An Example of a large-Scale Forest Assessment in 1970, undertaken for Pulp and Paper Forest Resources -Vanimo Timber Area Project. The PNG Administration initiated a project designed to evaluate the pulping and papermaking potential of mixed tropical hardwoods in the Vanimo Timber area in detail. The intended outcome of this work is that it would then identify other timber resource areas in PNG as a source of wood chips. To determine the quality and potential market quality of the PNG forests for pulping potential, the Department of Forests through its Forest Products Research Centre Hohola engaged CSIRO Forest Products Laboratory56 to undertake that work. The CSIRO investigation57 initially selected Block 6 Vanimo Timber area (some 54,000 ha). Block 258 Vanimo Timber area (some 60,000 ha) was included in the investigations. Evan Shield59 described the Vanimo Timber Area as one of the more important components of the forest resources of PNG. This was because of its size and its species composition. The high frequency of occurrence of Kwila was the dominant feature of this.
Vanimo Township 1990’s. Photo credit Evan Shield.
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CSIRO Division of Chemical Technology Technical Paper # 1 1975 “The Pulping and Papermaking Potential of Tropical Hardwoods 1 Phillips F H and Harries E D TPNG Forests 1955-1976. 57 CSIRO Division of Chemical Technology Technical Paper # 2 1975 “The Pulping and Papermaking Potential of Tropical Hardwoods 1 Phillips F. H., Logan A.F. and Balodis V. 58 CSIRO Division of Chemical Technology Technical Paper #34 1975 “The Pulping and Papermaking Potential of Tropical Hardwoods 1 Logan A.F., and Phillips F H. 59 Evan Shield personal communication 17 April 2020.TPNG Forests 1958-1971.
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