Category: Sustainability (Page 2 of 3)

Tapping a rubber tree — Rubber trees take between seven and ten years to deliver their first latex harvest. Harvesters make incisions across the latex vessels, just deep enough to tap the vessels without harming the tree.

Rubber … from the Spanish Court to pneumatic tyres

June 6, 2019 / John Halkett

Rubber trees (Hevea bransiliensis) are tall deciduous trees growing to a height of up to 45 metres in the wild, but cultivated trees are usually much smaller because drawing off latex restricts growth. The inner bark oozes latex when damaged.

Native to the Amazon and Orinoco river basins of Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia, rubber trees where originally called caoutchouc, from the indigenous cauchy, or ‘weeping wood’. The rubber tree is a member of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge) family. Its creamy latex is a suspension in water of about 50 per cent rubber ready to be excluded and quickly… Read more “Rubber … from the Spanish Court to pneumatic tyres”

Cover Images of trees — The new book details how, through the miracle of photosynthesis trees and wood, can confront climate change.

By the light of the sun

November 2, 2017 / John Halkett

This is a bit of advanced warning about my new book soon to be published. By the light of the Sun: Trees, wood, photosynthesis and climate change is about how, through the miracle of photosynthesis trees and wood, can confront climate change.
The aim of this upcoming book is to detail how to better harness the power of the products of photosynthesis to offset adverse climate change. Specifically this book asserts that trees and forests, plus wood products, will be even more important in assisting to tackle climate change, and in contributing to a sustainable energy and carbon neutral future.
This… Read more “By the light of the sun”

3000 year old olive tree … foremost tree in early human culture and commerce.

Uncrowned king of trees

May 2, 2017 / John Halkett

Among the foremost trees in early human culture and commerce was the olive. From the dawn of recorded history the olive has enjoyed a status and prestige not shared by any other plant. Although many of the events in the early story of the olive are shrouded in mystery, the tree has been feted as the precursor to modern civilization.

It was the olive tree that was acknowledged as ‘the first of trees’. In the Bible’s book of Judges, Chapter 9, Verse 8 is written: “The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us.” The olive has been the uncrowned … Read more “Uncrowned king of trees”

Chinese paulownia trees in Australia

March 31, 2017 / John Halkett

Paulownia is a deciduous hardwood tree native to parts of Asia, notably China, and is well known for its vigorous growth and capacity to be grown over short rotations. Its timber is noted for its workability and outstanding strength to weight ratio.
Paulownia timber is light in colour, with a gradual transition from sapwood to heartwood. The timber has a low density (260-350 kilograms per cubic metre, at 15 percent moisture content). It is a straight grained, soft timber which is easy to air dry. After drying the timber is stable unless a notable proportion of pith is present.
Paulownia timber … Read more “Chinese paulownia trees in Australia”

‘Dinosaur’ pine growing in Sydney

October 19, 2016 / John Halkett

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney is one of my favorite spots in the city. Recently I paid another visit and checked out the Wollemi pine. This specimen was planted as one of the first seedlings from the trees found growing in the wild.

The Wollemi pine was formally identified in 1994. It is an example of the botanical diversity and wonder of Australian trees. Discovered when bushwalker David Noble clambered down a rocky cliff into a remote canyon in the Wollemi wilderness – hence the name – about 100 kilometres inland from Sydney. He encountered a cluster of strange-looking trees that he had never… Read more “‘Dinosaur’ pine growing in Sydney”

The orangutan ranks amongst our closest relatives and is perhaps the ultimate wildlife emblem of Southeast Asian forests.

Orangutans need trees

October 19, 2016 / John Halkett

The orangutan is perhaps the ultimate wildlife emblem of Southeast Asian jungles. Its compelling facial expressions and thoughtful, emotion filled eyes have instant appeal. The orangutan ranks amongst our closest relatives. Genetically they are about 97 per cent identical with us – they are intelligent, thoughtful and inventive. Now only in Borneo and Sumatra – the red apes, as they are sometimes called – possess a culture and a sense of beauty. Their name is composed of the Malay words for person (orang) and forest (hutan) that means person of the forest.

The orangutan is the world’s largest… Read more “Orangutans need trees”

Dr Lyndall Bull, director, Forestry Tasmania, and Cr Christine Sindt, Latrobe City, Victoria, congratulate John Halkett at the book launch at the Melbourne Outlook and Insights Conference.

Jungle book now available

September 14, 2016 / John Halkett

Billed as the Book of the Month for September Jungle Jive: Sustaining the forests of Southeast Asia takes a constructive look at jungle conservation, arguing that implementing economic measures that value jungle trees is the way to sustain them and their biological values. The central thesis of the book is the need to inject a dose of economic realism into a subject that has been long on superlatives and emotion, but short on commercial reality.
The book sets out an argument for that in part lies in the increasing prospects of sustainable, legally verified wood production and climate change abatement… Read more “Jungle book now available”

Radiata pine now one of the major plantation trees across temperate regions of the Southern Hemisphere and the basis of substantial forest industries.

Radiata pine – ‘super wood’ of the 21st century

August 28, 2016 / John Halkett

Pine plantations began to be established in Australia from the 1870s as insurance against diminishing supplies of timber from native forests. Early attempts to find suitable pine plantation species for Australian conditions gave rise to planting trials using a wide variety of species. Pines from north and central America, Europe and the Mediterranean, from the Himalayas and Eastern Asia were all tried.

While several showed promise, the most successful was Monterey or radiata pine. This species grows naturally only in three small localities on the central Californian coast, in an area … Read more “Radiata pine – ‘super wood’ of the 21st century”

Buttress roots supporting tropical forest trees, Brunei

Buttress roots in Brunei

August 28, 2016 / John Halkett

Been working in Brunei Darussalam recently, including having a look around the Temburong National Park. The park is notable for its extensive pristine tropical forest on hill country, with some interesting inhabitants, including the endangered Proboscis monkey. The trees in the park are numerous in terms of numbers of species and size. The average height of the taller trees rarely exceeds 50 to 60 metres, though individual trees may grow up to 90 metres tall.

Buttress roots are a fascinating feature in tropical forests and I saw some great examples in Brunei. Unlike temperate forests where… Read more “Buttress roots in Brunei”

Jungle Jive: Sustaining the forests of Southeast Asia. — Jungle Jive: Sustaining the forests of Southeast Asia coming soon.

Early warning – book on its way

May 4, 2016 / John Halkett

A bit of early warning, my new book: Jungle Jive: Sustaining the forests of Southeast Asia should be published in the second half of May. You can go the publisher’s website to place an early order if you want to do so.

This book attempts to paints a picture of the critical role and importance of the jungles to Southeast Asia, detailing their diversity, the home they provide for countless animals large and small; their importance to tens of millions of human inhabitants, and the beauty and versatility of the timber and other products they provide. It sets out an argument for the management of tropical… Read more “Early warning – book on its way”