Management of Teak Plantations for Solid Wood Products*
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ISTF NEWS 5400 Grosvenor Lane Bethesda, Maryland 20814, USA Special Report, December, 2009 MANAGEMENT OF TEAK PLANTATIONS FOR SOLID WOOD PRODUCTS*/ William Ladrach, President Zobel Forestry Associates, Inc. www.zfaforestry.com Abstract Teak is the premier fine furniture wood being several distinct heartwood grain patterns. Old grown in plantations around the world. growth natural teak has been used primarily Although teak was once managed on rotations for yachts, decking, interior paneling and fine of 80 to 100 years, current rotation lengths furniture. Plantation teak wood still has not have been shortened to 20 or 25 years for been well accepted in such traditional markets commercial wood production. There are some and log prices for plantation teak are much unique characteristics to consider in teak lower than those for old growth natural teak. management: It grows well in alkaline soils, it A major challenge for teak growers is to can withstand extreme drought, it forms a develop innovative markets for plantation corky pith, adventitious buds form sprouts teak and find uses for low value wood from after branch pruning, and trees can develop thinnings. The International Society of Tropical Foresters is a nonprofit organization formed in the 1950s in response to a world wide concern for the fate of tropical and subtropical forests, ISTF is dedicated to providing a communications network for tropical forestry disciplines. ISTF WebSite: www.istf-bethesda.org Board of Directors Suree Bhumibhamon, President and Regional Gary S. Hartshorn, Director at Large Director for Asia Cornell O. Dudley, Vice President and Regional Chun K. Lai, Director at Large Director for Africa Amaury P. De Sousa, Regional Director for Latin José Joaquin Campos, Director General America Roger R. B. Leakey, Director at Large Staff Frank H. Wadsworth, Editor; Jenny Adams, Staff Editor; Patricia Heaton Holmgren, Office Manager; Alicia Bazán Jimenez, Spanish Translator; Jacob L. Whitmore, Associate Director */ Reprinted with permission of the Society of American Foresters: Proceedings, SAF National Convention, International Trade and Markets Track, 30 September – 4 October 2009, Orlando, Florida, USA. Copyright 2009 by the Society of American Foresters. 1 Introduction in use to this day, however with shortened rotation lengths. Teak (Tectona grandis) is the primer high value furniture wood being grown in Teak has a long history of planting within its plantations around the world. Teak is natural range as well as around the world. relatively easy to establish in plantations and, Burma (now Myanmar) began planting teak because of the enduring global demand for using the taungya system in 1856 and, by teak wood products, it has good economic 1941, had a total of 47,000 hectares planted. prospects as a plantation species for fine Large scale planting was again initiated in the woods. 1980’s and there were 307,000 ha of teak planted by 2002 (Swe Swe Aye, 2003). The Teak is indigenous to India, Myanmar, rotation length to final harvest is 40 years. Thailand and Laos. Its range is tropical, occurring between latitudes 25°N and 9°N Teak was thought to have first been planted in (White, 1991). The natural distribution is the Indonesian archipelago on the islands of discontinuous and the eastern or Burmese Madura and Sulawesi about 300 to 400 years populations are considered to be distinct from ago and is now considered to be a naturalized the western or Indian populations. Although species in Indonesia (Keiding, 1977). On the teak is the name used for international trade, Island of Java there have been more than one there are many local names used as well: million hectares planted with teak since the sagun, tegu, tegina, thekku (India); lyiu, kyun middle of the Nineteenth Century (White, (Burma); mai sak (Thailand); jati (Indonesia); 1991). fati (Malaysia); teca (Latin America); and teck (France) (Chudnoff, 1984; Keiding, Teak was first planted in Nigeria in 1902, in 1985). Togoland (now Ghana) in 1905 and in the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) in 1929 (Horne, In 1856, realizing the commercial and 1966; Kadambi, 1972). Initial plantings in strategic importance of the forests on the West Africa were made using seed obtained Indian subcontinent, the British brought from India, but it was soon learned that several German botanists and foresters to Burmese seed sources were superior in form India for the purpose of developing and growth in the environments of West sustainable forest management plans. Notable Africa. among those individuals was Dr. Deitrich Brandis who developed a silvicultural Teak was first introduced into the Americas at management plan for the natural forests of Trinidad in 1913 using Burmese seed sources India, called the “Brandis Selection System”, (Streets, 1962). Teak was first planted in which involves timber removal every 30 years Central America in 1926 at the Summit and a final harvest between ages 120 and 150 Botanical Garden in the former Channel Zone years (Kahrl et al., 2004). The final harvest of the Panama Canal (De Camino et al., age has now been reduced to 30 to 60 years 2002). The following year other plantings with coppicing and replanting used to were initiated in other Central American regenerate the teak forests (Pandy and Brown, countries including Honduras, Panama and 2001). In 1881, Brandis organized the official Costa Rica. Since then it has been planted in teak management plan in Burma (Fernow, nearly all tropical American countries. 1911). At about the same time, he also visited Indonesia and instituted a management plan By 2000, the total area in teak plantations for the teak plantations in Java which is still worldwide was 5.7 million hectares, or 3% of 2 all forest tree plantations (FAO, 2001). By pochote plantations. Similar criticisms have far, the largest extension of teak plantations is often been made of tropical pine plantations in Asia (Table 1). in Colombia, where trees were planted on overgrazed and highly eroded sites Table 1. Area in teak plantations by specifically as a means to control the erosion geographic region in 2000 caused by overgrazing. Region Teak ha Large scale tropical tree plantations invariably Asia 5,409,131 become targets of environmental groups. This Africa 206,550 has occurred with pines, eucalypts, Gmelina Central America 76,000 arborea, and Acacia mangium as well as teak. South America 17,500 A common criticism is that the natural forest Oceania 7,022 is cleared and destroyed to be replaced with World total 5,716,203 industrial tree plantations. The reality is that the great majority of tree plantations in the tropics have been made on deforested sites Environmental issues such as marginal agricultural sites or lands degraded by overgrazing. However, there When planted as an introduced species have been exceptions where governments outside of its natural range, teak has have created incentives to clear away the sometimes been maligned and criticized by forest for agricultural use, as was the case in those who claim that it causes erosion, Brazil with the fiscal incentives program especially when planted on slopes (Fonseca, between 1967 and 1977. When the soils on 2004; Ugalde and Gomez, 2006). In Costa the cleared sites are too poor to sustain food Rica, there have been severe criticisms of teak crops or grazing, such sites are abandoned by some environmentalists, particularly where and some of them are eventually reforested. it was widely planted on overgrazed sites in In Indonesia, incentives initiated in 1988 Guanacaste Province on the Pacific side of the promoted the conversion of marginal forests country. Photos of young trees planted on to tree plantations. The conversion was done such sites show exposed roots as proof of soil primarily on the islands of Borneo and loss under teak trees. However, similar root Sumatra and the program lasted for ten years. exposure was observed in plantations of A large portion of the Indonesian lands pochote (Bombacopsis quinata) in Costa cleared with incentives was planted to non- Rica, of the same age and growing in adjacent timber species, including oil palm and rubber plantations to teak. Criticisms have not been trees, while other lands were planted for leveled at pochote, perhaps because it is an pulpwood production, mainly with Acacia indigenous tree species in Costa Rica whereas mangium on the island of Sumatra. teak is an introduced species. The probable cause of the exposed roots of young trees is Since the early 1800’s, teak plantations on the improper management rather than any Indonesian island of Java have been inherent ability unique to teak that causes established on the multitude of small hills that erosion in plantations (Ugalde and Gomez, exist within the area of lowlands dedicated to 2006). Eroded pastures that are adjacent to the cultivation of paddy rice, corn and other some of those same teak plantations show food crops. Traditional teak management has clearly that the erosion is due to overgrazing continued to follow the recommendations that existed prior to establishing teak or made by German foresters in the Nineteenth 3 Century with plantation establishment using The key to the success of a tree species to the taungya system, where farmers tend the recover depleted soils and produce commercial young teak trees and grow food crops in wood is its ability to form leaf litter on the soil between the tree rows during the first few surface quickly to protect it against surface years. In this system, teak seeds are sown in erosion (Kanowski & Savill, 1992). In rows 5 or 6 m apart, which allows for crop Darjeeling, India, comparisons were made of cultivation between the rows of young trees. soil properties under plantations of teak, The trees are initially thinned around 3 to 5 plantations of rubber trees (Hevea brasilensis), years of age to improve the stocking of the and under natural forests.