eucalyptus

[trisha]

Hallo Nev, not too far away from us there are forests of eucalyptus trees. Whole hillsides are covered with them. This summer two (forests I mean)of them were cut down, of course they have all sprung up again and very pretty they look, but what would they have been grown for please? The trees that were cut down were little more than poles and far too thin to be used to hold up wires. A lot of trees are grown here in SW France to be used for building, telegraph poles and paper and there used to be quite an industry for turpentine now mostly dead. I hope these aliens have a good use. We walked around one forest and it seemed very quiet, no birds and a very thick layer of leaves which I should think will make quite a fire hazard. Fire is a problem here in the summer. If these trees make a successful crop and more farmers start to grow them please may we have some of your lovely birds and a few koalas to go with them?

[Wombat]

I gotta tell you don't know, Trisha. There are thousands of species of eucalypts and it depends on which one(s) they are. Perhaps eucalyptus oil extraction? It would have to be something that the local trees don't have so maybe that's it!

As for the wildlife..................I'd love to but unfortunately they call it smuggling over here and lock you up and throw away the key!

Nev

[ina]

Could it be for renewable energy? They use willow for that in the UK, but maybe the warmer climate in France means Eucalyptus is more efficient?

Only an idea - I've never heard of it being done, but if the stems are that thin, they can't really be used for anything else. (Unless it's for giant matches, of course. )

Ina

[Wombat]

I dunno Ina, Eucalyptus species tend to be slow growing, but anything is possible!

Nev

[Magpie]

We intend planting Nitens Eucs, because they can be coppiced, and re-grow relatively quickly. We would want the regrowth to be a little larger than those twigs though!!

[Millymollymandy]

But what will you use the wood for? Firewood?

[Magpie]

Sorry, I wasn't clear about that, was I?

Yes, it would be for firewood.

[SUPEwoman]

I've just returned from holiday in Central Portugal where there's lots of forest including Eucalyptus.

According to my old copy of Lonely Planet Guide to Portugal, these trees are fast growing & are used for manufacturing paper. They are a profitable crop are are planted when the native forest has been cleared or burnt down. They are very water hungry trees which is impacting upon the landscape & water table, especially as there have been more droughts recently.

The government is attempting to monitor the % of plantations & issuing licences to grow but it's suspected that fires are set deliberately to clear the ground of native trees & make space for them. At least 1/3 Portugal's forest burns each year & I have seen small new greeny/grey Eucalyptus saplings set into the blackened burnt hillsides.

The variety we saw seemed to loose their bark in "sheets" which fall dry to the ground. We assumed that as this loose stuff would fall off as it burned, the trees would not be destroyed. It certainly didn't take long for new growth to appear in the badly burnt areas.