Sandalwood in the Pacific

United States Department of Proceedings of the Symposium on Agriculture Forest Service Sandalwood in the Pacific Pacific Southwest April 9-11, 1990, Honolulu, Hawaii Research Station General Technical Report PSW-122 Hamilton, Lawrence; Conrad, C. Eugene, technical coordinators. 1990. Proceedings of the Symposium on Sandalwood in the Pacific; April 9-11,1990; Honolulu, Hawaii. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-122. Berkeley, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; 84 p. Sandalwood (Santalum spp.) trees grow in a variety of climates around the world and are culturally and economically important to about 15 countries. Exploitation of the fragrant heartwood for carvings, oil, and incense in the past has led to the need to conserve and manage the genus. The first substantial logging of sandalwood in Hawaii in 150 years generated local controversy in 1988, uncovered misinformation and speculation about the genus, and eventually led to the symposium in 1990. Papers in this proceedings cover history, distribution, status, ecology, management, propagation, and use of sandalwood. A synthesis paper summarizes the state-of-knowledge of the symposium participants. Research is needed to fill gaps in information on various aspects of sandalwood in many of the countries where it grows. Retrieval Terms: forestry, Pacific, sandalwood, Santalum, Australia, Hawaii, India, Indo nesia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu Technical Coordinators: LAWRENCE HAMILTON is a research associate, Environment and Policy Institute, East- West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. C. EUGENE CONRAD is director, Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Honolulu, Hawaii. Views expressed in each paper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the sponsoring organizations. Trade names and commercial enterprises mentioned are solely for information and do not imply the endorsement of the sponsoring organizations. This publication neither recommends any pesticide uses reported nor implies that they have been registered by appropriate governmental agencies. Publisher: Pacific Southwest Research Station P. O. Box 245, Berkeley, California 94701 August 1990 Proceedings of the Symposium on Sandalwood in the Pacific April 9-11, 1990, Honolulu, Hawaii Technical Coordinators: Lawrence Hamilton C. Eugene Conrad CONTENTS Preface .............................................................................. ii The History of Human Impact Lawrence Hamilton, C. Eugene Conrad on the Genus Santalum in Hawai‘i ...................................46 Opening Remarks ............................................................ iii Mark Merlin, Dan VanRavenswaay Leonard A. Newell Sandalwood: Current Interest and Activity Sandalwood in the Pacific: A State-of-Knowledge Synthesis by the Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife ..............61 and Summary from the April 1990 Symposium .................1 Mark Scheffel Managing Sandalwood for Conservation Distribution and Status of Sandalwood in Hawai‘i ...........62 in North Queensland, Australia ........................................12 Lani Stemmermann Grahame B. Applegate, Allan G. W. Davis, Status and Cultivation of Sandalwood in India .................66 Peter Annable Shobha N. Rai Status of Management and Silviculture Research Growing Sandalwood in Nepal—Potential Silvicultural on Sandalwood in Western Australia and Indonesia .........19 Methods and Research Priorities ......................................72 F. H. McKinnell Peter E. Neil The Sandalwood Industry in Australia: A History ............26 The Status of Sandalwood (S. macgregorii) Pamela Statham in Papua New Guinea .......................................................76 Sandalwood—the Myth and the Reality ...........................39 John H. Paul Joseph Feigelson Status of Sandalwood Resources in Vanuatu ....................79 Propagation of Santalum, Sandalwood Tree .....................43 Leonard Bule, Godfrey Daruhi Robert T. Hirano USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-122. 1990 i PREFACE This publication results from the Symposium on Sandalwood on the 11th to produce a synthesis. The National Tropical in the Pacific held at the East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, Botanical Garden joined with the Center and the Hawaii Society in April 1990. The idea of convening a meeting on the valued of American Foresters in co-sponsoring this event, and indeed and interesting genus Santalum came from a meeting of the the Garden provided half of the funding to bring resource Hawaii Society of American Foresters in early 1989. This persons from various countries. The publication of the papers interest in turn was predicated on the local controversy gener presented and a state-of-knowledge report synthesized during ated by the first substantial logging of sandalwood in 150 years the symposium was made possible through the Institute of in Hawaii during fall 1988. Speculation and misinformation Pacific Islands Forestry of the Pacific Southwest Research about sandalwood abounded, and it seemed desirable to pull Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. together what was known about its history, distribution, status, The Nepal-United Kingdom Forestry Research Project, the ecology, management, propagation, and use. Inquiries made to University of Western Australia, the Western Australian De other countries where sandalwood was being exploited revealed partment of Conservation and Land Management, and the FAO a similar desire to obtain reliable information on these topics. South Pacific Forestry Development Project provided support Vanuatu had instituted a prohibition on commercial sandal- for the participation of resources persons from each of those wood harvesting in 1987. High prices possibly were resulting in organizations. The planning committee was composed of James illegal logging in several other Pacific island countries. Active Chamberlain, Robert Merriam, and Lawrence Hamilton. programs of management and exploitation were producing new Most of the difficult work of preparing the papers for publica knowledge in Queensland and Western Australia. New propa tion was done by technical publications editor Roberta Burzynski gation and establishment research was being carried out in and editorial assistant Mark Dougherty of the Pacific Southwest Nepal, Indonesia, and New Caledonia. Long-term work on Research Station. They deserve credit for making this publica sandalwood has been carried out in India (especially in Karnataka tion readable. To all of the scientists and managers who prepared and Tamil Nadu), but the information was not widely available. presentations for the symposium and to the symposium partici Sandalwood was being rustled with loss of human lives in India. pants who so willingly contributed information from their expe Several species or varieties in various countries were in an riences, we express our thanks. endangered status; others were extinct; and many planting efforts had met with limited success. Technical Coordinators: In view of the international nature of the interest and prob Lawrence Hamilton, Environment and Policy Institute, lems, it was deemed appropriate for the Environment and Policy East-West Center Institute of the Center to adopt, as part of its program effort in C. Eugene Conrad, Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry Biological Diversity, the convening of a symposium on sandal- Pacific Southwest Research Station wood. This was held April 9 and 10, with a working session held ii USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-122. 1990 Opening Remarks1 Leonard A. Newell2 Good morning and a warm Aloha nui loa to all of you from the key and science-centered. It is difficult to hold any meeting Hawaii Society of American Foresters. It is a great pleasure and about trees and forestry in Hawai‘i without generating intense an inspiration to see so many people gathered to exchange interest from many people—interest which can become misdi information about the wonderful trees of the Genus Santalum. rected into political activism and sloganeering before knowl I particularly appreciate the effort that has been made by our edge can be shared or digested. international visitors to come here and share your knowledge Our aim has been and remains to concentrate on scientific with us. knowledge about the classification, distribution, propagation, The difficulties of growing sandalwood in Hawai‘i are well silviculture, physiology, soils, ecology and utilization of the known and have been often cited as reasons for not pursuing the species of the Genus Santalum. Once we have learned what it is planting of these species more aggressively. Those of us who necessary to know about these things, we can formulate manage can see beyond a 40-year time horizon—something which is ment plans and apply this knowledge to the benefit of the forests becoming increasingly difficult to do—have long deplored the of the tropics and the people of the earth. lack of progress in restoring sandalwood more conscientiously Your participation in this symposium will lay a foundation to its former prominence in our ecosystems and in our economy. that all of us can build upon. This meeting will, I hope, be the The organizers hope this important meeting will be the begin beginning of an era of close cooperation among all of us who are ning of a new era in learning about and managing this fascinat interested in sandalwood and in assuring that its fine properties

Load more