GROWING UP The new Forestry Master Plan aims to revitalise the industry and boost South Africa’s troubled economy. Experts weigh in on its potential. By DELIA DU TOIT
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he new Forestry Master Plan, finalised late in 2020, has ambitious goals. It aims not only to secure 151 000 hectares (ha) of new forests and procure R36-billion in investment, but also to create more than 100 000 new jobs – at a crucial time. Though the plan has created much excitement and already delivered on some of its tenets, including R10.2-billion in investment, many in the industry are sceptical after decades of being let down by government’s execution of similar plans. This time, though, things could be different, Michael Peter says Michael Peter, executive director of industry representative Forestry South Africa. “Indeed, the industry has seen a great number of nationally approved plans that have never
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been executed. The failures can be squarely attributed to the lack of political will from a long list of ministers in forestry and water, and a lack of service delivery and accountability. We have even seen instances where, in our view, officials have sabotaged the implementation of the state’s plans with impunity.” Peter says that in this case, however, the plan is not an isolated initiative, but rather a result of the Public Private Growth Initiative that the industry negotiated in 2019 with President Ramaphosa. “The industry has committed to massive targets on investment, employment and transformation. The president, the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) and others must, in turn, deliver the structural, legislative and administrative reforms needed to unlock these opportunities. Delivery failures by the state will invoke presidential-level intervention. We have already experienced an example of this in a six-year-long struggle with the Department of Water Affairs where the presidency intervened.”
THE PLAN If implemented well, the plan will ensure almost 200 000ha of forests through afforestation and recapitalisation of DEFF-owned plantations. This will create the bulk of the planned 100 000 new jobs,
around 60 000 and 20 000 respectively, though it represents only a small portion (R1.6-billion) of the investment target. The bulk of that remaining R34-billion will come from large companies involved in the pulp and paper, sawmilling and board manufacturing subsectors. It also aims to remove many stumbling blocks in the sector, including finalising land claims, addressing plantation theft and crime, promoting the use of timber as a green building material, and financial support to replant pest-damaged plantations in KwaZulu-Natal and fire-damaged areas of the Western Cape.
SHORTFALLS AND PITFALLS Many industry insiders are not convinced. Dr Jaap Steenkamp, CEO of the SA Forestry Contractors Association, says fire damage is just one case in point. “Two major fires ravaged the Southern Cape in 2017 and 2019. Private companies in the area replanted every hectare lost, yet the state did not plant one single hectare on the available 20 000ha. The fire danger is increasing daily, the cost of replanting is going through the roof, and we estimate it is costing the George economy around R800-million annually in lost jobs, among other factors. Why will the execution of such issues be different with the master plan?” Dave Dobson, owner of Umziki Forestry Consulting, has similar doubts. “Similar afforestation targets have been bandied about
“FAILURE TO RECAPITALISE STATE-OWNED FORESTS IS ONE OF THE MAIN GROWTH INHIBITORS IN THE SECTOR. ” – MICHAEL PETER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FORESTRY SOUTH AFRICA
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