The building industry accounts for 64% of all the timber used in this country, & with the building boom in full swing, infrastructure being set up for the 2010 World Cup Soccer & the recent devastating forest fires in Kwa-Zulu Natal & the Free State, have resulted in timber increasing in cost by over 35% in the last 6 months, & this is set to increase even more.
David Crickmay of Crickmay and Associates, a forestry and formal consultancy that has done research on the shortage of timber, said: "Only 1 percent of our land in South Africa is used for planting commercial trees. "The shortage of timber is forcing us to overcut our trees, which is also reducing their age and it will create problems for us in the future."
Without being prophets of doom, we as a company are already preparing strategic solutions to this timber shortage, & one of the solutions we are seriously looking into, is the use of "engineered" bamboo in our manufacturing processes.
The benefits of bamboo have long been known to the east where it originated from, & it is only now, that the west is looking at it's benefits.
As a crop, the turnover period from planting to first harvest & then subsequent harvests, is far superior to traditional timber plantations.
Bamboo comes into production in 3 to 4 years and reaches maximum productivity in 7 to 8 years, producing 2 to 10 tons of bamboo shoots per acre.
With this in mind, & the timber problems that we are facing, bamboo is a very attractive optionBamboo comes into production in 3 to 4 years and reaches maximum productivity in 7 to 8 years, producing 2 to 10 tons of bamboo shoots per acre.
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