Does Forestry Industry Development Enhance Forest Resource Sustainability? An Examination Based on Forestry Industry Complexity

Forests have substantial economic and ecological value. However, the overemphasis on economic values raises concerns on the sustainable development of forest resources. This study examines whether the forestry industry can realize coordinated development with forest resources based on forestry industry complexity, and explains the mechanism behind it from a product space perspective. We measure the development status of the global forestry industry using the economic complexity approach and investigate the impact of forestry industry development on forest resource sustainability with a varying coefficient panel data model. Finally, we utilize a complex network to explain the causal mechanism for their relationship. The results indicate that forestry industry development significantly promotes forest resource sustainability globally, but that the relationship varies across different countries. For countries with comparative advantages in labor-intensive industries like furniture manufacturing, development of the forestry industry is detrimental to the sustainability of forest resources. Conversely, for countries possessing comparative advantages in skill-intensive industries like forest cultivation and pulp manufacturing, development of the forestry industry is beneficial to the sustainability of forest resources. This is primarily determined by the input–output relationship between timber and products. Based on the evolution of product space, the transition of forestry industry from labor-intensive to skill-intensive industries is conducive to both the improvement of forestry industry complexity and the sustainability of forest resources. Thus, promoting the cultivation and sustainable management of forest resources through industrial development is a principal policy strategy for achieving a synergistic relationship between forestry industry development and forest resource sustainability.