With increasing private sector investments in commercial forestry, it is apparent that plantation forestry in Sri Lanka is moving in the direction of managing fast growing timber species for shorter rotations. However, there's a perceptionthat accelerated growth rates induced by improved forest management practices can result in inferior wood quality. This study tested this perceptionby studying the effect of growth rate on the specific gravity, as a proxy for wood quality, of three alternative timber species grown in Sri Lanka; Swietenia macrophylla, Khaya senegalensis and Paulownia fortunei. Specific gravity remained more or less uniform from pith to bark regardless of the fluctuation of ring width in K. senegalensis while S. macrophylla exhibited a slight increase in specific gravity from pith to bark. This increasing trend was more prominent in P. fortunei. Results revealed growth rates represented by ring width showed poor correlations with specific gravity in both S. macrophylla, and K. senegalensis. Although P. fortunei showed a statistically significant positive correlation, regression analysis indicated a poor relationship between growth rate and specific gravity. Hence it is unlikely that wood specific gravity of the studied species to be influenced by accelerated growth rates.

The demand for sawn timber and wood-based products is rising steadily with new developments and the growing domestic consumption in Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is important to strike a balance between the increasing demand and consumption of forest resources. Thus, the key objective of this study was to investigate the effects of sawmill management and technological parameters on loss in conversion from logs to sawn timber and to compare the sawmill efficiency in private sawmills with the state timber corporation sawmill.Sawmill management and technological parameters were studied in 21 private sawmills and State Timber Corporation sawmill in Kaldemulla to evaluate the effects on loss in conversion. The selected sawmills represent all types available in Sri Lanka, i.e., frame saw, circular saw and band saw mills. Based on the results, mean percentage loss in conversion of teak and mahogany timber for all sawmills (private and State Timber Corporation) in Moratuwa found to be 53.10%. Significant differences were observed in loss in conversion values between the three categories of private sawmills as well as within sawmills of the same category. It was shown that loss in conversion values also varied with sawmill management and technological parameters such as type of machinery employed, sharpening frequency and sawyer's experience, saw setting, availability of log alignment equipment and saw guards, oversizing and sawn timber sizes.

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Jayewardenepuraraditionally building contractors and furniture manufacturers select naturally grown timber for most of their timber requirements. These include high rated rare hardwood timber species such as Mee, Wewarana, Milla, Palu, Halmilla, Hulanhik, Etathimbiri, Dun, Alubo, Liyan and Suriyamara. These species are mostly grown in natural forests and their supplies have now become very limited. Fellings from natural forests and transport of these rare valuable species are now banned by Forestry Legislation. However government building specifications continue to specify the use of these endangered species. It is apparent that either contractors use these illicitly felled timber they obtain, or they are actually using other low quality readily available species instead of these natural species.

The Moratuwa Woodworking Industry Cluster (MWIC) is a geographically concentrated cluster of over 1,600 small-to-medium scale wood-based manufacturing and retail facilities in Sri Lanka. Firms include furniture manufacturers, carpentry shops, sawmills, and integrated sawmills. The concept of industrial symbiosis explores the synergies between industrial facilities to exchange energy, water, by-products, and waste to achieve a higher efficiency in resource utilization. This research was undertaken to address the lack of quantitative information on wood residues generated within the MWIC. A survey of 180 primary and secondary wood product manufacturers was undertaken to quantify MWIC firm by-product production and consumption of wood residues to establish a baseline for possible end use and waste synergies. The total population of enterprises generating wood waste is 730; retail facilities are not included. Sawmills produce approximately 66% of the 6,490 MT of MWIC's monthly wood residue generation, with the balance produced by carpentry and integrated enterprises. Teak (Tectona grandis) and mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) are the dominant species used in the MWIC, accounting for most of the wood waste. Three main types of wood waste were identified in the survey: sawdust (76.5%), boards with significant wane (16.5%) unusable for further products, and offcuts (6.9%). Only 55% of the wood waste generated in MWIC is currently used; the remaining 45% is taken to landfills or disposed of in other ways, such as discarded in waterways or other nonapproved locations. Improved wood waste sorting by type at the mill level and aggregated wood waste within the MWIC was determined to increase the usability of wood waste as potential inputs in other wood manufacturing sectors in the MWIC.