While the major task of the forestdepartment is to conserve forests and wildlife, it earns revenue from the sale of timber to construction and furniture markets. It also earns major revenue from commercial growth of monoculture plantations like poplar, eucalyptus, sal (teak), bamboo, etc to access the specific requirement for products such as paper, plyboard etc. But do industries like paper and construction, that depend on produce like timber, have a sustainable basis in the long run?
Do we need to find raw material substitutes or control our consumption of these products?
Ans. Industries requiring forest products in bulk like paper, resin and gum, lac, natural oils, minor food products medicines and sports equipment consider the forest as merely a source of raw material for their factories. They neither are interested in loss of valuable biodiversity and eco-systems per second nor they are particularly interested in the sustainability of the forest in one particular area.
Thus, they must find raw material substitutes for their manufacturing process. The other alternative is for them to reduce their requirement to a level which is renewable by natural processes, though this alternative is highly unlikely.