Species Selection (Village-based/landowner

been a major part of the scene, as in Manus, then there will obviously be a greater weighting placed on that species there. Likewise, for Red Cedar in Milne Bay, and Rosewood in Central Province. Flindersia spp would have greater weighting in Morobe, wattles in Western and so on.

SPECIES SELECTION (Village-based/landowner)

There are many species which are of vital importance to the village community. These species may be used for any one or a combination of the following purposes.

• Fruit, edible, planted and wild • Nuts, edible and planted • Edible leaves: commonly cultivated exclusively or partly for the production of edible shoots or leaves. • Buildings: rot-resistant posts, aerial members • Canoes & outriggers • Weapons • Utensils • Rope • Fuelwood • Live fencing e.g., NG rosewood • Ornamental and shade • Custom decorations (Bilas) • Custom medicine • Custom poisons • Carving • Custom resins and glues • Custom boundary markers • Custom scents • Custom dyes and paints

Some varieties of species, such as Artocarpus, provide timber rather than breadfruit, but fundamentally the fruit trees are not cut. There is thus perhaps little real need to undertake any special conservation measures or a ‘domestication’ programme for such species. They have been domesticated for 1000s of years and are extensively planted.

I provide a list below of species which I consider should receive special attention. Many have both a commercial prospect as well as a custom use. Some are ‘only’ of custom use, but nevertheless important. I consider they should be considered in a ‘domestication’ program, where it has been traditional practice, for example, to collect fruit or nuts from wild trees, but the trees could also provide income beyond immediate village need and barter. Alternatively, where through logging or other activity wild trees are becoming scarce or less readily accessible to villagers, then such species might be included in a ‘domestication’ programme.

We should also not forget that, especially in densely populated Highland areas and in the main cities of Port Moresby and Lae, firewood is now a scarce and expensive commodity for

the average household. The proportion of available income spent on firewood has grave social consequences in my opinion. Some visitors might conclude from the heaps of yar or other hot firewood on sale in Mt Hagen markets that firewood is plentiful. That would be quite wrong.

There is a lot of cut firewood on sale because there is an extremely high demand, and a few landowners can reap considerable profit by supplying the need. In the process, other more distant areas are being stripped of wood, and the price goes up. I have seen the need for government support for firewood plantations grow enormously over the past 40 years. Firewood production systems, in close co-operation with landowners or villages would provide additional employment opportunities and income streams; such firewood production systems would focus on major urban centres; where, not so long ago, we sought to grow teak at Mt Lawes and Brown River, a eucalypt coppice-wood silviculture would be worth further investigation. Some will recall there were firewood plantation trials in the grasslands off the road to Brown River (near Mt. Lawes); they suffered from lack of interest and were abandoned as we foresters sought to grow timber not firewood.

I have also tossed in Balsa, because it is well suited to village production, has a 3-year rotation (gets red heart beyond 4-5 years), is easy to mill and transport and has a remarkably high return. It is of course suited only to those areas where there is a uniformly distributed rainfall with no pronounced dry period.

In the Table below, I suggest 16 species, some specifically of lowland interest, others for the Highlands.

Antiaris toxicaria Moraceae Timber, cash. (Aerial house members in round.)

Endospermum medullosum (NG Basswood) Euphorbiaceae Timber, cash. (Furniture, utensils, interior work.)

Macaranga aleuritoides Euphorbiaceae Timber-village construction in the round, light construction, interior finish.

Manilkara kanosiensis Sapotaceae Carving, cash, timber. (Well-known carving timber in Sandaun and East Sepik.)

Pterocarpus indicus (NG Rosewood)

Octomeles sumatrana (Erima) Leguminosae Carving, furniture, posts, houses, firewood, cash. (Most under-rated indigenous spp.)

Datiscaceae Cash, village construction timber, utensils.

Inocarpus fagiferus Leguminosae/ Papilionoideae Food (nut), cash, timber, soil improver. (Trees rarely cut while producing nuts.)

Syzygium spp Myrtaceae Food (fruit), timber.

Terminalia kaernbachii (Okari)

Casuarina oligodon (Yar) Combretaceae Food (nut), cash.

Casuarinaceae Hot firewood soil improver, timber, cash.

Heritiera littoralis Sterculiaceae Hot firewood.

Diospyros spp (Ebony) Ebenaceae Carving- D’Entrecasteaux and Louisades, cash.

Elmerrillia papuana (Wau Beech)

Santalum macgregorii (Sandalwood)

Toona ciliata/T. sureni (Red Cedar) Magnoliaceae Canoes, timber (interior finish or furniture).

Santalaceae Cash, medicine, timber.

Meliaceae Cash -high value end product timber.

Vatica papuana Dipterocarpaceae Cash, timber. (Source of damar. Light construction, moulding, interior finish.)

Casuarina oligodon is the premier tree of the highlands both for maintaining soil fertility, as fuel, charcoal, and a heavy construction timber. Village-based and landowner plantings are feasible. No training for planting or maintenance is required; western Highlanders know more about silviculture of this species than outsiders.

Rosewood has a wide range of uses and a wide distribution. It provides very hot firewood, house posts, live fences, a prized carving wood and a high-end value for furniture and veneer. The tree does not always have good form in the wild, but there are good prospects for improvement of form. The species is highly prized right throughout Melanesia. In Vanuatu it is one of the most significant custom trees and is cultivated in the gardens and used as a live fence, to prop bananas etc. The tree is easy to establish from cuttings and needs little attention except early vine control.

Taun can provide a sought-after fruit and has a multiplicity of other uses. The species is sometimes planted in gardens close to villages. Like Intsia, it is thought to require land disturbance for successful establishment and can form nearly pure stands. A focus on establishment in gardens during, say Year 2 of garden tending would seem appropriate, with tending (particularly for vines) maintained for 2 years beyond other garden cultivation.