“FORWOOD”

“FORWOOD”

The timeline of PNG’s forest tree plantation development mirrors government policy of the day.

2FAO reported that the TPNG Department of Forests developed forest plantations of indigenous and exotic species in selected areas since 1950, following the concept that permanent centres of population and existing industry, required a perpetual supply of raw materials.

• Bulolo Wau plantation area commenced in 1949/50. • Kerevat plantation (near Rabaul) commenced in 1951. • Mt Lawes (Brown River) plantation near Port Moresby 1955. • Asaro (near Goroka) plantation commenced in 1963. • Wahgi Valley (near Mt Hagen) commenced in 1965.

The objective of the TPNG Department of Forests was for forest plantation development in PNG to augment the supplies of logs from the natural forest This policy recognized that plantation forests were seen as complementary to natural forests, never able to replace all the values associated with the natural forests, but where appropriately developed, helping to divert some of the pressures away from them.

For PNG’s natural forests, this was based on the premise of a 35-year harvesting cycle.

Given the issue of land ownership in PNG, behind the PNG forest tree plantation development timeline there is a history of a series of ‘difficulties’ or ‘challenges’ through land tenure conflicts, sometimes between government and landowners, but more often between various groups of landowners.

Over this period, the plantation complexes of Kerevat in New Britain and Brown River (Mt. Lawes) via Port Moresby has succumbed to land tenure conflicts.

Bob Tate3 of PNG Forest Industries Association advised that further projects due to land issues, oil palm conversion and other factors had been discontinued. They included Gogol Valley, Madang North Coast (including JANT and its associated wood chip mill no longer operating), Fayantina, Kaut, Lapegu, Whagi Valley and Ulamona.

However, to this day, government authorities view the benefits of plantation development to represent a major opportunity for growth in PNG’s long-term wood supply and a significant contributor to regional economic development by value adding locally to primary production and generating downstream processing jobs.

Between 1937 (McAdam4 commenced duties in 1938 as TPNG’s Chief Forester) and 2000, PNG had established some 62,000 hectares5 of forest plantations. The major species planted

2 FAO UNASYLVA. 3 Bob Tate PNGFIA personal Communication 27th July 2018 4 PNGAF Magazine Issue # 3 of 30th Oct 2020 – Jim McAdam first Director TPNG Forests. 5 PNGAF Magazine Issue # 9D4F PNG Plantation Statistics of 10th March 2022.

include Araucaria cunninghamii (Hoop pine), Araucaria hunsteinii (Klinkii pine), Tectona grandis (Teak), Eucalyptus deglupta (Kamarere), Pinus sp as P caribaea; P merkusii; P patula, Ochroma lagopus (Balsa) and Acacia mangium. Minor species planted include, Eucalyptus robusta; Eucalyptus grandis, Eucalyptus saligna, Anthocephalus cadamba (Labula), Terminalia species as T. brassii, Calophyllum sp and Octomeles sumatrana (Erima).

TABLE 6 INDICATIVE STATUS PLANTATION AREAS 1974 & 1996 PROJECT LANDS SPECIES START YEAR AREA 1968/69 hectares AREA 1974 hectares

AREA 1996 hectares

Brown River C/G Tg 1955 850 1510 1200 Bulolo/Wau C/G Arc, Arh, P 1949/50 6162 7919 12000 Gogol/Madang C/G/P Ek, Am, Te 1973 75 9500 Fayantina EH C/G P 1988-92 0 900 Ialibu SH G P, E 1977-90 0 400 Kainantu EH G P 1976-83 0 250 Kaut N I G/C Ek, C 1986-90 0 1000 Kerevat ENB C/G Ek, Tg, O, Te 1951 1340 1807 1900 Kuriva Cent G Tg 1973-91 0 600 Lapegu EH G P 1964-93 945 3200 Open Bay P Ek, Te, Am 1970’s 0 11,000 Stettin Bay P Te, Am, O, A 1976 0 9500 Ulabo G/C Ek, Am 1980’s 0 1500 Wahgi Valley G E, P 1965 0 2100 Ulamona P Ek 1970’s 0 900 Total (ha) 8352 12256 55,950

Legend. Ownership C-customary; G- government; P private Species

Arc Araucaria cunninghamii. Hoop pine. Bulolo/Wau. Arh Araucaria hunsteinii. Klinkii pine. Bulolo/Wau. Tg Tectonia grandis. Teak Kerevat; Brown River; Kuriva. Ek Eucalyptus deglupta. Kamarere Kerevat, Gogol, Kaut, Open Bay, Ulabo, Ulamona. P Pinus sp as P caribaea, P merkusii, P patula Bulolo/Wau, Fayantina, Kainantu, Lapegu, Ialibu. E Eucalyptus robusta, Wahgi Valley. Am Acacia mangium Gogol. Stettin Bay, Ulabo. E Eucalyptus grandis. Wahgi Valley. E Eucalyptus saligna. Wahgi Valley. A Anthocephalus cadamba. Labula, Stettin Bay. O Ochroma lagopus. (Balsa) Kerevat. Te Terminalia species as T. brassii Kerevat, Gogol, Stettin Bay, Open Bay. C Calophyllum sp. Kaut.

6 Data from internal PNGFIA files

Initially, the TPNG Department of Forests through its Division of Silviculture established two sections – Forest Research and Forest Plantation Management. (Future PNGAF magazines will address the individuals involved and the work undertaken within the PNG Forest Research and PNG Plantation Management Sections of past times).

Early research into Araucaria hunsteinii (Klinkii Pine) silviculture7 was undertaken by Joe Havel which was completed by 1959 and published in 1965.

8 Much of the early silvicultural pioneering research work to grow PNG Species in plantation format is detailed in the first silvicultural publication Silvicultural Techniques in Papua New Guinea Plantations. Division of Silviculture Bulletin No 1 by K J White & Alan Cameron. This publication detailed the development of silvicultural techniques to grow PNG species in plantation format both for industrial plantations as well as individual landowners through extensive extension programs.

9Silviculture of Pinus in PNG Bulletin # 5 by JEN Smith in 1970 describes silvicultural techniques to grow Pinus species in PNG.

At the same time, the Department of Forests ran an extensive forest extension program with over forty extension nurseries which annually distributed over one million trees per annum which were planted by small holders for fuelwood, shelter wood and to augment future sawlog supplies.

10 Interesting publications produced included PLANIM DIWAI YAR - Grow Casuarina by the Dept. of Forests 1967 where extensive community plantings of Casuarina in the Highlands were undertaken especially for fuel wood and shelter requirements.

As part of this PNG Plantation series, Dr Bob Thistlethwaite in his paper Further domestication of PNG’s indigenous forest species11 described the work undertaken in PNG re indigenous and exotic species until 1975.

7 Havel J J 1965 Plantation establishment of klinkii pine (Araucaria hunsteinii) in New Guinea. Common Forestry Review 44 (3) 172-87 8 White KJ, Cameron AL 1966 Silvicultural Techniques in Papua New Guinea Forest Plantations. Silviculture Bulletin No 1 Dept of Forests Publication now in its third printing in January 1972 9 Smith JEN 1970 Silviculture of Pinus in PNG Silviculture Bulletin No 5 10 Department of Forests 1967 Planim Diwai Yar 11 REF PNGAF Mag 9D4I of 22/2/22