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