Notes on Publication and Capacity Building

• Before this unforeseeable event occurred, Howcroft had, with assistance, developed a proposal for a new Seed Store for the existing research centre. • It was approved and established through New Zealand Aid. • This prevented a seed storage crisis for national and international demand only just on time. There were some losses in the seed viability, for the Araucaria seed collection occurred.

Notes on Publication and Capacity Building

I can recall that except for representation at international meetings, the earliest publications on forest development came from Forest HQ. There was no time allowed to publish relevant research results. Whatever results and conclusions were reported that met HQ approval, direction was then to apply them in the field. During Dr. Davidson’s tenure at Bulolo, the results of their field research were published as Tropical Forestry Research Notes. These may be found in the FRI (Forest Research Institute) and University of Technology libraries at Lae. An important issue addressed by the Australian government and thus the various PNG Government departments including forestry, was the academic and the industrial capacity building of new recruits and enrolled forestry students, including the field staff who had obviously started with the Bulolo Forestry College. As one of many examples, a course in seed radiography was held at CSIRO Australian Tree Seed Centre, Canberra. Key PNG NTSC staff were also recommended and trained by the National Australian Tree Centre This was probably the first for Howcroft’s staff of the National Tree Seed Centre to travel outside of PNG. This form of capacity building continued after Howcroft transferred to Lae.

Neville Howcroft, A.L. Raunio, Butkina Faso?, Bob Thistlethwaite unknown date ? Canberra.

Photo credit Neville Howcroft.

My Bulolo team and I can claim to be the first, to have bred the first tropical Pinus hybrid in Papua New Guinea, the Indonesian Pinus merkusii with the continental P. latterii from Thailand, using the controlled pollination techniques that Howcroft had learnt whilst working for the Queensland Forestry Department on southern exotic pines. I enrolled myself with the University of Technology, Lae where I studied and undertook research on a terrestrial orchid genus part time, while working at FRI. I was awarded a Master of Philosophy degree in 1994.