International Poplar Commission

Information on poplars and willows

Native to the temperate and subtropical zones, trees and shrubs of Salicaceae are fast-growing, easy to propagate vegetatively, and highly adaptable to a wide range of climatic and soil conditions. These characteristics, combined with the wide range of wood, fibre, fuelwood and other forest products and services they provide, have led to the widespread use of poplars and willows around the world. Traditionally used in forestry and integrated with agricultural systems, they are more recently being used as renewable energy sources and for soil remediation in contaminated sites.

Native areas of Salicaceae in the world (Image: FAO)

Policies

Poplars and willows largely occur naturally on river banks and marshy places and the fastest-growing, and most profitable, plantations have been established in these sites. Environmental issues and public concern regarding the alteration of natural riparian habitats and flood plains through the establishment of plantations have strongly affected policies and practices in both poplar and willow culture in many countries in North America and Europe.

Some changes in national policies and legislation, mainly concerning new regulations for forest reproductive material, the registration of new clones, natural forest protective projects, financial incentives and measures to preserve the quality of the environment were reported. The application and development of EC Regulation 2080/92 was substituted by EC Regulation 1257/99 that provided for approximately the same subsidies; poplar cultivation will therefore be financially supported in the European Union until 2006.

In East Europe the forestry sector, as with other economic activities, has continued to adapt to free market conditions. Some countries, as Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, introduced regulations regarding the restitution of agricultural and forest lands to their former owners.