Atiu Afforestation Scheme
pp. 76-77 · Read in the full issue
Good Work
By Ra
ATIU ISLAND, in the Cook Group, is still forging ahead under the enthusiastic and energetic leadership of its Resident Agent, Mr. Ronald Thorby.
For some years Mr. Thorby has been showing the people of Atiu what can be done with their land.
He established an experimental farm on which many types of tropical produce are grown. He developed the planting of peanuts and coffee, and introduced pedigree poultry. And it was largely through Thorby’s urging that the fern covered upper slopes of Atiu were converted from wasteland into areas now used for afforestation.
The afforestation scheme was started in 1951. To-day there is an area of approximately 110 acres on which Albizzia, and other types of trees are grown.
The Albizzia, a fast growing soft wood, is intended to supply case timber for the Cook Group’s export trade. It will be between 4 and 5 years yet before this timber is ready to be milled, but it will represent a substantial saving for local fruit exporters who have always had to import costly case timbers from New Zealand.
The trees are planted 10 feet apart, 435 to the acre.
Mr. W. H. Jolliffe, Senior Forester of the NZ Forestry Department, visited Atiu in early June, and was impressed with the progress made.
Strict measures were enforced by Mr. Thorby to discourage the burning of scrub from the land, and erosion was not so noticeable
as formerly. The native ironwoods were growing well again.
Besides Albizzia, other types of trees are grown on Atiu for experi mental purposes, such as teak, and the Australian eucalyptus, silky oak and araucaria. Two other trees have proved, through experimenta tion, that they can be grown successfully on Atiu as case timber
—Rhus and Gmelina.
Mr. Thorby is assisted by only a small Maori staff who show the land owners where to plant their trees. The rest of the work is carried out by the owners and their families, who obtain the seedlings from the Administration Nurseries.
The afforestation scheme, if successful, will prove a great boon to Cook Islanders, but owing to technical problems, it has been decided that only two of the Group’s 15 islands are practicable for this project—Atiu and Mangaia.
Afforestation was begun this year in Mangaia.