2018 International Forest Industries IFI June July 2018 Digital | Page 6
ISSUE 63
JUNE / JULY 2018
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Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2AF, UK Trump’s economic policy would benefit from a
cold Erdinger with a lumberjack
Editorial Director
John Chadwick
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Editor
Chris Cann
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Editorial Board
Dr Patrick Moore – Chairman and Chief
Scientist of Greenspirit (Canada)
Darren Oldham – Managing Director
Söderhamn Eriksson (UK)
Professor Piotr Paschalis-Jakubowicz –
Warsaw Agricultural University (Poland)
Mr Kim Carstensen
Director General
Forest Stewardship Council
Eduardo Morales
South American Forestry Consultant
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4 International Forest Industries | JUNE / JULY 2018
A global industry?
A
t the risk of repeating myself, I’m going to
have a little gush about the summer finally
arriving in the Northern Hemisphere. There is
something about the long evenings and the
sunshine of a northern summer that those who
enjoy more consistent seasons of the south will
have trouble understanding. At the risk of taking a dark turn in an otherwise
upbeat editorial, I can’t help but contrast this
attitude against that of US President Donald
Trump, who recently thumbed his nose at one
of the great forestry capitals, Canada, and has
been combative with Germany, host of the
impending Interforst show.
For us in the north, summer brings with it
the conference season, which, as a forestry
hack, provides the peaks across the heights of
summer – myself and my IFI colleagues become
big kids in the world’s largest toyshops, full of
heavy machinery and cutting edge technology. He seems to loathe foreign places and different
people, with his offshore visits serving to throw
his weight around and curry favour with his
rustbelt support base. As head of the world’s
largest economy, Trump seems happy to use
economic influence to win a better deal for the
US in bilateral trade deals at the expense of
global growth.
Not that these shows always brings nice
weather, mind you. Last year’s trip to Sweden
for Elmia saw this ill-equipped editor lose a
shoe having gone knee-deep into a bog before
even reaching the showground, while my briefly
amused colleague was forced to test just how
waterproof his boots were after copying my
efforts into a foot-deep, woodchip-concealed
puddle. As it turns out, his boots aren’t water
proof if the water comes in at the ankle.
Outliers such as this, aside, forestry shows are
generally a wonderful place to see cool things,
talk to good people, and drink cold beer. We
don’t get out as often as we’d like, with our
masters preferring to keep us chained to our
typewriters, but we’re looking forward to seeing
the inside of at least two conferences over the
next three months.
From those we’ve spoken to at previous events,
this feeling is widely held.
On one hand, those places that hold themselves
out as forestry strongholds, love to host these
events to greet fellow industry professionals
from around the globe and show off their local
industry. Those visiting are there to share
experiences, see something different and
hopefully learn new and innovation business
practices. Both camps thrive on forming
international relationships that increase the
wealth being created.
Were the international economy a zero-sum
game, this would make perfect sense. But
it’s not. By stifling the growth of those less
prosperous, all he is doing is reducing the pie
that the world is sharing.
His ego may be happy to have a larger slice
of international wealth as it stands today
but people (read: voters) demand constant
enhancements to their quality of life, especially
those most in need to whom Trump has
promised plenty.
The only way to deliver more is this scenario is
to create more to share out. When the sideshow
gets old and the easy economic wins have dried
up, this will become painfully clear.
Personally, I’d like to see that inevitability
brought forward and I can think of no better
way than inviting the US President along to
Interforst in Muncich, for starters. A couple of
cold beers and a German sausage or two with
the international forestry community would no
doubt open his mind.
Enjoy
Chris Cann