Innovation. Technology. Intensification. What does the future hold? And how can we ensure developments in plantations are sustainable and accessible to all?
Global human pressure on nature continues to grow. World population is projected to pass 9 billion by 2050, and as incomes rise so do consumption demands. This will mean increased competition for land, and depletion of resources. The paradox we have created is that the more we advance on development, the more we fail on sustainability.
In the longer term, as population and incomes grow, sustainability will require a revolution in forestry and farming practices. The goal is to produce more with less: more resources and more value for people, with less land, less water, less energy and less waste.
Intensively managed plantations can be part of the solution. The New Generation Plantations (NGP) platform sets out to demonstrate that well-managed plantations in the right places can help to meet the rising demand for wood-based products while sparing natural forest, restoring degraded landscapes and supporting local socio-economic development.
In Brazil, plantations have quadrupled their productivity since the 1970s through tree breeding and other silvicultural improvements. What role can innovation and technology play in intensifying production? How can we ensure this is sustainable? And how can we bring it down to the local level, so the family farmer or the marginalized community also benefit?
Join us at the next NGP encounter as we explore these issues and more.
