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9.
PROSPECT AN INTERNATIONAL TIMBER DATABASE
PROSPECT is a database of information on the wood
properties and uses of 1550 species of tree, containing information on up
to 92 different properties and 175 uses to which the timbers may have been
put. 1800 literature references have been used to compile it and
information from up to 20 references is quoted for each property of each
timber. The range of the property is thus covered, including tests done on
trees from different locations and at different ages. 28,000 different
local names for the trees are entered, making it a major source of
information linking local and botanical names. For more than 1100 of the
species wood images are available on screen showing the general appearance
of the timber. Besides this detailed information on individual timbers,
there are facilities to find the timbers suitable for a certain end use or
to find suitable end uses for a particular species. It is also possible to
find timbers with properties similar to a known, widely used timber. The
property requirements for a particular end use have to be specified before
a search is made; these have been predefined for the main uses in the
package but they can also be specified by the database user. This makes it
possible to decide which are and which are not vital property requirements
for a particular use in a particular situation so that the timber can be
tailored to the job.
This database is comprehensive, versatile and contains
considerably more information than any similar database currently
available. It originated from a request from the 1980 Commonwealth
Forestry Conference for information on the properties of lesser known
tropical timbers to be made easily available; it was designed specifically
to encourage the use of many virtually unknown tropical timbers, many of
which have ideal properties for a wide range if uses.
So what?
Why should the average forester or wood using industry need
it?
Do we really want to use more species from tropical forest
or should we be conserving them?
A wide range of species is now used from production forest
in SE Asia, some of which are grouped to make marketing easier. This has
resulted in a large and very lucrative timber trade, both locally and for
export from this region. The sustainability of this trade may be
questionable but the knowledge and finance is now available for
controlling the situation by using good forest management; all that is
needed is the will to do this.
In Africa and, to a lesser extent in South America, the
full available range of species is not being used. Well known species
command a high price and are being over exploited while others are not
being used at all. In the last decade the situation in many African
countries has deteriorated in this respect rather than improved. The
result is more pressure on the mahoganies and other valuable species while
others are not used at all and are thus allowed to compete “unfairly” with
the valuable species. The complexity of this problem is far too great to
discuss here but the need to use more species is not difficult to argue,
either from the point of view of getting maximum financial return from the
forest or from the silvicultural and biodiversity angles.
PROSPECT provides an invaluable tool for promoting the use
of these species by giving information on how they have already been used
and how they might be utilised in future. It not only gives invaluable
information on individual timbers but also on the possible grouping of
them to make marketing easier. No forester or serious timber user should
be without it!
It is available from: The Oxford Forestry Institute, South
Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK
RA Plumptre |
