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Governnent, international agenciea or private intereste) are unwilling to invest in trae
planting wiihout unquestionable security of land tenure: in Papua New Guinee - E indeed
lnroughtut npst of the Pacific - there can be no sueh thing. Elsewhere I have rrggested thet
" po"iibl" solution may lie in the identification of tree peciea wtrich are natural 'rrurvivor8"
(*'irictr, no matter how slowly they mey grow, will survive without any tending) and their
planting in the immediate rlt e oi logging (literally within 2-1 daye end with no buming)
iRi"t".aron, in press). Tle costa would then be eet against the proceeds from logging and no!
compounded forward. Such replanting must imply no claim to land tenure or to ownerehip of
the future crop but has to be regarded as the foreatry equivalent of the now widespread
requirernent in qen-cast mining thet the top-soil be replaced before handing the land back to
the owners.
The second cetegory of country (exemplified by Fijir Western Samoa and Solomon
Ielands) heve some naiural forests but are already committed to their replacencnt by
plantations - almost entirely of exotics. Species have been seleeted according to their
projected growth rates and with a view to utilizetion for energy generation s well es
conventional purPoses.
It is probably too late for governrrEnts of these eountries to rchieve anything through
closer control of natural forest lolginq (except, perhaps, in the case of t}re Solomon lslanda),
though mueh could be done, I beliJve,lo bring about more realistic l€tums from timber sales
throJgh the revision of royalties and other *sxes. (lt nas leen estimated that the total tex on
Solom-on Island logs ranges from US$l0lm' to US$0/m-r- compa4ed with a range in Wett
Africe for species-with similar end uses of U5$20/m- to uS$Il0/m-).
plantation establishment is far-sighted and, in the case of Fijir already yielding some
returns, as well as providing employment in rural areas (where most needed) and using
otherwise denelicb land. In future, it may be necessery to monitor the nutrient status of soils
under fast-grown plantation species sub ject to ultre-close spacing and short-rotetion
harvesting. the biorn"rs road to energy self reliance is an qtion under consideration in many
pacific iJlands; recent evidence from South Anrrica, however, $Iggests that glrort-rotetion
intensive cultuie (SRIC) systems may result in rapid depletion of potassium (and perhaps other
nutrients). In general, the soils of the lowland tropies available f or ref orestation are
relatively infertiie; it is no coincidence that their most successful tree crops are tioee from
which only small quantities of nutrients are removed in harvesting (rubberr oil-palmr cocoat
etc) - a i". c.y from SRIC systems. Recent reports an the Jari river projeet (the mogt
ambitious plantation scheme ever) underline the need for caution.
Tfre island groups of Tmga, Kiribati and the Cooks exemplify the thousands of small,
isolated and necessarily self-contained economies in the Pacific Ocean which are extremely
vulnerable to externaf economic forces and have no prospect of developing significantly
beyond subsistence. They have learned to live with advereity and have much to teach the rest
of us about self -reliance (Richardson and Richardsonr 1984).
ln these islands, the utilization of coconut is highly developed - the stems for
construction, furniture, roof Biles, cladding, tools, utensile, charcoal, fuel, etc-1 the fibre end
leaves for cloth, packaging, matting and ioofing; the sap for soft drinks, sgsr alcohol and
toddy; the nuts ior foois, oit, "f,*"oal, etc.; and the roots for rope and twine. Logs may be
preseivative lreated by immersion in salt water. Tfrere are a few other trees available (e.9'
Lreadfruit, Calophyllum, Terminalis' Corgief Pendsnugr Jnocaryyl
Canarium, etc') but all are
grown witiriiG-Iqr-restrFrctemTiFAtffiZ-tor nruttipte purposes. isolation of
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lhe islands, their liny size and fragile ecosystems put a premium on cultivable soil. Fm the
atolls and islets there is no elternetive foreetry.
The forest economies of Auetralia and New Zealand serve rather different objectives
and face different problems New Zealand in particular is committed to a major export role
and has me of the most advenced forest production economieg in the world. (Our proceesing
economies, by contrast, are with few exceptions, primitive.) Australia has been described s a
vast continent, the iringes of which ere littered with eucalypts and Australians. Both
countries are characterized by small, scatlered domestic markets, high labour and Lransport
costs, and an increasing proportion of forest production coming from small producere. Our
challenge, I believe, is- to adapt advanced proceasing technology to the point where scale
economies become irrelevant and we can maximize grade outturn (irrespective of product) at
acceptable costs. Comparative advantages we possess vis-a-vis other industrialized countries
are low wood cosLs, cfieap power and - above all - a reputation for pioneerinq ingenuity and