Forest Policy and Economics (SCI)
Volume 12, Issue 3, March 2010, Pages 231-235
doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2009.11.003
Crown copyright © 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Abstract: Since 1998 China has been the world's second major timber importing country, which raised a concern that China may represent a menace to the world's forest resources. In this study, an ecological footprint model is used to measure the forest impact embodied by Chinese log imports from 1995 to 2007. Special attention is given to the ratio of the forest ecological footprint for Chinese log import to the biocapacity of the import origins. Chinese log demand continues to rely more on domestic supplies. Despite that the log import has increased the forest ecological footprint from Europe, those from Oceania and Asia, and Africa were less affected. From the perspective of ecological footprint we find little evidence that Chinese log imports present any serious menace to the world's forest resources.
Keywords: Chinese log imports; Ecological footprint; Biocapacity
Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully thank Mr. Richard of WBLPO/CAF-World Bank Loan Project Office of the Chinese Academy of Forestry for his assistance with data and thoughtful comments. And we also sincerely acknowledge the financial support from the KfW-Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau.
