Introduction to Agathis salisbury

Introduction to Agathis salisbury

The forestry officer in the PNG Forests Department -PNG Forest Products Research Centre Hohola concerned re the protection and commercial exploitation of kauri pine (Agathis salisbury) resources was Jack Zieck. He was formerly a Dutch forestry officer in Irian Jaya during the Dutch Colonial Service Days prior to Indonesian Independence. One of his duties was the development and running of Kauri copal tapping with Agathis stands in then Dutch New Guinea. Much of his work was out of Manokwari. Kauri Pine occurred in large stands throughout Irian Jaya (West Papua). They say 3 species with one near Babo may be a new species and some in the coastal mangrove region. He had extensive experience with minor forest products as resins; copal; aromatic oils, eaglewood; sandalwood; rattans; and tree species.9 I first met Jack in Port Moresby whilst representing the Bulolo Research Section at a meeting with MD Andrew Yauieb and a new Minister of Forests. The MD asked me to look at sandalwood as the new Minister would like to restart the industry in his electorate. The resource had almost been cut out. I knew little about sandalwood and Neil Brightwell suggested I talk to Jack Zieck. I was then able to inform the meeting all about sandalwood. This led to a lasting friendship with Jack especially with my interest in Kauri Pine from Bulolo/eastern Highlands and Queensland. There was no interest though in conserving Agathis in PNG. The Minister for Forests changed and there ended the story and work on sandalwood. Back to Kauri – up to the end of 1975, I had taken part in three field trips, two for which were done with Jack Zieck and one with Tim Whitmore and later a visit to look at grafting work with kauri at the CSIRO forest research centre Atherton. This won me the honour of illustrating the kauri pine of Queensland and used in a research paper on the kauri taxonomic revision by the station botanist Bernie Hyland. Although a valued lumber tree species and useful as a peeler, Zieck saw a window of opportunity to establish Kauri plantations for timber and resin production. My interest was conservation and seed availability. It was a difficult and dangerous tree for our climbers to collect cones for seed. Three species of Agathis occur in PNG suitable for commercialisation • Agathis alba? or robusta ssp nesophila Whitmore • Agathis spathulate de Laub. • Agathis labillarderiei. Warb Agathis macrophylla (Lindl) masters. Had been successfully introduced into Bulolo by Tim Whitmore presumably. At Bulolo, the magnificent giant kauri trees being harvested by Golden Pines sawmill and into the eastern Highlands. Ottley and Ottley was the logging company supplying Golden Pines. The logs had to be cut into sections so they could be hauled to the mill. Their diameter was too large for rotary veneer. The field trips to collect Agathis seed with Zieck, and photographer Kevin Taylor were: • Natural stands of Agathis robusta ssp nesophila around Sirinumu Dam site • Near the head waters of the Sepik river for stands of Agathis labillarderiei.

9 Ref J U Zieck 1970 Minor Forest Products Reprint 1977 57