How should the demands of New Zealanders for specialty timbers be met?

THE TIMBER PROPERTIES AND HISTORICAL USES OF THE MOST USEFUL INDIGENOUS TREE SPECIES.

Hard beech (Nothofagus truncata)

Strong, hard, moderately tough, fine and even textured. Seasoning requires care. Heartwood durable. Machines smoothly, wears evenly, steam-bends well.

Mine-props, farm utility, bridges and wharves, flooring, framing, bent-work.

Mountain beech (Nothofagus cliffortioides), Black beech (Nothofagus solandri)

Strong, tough, fine, even-textured. Heartwood durable. Easily seasoned.

Bridge timbers, gates, posts, firewood, turning and machining.

Red beech (Nothofagus fusca)

Saws, peels, slices very well. Even and close textured. Very good machining, turning, finishing and wearing properties. Very good for hand-tool working. Probably the most stable of the indigenous timbers used in furniture. Steam-bends easily. 'Talks' as a mine timber. Non-splintering and moderately strong. Durable heartwood.

Bridges, decking, posts, mine timber, fluming, framing, flooring, stock-yards, gates, hurdles, dowels, handles, furniture, panelling: generally an alternative to Australian hardwoods.

Silver beech (Nothofagus menziesii)

Density varies considerably throughout New Zealand - higher in the north, lower in the west and south. Southland timber preferred.

Moderately light, strong, versatile. Easily seasoned. Even fine grain and texture. Non-splintering. Very good machining properties.

Furniture, implements, turnery, motor bodies, boat frames, brush backs, flooring, interior finish, weatherboards, general building, farm timbers, mining timber, box shooks.

Hinau (Elaeocarpus dentatus)

Seasons, machines and finishes well. Fine and even texture, strong, tough. Resists splitting.

Boat and other body-building, furniture, bridge runners and decking, turnery, flooring, cross-arms, framing, gate and fence timbers.

Kahikatea (Podocarpus dacrydioides)

Easily sawn and seasoned. Lacks taint and smell. White. Large sizes, defect-free. Very easily worked.

Weatherboards, joinery, flooring, boat-building, wooden-ware, food preparation equipment, cooperage, framing.

Kauri (Agathis australis)

Easily sawn and seasoned. Straight grain, fine and even texture, pleasant distinctive figure, Heartwood generally durable. Working qualities excellent in all respects. Finishes to perfection. Dimensionally stable.

Tanks, vats, boat building, building, general, furniture, carving, turnery, weatherboards.

Mangeao (Litsaea calicaris)

Saws, dresses and turns very well. Excellent strength and toughness. Moderately fine and even texture. Steam-bends very well. Sometimes has very attractive figure.

Items requiring toughness, sporting goods, boat framing, medium-duty handles, interior finish including veneer, bridge runners, framing, pens, battens and gates.

Matai (Podocarpus spicatus)

Easily sawn, seasoned and machined. Good durability, fine and even texture, exceptionally stable dimensionally. Hard and tough. Prone to splitting if handled carelessly (pre-bore dry timber prior to nailing). Stem-bends fairly well. Peels well.

Flooring, weatherboarding, sills, fixed exterior joinery, decking, framing. Excellent firewood.

Miro (Podocarpus ferrugineus)

Easily sawn and seasons well with care. Strong and hard. Uniform fine texture. Takes a fine finish, machines and steam-bends well.

Flooring, weatherboarding, interior finish, framing. A good alternative to rimu.

Pukatea (Laurelia novae-zelandiae)

Easily sawn, dried and nailed. Very soft. Moderately strong for its density. Fine, even texture.

Vehicle body-building, weather boards, trellis, wedge heels, clogs, verandah floors, wall framing.

Rewarewa (Knightia excelsa)

Requires special sawing. Tough and hard-wearing, non-skid properties. Machines well, peeling satisfactory. Decorative figure.

Inlay and decorative furniture work. Flooring. Uses requiring toughness.

Rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum)

Easily sawn and seasoned. Dense, hard, close and even in texture, even-wearing, machines and finishes excellently. Straight-grained. Splits easily. Heartwood steam-bends very well. Takes paints and finishes very well.

Flooring, weather-boarding, interior finish, furniture, framing, general carpentry, veneers.

Tanekaha (Phyllocladus trichomanoides)

Saws and seasons easily. The strongest New Zealand conifer. Straight-grained, dimensionally stable. Does not split easily. Fine and even texture. Dresses and turns very well, takes a fine finish.

Sills and exterior joinery, boat framing, sporting goods, veneers, vehicle bodies, scantling.

Tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa)

Dangerous to fell. Saws easily, seasoning now well understood. Excellent strength, hardness and finishing. A white wood. Very straight grain, splits easily. Decorative when kiln-dried. Somewhat like some oaks.

Flooring, turned handles, rollers, clothes pegs, furniture, interior finish, weatherboarding, framing.

Totara (Podocarpus totara)

Saws and seasons easily. Brittle. Outstanding durability, evenness of texture, working and dimensional stability. Straight grain, splits very easily. Amenable to all machining, finishes very well.

Sashes and doors, tanks, vats, boat sheathing, building, fence posts.

COMMENTS ON SITING, GROWING REQUIREMENTS AND SAWING OF SOME SPECIAL PURPOSE SPECIES.

Many exotic species have shown unexpectedly poor growth in New Zealand. For some, such as spruces and hemlock (Tsuga) the poor growth is probably due to the absence in New Zealand of the mycorrhizal fungi required to infect their roots for optimum nutrient uptake. In the case of douglas-fir, there are about 10,000 species of mycorrhizal fungi in North America which are not yet in New Zealand.

For other northern hemisphere genera which yield special purpose timber, such as Quercus (oaks), Fraxinus (ashes), Carya (hickories), Fagus (beeches), in general New Zealand lacks the deep, very fertile soils in high rainfall areas with high summer temperature for them to thrive. Where present, these soils are also the most expensive in New Zealand, being valued at present at about $120,000 per hectare. On other soils the growth of these genera can be less than optimal, or even unacceptable.

The most desirable special purpose eucalypts also thrive best in good soils, and some require the higher temperatures of Northland.

Eucalypt timber requires particularly finicky and careful treatment if severe spoiling and consequent loss are to be avoided. To quote from N. C. Clifton's book 'New Zealand Timber, Exotic and Indigenous - The Compete Guide' (GP Books 1990).

'Eucalypt logs are like no other logs on earth. In their handling, the following points should be noted:-

For a detailed account of suitable sawing equipment and sawing procedures for the eucalypts in New Zealand, see FRI Bulletin No. 142, by Tony Haslett.' In contrast, while some of the most desirable New Zealand genera such as the beeches, and the southern conifers will grow well on fertile sites in warmer sites, they are exceptionally well adapted to infertile soils, sometimes poorly drained, and on cool wet sites which do not suit exotics at all.

IMPORTED SPECIES, THEIR ORIGINS, AND WHAT THEY ARE USED FOR.

The import statistics categories for New Zealand are somewhat limited in respect of information on more than a few specifically named tree species. The names recognised in the import statistics are:-

Softwoods (conifers) Juniperus virginiana (red cedar), Pinus lambertiana, Pinus strobus, Pinus monticola, Sequioa sempervirens (redwood), Pseudotsuga menziesii (douglas-fir or oregon) (they call it Pseudotsuga douglasii), Thuja plicata (Western red cedar), Pinus radiata, larch, rimu, coniferous species other than the above.

Tropical wood: Virola, mahogany (Swietenia spp. (= Honduras or true mahogany)), imbula, balsa.

Tropical wood: dark red meranti, light red meranti, meranti bakau.

Tropical wood: White lauan, white meranti, white seraya, yellow meranti, alan.

Tropical wood: keruing, ramin, kapur, teak, jonpkong, merbau, jelutong, kempas.

Tropical wood: Okoume, obeche, sapele (sapelli), sipo, acajou d'afrique, makore, iroko, tiama, ilomba, mansonia, dibetou, limba, azoha.

Wood (hardwood): Oak.

Wood (hardwood): Beech.

Wood (hardwood): ash, hickory, Juglans species (walnuts).

Wood: Eucalyptus species.

Wood, other:

To illustrate some of the special properties of some valued timbers that are imported into New Zealand, consider the following. I present this information in detail because it is not easy to come by and may be useful as a reference for the Committee when considering the properties and uses of imported timber.

Hardwoods (leaf-trees)

Acajou d'afrique , Khaya ivorensis A.Chev., K. anthotheca C.DC., african mahogany. Tropical Africa - Zaire. A highly prized rich red-brown furniture and veneer timber.

Alan.

Ash, Fraxinus spp. USA and Europe. Furniture and sports articles. A pale-coloured timber with pronounced grain.

Azoha.

Balau, red. ( Shorea spp.; S.guiso, S.kunstleri King, S.collina Ridl., S.ochrophloia E.I. Strugnell ex Sym.). Dense and strong. Heavy construction, Not ground-durable.

Balau yellow, ( Shorea spp. (1) section Shorea (2) Dense, stiff, very strong, resistant to weather. See it as squared poles at ski-fields where it supports rope-tows against all the stresses, weather and avalanche. Watch for splinters, though.

Balsa. Ochroma lagopus. Ecuador. Outstandingly light, strong, stiff and with uniform properties, for its density.

Beech (European) Fagus sylvestris. Unique fine-patterned figure. Stable, machines and turns very well. Takes a good finish. Copes extremely well with heat and extreme changes in moisture content without splitting, warping or furring. Furniture, kitchenware (spatulas, stirrers. clothes-pegs, trays, cutting-boards, cheese-boards) clothes hangers.

Chestnut (sweet) Castanea sativa Miller Yellow-brown. Stable. Furniture and turning.

Cherry (Prunus avium L. Europe). (Prunus serotina Ehrh.USA). Furniture and musical instruments.

Dibetou, (Lovoa trichilioides Harms), Tropical West Africa. Grey to yellow. Very stable and hard. Gunstocks, billiard tables, turning, inlay work.

Hickories, Carya spp. USA. The best of these are tough shock-handle timbers, pale and take a smooth finish.

idigbo Terminalia ivorensis A.Chev Tropical West Africa. Furniture.

ilomba, Pycnanthus angolensis. Ivory Coast.

imbula,

iroko, Chlorophora excelsa (Welw.) Benth. et Hook f.,C. regia A. Chev. Ivory Coast, Zaire. Red-brown. Stable, heavy structures, interior finishing, flooring including parquet, furniture, turning and carving, garden furniture, naval construction, vessels in chemical works.

Jarrah. Eucalyptus marginata Donn. ex Sm. Australia. A clear brown timber, stable, heavy construction, heavy duty flooring and parquet, exterior furniture.

Jelutong, Dyera costulata Hook.f. S E Asia. Cream to white colour. Interior finishing and furniture.

Jonpkong,

Juglans species (walnuts). Juglans nigra L., Juglans regia. Brown - violet brown. Stable. Interior finishing, furniture, fire-arm stocks, turning and carving.

Kapur, Dryobalanops spp. S E Asia. Red-brown, stable. Decking, furniture, interior finishing, naval construction, wagon bottoms, heavy parquet.

Kauvula. Endospermum macrophyllum. Fiji, Solomons, S E Asia. Pale yellow. Stable. Interior finishing, furniture.

Kempas.

Keruing, Dipterocarpus spp. S E Asia. Brown - red-brown. Stable. Structural, decking.

Kwila. Papua New Guinea. Rich dark red colour, tough, durable, stable in all weathers. Favoured for exterior domestic furniture and decking.

Lauan, (white). Parashorea spp. S E Asia

Limba, Terminalia superba. Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Zaire.

Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla (= Honduras or true mahogany)), Lustrous red-brown. Very highly prized for furniture, interior finishing. Stains in contact with metal., Rare now in Honduras and other Central & South American forests, mature plantations in Fiji are the subject of much intrigue at present.

Makoré, Tieghemella africana., Tieghemella heckeli, Tropical west and central Africa, Ivory Coast. Pink-brown to red-brown. Stable. Irritating dust during manufacture. Interior finishing, furniture, heavy-duty flooring including parquet, naval construction, turning and carving.

Mansonia, Mansonia altissima. Ivory Coast, tropical west Africa. Yellow to grey, stable, interior finishing and furniture.

Maple (hard)(Acer saccharum Marsh. & A. nigrum Michaux.) North America. Hard, tough and stable flooring as in dance and sports floors, bowling alleys.

Meranti. (dark red meranti, Shorea spp. sections Rubella, Brachyptera, Pachycarpae, Multica & Ovalis S E Asia) Red-brown and pink in a variety of tints. Stable. Interior finishing and furniture. Garden furniture.

light red meranti, meranti bakau, white meranti, yellow meranti)

Merbau, Intsia spp. S E Asia. Yellow-brown to reddish-brown, luminous. Stable. Interior finishing, furniture, parquet, banisters.

Oaks (Quercus) There are two common species in Europe, at least one in Japan, and less than sixty in North America. Those species most imported are strong, hard, stable, tough, have a pronounced figure, neutral or pale colour (sometimes pinkish) and take a good finish, and are used at least for furniture, parquet and flooring. Heavy doors..

Obeche, Triplochiton scleroxylon. Cameroon, Ivory Coast - West Africa. White to cream. Stable, easily worked, interior finishing, furniture, saunas.

Okoume, Aucoumea klaineana. Congo. High quality furniture and interior finishing.

Ramin. Gonystylus spp. S E Asia. Yellow-brown. Stable. Interior finishing, furniture, turning.

Rubberwood. Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg. S E Asian plantations. Pale with red lights. Stable. Interior finishing, furniture, parquet, turning.

Sapele (sapelli), ( 'West African Mahogany' ) Entandrophragma cylindricum. Sprague. West Africa, Cameroon, Zaire. A rich red lustrous timber, prized for veneer, furniture, interior finishing, turning, carving.

Seraya (white) Parashorea densiflora V.Sl. & Symm. mostly. S E Asia. Internal finishing and panelling.

Sipo, Utile. (Entandrophragma candellei ?), Entandrophragma utile Sprague West and Central Africa; Cameroon. Ruddy-brown. Stable. Interior finishing, furniture, naval construction, turning, carving

Tasmanian oak. Eucalyptus delegatensis R.T.Bak, E.obliqua L'Hérit., E.regnans F.v.M. Australia. Light brown, sometimes pinkish. Furniture, parquet flooring, handles of utensils.

Teak, (Tectona grandis) Native to India, grown in plantations in Indonesia (planted by the Dutch) Malaysia and central/south America.. A greasy wood which resists the effects of sunlight and water. Holds a smooth finish even when unprotected and does not crack or shrink and swell with changes in heat or wetness. Superb for decks and wooden exterior boat fittings, exterior furniture. Without peer.

Tiama, Entandrophragma angolense. C.DC Central and west tropical Africa. Ghana. Red-brown. Stable. Easily worked, interior finishing, furniture.

Virola, Virola spp. S E Asia.

Softwoods - conifers (pines, kauri, podocarps, firs, spruces, some cedars, cypresses)

Agathis vitiensis. Dakua makadre. Fijian kauri. As for NZ kauri.

Baltic pine, Scots pine. Pinus sylvestris. Europe, Scandinavia and Russia. Internal and external finishing, some furniture, general purpose.

Hemlock, Western Hemlock. Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg. W USA & Canada. Very stable but soft and light, exterior joinery.

Juniperus virginiana (red cedar), USA. Pencils. Even, close grain that is easily cut; stable, does not shrink or swell or warp (bend).

Larch, (Larix species) USA, Europe, Russia. Fairly stable. Flooring. Splinters can be problematical.

Pinus lambertiana, USA. stable, easily cut, for pattern-making in metal casting.

Pinus monticola, USA. stable, easily cut, for pattern-making in metal casting.

Pinus strobus, USA. stable, easily cut, for pattern-making in metal casting.

Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco(douglas-fir or oregon) (Customs call it Pseudotsuga douglasii), USA and Canada. Best grades of old-growth have extremely close growth rings, and are strong while relatively light-weight. Ladder stiles. Demanding structural uses especially where aesthetics are important.

Sequioa sempervirens Endl.(redwood), USA. Stable; shingles, weatherboard.

Thuja plicata D.Don. (Western red cedar), USA and Canada. Extremely stable, resists splitting in sun and rain, durable. In high demand in NZ for external joinery and fashionable external cladding for buildings, domestic and otherwise, shingles, sauna.

Comment on the list of imported species above

It is clear that among the highly valued properties of timber, dimensional stability rates highest, and for furniture and interior finishing timbers, specific rich colour, figure, lustre, and ease of working and finishing rate very highly for the most expensive products. For high quality solid wood products not at the very pinnacle of value, the valued properties are much the same but the natural colour should be rather neutral and ease of taking up stains assumes greater importance.

These are the qualities that New Zealand citizens want in their furniture and furnishings.

What is not apparent from the above, however, are the many species imported in quantity, that do not show explicitly in the statistics. For example, while one expects and finds eucalypts as being important high-volume hardwood sawn-timber imports from Australia ( 1674m3, NZ$ 1,674 million), Australian tropical and other non-eucalypt hardwoods totalled 1605m3, valued at NZ$ 2,361 million; nearly as much in volume but costing 41% more. Imports from PNG, and Indonesia and other South East Asian countries, and also Fiji also deserve close analysis.

Ecological, biological and social costs of some imported alternative species

Imports such as oak from USA and Europe, and beech from Poland and Rumania, where state-organised and NGO encouragement and regulation of and for professional forest management probably have little or no negative impact on forests and wildlife and may well fit in with sustainable management plans.

In respect of imports from all tropical and west African countries, Indonesia and other South East Asian countries, and PNG, the Solomons and Fiji, and Australia, this is unlikely to be so in many instances. It is most probable that the forests from which much of this timber is sourced are being destroyed, not maintained and managed sustainably. That said, it must be noted that some other countries are making remarkable achievements in resource conservation and sustainable forest management to high standards.

The Furniture Manufacturer's Association, for example, endeavour to ensure that their supplies are sourced from forests where the management fits in with Government official plans. Such plans however, may be of questionable standard in respect of present thinking about forest management and sustainability of natural forests; for example, timber is being sourced from one 30,000 hectare forest tract in Indonesia that is being clearfelled - but clearfelling and conversion of the forest to farmland fits in with government plans.

PARTICULAR REQUIREMENTS OF INDUSTRY IN RELATION TO SPECIAL PURPOSE TIMBER SPECIES

Industry, other than small, craftsman-based workshops making custom products, needs to be able to enter into contracts for supply of large orders for components and finished, assembled products.

Therefore, among the vitally important criteria that larger businesses examine when researching sources of supply, in addition to the properties of the timber, are the following:

DISCUSSION ABOUT THE ABILITY OF GENERAL PURPOSE TIMBER SPECIES TO MEET SPECIAL PURPOSE TIMBER NEEDS, AND THE SPECIAL TIMBER PROPERTIES OF SOME TREE SPECIES

The properties of radiata pine timber are not uniform either in one tree or throughout all the sites where it is grown in New Zealand. For example, outer timber from 60-year old trees grown in warm, wetter North Island sites, is stiff, strong, dense, hard, close-grained, and finishes well. Such wood meets some special purpose needs. However, it is now very difficult to find. Most forests are grown to a maximum of about 30 years rotation, so dense stiff clearwood will not be available from such trees. Carter Holt Harvey (CHH), in their 1999 'Millennium policy', plan to cease pruning and thinning, and achieve their clearwood recovery within sophisticated processing factories using clever cutting and gluing procedures to reconstitute clearwood from small clear fragments. Such timber will be soft and not stiff. Radiata pine from Westland has a fine lustre, but is weak and soft. From Canterbury, it tends to be weak and soft, and in addition, warps and twists in seasoning and service to a degree unknown elsewhere in New Zealand. Exposed to sunlight and heat, much radiata pine cracks dreadfully.

There is a paucity of commercial supply of white timbers, such as poplar, willow and birch.

CULTURE AND PRODUCTION OF SPECIAL PURPOSE TIMBER SPECIES IN NEW ZEALAND - EXOTIC AND INDIGENOUS SOURCES

New Zealand no longer has a coherent and effective national policy for the culture and production of Special Purpose timber species, or the means to put any such policy into effect.

For the past fifteen years, reliance has been placed largely on private investors, most of whom have difficulty in deciding to invest in new forests with a rotation length as great as thirty years (such as radiata pine) and very few make the step to invest in new forests requiring the longer rotations that special purpose species generally do.

The 1979 Workshop on Special Purpose Species came about because it was recognised that the production of indigenous timbers would decline - not only within New Zealand but world-wide - while at the same time demand for the products would increase. The intention was to aid the formulation of a coherent and effective national strategy.

Since then, the production of New Zealand indigenous timbers has indeed declined, and the potential for future production was drastically curtailed by political fiat in the years 1999 and 2000.

New Zealand also no longer has the detailed information on the resource of exotic special purpose species that is needed to enable coherent and meaningful planning in this matter. As I was recently informed by a MAF staff person who works in this subject area.

" The National Exotic Forest Description (NEFD) does not have any further species breakdown other than what is currently published ie radiata pine, Douglas-fir, other softwoods and hardwoods.

I appreciate that for some people this would be useful. However, for the bulk of users the current breakdown seems to work satisfactorily and between radiata pine and Douglas-fir covers 95% of NZ's planted production forests.

The NEFD Steering Committee has discussed having further species breakdown on a number of occasions. The most likely candidates being Eucalyptus spp and Cypress spp. But because of the difficulties of collecting this data has always ruled it out.

What is pointed out to MAF by those supplying data each year (the large forestry companies and smaller growers) is the extra time it would take to include a further breakdown. In addition we already receive complaints from smaller growers that the NEFD questionnaires are too complicated so we have been try to simplify them and are very reluctant to add any additional questions. The reason the questionnaires are complex is because of the emphasis on collecting the area by year of planting, by species group, by tending regime (for radiata), by local authority. This means that for growers with a variety of species they need to complete a separate page for each species. The larger companies already supply thousands of pages of data each year.

If an agency or organisation wanted information on other species they could conduct a specific survey or fund Statistics NZ, MAF or some other third party to do so."

I attach a table which gives some details of exotic special purpose species recoverable volumes by region..

On the other hand, information on the national indigenous state forest estate, by species, is available as I understand it, even if rather approximate in detail.

TIMBER AND OTHER FOREST PRODUCT IMPORTS INTO NEW ZEALAND

The total c.i.f. value of imported forestry products (paper and paper-board, timber, chemical pulp, wooden furniture and furniture parts) for the year ended 30 June 2000 is provisionally NZ$ 1,104 million, 13.3% up from the NZ$ 975 of the previous year.

The total c.i.f. value of all NZ imports for the year ended June 2000 is provisionally NZ $29,068 million. Thus forest products imports for the June 2000 year were 3.8% of the total import bill, down from the 4.0% of the previous year.

The solid volume of all forestry products expressed in roundwood equivalents is provisionally 1,737,000 cubic metres, up 7.2% from the previous year.

Total timber imports increased by 16.7% in volume to 39,000 cubic metres, valued at NZ$ 51 million, up 30.6% from the previous year. Hardwood sawn timber imports were NZ$ 17 million and conifer sawn timber imports NZ$ 31 million.

Wooden furniture and furniture imports increased in value by 24.2% to NZ$ 102 million from the NZ$ 82 million of the previous year.

Forestry products other than logs and poles, sawn timber and sleepers, wood pulp, paper and paperboard, panel products furniture and furniture parts imported cost NZ$ 377 million provisionally for the June 2000 year.

The 33 main countries from which New Zealand imported these products were:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, Denmark, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, Vietnam.

Looking broadly at imports by categories, the main product categories of interest are named: sawn timber and sleepers, panel products, furniture and furniture parts, and all other forestry products (ie excludes the preceding as well as logs and poles, wood pulp, paper and paperboard).

TIMBER AND FOREST PRODUCT EXPORTS FROM NEW ZEALAND

I have not obtained or analysed this information, but it clearly a component of the whole topic of special purpose species and sustainability, and a thorough examination should take this aspect into account.