African Mahogany Australia and Northern Tropical Timbers in partnership with Forest and Wood Products Australia and McGrath Forestry Services initiated a project in 2016 to understand the primary limitations to the productivity of African mahogany plantations in northern Australia. The objective was to provide guidance on the impact of silvicultural management (fertilization, thinning and pruning) on plantation productivity and processing options for the timber from the plantations in northern Australia. Initially the project had three main components:
- Assess the optimum thinning and fertilizer regimes for African mahogany across a range of sites in the Douglas Daly region. By assessing the site factors involved in determining the overall plantation productivity this knowledge will be transferable to a wider range of sites across northern Australia.
- Develop relationships between nutrient status and tree growth using data on growth and nutrient status (soil and foliage data) from existing and new fertilizer trials.
- Determine the impact of silvicultural inputs on processing performance (e.g. sawing, veneer production).
The first two components are described in the Silviculture section and the third in the Processing section of the report.
A market scoping study was added in the final year of the project as it was recognised that the knowledge gained from the silvicultural and processing studies provided the opportunity to explore the market options for Australian plantation grown African mahogany.
Project number: VNC402-1617
