Timber & Forest Facts
Wood as a material
- Is a natural, renewable and inexhaustible raw material
- Offers a feeling of warmth in touch and sight
- Is insulating to heat, sound and electricity
- Its processing requires small energy consumption
- Has great mechanical strength related to its weight
- Its processing and binding is easy
- Is the most environmentally friendly structural material
Wood for the environment
- Trees absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) and release oxygen (O2). A typical tree absorbs 1000kg of CO2 and releases 727kg of O2
- On average, the production of one cubic metre of timber creates approximately 1.1 tons less emissions of CO2 than the production of an equal quantity of a high energy consumption material like concrete or steel
- Wood products and by-products are an important energy source even at the end of their life cycle, since they can get recycled and offer alternative types of renewable energy sources
Wood and Cyprus
- Cyprus was well known in ancient times for its rich forests and its timber that was used for ship construction
- The Cyprus Pine Tree (Pinus brutia) was used for the support of underground mine tunnels during copper processing (1900 B.C.)
- Alexander the Great chose Cyprus as a strategic location for the construction of ships, taking advantage of the forgotten oak forests of the island
- To this day, there are ten National Forest Parks in Cyprus, covering a total area of 15627,22 hectares
- Today, Cyclamen (cyclamen cyprium) is considered to be our national plant and Golden Oak (Quercus alnifolia) our national tree
Wood and Forests around the world
- Around the world, forests cover 31% of the total land area on Earth
- The five richest in forests countries are Russia, Brazil, Canada, USA and China
- The country with the highest consumption in sawn timber is the USA (18%) and in wood panels it is China (35%), both of which also are the largest producers of the above kinds
- Forests offer home to about 2/3 of all life species of our planet