TEAK
PLANTATIONS IN PANAMA
Tecaland teak plantations are parcels of land in the rural areas
of Panama, which were selected through a scientific analysis for
the growing of teak wood. The properties are completely or partially
planted with a high quality stock of teak trees. Each parcel of
land is registered in the Public Registry of the Republic of Panama
in the name of the owner according to Panamanian laws and regulations.
Owning property in Panama is possible for foreigners as well as
for Panamanian citizens without any problem and/or restrictions.
Panama is considered one of the most stable economies in Latin
America and in the past few years has experienced a strong boost,
in particular in the real estate sector.
The ownership of land and trees has been appreciated
for ages. In Germany, approximately 50% of the forests are privately
owned. The forest nurtures the assets and lets them grow –
slowly, but steadily as their owners know. Also the Timberland
Reports (1) of the James W. Sewall Company, a consulting firm
specialized in forestry since 1880; proves that the acquisition
of reforested land is an attractive, safe and especially acyclic
form of capital expenditure.
Panama
(Panama)
Viewed geographically and geologically Panama forms a bridge between
North and South America. Apart from the Panama Canal as one of
the most important trade routes in the world for navigation, Panama
hosts the second largest Free Trade Zone in the world. The US
dollar, the local currency since 1904, guarantees the lowest levels
of inflation in the entire hemisphere, inflation that barely exceeds
1.5 %.
With over 60,000 hectares of plantations Panama is among the biggest
developers of wood plantations in Central America. On top of this,
Panama has special fiscal incentive laws that make available interesting
advantages for a plantation owner:
- Investor’s visa with the right to reside in Panama.
- Tax exemptions for processed wood.
- Exemptions on real estate tax
- Exemptions on real estate sales tax when selling a property
- Exemptions on capital gains tax when selling a property
Furthermore
Panama also offers incentives in several other sectors, such as
agriculture as well as for retirees.
Wood
as a Raw Material (Rohstoff Holz)
Wood
is one of the most important raw materials in the world. The application
possibilities of this raw material are extremely diverse and range
from firewood to highly complex industrial materials, which are
used in aeronautics; for example baltec, a product from Alcan.
Approximately 80% of the wood consumed in an industrialized country,
such as Germany, is related to paper, construction, and energy
sectors. In all three of these sectors the consumption trend is
sharply increasing. Wood is an extremely versatile material, which
as a renewable raw material can replace many others. With the
price of oil increasing the demand for wood-energy is rising,
as well. Wood as an energy carrier is preferred more often, especially
in cases where investments in new heating systems are required.
In the past fifty years, only paper consumption in Germany has
increased by twelve times. Even when recycling paper, fresh wood
fibbers are required to meet the quality demands of many products.
Do
it yourself, furniture, packing material, wooden ware, construction,
wood-energy, paper. Source: www.umweltzeichen.de
Wood Consumption (Holzkonsum)
The worldwide wood consumption is due to increase by approximately
25% between 1996 and 2010 according to a study made by the FAO.
On the other hand the worldwide forested area has decreased by
7.3 million hectares per year (approximately the size the Free
State of Bavaria) in the years 2000 to 2005. More than a third
of that area was primary forests. Nowadays, in many countries,
it is very common the use political system to limit the over exploitation
of wood, to prevent the uncontrolled felling of trees, and to
protect this important natural resource.
The wood consumption increases by approximately 1.7 % per year
on a worldwide basis, while the population increases by 1.2 %.
It is expected that the demand for wood will increase in the future
more rapidly, depending on the market and price developments of
other raw materials such as petroleum.
The importance of plantations as producers of this essential raw
material has increased enormously. Today nearly 5% of all reforested
areas are plantations and according to an updated FAO study approximately
60% of the wood production in Latin America and the Caribbean
will come from plantations by the year 2020. Latin America and
the Caribbean produce about 10% of the worldwide demand for wood.
Wood plantations contribute to the protection of primary forests,
avoiding excessive tree felling to cover this increasing wood
demand. Apart from the wood production primary forests have other
diverse inherent values; they serve as water reservoirs, climate
regulators and soil erosion protectors. Plantations can also fulfil
some of these functions however never with the same quality and
magnitude. Plantations are specialized in wood production and
that is what they are best for.
Origin:
natural forest Origin: plantations
Source:
FAO, 2006 Tendencies and perspectives of the wood sector in Latin
America and the Caribbean.
Tree Species and Occurrence (baumart und Vorkommen)
The teak tree (scientific name: Tectona Grandis also called Indian
oak) is a tree which has a height of as much as 50 meters and
is from the family of the labiate plants. It reaches a diameter
of 40 to 100 cm. Up to a height of approx. 20 meters the tree
has no branches. This tropical hardwood, having a density of 0.44
to 0.82 g/cm3, is originally from South and Southeast Asia. Teak
is cultivated today with a lot of success in plantations around
the globe in tropical and subtropical regions below 500 meter
above sea level with a distinct rainy season and yearly precipitation
levels of 1.500 to 3.000 mm.
Use of the Wood (Anwendung des Holzes)
Teak wood is easy to process and dries fast. Especially its inner
hardwood with dark colouring which is very popular among consumers,
as it is considered to be extremely weather proof. Teak wood is
used to make interior and exterior furniture, parquet, linings
and coverings, and has special application uses in boat-building.
Inferior qualities are also used in the construction sector. The
fibber structure and the silicate characteristics make the wood
surface extremely water resistant and therefore extremely durable.
Because of its high natural content of oils and rubber, teak wood
is not considered flammable, acid-resisting and in addition resistant
to worms and fungus.
Growing of Teak (Anbau von teak)
Teak can be grown without any problems in plantations and has
excellent growth characteristics. Under good conditions a teak
tree grows in diameter approx. 2.5 to 3 cm per year. On well drained
soils and soils rich in nutrients teak trees develop their best
and may even reach in their first year of growth a diameter of
8 cm.
A teak plantation, per hectare (10,000 m2), produces an average
of 15 to 25 m3 of standing timber per year. Such a growth rate
is three times faster than the fast growing tree species in moderate
climate zones of Central Europe.
The most important criterions for achieving a high wood production
rate are:
-
Selection of an appropriate site and preparation of the soil
- Quality of the genetic material used to produce the young plants
- Competent plantation care and maintenance
The
wood is not harvested yearly, only when the stock of trees has
reached a certain density and the individual trees start to compete
for water, light and space. The decisive factor for determining
the density of a stock of trees is the basal surface area. From
a forest management point of view, it is composed of, the sum,
of all tree trunk cross-sectional surfaces, per hectare, at a
tree trunk height of 1.3 m, and defines consequently the ideal
moment for performing a thinning (felling of the trees). The diameter
at breast height or DBH indicates the tree trunk diameter at a
height of 1.3 m, and it is this measured figure that is most commonly
used when making calculations in forestry.
Performing thinnings serves 2 important purposes; they increase
the growth rate of the remaining standing trees in the plantation
and they allow wood proceeds to be generated on the market from
the commercial wood realized from them. The amount of the wood
proceeds are directly correlated to the amount of commercial wood
outputs (wood volume harvested), but they increase dramatically
with wood quality and diameter size of the log sections. The optimum
biological growth and economic profit from the sale of wood is
normally realized when a plantation is intensively maintained,
established on a good quality site, and has a rotation life cycle
between 20 to 25 years.
Location (Standort)
Analysis of the soil and soil profiles are necessary in order
to evaluate an appropriate plantation site. These analyses provide
information on the chemical and physical structure of the soil.
Studying this information helps to determine if the soils are
suitable for growing teak and if certain nutrient deficiencies
are present which need to be considered during the plantation
rotation life cycle. Today, nutrient deficiencies can be detected
and corrected before they adversely affect the growth of the trees.
Tecaland’s teak plantations are located in the provinces
of Darien and Panama, to the east of the capital, where existing
plantations of some 12 to 14 years of age show extraordinarily
good growth conditions.
Call
Free USA & Canada: 1- 877-2910410
Panama
Legal Bureau
Phone: ++ (507) 213.2768 -
Fax: ++ (507) 213.2767
Email:
info@panamalegalbureau.com
