Uses
Although today its use is far more restricted, in the past the size and strength of kauri timber made it a popular wood for construction and ship building, particularly for masts of sailing ships because of its parallel grain and the absence of branches for much of its height. Kauri is also a superb timber for building the hulls and decks of boats because of its resistance to rot. Kauri crown and stump wood was much appreciated for its beauty, and was sought after for ornamental wood panelling as well as high-end furniture. Although not as highly prized, the light colour of kauri trunk wood made it also well-suited for more utilitarian furniture construction, as well as for use in the fabrication of cisterns, barrels, bridges construction material, fences, moulds for metal forges, large rollers for the textile industry, railway sleepers and braces for mines and tunnels.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries kauri gum (semi-fossilised kauri resin) was a valuable commodity, particularly for varnish, and was the focus of a considerable industry.
Today, the kauri is being considered as a long-term carbon sink. This is because estimates of the total carbon content in living above ground biomass and dead biomass of mature kauri forest are the second highest of any forest type recorded anywhere in the world. The estimated total carbon capture is up to nearly 1000 tones per hectare. In this capacity they are bettered only by mature Eucalyptus regnans forest, and are far higher than any tropical or boreal forest type yet recorded (see Keith et al. 2009, PNAS, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2701447/ ). It is also conjectured that the process of carbon capture does not reach equilibrium, which along with no need of direct maintenance, makes kauri forests a potentially attractive alternative to short rotation Pinus radiata forests, for example.
Read more about this topic: Agathis Australis, Ethnobotany