Forests are essential for life on Earth. Forest ecosystem functions evolved over the time to maintain the overall health of the forest environment and any of the live form in it. Human, by far most are the ultimate beneficiary owner of the ecosystem functions. Three hundred million people worldwide live in forests and 1.6 billion depend directly on them for their livelihoods (Gichuki, 2019). At the most basic levels, forest provides wood production units for economic purposes. Major industries and smaller enterprises relying on forest products (timber) are the source of considerable income and employment. For local community level, the economic importance of timbers is most evident when they used timbers as fuelwood and charcoal for energy and heat. At higher level, forest prevents soil erosion, absorbs rainwater and provides flood control where trees and above ground biomass and vegetation in forest ecosystems slows water movement and helps stabilize the soil, thus reduces sedimentation type pollution in streams, rivers and lakes. Forest is home to 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, it provides habitat for a diversity of plant, insect and animal species which may serve as foods or medicines for human (Anon, 2020). Forest absorbs natural wastes of these diverse life forms. Beside, forest releases oxygen through photosynthesis and sequesters carbon from the atmosphere. Forest also affects the microclimate, it is a key component of the hydrologic cycle, as well as providing ecosystem services such as aesthetic enjoyment and spiritual inspiration. These wide range of values derived from forest is defined as natural capital. The valuation of natural capital or natural income had been used as the basic evaluation for the sustainable scale of the country. They measure the recovery of country’s ecosystems after the resources being exploited and used.

The natural income, or broad range of services, that flow from the same ecosystem all have different sensitivities to external disruption. It is well known that the natural capital for forest refers to the value forestry and woodlands offer above and beyond commercial timber value. Many times, the value of natural capital isn’t represented by a price, because putting a monetary value on nature can be difficult and controversial since everyone values natural resources differently. Timber is natural, it comes from forests. It can be turned into a product, reused, and at the end of its life it can be recycled into something else. Timber which can be reused and recycled, is instrumental to the circular economy. Constant innovations and development in the timber manufacturing and design gave us access to timber products made in different regional of the world with an affordable price. But the real cost of the timber product especially environmental value is not reflected on its price tag. This model of the economy, which consists of taking natural resources, then covert the resources into a product, which is then being consumed and discarded which defines as linear model is no longer viable in current world.

In normal forest ecosystem function, the timber economic value act as a single contributor in linear model to the natural income of forest, but in circular economy, the timber benefits are greatly enhanced. Circular economies have the potential to impact current economic, social and environmental conditions. The timbers are being valued far beyond than just economic function in forest ecosystem. It has become conventional wisdom that timbers are much more than a stock of wood. Timber is biodegradable and can be used for soil improvement and plant growth.

Timber being recognized as the perfect material to consider for the circular economy. Within a circular economy, the biological and technical components of a product must fit within a materials cycle, designed for disassembly and re-purposing. This idea of a circular economy would store carbon and substitute more energy-intensive materials. Timber being contributed not only as timber products, but timber is renewable and it uses low energy processes and generates little waste that can be recycled or used as a source of renewable fuel. The value of timber depends on the circular approach, this is the way forward to help reduce our current linear method which encourages waste. The circular approach evaluates the value of timber through the total recycle values of the same timber after its end usage, for example, the value of timber converted to timber products and finally to energy materials. Thus, the natural income for timber should be justified from the life cycle analysis which include the value for the timber in different stages of life cycle circle.

In the current change of timber industry, many companies are already recording the contribution of timber to the environmental data to help prove timber product’s credentials. One timber product that has proven its ability to be reused or recycled is the wooden pallet. Wooden pallets is a good example of how timber can be reused multiple times in a product's lifetime before being recycled into wood chips for particleboard or bioenergy in renewable fuel, and the ashes from burning converted into soil stabilizer in the end life of the timber. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the wooden pallet and packaging industry has been an essential industry, as pallets are used primarily to transport goods safely. They have been instrumental in transporting necessities across the country and continents, including the transportation of the medical devices for hospitals and COVID-19 vaccine. A champion of circularity, wooden pallets can be reused several times in the packaging industry and repaired once broken, giving them several “recycled value” as a pallet. After the end of service life as packaging materials, pallets have also been a popular choice for home projects. Refurbished pallets are ideal for those who like a rustic or industrial touch for their home, and creative designers have seen pallets repurposed into desks, bars, coffee tables, sheds and even an outdoor cinema. Once wooden pallets do come to the end of their life, after being reused and repaired or repurposed, they can be recycled into chipboard, extending the life of the timber again. They are a true example of a circular product.

As mentioned early, timber befits the ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ movement. Timbers also helps to reduce greenhouse gases especially CO2 in the atmosphere thus contributing to the slowing down of climate change as timber captures and stores carbon through photosynthesis process during the growth of a tree. It is a cost-free solution to carbon capture. Timber can also be used to offset sectors of the economy that cannot become carbon neutral, so it is beneficial to use this natural and renewable material instead of other materials. Timber products used for construction purposes contribute to a lower carbon footprint of buildings. With the rise of engineered wood products, wood has increasingly been used in the construction of residential and office buildings. The integration of circularity principles into this sector can further contribute to a transition towards a sustainable, low carbon economy, reducing carbon emissions and waste on a mass scale.

Fashion trends are making their way into wardrobes around the world faster than ever. This fashion industry is currently taking up the responsible for more annual carbon emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined (Ngan, 2020). Among the environmental impacts of fast fashion are the depletion of non-renewable sources, emission of greenhouse gases and excessive use of water of water and energy. The environment cost far exceeds its retail price. Sourcing alternative materials with a lower carbon and water footprint, such as modern natural cellulosic fibers, and improving clothing collection and recycling infrastructures are important for moving towards a circular economy. The natural cellulosic fibers can be from those discharge from after used timber products. The value provided by this natural cellulosic fiber to the fast fashion beyond the economic value of the timber as wooden products.

Forest operational decisions can have significant impacts on natural capital such as greenhouse gas emissions/carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, water quality, air quality, and biodiversity, as well as timber production. Yet at present, only certain forestry natural capital stocks and flows, principally standing timber and processed timber products are measured and explicitly valued by forest managers and investors. This article describes the options for measurement of the natural income from timber in circular economy model. The value of timber in natural capital after consideration the benefit of reuse, recycle and carbon sinks will provide a new sustainable scale of the country and will direct influence forest operational decisions.

Gichuki, L. 2019. Reviving land and restoring landscapes. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN

Anon. 2020. Article accessed from https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-report-worlds-forests-continue-shrink-urgent-action-needed. Accessed on 16 Nov. 2021.

Ngan Le. 2020. The Impact of Fast Fashion On The Environment. Article accessed from https://psci.princeton.edu/tips/2020/7/20/the-impact-of-fast-fashion-on-the-environment. Accessed on 16 Nov. 2021