29 April 2008
Selected acacias from Queensland and Papua New Guinea are being used in an large-scale tropical forest plantation project in Borneo.
CSIRO is providing technical expertise in support of what US science magazine Discover has described as one of “the six most important experiments in the world” – the Planted Forests Project on the island of Borneo.
"This Malaysian project is visionary," the leader of the CSIRO team David Boden said.
"Around the world we've seen that conservation in developing countries will only succeed if there's something in it for the local communities,” he said.
"The Sarawak State Government has allocated nearly half a million hectares.
One-third of the land will be set aside for conservation of Sarawak's rich biodiversity, one-third for use by the traditional ethnic communities, and one-third for the establishment of a sustainable and economically viable plantation forestry industry."
Boden says that the key to CSIRO's involvement is its expertise in developing tropical acacia forestry plantations.
"The Sarawak Government has chosen selected Acacia mangium from Queensland and Papua New Guinea for the plantations. A hectare of acacia plantation can produce more wood than 10 ha of forest that had been logged and regrown naturally. That step up in production could be the difference that makes the whole project viable."
Boden says the project offers a new direction – well-managed profitable and sustainable forestry that also delivers for conservation and for the local people.
With 90,000 ha of acacia already planted, the first trees will soon be ready for harvesting.
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