A recently released assessment of Gympie messmate and red mahogany wood qualities has provided valuable information to assist investors weighing investment options in tropical timber plantations.
The assessment is based on trees felled in the Innisfail region by Tropical Cyclone Larry in 2006, and salvaged by researchers from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries (DPI&F).
The project features in the June edition of the Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) research-based newsletter Leading Edge.
DPI&F Project Leader Rob McGavin said the timber was reclaimed from trial plots of 19-year-old Gympie messmate and 15- year-old red mahogany, both of which were established and managed for sawlog production.
“The results of our evaluation were extremely positive, although the trees had not yet reached maturity,” he said.
“With the Queensland Government progressively withdrawing from harvesting in publicly-owned native forests over the coming decades it is essential that we develop plantations to provide alternative, quality hardwood for structural timber products.”
Rob McGavin said normally wood quality assessments would be undertaken when the trees were closer to harvest, between 20 and 25 years old.
Taking advantage of the opportunity presented by Cyclone Larry, the evaluation on the salvaged trees was able to confirm the potential of Gympie messmate (Eucalyptus cloeziana) and red mahogany (E. pellita) to provide solid wood and structural products from plantations in northern Queensland.
The project was one-off opportunity, generated by Cyclone Larry, and not part of a larger, more structured research programme. FWPA co-funded the project as part of its Resource Characterisation and Improvement research programme, in conjunction with funding from Queensland’s DPI&F and Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry.
Rob McGavin said while further research was required to evaluate management costs and systems, and end-product values, the findings of this initial assessment were promising.
Given that most of Queensland’s tropical timber plantations have been established for pulp wood production and are less than 10 years, it would be some time before further research could be undertaken to replicate and build on this work.
The complete research findings are presented in four reports Evaluation of wood characteristics of tropical post-mid rotation plantation Eucalyptus cloeziana and E. pellita (Parts a, b, c and d) and are available from FWPA’s website.