BACKGROUND 
The Island 
Norfolk Island is a small island in the South Pacific Ocean approx- 
imately 3450 ha in extent. It is situated at a latitude of 29?s just 
over 1600 km northeast of Sydney, Australia and 1000 km from Auckland, 
New Zealand - see fig. l. It is volcanic in origin and is bounded by 
precipitous cliffs except for a small section of coastline on the south. 
The highest points are twin peaks which rise to a little over 300 m above 
mean sea level but the general elevation of the island is approximately 
100 m. The climate is subtropical and equable with temperatures varying 
from 7 to 27 C. The rainfall which averages about 1320 mm is well dis- 
tributed throughout the year though some summer droughts are experienced. 
The soils are fertile deriving from the basalt and tuff parent material to 
form mostly red Kraznozems. They are ideal for forest growth but under 
intensive agriculture some nutrient deficiencies have become evident. 
The Island was uninhabited when discovered by Captain James Cook R.N. 
in 1774. Cook (1777) described the vegetation where he landed in the 
following terms: 
'We observed many trees and plants common at New Zealand, and in 
particular the flax plant, which grows rather more luxuriant here 
than in any part of the country; but the chief produce is a sort of 
spruce pine, which grows in great abundance, and to a large size, 
many trees being as thick as two men could fathom, and exceedingly 
straight and tall. This pine is of the sort between that which grows 
in New Zealand and that which is in Caledonia, the foliage differing 
somewhat from both; and the wood not so heavy as the former, and not 
so light and close grained as the latter. It is a good deal like the 
Quebec pine. For about two hundred yards from the shore the ground 
is covered so thick with shrubs and plants as hardly to be penetrated 
inland. The woods were perfectly clear from underwood and the soil 
seemed rich and deep.' 
The Island was settled in 1788 by a party from the colony of New 
South Wales (mainland Australia) led by Lieutenant Philip Gidley King 
R.N. His accounts and many that followed mentioned the difficulty in 
penetrating the forest, describing it as a very dense formation with 
complete canopy excluding the light, very little growth on the forest 
floor and the towering emergent pines being in great abundance (Hoare 
1969). 
The settlement was abandoned in 1814 having served mainly as a convict 
prison. By that time approximately one quarter of the Island had been 
cleared to make way for the agricultural pursuits followed by the settlers. 
Another convict settlement was established in 1825 and during the fol- 
lowing 29 years further clearing was carried out both to provide more land 
for agriculture and to exploit the pine and other timbers. Significant 
quantities of timber were exported to Sydney and England during this time. 
Lane-Poole (1926) records that at one time or another during the 
convict settlements the whole of the Island apart from the two mountains 
and the land to their north as far as the coast must have been cleared and