Tasmanian Blackwood Growers Cooperative

My local corner store had a sign out the front recently telling customers that they also employ 40 Tasmanians; presumably an allusion to the latest round of the forestry wars. The vital pieces of missing information on the sign were:

1.   They employ 40 Tasmanians AND are profitable;

2.   The Tasmanian taxpayer is not out-of-pocket as a result of the activities of this corner store;

3.   The store was established with NO government financial support; and

4.   The store enjoys strong community support.

My corner store is just a typical successful commercial business.

My thoughts on the IGA come from the perspective of a forester who has spent the past 30 years watching the forest industry in Australia fall slowly into decline and disrepute. A truly bizarre and frustrating situation.

In the 21^st century in an era of increasing concern for renewable resources and the environment the forest industry in Australia should be enjoying unprecedented levels of commercial, political, and community support. Instead the opposite is true.

Something has to change.

In fact quite a lot has to change. A commercially successful, politically and community supported forest industry could be very profitable and achieve a great deal of good in the 21^st century, just as it is in New Zealand. But opportunities for change are rare. To my mind the IGA represents a pretty good opportunity, but few people seem to recognise this. Instead the disparate and polarised positions within the debate make finding a solution difficult, and support for the IGA is thin on the ground.

Yes the IGA is a flawed process but what forestry agreement hasn’t been. But a “business as usual outcome” will be of no benefit to anyone. The forest industry will not survive if the forestry wars continue. I guess having no forest industry is one way to resolve the forestry wars!

There is no single road to reform, and no perfect solution to the forestry wars. But for the future of Tasmania, find a solution we must. If the IGA fails due to lack of industry, community and political support there will be no “better” solution to replace it. Certainly the politicians cannot provide a better outcome, although they will make those kinds of promises. Change must be driven by the industry and the community. Instead of standing back and criticising the Agreement, it is time for people to step forward with support, ideas and energy to help keep the reform process going. The IGA is only the first round.

Will the IGA bring peace in the forests? Of course not!! There are issues that are fundamental to the functioning of the Tasmanian forest industry that are not addressed in the Statement of Principles. Issues of management, of governance, of commercial performance, accountability and transparency, issues to do with ongoing communication and relationships. Many of these issues focus around the Government, Parliament and Forestry Tasmania. The forestry wars will most certainly continue unless these issues are also addressed.

Actually my major criticism of the IGA is that it fails to identify the major issues facing the forest industry. So people are left with the assumption that putting more forest areas into reserve is all that is required for the forest industry to regain commercial, social and political relevance. I suspect this is one of the reasons why the IGA has had so few supporters. People understand that by itself the IGA cannot deliver what it proposes to deliver, and no one has outlined the rest of the process.

Reform in the forest industry is vital. The IGA is just the first step. A blackwood growers cooperative will only survive and prosper if the IGA is supported and successful, and further reforms are pursued.

http://bob-brown.greensmps.org.au/content/media-release/jobs-flow-forest-agreement-fund

It’s great to see someone finally come out with a positive vision post-TFIA. It’s long overdue, but better late than never.  The report commissioned by Senator Bob Brown and authored by Naomi Edwards and Jamie Hanson (EHR) outlines potential areas where the TFIA regional development money ($120m) could possibly be spent to build a stronger, more diverse Tasmanian economy. There’s just one problem...

There’s no mention of any future forest industry. Or rather it says that “the IGA provides for the existence of a sustainable forestry industry going forward.” This is clearly not true! The IGA merely defines what remaining public native forest will be available for harvesting. That is not a vision of a future prosperous forest industry.

The EHR also indicates that none of the IGA regional development money should be used in forestry-related projects. Why?

Just because commercial access to public native forest is declining doesn’t mean the end of the forest industry (although curiously the TFGA would have us believe this to be the case). There is already a significant private forest resource (both native forest and plantation) existing in the State.  With proper policy and support this could grow and be a major contributor to the State’s economy (Jan Davis where are you?). My own proposal for a blackwood growers cooperative is just one of a range of private forestry initiatives that could see Tasmania become a major private forest grower and processor.

At the risk of being repetitive and boring I will remind readers that New Zealand has a thriving, sustainable, privately-owned, profitable forest industry that is a cornerstone of their economy. There is no reason why Tasmania cannot follow the New Zealand example if it wants too. Why is such an option deliberately excluded from the Edwards-Hanson report?

Deliberately excluding the forest industry from the EHR will just enflame those who support the forest industry, who will see the EHR as merely a political document reflecting Bob Browns own political agenda. The IGA doesn’t need more antagonists. We already have a surplus of those (with little or no commercial potential).

Using the New Zealand forest industry as an example Tasmania could have a thriving profitable private forest industry, producing a range of wood products from high-value to commodity. A good foundation already exists. Why deliberately exclude this option from the EHR?

Cheers!

A big part of the blackwood cooperative (if we get funding) will be sharing experiences in growing blackwood. Only by sharing can we gain greater understanding and confidence. Here is a great 11-year-old blackwood plantation in north-west Tasmania. I’m writing this blog from just the photo and the owner’s emails. I’m looking forward to visiting the plantation in 2012.

Site selection and establishment

Red basalt soil in a relatively high rainfall area at an altitude of 300m provides pretty good conditions for growing commercial blackwood. I’m not sure what protection from browsing was used but it was obviously successful. Like much of north-west Tasmania the site is an exposed windy ridge. This exposure has been overcome by planting a windbreak on the western side and appears to have been effective so far, although the blackwoods are now getting above the windbreak.

Management

The trees are obviously being pruned.  But the plantation is definitely due for a thinning. At final stocking this plantation will have somewhere between 18 and 24 trees, so clearly a lot of the existing trees will have to go. Once the green crowns close (meet) then the lower part of the crown starts to die due to lack of light. This means the trees are seriously competing with each other and growth is slowing.  It is better to stay ahead of this by thinning the stand to ensure there is no crown die-off and that growth remains at its maximum potential.

The intensive management of blackwood plantations means that competition between trees is not needed to control branching and improve stem form. Instead branches and stem form are managed by pruning. So the focus for commercial blackwood is to prune and keep the trees growing as fast as possible. So a lot of pruning effort here has gone onto trees that will become firewood. Some early expert advice may have helped optimise the management.

Conclusion

A site visit will tell how effective the management has been in creating trees that will continue to grow into valuable sawlogs. Nevertheless it is one of the best examples of blackwood plantation I’ve seen in Tasmania. This is a great example of using shelterbelts in what would otherwise we quite an exposed windy site. There is a lot of exposed ridge-top country in north-west Tasmania that could grow commercial blackwood provided shelter was available. Here is one example of how it can be done.

Thinning the plantation down to final stocking of ~200 trees per hectare will allow the crowns of remaining trees to fill out and maximise the growth potential of the site. The trees are now rather tall and thin so thinning may need to be done in two stages over 2-3 years to minimise the risk of windthrow.

Once I’ve visited the site I’ll provide an update. Thanks to the plantation owner for allowing me to share this story.

Cheers,

Gordon.

An American made Taylor 426CE-LTD, a premium guitar using Tasmanian blackwood top, back and sides.

One of the important drivers in the future of plantation blackwood I believe will be the demand for sustainable tonewoods. Tonewoods are woods used in the manufacture of musical instruments. Blackwood is most commonly used in the manufacture of acoustic guitars. While the volumes required may be relatively small, and the log specifications may be restrictive, the high value and prestige associated with this market will help drive the development of blackwood as a premium plantation species.

Like most music instruments the history and development of the guitar has been a struggle between tradition and innovation. In the case of the violin tradition reigns supreme, with the Cremonese era (17^th – 18^th century) being regarded as the pinnacle of violin manufacture. With the steel-string acoustic guitar, the pre-war (WW2) American guitars are today regarded as the pinnacle, but innovation and adaptation continue to drive the development of the guitar. One factor driving innovation is the supply of quality wood. Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) is regarded as the holy grail of guitar tonewoods, but it is now subject to a CITES restrictions that severely limits availability. Like Brazilian rosewood, many traditional tonewoods come from the logging of rainforest, with very few coming from sustainable sources. This is where blackwood has a distinct advantage.

Blackwood entered the tonewood market due to the success of its American cousin Acacia koa. Hawaiian music was extremely popular in America in the 1920’s, with many guitars being made using Koa which is only found in Hawaii. As a result Koa quickly established itself as a quality tonewood. Koa wood comes from the logging of Hawaii’s very limited native forests, and with supplies dwindling, guitar makers are looking for a substitute. In Australia, Melbourne-based guitar makers Maton have pioneered the use of Australian timbers for many years, including blackwood.  

Blackwood tonewood currently enjoys retail prices ranging from $70,000 for relatively plain sets, to $150,000+ per cubic metre for highly figured and decorative examples. I don’t have any figures that convert these prices back to stumpages (price at stump), but they must be considerably higher than standard sawlog stumpages.

With most blackwood timber currently coming from the logging of public forest in Tasmania, and with the ongoing uncertainty about the future management of these forests, the opportunity to establish a sustainable plantation resource to supply this market is great.

Major guitar manufacturers are becoming increasing involved in the supply side of their tonewoods, to ensure they come from quality, sustainable sources. Examples of this include the Musicwood Coalition (www.musicwood.org). One of my objectives with the blackwood growers cooperative would be to establish relationships with some of these major manufacturers such as Taylor, Martin and Gibson, so that their requirements for tonewood would help drive the development of the coop.

There is plenty of evidence to show that international demand for blackwood tonewood has increased dramatically over the last 10 years. We just need to get the supply side of the business working.

Cheers!

References

Ellis A, Saufley C, Gerken T (2008) The future of tonewood. Acoustic Guitar 18(8):80-86.

Evans P (2007) The use of blackwood in the Australian guitar-making industry. In: Beadle C. L. and Brown A. G. (eds) Acacia Utilisation and Management: Adding Value - 3rd Blackwood Industry Group (BIG) workshop. 26-29 April 2006, Marysville, Victoria, RIRDC Publication No. 07/095, Canberra, Australia. pp. 45-46.

Morrow A (2007) Evaluation of Australian timbers for use in musical instruments. J. W. Gottstein Memorial Trust Fund, Clayton South, Vic., Aust.

(http://www.gottsteintrust.org/html/reports/catalog.htm#AMorrow).

Four years old, four metres tall, and a single straight stem thanks to an annual touch with the secateurs. This is the best tree in a small plantation on my friend’s property near Hobart. I planted this while I was doing my PhD to help keep me sane, and learn the art of growing commercial blackwood.

The site is south facing, with deep sandy loam soils and good soil moisture during summer. Annual rainfall is over 1000mm. There is tall eucalypt forest on the north side of the plantation which provides shading for much of the year. The site is exposed to the west and south, with two major wind storms in the past 4 years causing damage.

There are no native blackwoods anywhere nearby to help demonstrate whether this is naturally a good blackwood site, while silver wattle is locally very common and grows very well. The tall eucalypts nearby include E. globulus and E. regnans, so the site at least has good general tree growth.

Unfortunately the above blackwood is not (yet?) representative of the rest of the plantation, which has proven to be an excellent learning opportunity.  In addition to the damage caused by the two wind storms mentioned (yes shelter is important), there was no weed control at the time of planting, which was in the middle of winter (possibly the wrong time to plant). The other blackwoods are gradually becoming established but the process has been slower than expected.

When planted the trees were protected from browsing by a two-strand electric fence (for stock protection), and KBC 1.2 metre tall tree shelters (http://www.southernwoods.co.nz/cart/accessories.asp) for protection from wallabies. Trees were given a dose of super phosphate and trace elements (legumes such as blackwood require a range of trace elements such as molybdenum and boron to function and grow properly). Last autumn each tree had weed control, and so far this spring (with excellent growing conditions) the trees have grown well.

One of my objectives with this plantation was to test a simplified version of the New Zealand blackwood regime. The NZ regime involves planting 800 blackwoods per hectare and then thinning to waste down to a final stocking of 200 trees by age ten years (Nicholas and Brown, 2002). Unless you are addicted to chainsaw work, and need a lot of firewood, that seems to me to be a lot of work and waste for little benefit, given that the trees are intensively managed in that first 10 years anyway. So this little plantation is planted at final spacing of 6m x 7m. No thinning to waste is needed, but any mortality means that the site is not fully productive.

My logic here is that if farmers are to be encouraged to grow commercial blackwood, the task needs to be as simple and cheap as possible. Complexity and extra work just increases the risk that critical management such as weed control, protection, and pruning won’t get done.

So is the above tree the exception that proves that this is not a good blackwood site? Or is it indicative that the site can grow good blackwood, and that poor site selection (lack of sufficient shelter) and establishment (no weed control and wrong time to plant) has resulted in patchy growth? So far I’m optimistic and assuming the latter is the case. More trees are beginning to look like the one above, and its performance just keeps getting better every year.

Sharing of experiences like these (both the successes and the failures) will help create a successful and dynamic Tasmanian blackwood growers cooperative.

Reference:

Nicholas ID, Brown I (2002) Blackwood: A Handbook for Growers and Users, Forest Research, Rotorua, New Zealand.

Cheers,

Gordon Bradbury.

Even with the chaos and uncertainty surrounding the TFIA, there is uncertainty and confusion around what projects will be eligible for TFIA funding, including this proposal for a blackwood growers cooperative. See my article of Tas Times.

http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/weblog/article/blackwood-the-tfia-and-funding/

This highlights the need for more community and rural support if a blackwood coop has any chance of gaining funding support. So please sign up and express your interest and support.

Cheers,

Gordon.