Ian McConachie is eager to find the answer to an ancient mystery: how many hundreds of years do Australia’s wild macadamias live?
Key points:
- A new Walk with Wild Macadamias trail has opened
- Wild macadamia trees are a threatened species
- Conservationists are raising awareness of the value of their rare genetics
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images and names of people who have died.
After decades of visiting a precious remnant of endangered species habitat in Queensland’s Amamoor State Forest, the founder of the Macadamia Conservation Trust has already discovered that appearances are deceiving.
“A lot of people are familiar with the macadamia, but seeing it in tropical rainforests is mind-boggling,” McConachie AM told.
“It’s nothing like you’d expect, they hide among all the other trees.”
life time capsules
A self-described “macadamia dinosaur,” a retired food scientist, field researcher, grower, and passionate historian, McConachie selected a lanky, chest-high tree as a perfect example of how even a small plant could have potentially hundreds of years.
“It only has about 18 leaves. I first saw it in 1979 and between 1979 and now, it hasn’t grown at all. It’s sitting in the rain forest in dense shade, waiting until it gets light,” he said.
The oldest macadamia tree planted in Europe has been growing in Brisbane Botanic Gardens since 1858 and still produces a healthy crop of nuts.
“One of the initiatives that we’re taking is that we’re starting to do radiocarbon dating of trees in the rainforest so we can see how longevity they are and how old they might be,” McConachie said.
Three years ago, scientists made the “shocking” DNA discovery that the global macadamia industry emanated from a single tree, or a small group of trees, at Mooloo.
“There are possibly 100 million cultivated macadamia trees worldwide that have originated from a mother tree that is very close to here,” McConachie marveled.
Treasured and traded by the First Nations peoples of Australia, the macadamia is the only plant in our country that has become an international food.
The nuts were brought to Hawaii in 1881, where they were first traded.
Macadamia Trust director Andy Burnside has estimated that clearing, urban encroachment, fires and weeds have destroyed up to 90 percent of the wild population.
Its four species have been listed as threatened. With permission, cuttings have been taken from wild trees.
“The genetic base of our commercial industry is quite narrow,” Burnside said.
“What we’re trying to do is conserve some genetic material from wild trees and grow some trees in a safe environment in various arboretums in various places in eastern Australia.”
Pest and disease resistance, size, and climate adaptability are just some of the characteristics these wild trees could provide to safeguard the world’s genetically vulnerable cash crops.
cracking business
The Australian Macadamia Society has estimated that the global value at the macadamia farm gate would be $1.63 billion this year.
“We sampled more than 600 wild macadamia trees and studied their DNA markers,” McConachie said.
“We’re realizing how hugely diverse genetics are, and that’s terribly important going forward.”
A new Walk with the Wild Macadamias trail, including interpretive signage, has opened opposite the Amama Day Area in the Amamoor State Forest, off the path that Australia’s country music fans drive on their annual pilgrimage to Gympie’s Music Muster.
Traditional owner Russell Bennett hopes ecotourists are hungry to learn more about the tasty nut and its habitat.
“I was born and raised in Gympie. I am Gubbi Gubbi, Wakka Wakka, Kullilli. This is my country. I have been a custodian all my life and I have taken care of this country,” he said.
“I really hope that we can highlight the importance of these macadamias here so that we can preserve them and thus preserve the bush that they live on.”