Life on the West Island - Tree of Life

In her exquisite book Understory, West Island author Inga Simpson devotes a chapter to the Australian Western Red Cedar tree (toona ciliata), which she describes as the vanished race of the East Coast. Simpson says that these trees are one of the few deciduous trees of West Island forests:

…their pinkish new growth in spring makes them easy to spot. Their feathery leaves are oval to lance-shaped, arranged in alternate rows along a central stalk. Their trunks are grey-brown, with irregular scales. They have separate male and female flowers, which appear in late spring.

At the time of European colonisation the red cedar, a member of the mahogany family, proliferated in native forests from Far North Queensland to Gippsland, as well as in Van Diemen’s Land. But it was harvested almost to extinction by waves of early settlers.

The timber from the tree became highly prized because of its durability, attractive red colour, pleasant cedar-like aroma and the ease with which it could be worked to a smooth, glossy finish. Consequently, it was used extensively for furniture, wood panelling and construction, including shipbuilding, and was referred to as "red gold" by early settlers. The similar Western Red Cedar of North America was regarded as the “tree of life” by Indigenous peoples.

On the West Island, in the first century of colonisation the durable timber was used extensively for flooring and wall panelling, and especially for prestigious furniture, such as cabinets, bedsteads and desks. Historic red cedar furniture can now command very high prices at auction – a tribute to its long-lasting qualities.

The tree contributed heavily to West Island settlement patterns. Because of the high prices the timber earned at market in England, gangs of workers were sent into rainforests and hinterlands to harvest the trees, often felling hundreds and leaving the trunks on the forest floor until they could be conveyed by bullock wagon to the coast for later shipment by barge to sawmills in cities and large towns.

Although the timber fetched high prices, the timber-cutters were poorly paid, sometimes only in food or alcohol or very small monetary sums. But as the demand for the timber grew, more and more unskilled men were sent into the subtropical rainforests to seek out red cedars. This resulted in the steady spread of settlement up and down the coast, with inns and taverns being established and ports built to convey the “red gold” to distant sawmillers, who pocketed the majority of the money from exports and local sales.

Simpson details how the harvest was carried out:

In New South Wales, once the tree had been felled, it was sawn into planks with a pit saw. In wetter regions, the pit would just fill with water, leaving the sawyer up to his thighs after rain, so the logs were often rafted out instead, from the banks of local streams or carted by bullock teams in bundles called “snigs.” It was these snigging paths, along with [Indigenous] Kabi Kabi tracks, that first gave travellers access through the dense forest.

Many harvested timber species can be replaced by being grown in plantations or by natural regrowth. But Simpson points out that this was not the case with toona cilliata:

Cedars didn’t grow back. They generate few seeds, and the first, second and third waves of felling, burning and clearing did not give them the chance to reproduce. With the forest’s balance destroyed, trees that did survive were later wiped out by the cedar tip moth which prefers to lay eggs in full sun. Cedars need sun, too, but in order to flourish, they need to grow in the shade of other trees.

Over-harvesting and pests very nearly led to the extinction of the Australian Western Red Cedar, and they have in fact been declared “commercially extinct,” and may not be harvested by foresters.

A recent Local History Research Paper issued by Kiama Library gives details of the operation impact of red cedar harvesting in the NSW Illawarra region and its long-term effects:

The first cedar getters were often convict and ticket of leave men in government or free settler employment. Cedar getters were some of the first explorers of the area and showed that shipping could be conducted from the small shallow bays and treacherous river mouths of the South Coast. There were three classes of cedar getters. Firstly, the Sydney employers with their own sawyers, bullock teams for transport to nearest harbours and their own ships waiting to transport the timber back to Sydney. There were the sawyers who sold the timber to any purchaser and then those who worked to transport the timber. These men were incredibly strong and resourceful, working in very isolated areas in small teams.

They were looked on warily by the first settlers of an area as they were often seen to be wild, heavy drinkers who would steal, fight and create mayhem. A magistrate was sent to the Illawarra in 1826 to investigate the disorderly cedar getters and a detachment of the 40th regiment was located in the district, under the command of Captain Bishop for security of the settlers from cedar getters, bushrangers and vagabonds.

The cedar getters continued to flourish through the 1830’s but had moved on to Northern NSW by 1850’s, when cedar getting ceased to be a commercial operation in the Illawarra. The cedar growing up north was even more plentiful than in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven. The occasional red cedar may still be seen in the Minnamurra Rainforest, Broughton Creek, Cambewarra, Jamberoo Mountain and Macquarie Pass.

Regrettably, toona ciliata is now a rarity on the West Island, although government and private nurseries and Landcare groups are having some success in producing seedlings to help replace a few of the devastated species in native forests. In future decades, the “tree of life” may make a limited recovery. But it is unlikely to reach the flourishing proportions it once achieved.