WOOD and WOOD PRODUCTS
The total land area of Suriname is 16.4 million ha, of which about 94%1 (15.3 million ha) is covered with forest.
About 4.5 million ha of forest is designated as production forest.
An area of about 2.3 million ha is protected, of which 1.9 million ha covered with forest. About 9 million ha forest, in the southern part of the country has the status of temporary maintained forest. An area of about 734,000 ha is other land, because this cannot be classified as forest.
The size of inland water bodies is 316,000 ha. An area with the surface of 200,000 ha is utilized for shifting cultivation or traditional agriculture. In dialogue with the communities that are utilizing this area, it is provisionally classified as forest.
The gross deforestation from 2000 to 2009 is estimated to around 30,000 ha2, and mainly takes place in the eastern part of the country. On an area of 288,000 ha, where the former agriculture plantations were established, natural regeneration took place and this area can again be considered as forest. Sustainable management of Suriname’s forests is promoted by, among other things, applying the guidelines given in the Forest Management Act (Forest Management Act) and other relevant laws and regulations.
The growing stock within the Surinamese forest is estimated to 3.8 billion m3. The aboveground biomass is estimated to 3.6 billion ton, the belowground biomass to 485 million ton and dead wood to 94 million ton. Taking this into consideration the total biomass in the Surinamese forest is estimated to 4.2 billion ton. Based on a conversion factor of 47%, the estimated volume of carbon in aboveground biomass, belowground biomass and in dead wood are respectively 1.7 billion ton, 227.7 million ton and 44.5 million ton. The carbon in litter and soil are estimated to respectively 230.3 million ton and 402.2 million ton. Based on these, the total volume of carbon absorbed by the Surinamese forest is estimated to 2.6 billion ton. Currently Suriname is executing projects in the framework of REDD+ which will provide means to calculate more reliable figures of the carbon stock within the Surinamese forests.
LUMBER COMPANIES
In 2014, the concessions of 4 timber companies in Suriname were FSC certified: Dennebos Suriname N.V., Troluco Holding N.V. d.b.a. Tropical Timber Company and Tropical Wood Company, Greenheart Forest Central NV and Greenheart Suriname NV.
The total surface area of FSC certified concessions in Suriname is 407,234 hectares, this is approximately 26% of all valid concessions in 2014. One other wood exploitation and processing company with a concession of 21,720 ha is also in a process to certify this. If the certification process is successfully completed, the size of certified forests in Suriname will eventually be set at 428,954 ha. This is approximately 27% of all valid concessions in Suriname.
The certified concessions in Suriname contribute 3.1% to the certified forests in South America & the Caribbean and 0.2% to all certified forests in the world.
The wood processing units of the following companies are also certified; Caribbean Parquet Flooring N.V.,
Greenheart Forest Central N.V.,
E-Timberindustry Suriname N.V.
Greenheart Suriname N.V.
In 2014, 53,546 m3 of round timber was produced from FSC certified forests. This is approximately 11% of the total round timber production in Suriname.
SAWMILLS
Suriname has 96 sawmills and 2 triplex factories. In 2014, 58 sawmills and both triplex factories were in business. The wood processing in the sawmill is done with a window saw machine, band saw machine and mobile saw machine. Wood processing in the plywood factory is done with peeling machines. The active sawmills are located in the districts of Wanica (28%), Commewijne (17%), Paramaribo (16%), Para (16%) and Nickerie (9%).
The installed processing capacity of the Surinam sawmill industry is estimated at 850,000 m3 of round timber input per year. With a sawing efficiency of 40%, the estimated sawn timber production capacity comes to 340,000 m3 per year.
In 2014, 70% of the total produced round wood (saw and peel wood) was processed locally. This has produced a production of 133,000 m3 of sawn timber and this has led to the utilization of around 40% of the available capacity. In 2014, compared to 2013, 17% more sawn timber was produced. 3,920 m3 of plywood was produced in 2014, an increase of 51% compared to 2013.
The production capacity of the sawmill industry is 340,000 m3 sawn per year. In 2014, 133,000 m3 of sawn timber was produced. From 2015 an average growth of 15% per year is expected. The expected sawn timber production for 2015 is 150,000 m3. The expectation is that by 2020 a sawn timber production of 280,000 m3 will be achieved, with which approximately 80% of the installed production capacity will be realized.
The plywood production in 2014 was 3,920 m3. In the period 2014 to 2017, an average growth of 15% is expected. The expected plywood production in 2015 is 4,500 m3. Production will grow to 5,000 m3 in 2016, after which it will remain stable until 2020. This expected growth is based on the expected growth in the demand for building material both nationally and internationally. The estimated maximum production capacity of both plywood factories is 5,000 m3 of plywood per year. Without a thorough re-expansion investment in plywood production, the production growth of plywood in Suriname cannot be achieved.