Globalization of Forestry and its Impacts on US Forestry

Roger A. Sedjo, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.

Wednesday, April 11, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Montpelier Room, 6 th Floor, Madison Building, Library of Congress
1 st & C Streets SE, entrance diagonal from Capitol South Metro Station exit
Cost: $17/person, includes lunch, beverage & dessert

The following is from the introduction of an August 2006 Resources for the Future discussion paper co-authored by Dr. Sedjo. “ Like many other industries, the forest industry has undergone profound changes in recent years. Traditionally, it was primarily an extractive industry that relied on local sources for its basic resource: raw, industrial wood.…Today, the forest industry is experiencing seismic changes. Intensively managed, planted forests are replacing natural forests as the basic source of the wood resource, and modern biotechnology is being applied to create trees that both grow rapidly and have traits desired in industrial wood. These changes eliminate the traditional ties between forest processing and locations with abundant natural forests.” The paper concludes with the following remarks: “We expect that while many industries already have been significantly reshaped by globalization (through off-shoring, out-sourcing, etc.), the forestry industry may be at a more nascent stage of globalization, with much of the reshaping of the industry yet to come. Particularly as economic development progresses in the furthest reaches of the world, the forestry industry will continue to evolve and follow in the path that other industries have taken as they have adapted to a more globalized world and taken advantage of the features that can generate comparative advantages. Therefore, it is important to keep an eye on trends in the forest products industry as globalization continues to change our world.”

Dr. Sedjo has served on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Committee of Scientists and has co-chaired the committee of authors who wrote the chapter on biological sinks for the International Panel on Climate Change's Third Assessment Report on climate change mitigation through forestry and other land use measures. He also has been a consultant to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and other international organizations in more than a dozen countries, including Argentina, Chile, Indonesia, New Zealand, Russia, Romania, Estonia, and Thailand.

Come hear one of NCSAF’s most distinguished members as he discusses globalization in forestry and recent changes in U.S. forestry. He will also suggest that some of the dramatic changes currently being experienced in the U.S. forest products industry are driven in part by globalization forces.

RSVP to Terri Bates, batesmt@verizon.net or (703) 538-1134, by noon on Monday, April 9.  

Loren Ford
Program Chair