Unexpected Interactions between Agricultural and Forest Sectors through International Trade: Wood Pallets and Agricultural Exports in Costa Rica

Abstract

International market forces have played an increasingly important role in shaping land use dynamics through complex supply chains. In Costa Rica, the shift from a net loss to a net gain in forest cover was facilitated by forest plantations and the replacement of extensive cropland and pastures by export-oriented, high-yielding crops. However, agricultural intensification generated several feedbacks affecting forests. We analyzed the interactions between Costa Rica's agricultural and forestry sectors associated with the use of wood pallets for commodity exports over 1985-2013. Wood pallets for growing agricultural exports created a demand for domestic tree plantations. The annual land demand for tree plantations to produce these wood pallets increased by 669%, reaching 17,606 ha in 2013 and representing 28% of the increase in demand for cropland for agricultural exports over 1994-2013. Wood supplied from plantations failed to fully substitute for wood from natural forests, only allowing for a relative substitution and preventing a major sparing of these forests. The dominant use of wood from plantations for production of low-value pallets de-incentivized investments in sustainable plantations. We showed that, beyond the typical interactions between agriculture and forestry through direct competition for land, international trade generated unexpected feedback where agricultural activities and supply chains affected forestry by triggering new demand and profound changes in forestry management. Land systems behave as complex systems, calling for integrated approaches to study the outcomes of forest conservation, reforestation programs, and development of land-based businesses.

Middle-range theories of land system change

“…A rebound effect is a form of spillover where adoption of intensifying practices stimulates land-use expansion (Angelsen and Kaimowitz, 1999. Other spillovers have been shown, e.g., between agriculture and forestry through the increased consumption of wood pallets to export agricultural products (Jadin et al, 2016a).…”

European pallets fabricated with composite wood blocks from tropical species reinforced with nanocrystalline cellulose: Effects on the properties of blocks and static flexure of the pallet

“…Wood is a renewable material with good structural resistance that competes with other non-renewable materials (Tsoumis 1968). However, wood has the inconvenience that over 40% of the raw material becomes waste during the industrialization process (Espinoza-Durán and Moya 2013;Jadin et al 2017), which can become a problem unless adequate management measures are taken, particularly in underdeveloped countries like Costa Rica (Gaitán-Álvarez et al 2017). Some industries in more industrialized countries employ wood wastes as a raw material to develop other products, such as wood composites or to use for energy production (Thakur et al 2014).…”

The lifecycle of wood from tropical forests in Costa Rica

“…Planted forests were initially intended to substitute wood from natural forests but are now mainly used for pallets and packaging for agricultural exports (I. Isaline Jadin, Meyfroidt, Zamora Pereira, & Lambin, 2016;Santamaría, 2015). Wood used in construction has declined, and for years there have been claims that it has been substituted by concrete, iron and aluminium (Santamaría, 2015;Serrano & Moya, 2011;Werger, 2011).…”

“…Wood from planted forests was expected to substitute wood from natural forests, but the strong demand for pallets and packaging for agricultural exports has transformed production and use in the country (I. Isaline Jadin et al, 2016;Santamaría, 2015). Wood from natural forests used in construction decreased from an initial 73% to a 26% at present, while wood from planted forests destined for packaging represented 44% of national production in 2016.…”

“…Increased emissions due to these changes are harder to attribute entirely to the protection of forests, but they coincide with the period in which natural forest management became restricted in Costa Rica. The approach used to supply the demand of wood originally harvested from forests was to incentivize forest plantations, but these never managed to fully substitute this wood source (Isaline Jadin et al, 2016). Today, short-term products from fast growing plantations dominate, and as shown in Chapter 4, these are an important source of end of life emissions.…”