Abstract
Plantations have many advantages when compared to natural or semi-natural forests, such as shortening production cycles, the production of wood with specific characteristics, and near-market production concentrations. The intensive development of this form of industrial wood production is practiced all over the world. The wood industry in Poland struggles in recent years, with a large shortage of wood. The deficit of wood has been accumulated for several years and is steadily increasing. One of the possibilities to change this trend can be development of fast-growing trees plantations. The main aim of this study was to determine the potential of land in Poland, which could be used for the cultivation of fast-growing trees plantations. The analyses took into account the area and marginal agricultural land. The potential plantation land areas were determined for poplar cultivar “Hybrid 275” and European larch (Larix decidua Mill.). The results show a possibility to generate a considerable area that can be developed into plantations of fast-growing trees in Poland. According to the analyses carried out for the purpose of this study, with only 5% use of the sown area and 5% use of forest lands, as well as the boscage (wooded land and bushy land), it is possible to obtain approximately 0.6 MM ha of land for fast-growing tree plantations. In the case of planting 50% of these lands with larch and 50% with poplar, and if a 50% capacity of the plantation is assumed, it will be possible to obtain nearly 6 MM m3 of wood per year.
Highlights
IntroductionThe strategic value of wood in Poland is confirmed by the fact that the industry based on the processing of this raw material is one of the pillars of the Polish economy
The highest share of the larch plantation is in Radom RDLP, which is reflected by the natural distribution of this species in Poland, excluding mountainous areas, while poplar plantations occupy the largest area in RDLP Gdańsk and Lublin, which means in the regions with the suitable soils conditions for this species
Establishing fast-growing tree plantations would make it possible to obtain a supplementary source of lignocellulosic raw materials for wood-based panels production
Summary
The strategic value of wood in Poland is confirmed by the fact that the industry based on the processing of this raw material is one of the pillars of the Polish economy. Since 2012, a shortage of wood has been observed for the wood-based panels industry in Poland, reaching 20%, and the trend is maintained [3]. It is estimated that the wood deficiency would reach 200 MM m3 and 300 MM m3 in 2025 and 2030, respectively [4]. This is an apparent confirmation of the thesis about the strategic importance of wood as a raw material [5]
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