2025/10/17 by Gretel Boswijk · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · Business, Management and Accounting · #Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies #Forest Management and Policy #Wine Industry and Tourism
paper · doi:10.1163/27723194-bja10049
openalex publication_date 2025/10/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/19 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract In 2014, a fire at the Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh Building revealed the use of New Zealand kauri ( Agathis australis D. Don Lindley) masquerading as oak pillars. A description of this timber as ‘cheap ballast’ in a 2015 Guardian article prompted investigation into the awareness, export, and use of kauri in the United Kingdom (UK). Awareness of kauri in the UK developed during the 1800s, as botanical knowledge of New Zealand flora increased and through discussion of kauri forests, trees, and timber in a range of academic and general publications. The earliest kauri exports were spars for the Royal Navy and between 1850 and 1894, approximately 79 shipments of kauri were dispatched to the UK, with over half occurring in the 1880s and 1890s. At that time, an economic recession and oversupply in NZ pushed the timber companies to seek a share of the ‘home’ (UK) market. The promotion of kauri in the UK (and Europe) included the display of timber and finished products at international exhibitions. Kauri was sold throughout the UK and was used for a wide variety of purposes, including furniture, joinery, fixtures, and fittings. Sent as intentional cargo, it was more than ‘cheap ballast’, and its presence in the UK demonstrates the colonial timber trade and ties between New Zealand and Britain in the 1800s and early 1900s.