to certain extend controls the temperature in the surrounding where these forest plantations are established which would otherwise make the temperature hotter.

h) Production of timber from the forest plantations help to supplement and complement the supply of wood which would otherwise would have to be derived from harvesting the trees from the natural forest. For example, at one time most of the plywood factors used to use wood from the natural forest to manufacture plywood.

However with the scarcity  of suitable wood to make plywood, it became essential to use wood from the planted forest to manufacture plywood. Apart from that wood used to manufacture plywood is of inferior nature and it would be a waste to use good timber from the natural forests to manufacture plywood. Thus by using wood from planted forests enable the full potential of these forest s to be enhanced. Apart from that the planted forests ensure that there are adequate supply of raw materials not only to the plywood factories but also to other industries such as furniture manufacturers and also paper manufacturers. Thus production of a large volume of timber from  these planted forests would relieve the pressure of harvesting of the natural forests as the timber grown in these planted forests are of good quality and could be harvested at a earlier period when compared to the natural forests as they are planted and cared for systematically.  

As for planted forests that are considerable importance is the planted forests of oil  palm and rubber in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Not only are they grown for the produce such as palm oil and rubber but also for the down stream activities that are created from these products.

Oil palm trees contribute a lot to the environment by preventing erosion occurring in the planted areas, rotten palms and leaves enrich the soil beneath them and they also absorb the carbon dioxide from the air through the photosynthesis process.  Oil palm planted forests have been shown to be even more effective that rainforests in acting as carbon sink areas that absorb harmful greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. They are capable of absorbing up to 36.5 tonnes of dry matter per ha per year which is much more than rainforests which can only assimilate up to 25.7 tonnes.  In this respect the Malaysian government have placed billboards along highways that they are greening the earth by planting oil palm and rubber.  THE END.