Opportunities for the smallholder sandalwood industry in ... - ACIAR

Proponents of further expansion of S. album plantings
suggest that, as it produces heartwood with a
higher santalol content, this will enable Vanuatu to
compete successfully in the international marketplace.
Conversely, there is a high likelihood of other species
hybridising with S. austrocaledonicum, and it has
been suggested that dilution of S. austrocaledonicum
genetic resources through hybridisation with S. album
can reduce species diversity, which is important for
conservation and efforts for future improvement.
With the high growth rates of the S. yasi × S. album
hybrids in Fiji, it has been proposed that an increase
in tree vigour may also be achieved with S. austrocaledonicum
× S. album hybrids in Vanuatu, although it
is not known what effect this may have on the length
of rotation, as S. album has a longer rotation than
S. austrocaledonicum.
Opponents to the further introduction of
S. album cite market advantages for producing ‘pure’
S. austrocaledonicum heartwood products, because
differentiation from Indian, Fijian and Australian
product can be an advantage in the marketplace by
increasing the opportunity for niche marketing.
Economic advantages from
planted sandalwood
The medium- to long-term prospects for the industry
are optimistic due to the projected high value of sandalwood
in world markets, the level of sandalwood
planting currently being undertaken and the resulting
increase in the size of the Vanuatu resource from
2020, as planted stocks begin to mature. The projected
increase in sandalwood supply in Vanuatu will begin
in 2015, associated with the harvesting of planted
resources established around 2000 (Figure 9). This
assumes that half the trees are harvested after 15 years
and the other half at 20 years. As many trees were
established when information on site selection and
management was limited, more conservative heartwood
estimates (18 kg at both 15 and 20 years) are
used in this projection than are measured in this report
(Figures 12 and 13). We also assume that the wild
resources will decline to approximately 30 tonnes
by 2015 given the low total volume (209 tonnes)
of the resource estimated in 2008 (Gillieson et al.
2008). The planted resource will begin to come ‘on
line’ in 2014 and possibly bring production back up
to approximately 80 tonnes in 2015. This additional
planted resource will gradually build over the next
decade, and the industry may be able to sustain annual
production at around 120–150 tonnes between 2020
and 2025 and possibly over 300 tonnes by 2029–30
(Figure 10). By this time, the planted resource would
therefore represent about a fourfold increase in annual
harvesting rates and subsequent value of the industry,
when compared with the current 80 tonne annual
quota. With a continuation of the current planting
activity, the Vanuatu industry can consolidate and
improve its position as a small, niche producer within
the international marketplace.
The agroforestry approach for securing future
sandalwood supplies with genetically diverse and
improved planting stock can potentially increase the
total value of the industry since it has a number of
advantages over the current wild-harvest industry:
• The planting of trees across a wider geographical
area than the natural stands will facilitate improved
distribution of economic impacts for smallholders
across the country and reduce the risk associated
with natural disasters.
• The integration of tree production within existing
swidden agricultural systems can be undertaken
with only minimal additional costs.
• Production within existing agricultural systems
can reduce the incidence of resource disputes,
since ownership of planted trees is less likely to
be challenged than ownership of wild trees.
• Integrated sandalwood agroforests can also help to
reduce the dependence on, and subsequent overexploitation
of, natural sandalwood populations.
In addition, further expansion of sandalwood
planting across Vanuatu could multiply current export
earnings by many times and help satisfy an increasing
international demand.
Impediments to the expansion of a
planted sandalwood resource
A major impediment to developing a genuine
agroforestry-based sandalwood industry in Vanuatu
is the scarcity of seed supplies, largely resulting from
an unreliable supply from natural sources (Lui and
Smith 2007). The limited local supply of sandalwood
seeds has resulted in a 2.5–20-fold increase in the
unit cost of seed between 2005 and 2008 (Table 3). A
similar rise in the price of sandalwood seedlings has
stimulated the establishment of a lucrative nursery
trade in urban areas, but has put the goal of establishing
sandalwood smallholdings beyond the reach of
many subsistence farmers. Sandalwood seed supply
in Vanuatu comes primarily from the southern islands
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