Forestry & Paper
• One hundred thousand new hectares of forest are planned for the eastern part of the province
Compared to the giant plantations of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape’s 61 097 hectares of forest seems small. However, it should be noted that only 4.8% of the province’s land is currently being used for forestry. Many tens of thousands of hectares are suitable for the planting of new forests, something that cannot be said for other parts of the country. Most plantations are in the east and north-east, but spectacular indigenous forests can be found along the coast at Tsitsikamma. The sector’s potential is great.
Provincial and national government are investing a good deal of money and energy in forestry-expansion plans, believing that this is a good way of boosting the economy. A longterm Forestry and Timber Expansion Project aims to plant 100 000 hectares of new forests in the old homelands that now form part of the Eastern Cape.
When new forests are in operation, various downstream opportunities will be created: Butterworth might become the site of a treated pole plant, while Mthatha is earmarked for a future paper and pulp mill.
A number of afforestation and forestry-related projects have been identified for potential investors in the OR Tambo District Municipality. One such scheme in Ntabankulu Municipality envisages a public-private partnership between co-operatives and a suitable company to develop an agri-processing hub to serve the towns of Kokstad and Mount Ayliff. The aim is to produce final agricultural and forestry products such as honey, mushrooms and aloes. Langeni Forest is one of the biggest employers within the OR Tambo District Municipality.
About 770 500 cubic metres of timber is processed in the province annually, producing some 328 700 cubic metres of sawn board, mostly for the construction sector. Rance Timber’s Kubusi Sawmill, near Stutterheim, produces 45 000 cubic metres of sawn board annually. There are 47 sawmills in the province, as well as 11 pole-treatment plants, a chipboard operation and a veneer plant. There are also seven small manufacturing plants producing charcoal from gum and wattle. In 2008 PG Bison spent R1.5-billion on a new chipboard plant in Ugie, on the border with KwaZulu-Natal, creating about 2 000 direct and indirect jobs.
Sappi Fine Paper’s Adamas Mill in Port Elizabeth has a producing capacity of 40 000 tonnes per annum. The mill specialises in uncoated, wood-free graphic paper and also produces branded printing paper and board.
The Eastern Cape Provincial Government intends to establish a furniture incubator in Mthatha, close to the province’s biggest wood producing area. The School of Natural Resource Management at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University offers accredited short courses and diploma and degree courses in forestry. The main campus for forestry is in George.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Forestry South Africa: www.forestry.co.za
Institute for Commercial Forestry Research: www.icfr.ukzn.ac.za
National Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries: www.daff.gov.za
South African Institute for Forestry: www.saif.org.za
