Balsa Project ENB

Balsa Project New Britain

Balsa tree Ochroma lagopus (synonymous with O. pyramidale) 4 years old ENB.

Photo credit Neville Howcroft collection

Balsa is native to tropical South America. It is a deciduous angiosperm and the softest commercial hardwood. It is now grown in other countries as PNG, Indonesia, Thailand, Solomon Islands. It is a pioneer plant which establishes itself in clearings, etc. It grows extremely rapidly, up to 27 m in 10-15 years. It is noted for its soft, light weight wood from the Spanish balsa meaning float or raft. Commercial balsa is plantation grown in recent years, with trees harvested after five to six years. Because it is low in density but high in strength, balsa is a very popular material for light, stiff structures as models, aircraft, wind turbines, etc.

Balsa was introduced to PNG in the late 1930s, with further introductions made between 1948 and 1961, mostly to East New Britain Province (ENB). The commercial potential of the crop was investigated in 1952 and 1956 and trial shipments were made to Australia. By the 1960s, a processing mill had been established at Keravat in ENB and a small industry had started to develop on the Gazelle Peninsula. In the 1980s and early 1990s, smallholder participation in the balsa industry on the Gazelle Peninsula was supported by extension activities provided by the National Department of Forestry and the ENB Division of Primary Industry. However, by 1995 extension activities had ceased, which resulted in harvesting rates exceeding replanting rates and a corresponding decline in available balsa. This situation was compounded by the Rabaul volcanic eruption of 1994, which defoliated many trees and caused activity in the industry to cease.

Following the eruption, recognition of the economic potential of balsa, coupled with concerns about the lack of extension services and information about the state of the industry, led provincial and national authorities to request overseas assistance. This resulted in the establishment of the East New Britain Balsa Industry Strengthening Project, under the guidance of Neville Howcroft, funded by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). The project operated from 1996 to 2003.

ITTO Project with the late John Ohana thinning out and measuring billets from seedling seed orchard/ progeny trial of Balsa at Keravat. Photo credit Neville Howcroft collection.

ITTO Project with the late John Ohana thinning out and measuring billets from seedling seed orchard/ progeny trial of Balsa at Keravat. Photo credit Neville Howcroft collection.

ITTO Project - commencement of bush nursery trials at Kerevat. Photo credit Neville Howcroft collection.

Kiln Drying sawn balsa. Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

Balsa logs old sawmill site Kerevat. Photo credit Dick

McCarthy.