From aceska@cue.bc.caThu Dec 15 19:51:17 1994 Date: Thu, 15 Dec 1994 05:30:00 -0800 From: Adolf Ceska To: ben@cue.bc.ca Subject: BEN # 85 BBBBB EEEEEE NN N ISSN 1188-603X BB B EE NNN N BBBBB EEEEE NN N N BOTANICAL BB B EE NN NN ELECTRONIC BBBBB EEEEEE NN N NEWS No. 85 December 15, 1994 aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2 ----------------------------------------------------------- DR. E.D. (TED) HAGMEIER DIED - DECEMBER 9, 1994 Dr. Edwin Moyer Hagmeier, known as Ted to most of us, was born on March 24, 1924 in Kitchener, Ontario. He studied at Queen's University in Kingston (B.A. 1950) and at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver (M.A. in 1952 and Ph.D. in 1955). He taught at the University of New Brusnwick from 1955-1961, contributing to the herbarium there, and in 1961 he came to the University of Victoria as an Associate Professor, and taught Ecology, Biogeography and Limnology. He retired from the Univer- sity of Victoria in 1987. His major contribution was the biogeography of North American mammals. Older graduates of UVIC know him as an author of a nifty computer program for cluster analysis, and accidently, he was the first person who explained to me what "nifty" meant. His many interests included zoology, botany, and fishing. He was a warm and reliable friend to all UVIC biology students. BOTANIST MAYOR OF MONTREAL From: R.T. Ogilvie Pierre Bourque was elected Mayor of Montreal in the November civic election. Pierre Bourque was director of the Montreal Botanical Garden, and had a major role with the Garden for 25 years. Bourque was a very dynamic and creative director and has been called the major successor to Marie-Victorin the original founder of the botanical garden in 1931. During his directorship there have been many innovations: the Arboretum, Japanese Garden, the Insectarium, Chinese Garden, Ericaceae Garden, Streamside Garden, and Rose Garden, and the Biodome - a museum of world ecosystems. Annual visitors to the Botanical Gardens are now more than one million. The Institute of Botany, a partnership between the University of Montreal and the Botani- cal Garden, was strengthened and new research laboratories were opened. A high quality journal of botany and horticulture was started, called "Quatre-Temps" (which is the Quebec name for Cornus canadensis). DELTA SOFTWARE MAILING LIST From: Phillip Hoover via TAXACOM A trial DELTA (DEscription Language for TAxonomy) users e-mail discussion list is being established in December of 1994 using the listserver at the University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada). The list will be of a temporary nature, running until April 1994. The purpose of this list is to allow discussion regarding the use of the DELTA system for its users and those interested in learning the use of the system. It could allow posting an- nouncements of new upgrades and additional programs for use with the DELTA system and meetings and workshops of interest to DELTA users. We are setting it up for the education of our students in a final year undergraduate course: Taxonomy and Biodiversity. To subscribe, send a message to the listserver LISTSERV@UVVM.UVIC.CA (or LISTSERV@UVVM.BITNET) with a message in the text saying: subscribe DELTA-L your name The subject line should be left blank. Questions regarding the list can be sent to the list manger Phillip Hoover (phoover@sol.uvic.ca). SOUTH PACIFIC INDIGENOUS NUTS From: "R. M. Bourke" via NEWCROPS list [The following article was written for Tropical Forest Manage- ment Update, published by the International Tropical Timber organisation and posted on the New Crops electronic forum.] Numerous indigenous tree species bear edible nuts in the South Pacific. There are over 40 nut bearing species in Papua New Guinea alone, many self-sown in lowland forest. Some of these have high quality kernels which have considerable potential for commercial development in domestic South Pacific and overseas markets. In 1989 commercial development of canarium nuts commenced in the Solomon Islands where they were marketed under the name "Solomon nuts" (Evans 1993). Canarium nut oil has also been exported for use in personal care products by the UK based Body Shop Interna- tional. Since then, interest in these nut species has increased rapidly and small industries have also been established in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. South Pacific Indigenous Nuts Workshop This commercial development has received further impetus through a recent workshop held in October in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. The South Pacific Indigenous Nuts Workshop was attended by 55 people from the South Pacific countries of Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and West- ern Samoa, as well as from non-island countries (Australia, Philippines, UK and USA). Participants came from a wide range of backgrounds, with people involved in commercial development of these nuts well represented. Over a five day period, 22 papers were presented; and working groups on production, processing and marketing nuts met on three occasions. Participants saw a demonstration of a prototype mechanical commercial nut cracker developed by a Ni-Vanuatu engineer at the University of Hawaii; they visited local vil- lages where nuts were growing; and they also sampled locally produced nuts at Mr. Charles Long Wah's 'Kava Store'. The workshop was sponsored by the US Agency for International Development, Australian International Development Assistance Bureau, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Re- search and the Institute for Research, Extension and Training in Agriculture at the University of the South Pacific Apia campus. A workshop proceedings will be published by ACIAR. Nut species Most interest to date has been on canarium species. Pili nut (Canarium ovatum [Burseraceae]) is sold in the Philippines. Canarium vulgare nuts are processed and sold locally in Suluwesi, Ambon and other islands in East Indonesia. Canarium indicum is the most important species in the Melanesian countries of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Its natural distribution also includes eastern Indonesia. Canarium occurs as self-sown forest trees and planted or protected trees in woody regrowth and village areas. A number of Terminalia species [Combretaceae] bear high quality nuts. Terminalia catappa is the very widely distributed sea almond. This grows on beaches and nearby areas. As well as the South Pacific, sea almond is widely grown in South East Asia and other regions such as the West Indies. Terminalia kaernbachii produces a very high quality nut, some- what similar to the almond. Its natural distribution is confined mainly to the south side of the island of New Guinea and some other islands. It bears poorly near the ocean, but does well in inland locations from very low altitudes up to an altitude of 1100 m. Cut-nuts (Barringtonia procera, B. edulis and B. novae-hiberniae [Lecythidaceae]) are distributed from New Guinea to Fiji. Unlike canarium species and Terminalia kaernbachii, Barringtonia procera is not a forest species. It is planted in disturbed sites or in villages. B. novae-hiberniae is a forest species. The Barringtonias are quick bearing trees and produces nuts within three years of planting, They contrasts with Canarium indicum and Terminalia kaernbachii which do not bear until about seven years. The compact habit of the Barringtonias is also an advantage when they are planted with other trees. Market accept- ance of cut-nuts has been very good in Vanuatu where it is being processed and sold in Port Vila. The Polynesian chestnut (Inocarpus fagifer [Fabaceae]) is a widely distributed nut tree throughout most of the South Pacific. It has not been developed commercially in any of the island countries and market prospects are poorer than for the other species. Karuka nut (Pandanus julianettii [Pandanaceae]) grows only at high altitude locations (1800 to 2600 metres) on the island of New Guinea. It has not been developed commercially to date. However, the nut is very popular in the Papua New Guinea High- lands and is sold in large numbers during the harvesting season. If it was to be developed commercially in Papua New Guinea or in other countries, it is likely to be well accepted. Country strategies Different approaches are being pursued in the different South Pacific countries. Commercial development of indigenous nuts commenced in the Solomon Islands with exploitation of natural stands of Canarium indicum and C. harveyi. After a promising start, the industry has seen little expansion. Processing and sales are done through the Department of Agricultural and the government-run Commodities Export Marketing Authority. In Vanuatu a local businessman, Charles Long Wah, has commenced buying and processing three local nuts. These are canarium nuts (C. indicum and C. harveyi) cut-nuts (Barringtonia spp.) and sea almond (Terminalia catappa). Processed nuts are sold only in the small national capital Port Vila where demand outstrips present supply and production continues to expand from a small base. Because of the significance of the tourist industry in Vanuatu, future expansion will be targeted at the tourist market. There are three developments in Papua New Guinea, all commencing in 1994. Okari Eco-Enterprises is selling small quantities of fresh okari nuts (T. kaernbachii) through a supermarket chain in Port Moresby. On New Britain, two organisations started to buy canarium nuts (C. indicum) in 1994. One is an Australian-funded rural development project in the Kandrian and Gloucester Dis- tricts of West New Britain. The other is a local NGO, the Pacific Heritage Foundation, based near Kokopo in East New Britain. organisers in both locations were agreeably surprised at the ease with which they could buy large quantities of nuts harvested from planted and self-sown trees in local forests. Both organisations are seeking alternative non-timber forest products to generate income for local villagers. Processing and sale will commence in early 1995. Sales will be targeted at the domestic Papua New Guinea market. Demand is expected to be good because of the relatively large urban population (500,000) and the proportion of PNG population who live in the highlands where lowland nuts cannot be grown. There has been no development of indigenous nuts in Fiji to date but following the South Pacific Indigenous Nuts Workshop, inter- est is focussed on two species. These are cut-nut (Barringtonia spp.) and candle nut (Aleurites moluccana [Euphorbiaceae]). The future Processing and sale of South Pacific indigenous nut species is a very new industry and only very small quantities are currently being produced for local sales. However, some of the nuts are high quality ones and have appeal outside the islands. Prospects for further rapid expansion are good for sales locally, to tourists and eventually as export crops. Labour inputs are low compared with annual horticultural crops. The nuts have a rela- tively high value and can absorb high freight costs. They offer the prospect of providing sustainable incomes to villagers in remote locations. Lit.: Evans, B. 1993. Canarium nuts--a new cash crop for the Solomon Islands. Tropical Forest Management Update 3(2):7,19. R. Michael Bourke, Visiting Fellow, Department of Human Geog- raphy, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA E-mail: rmbourke@coombs.anu.edu.au - Fax: 61-6-2494896 [Pili nuts - Canarium ovatum - are available in Vancouver in De Azur Grocery, 18-1472 Commercial Drive.] HAPPY NEW YEAR ! VSE NEJLEPSI V NOVEM ROCE !