Maximising Tropical Forestry Project
Looking to the future
As the current plantation is harvested Tiwi Plantations Corporation is looking to the future and a potential 2nd rotation.
The Tiwi Plantations Corporation is leading a collaboration of business, the forestry industry and university and government agencies in a 4-year program of research funded through the CRC for Developing Northern Australia. The outcomes of “Maximising northern tropical forestry – linking communities and cutting-edge technology” project will help to diversify and strengthen forestry production for the next 40 years.
Three key research programs are being undertaken:
Program 1
Tropical Hardwood Plantation Productivity
Existing trials of eucalypt species, provenances and hybrids will be assessed for growth and used to establish new planting trials.
The most promising material will be used in spacing and fertiliser factorial trials to determine optimal productivity and profitability.
Potential invasiveness will be determined from performance on-site and published literature.
Program 2
Higher Value Products and future plantings
Wood quality and properties of logs will be determined from promising tree material as a basis for determining potential for higher-value products and options for forestry product diversification.
Genomic tools and molecular marker technology will be used targeting specific domestication traits including growth rate, quality, yield and potentially disease resistance.
Results will help determine potential for genetic improvement through breeding and selection, ultimately leading to higher performing material for establishment of superior tree orchards by Tiwi Plantations Corporation.
Program 3
Northern Forestry Industry Growth model
Researchers and community development practitioners will work with Aboriginal and rural communities across northern Australia to document best practice forestry plantation establishment practices and develop a Northern Forestry Industry Growth Model.
Community based workshops, key stakeholder interviews, and historic industry analysis will be used identify key forestry industry challenges and devise high level industry development strategies.
