Rain forests : growing plantation timber

The growing of trees commercially for future harvest and production of timber has been done for many years - we have all seen the pine forests of Northern Europe. Fast growing trees which provide good quality timber are sought to maximise the potential of the business. Soft woods are grown in the northern and southern hemispheres as they are suitable for the respective climates. The tropics provide a very different opportunity as quick growing hardwoods can be grown and hardwoods are much more valuable than softwoods. When trees are grown commercially, plantations are established which involves the intensive production of one or a few species. This is unlike the natural forest where many hundreds of species can grow on a similar area of land. There is considerable experience and knowledge about the growing of Teak in plantations. Teak grows very well in plantation and the timber it provides is highly sought after for its beauty and hardness (furniture, boat building).

Teak (tectona grandis) is produced best when planted in deep, well-drained, alluvial soils which are rich in calcium. Prefered temperatures should range between 22 and 27degrees celcius and annual rainfall should be between 1200mm and 2500mm. A 3 to 5 month dry spell is ideal when no more than 50mm of rain should fall.

The rate of growth of good quality teak from plantations depends on:

• Type and quality of planting stock
• Soil characteristics - topography and drainage
• Climate - rainfall, temperature and humidity
• Management

Teak is originally from an area now made up of parts of India, Thailand and Laos and there have been plantations of teak since the early 1800s. Teak proved relatively easy to grow in different parts of the World and plantations were established in Africa and in tropical America from about the early 1900s. It is now estimated that there are about 3 million hectares of plantation teak around the world. There is ample data on plantation growing and though any plantation requires adaquate management, teak has proven to perform well in Latin America. GGF has a dedicated team of experiences foresters who will oversee the daily management of your trees.

Mahogany (swietenia macrophylla), one of the most prized timbers in the world, is difficult to grow in plantations. GGF is basing its figures and explanations on the production of teak but we do intend to grow small amounts of mahogany as well. Should the mahogany fail it will be replaced with teak. The main reason for the failure of mahogany when grown in a plantation is because of the damage done by the mahogany shoot borer, Hypsipyla grandella,which bores into twigs and seed capsules of trees. Mahogany shoot borers attack new shoots and are seldom seen attacking hardened-off shoots. Mahogany trees are susceptible to attack when they reach a height of 0.5 meter (Griffiths 2001). The insect's most severe damage to trees occurs when a larva bores into and kills the terminal shoot. A lateral branch grows upward to replace the lost terminal shoot, resulting in a crooked main stem. Small trees whose terminal shoots are attacked repeatedly in successive years become extremely deformed. Growing mahogany is possible but it is best to do on a less intensive scale.