Annex 2 and 3 list the 50 indigenous tree species considered the most important, and the principal uses to which they are put. This data comes from a rapid survey done by some 20 resource persons.
In these tables, when considering only the species that are not cultivated, one can see that for the most part they are used for wood: construction wood, stakes, carving and fuelwood. And yet, the natural forest formations where these tree species are found are not managed in a rational way (lack of inventory, cartography, and management plans), neither does there exist a proper forestry sector: there is almost a complete absence of material for exploitation and conversion, an insufficient transport service, and a lack of use of tree species in modern constructions which are progressively substituting traditional housing. All this constitutes a constraint to greater use of the resource - even more so if one considers the difficulties linked to land tenure (especially privatisation of natural areas on Wallis), and the noticeable reduction in natural formations (humid dense forests and coastal forests), and thus of the potential of these resources.
With respect to partially cultivated species, these are used exclusively for purposes other than wood: food, fodder, and non-timber products. Two notable exceptions are coconut and breadfruit, which are used for wood, fruit and leaves. Constraints on greater utilisation of all these partially cultivated species are the limited interior market of the Territory, and the almost complete absence of craft products for exportation (which itself is uncertain) and the progressive substitution of traditional remedies by modern medicines.
Among the species present in annex 1 and 2, there are principally those that are used for their wood, which represent the most important possibilities for development.
With the exception of a very small plot of Tectona grandis on Wallis, the only exotic forest tree species planted on the Territory of Wallis and Futuna is Pinus caribaea. Currently this species can be considered as important for its role in the conservation and protection of soils and water (Co in the table). In spite of the age of the first plantations (1974) and the current extent of these forest stands (400 ha), Pinus caribaea is today practically not used. There are several reasons for this: absence of management documentation; lack of a forest/wood sector, insufficient transport facilities (to Futuna), land tenure difficulties (on Wallis, the largest stand of Pinus caribaea used to belong to a community, but was privatised at the beginning of the 1990s), and an absence of silviculture (e.g. thinning, pruning). In 1997, CIRAD-Forêt carried out a study of the physical and mechanical properties of Pinus caribaea based on samples from Wallis. The timber was judged at least as good as that of Pinus radiata, which is currently imported (principally in the form of treated sawn wood), which would allow its use in construction. One can therefore expect utilisation of Pinus caribaea in the future as sawn wood (Ti), and round wood (Ro).
Proper rural evaluation studies have never been carried out on local community knowledge of trees, and the uses to which they have been put. Two interesting papers can nevertheless be cited:
"Trees and bushes of Wallis and Futuna" edited by a technician in 1992. This publication summarises the uses of the principal trees and bushes of the Territory.
“Plants in traditional medicine on Wallis and Futuna", a Sociology M.A. thesis by Robert Laufoaulu.
Annex 3 "Location and management of the most important tree species" indicates in which islands the seventeen tree species considered to be the most important are found. As there are no regulations on the management and conservation of trees and forests, the first columns of the table are blank. With regard to the names of mature tree of different species for each category of land use, it is very difficult to be more precise. With the exception of Artocarpus altilis and Cocos nucifera which are widely spread and therefore for which one can indicate the presence of more than 1 000 mature trees, it is impossible to give a reliable figure for the other trees without some form of inventory. All the same, one can say that mature trees of species present in dense forest are likely to be found in greater number on Alofi than on Futuna or Wallis, this being the reverse for species of the coastal forests.
