Green Leaf Plantations Limited: Establishment of a Chinese Mahogany Plantation

Abstract of the presentation of

Sayuri Wicramasinghe

Toona Sinensis also known as Chinese Mahogany, is a deciduous tree. The bark is brown, smooth on young trees, becoming scaly to shaggy on old trees. The leaves are pinnate and the leaflets have an entire serrate margin. The flowers are produced in panicles and the fruit is a capsule. The growing area is up country zone in Sri Lanka mostly above the elevation of 1200 m. The harvesting age is 30 to 35 Years. The mature height is 20- 25 m. The mature DBH is 70 cm. The density is 424 kg per cubic-meter. Toona sinensis is class II timber grading.

Establishment and maintenance plan for Toona sinensis is prepared by a company named as Green Leaf Plantation Limited who is willing to establish a commercial Toona plantation in a barren land of upcountry. The company is mainly targeting to obtain a maximum profit by selling toona timber which is popular as a veneer and used for decorative purposes.

The mission of the company is to develop and operate high-quality and cost-competitive commercial Toona plantations producing lumber sustainably whilst providing environmental, social and economic benefit to local communities and the vision is to be Sri Lanka’s leading forestry company based on sustainability, environmental and social development benefits; with a passionate and determined team.

Land Preparation, planting and other treatments such as weeding, fertilizing, thinning, pruning and pest and disease control will be carried out in a very careful manner in order to obtain maximum volume of timber at the end of the rotation age of 30 years. Fencing and fire lining will be done in the early stages of the plantation establishment to prevent manmade and natural damages to the plantation.

Final stock will be about 220 to 250 trees per ha which will be removed by shelter wood system to minimize environmental damages which can be occurred in clear felling. Selected trees will be felled, extracted the moved to roadside and transported to the local market.

Establishment of Plantation Company of Toona ciliata T Wood Plantation (Pvt). Ltd

Abstract of the presentation of

E.T.D. Jayasinghe

T Wood Plantation (Pvt). Ltd is a Commercial Forest Plantation Company in Sri Lanka established in 2010. The Company is Willing to contribute to overcome high timber demand of the Country by supplying timber of Toona ciliata In addition to our core business to enhance productivity and maximizing profitability we willing to diversify existing lands with cash crops, Cocoa and Anthurium. The aims of the company are sustainable management, the fixation of CO₂ on the existing plantations, and the trade forestry products  of  Forest  Plantation to obtain maximum profit.

Toona ciliata is Medium height tree which is grown about 20 m height. Rotation age of Log size timber is 30-40 years. For commercial purposes it will be 30 years. Growth of the tree would be about 40 to 55 m³  on a 15 to 20 years rotation. Growth Rate is 7-18 m³/ha/year. This species is Successfully grown in Wet & intermediate zone between 600m to 1500m from MSL. Plant required shade for initial growth. Plants can be susceptible to Tip Moth (Hypsipyla robusta)  attack  in initial stages.

When consider about Timber, it has popular demand as a veneer and producing decorative purposes. It is graded under Class II timber grading in State Timber Corporation timber grading system. The wood is pinkish- brown in colour. Timber also has characteristic fragrant, nice grain patterns and it is easy to work with.

Our Toona plantation is located in Haputale, within the climatic zone of up country wet zone. Total Extent of the plantation is 50 ha. When consider about management prescriptions of the plantation, plant seeds do not need pretreatment. Seeds should be sowing in nursery and allowed to grow upto 0.6-1.2 m height prior to planting in field. Grevillea robusta is planting 2 years prior to planting Toona as a shade tree and will be removed after 8 years of planting. Then Cocoa and Anthurium is going to intercrop with Toona for maximum land utilization. The end product will be timber logs which will be sold out to local buyers and saw mills.

Establishment and maintenance plan for Cedrela toona

Establishment and maintenance plan for Cedrela toona

Abstract of a seminar presentation

Based on a hypothetically formed plantation company

Sadeepa Senarath Yapa

Establishment and maintenance plan for Cedrela toona is prepared by a company named as Evergreen Plantation Limited who is willing to establish a commercial toona plantation in a barren land of upcountry. The company is mainly targeting to obtain a maximum profit by selling toona timber which is popular as a veneer and used for decorative purposes.

This large tree species is a moderate shade demander whose best growth is at the elevation of around 1200m. As we have a barren land of 50ha with no shade trees we have planned to plant Acacia decurrens two years prior to planting toona in the spacing of 4.5m*4.5m. These Acacia plants will be removed completely form the site 7 years after planting them to provide more space for the growing of toona trees.

Land Preparation, planting and other treatments such as weeding, fertilizing, thinning, pruning and pest and disease control will be carried out in a very careful manner in order to obtain maximum volume of timber at the end of the rotation age of 30 years. Fencing and fire lining will be done in the early stages of the plantation establishment to prevent manmade and natural damages to the plantation.

Final stock will be 225 trees per ha which will be removed by shelter wood system to minimize environmental damages which can be occurred in clear felling. Selected trees will be felled, extracted the moved to roadside and transported to the local market.