AUSTRALIAN FORESTERS in PAPUA NEW GUINEA 1922-1975
PNGAF MAGAZINE ISSUE # 9B-5B4N1 of 4th Feb 2023
FOREST MANAGEMENT.
Eminent TPNG Forester David Num 1966 - 1979
After the Second World War, a cadetship scheme was undertaken by the Australian Department of Territories to train Australian Forest Scientists to ensure sufficient professional staff for the purposes of creating a functional Forest Department for TPNG.
The cadetship scheme comprised two years at an Australian university undertaking an approved forestry science course, followed by a field year in TPNG to gain practical experience in all facets of forestry, followed by two years at the Australian Forestry School in Canberra. In later years, the field work requirements were changed to include all university vacations must be spent in PNG, thus reducing the training program by one year before graduation but still meeting the condition of 12 months field work. Surname
Edward Charles Gordon Gray (NG)
Alexander John Hart (NG)
Donald Henry McIntosh (NG4)
Kevin Joseph White (Q)
2 The appointments of Australian TPNG Forestry Cadets were summarized in LT Carron’s book in 2000 titled “A brief history of the Australian Forestry School (AFS).
3 Cadet Forest Officer pamphlet courtesy Des Harries 2019.
4 Don McIntosh Third Director of Forests PNG.
5 Joe Havel First Principal Bulolo Forestry College.
6 Fourth Principal Bulolo Forestry College.
7 Alan Cameron Schlich 1960.
Leon Clifford (NSW)8
Evan Shield (NG)
John Lake (NG)
Ian Currie (NG)
John Harrison (NG) Medi vac out
Chris Borough (NG) Field year
Bob Bruce (NG) no field year
Rex Grattidge (NG) no field year
John Davidson (NG)9 no field year
Paul Ryan (NG) no field year
Rod Holesgrove (NG) no field year
Jim Belford (C)
Dick McCarthy (NG) no field year
Dave Num (C)
R G Lyons (NG) no field year
Gary Archer (NG) no field year
Chris Done (NG) no field year.
Ken Hart (NG) no field year
Ian Whyte (C)
Abbreviations.
TPNG - Territory of Papua New Guinea, NG- New Guinea, Q – Queensland, WA – Western Australia, NSW- New South Wales, C- Commonwealth, AFS - Australian Forestry School, BFC - Bulolo Forestry College.
Name Dave Num
Year of Birth 1945
Joined Forestry PNG 7 February 1966 as a cadet forester
Occupation Forest Officer
Work Locations Bulolo, Cape Rodney, Brown River, Port Moresby, (Konedobu and Hohola) + Regional Office New Britain and Jimi River Surveys.
1977 Acting First Assistant Director Research and Training including overseeing the whole cabinet approval process for the establishment of the Timber Industry Training College (TITC) Lae. (then NZ largest overseas aid project.)
Departure PNG 19th May 1979
Life after PNG Fisheries biometrics. Patents and Trademarks Office, Tech Director of Computing.
Health Insurance Commission various senior executive roles in technical computing, finance general manager and State Manager
PNG Forestry Cadetship 7 February 1966
Date of Graduation April 1968
8 Leon Clifford Second Principal Bulolo Forestry College.
9 John Davidson Schlich Medal 1966; First Forestry Professor UNITECH
Australian Forestry School 1966/1967
Third Year AFS Students 1966
Third Year AFS Students 1966.
Source ANU/AFS Archives.
Fourth Year Students Department of Forestry ANU 1967 in front of the Forestry School Building. Dick McCarthy back row fifth from left; front row third from left Dave Num and Jim Belford front row seventh from left.
Source Dick McCarthy.
1967 Final year in 2013.
Front Row (L-R) John Wood, Ross Smith, Dick Passauer, Michael Cooper, Brian Cumberland, Paula Reid, Dave Num, James Dale, Joe Stellar,
Back Row L to R; Don Hobson, Dick McCarthy, Peter Harper, Tony Howe, Dennis Mutton, Brian Salter, John Riggs, John Van Pelt.
credit Dick Passauer.
Dave Num recalls that during his time in Department of Forests PNG he was associated with:
• Introduction of the first computer into Forests HQ and connection to the National Data Centre via teletype.
• Doing the first survey including pulp wood in Cape Rodney.
• Working on pulp wood volumetrics.
• Preparing the first National Forest Plan at the time Provincial Governments were being established.
• Involvement with getting the Timber Industry Training College in Lae established. Tools of Trade.
PNG
a paper printer and tables books.
The HP 9800 series was introduced in 1972 and discontinued in the late 1970’s. HP Model 9830A calculator.
Operating system –ROM basic 16 kB memory. Photo credit Wikipedia.
The IBM 1130 Computing System, purchased by the University of Papua New Guinea in 1968 was IBM’s least expensive computer at that time. A binary 16-bit machine. succeeding the decimal IBM 1620. Typical installations included a 1-megabyte disk drive that stored the operating system, compilers, and object programs, with program source generated and maintained on punched cards. Fortran was the most common programming language used.
Transcript - Back row
Graham Bell, Neil Brightwell, Bob Bruce, Eric Hammermaster, Gerhardt Strehler, Col Levy, Tom Watson, Klaus Romijn, John Godlee, Oscar Mamalai, Jim Belford, Jack Simpson, Jack Noah.
Middle Row
Ian Proctor, Sela Nawayap, Nathan Siriga, Misi Henao, Kev White, Johnston Timoth Mantu, Micky Benjamin, Diki Kari, Gabriel Samol, Michael Galore.
Front Row
Peter Connell, Larry Martin, Tom Vigus, Lionel Baneani, David Num, Emmanuel Semoso, Alan Ross, Dave Lamb, Clarry Higham.
The development of a National Forest Plan from this planning group led to the adoption of a National Forest Plan 199610which was enshrined in PNG legislation.
The PNG Logging Code of Practice 1996 was introduced to ensure reduced impact of logging operations on the residual stands of the rainforest and protection of watersheds. PNG forest policy, forestry laws and regulations and operational manuals such as the PNG Logging Code of Practice and Environmental Act provide specific guidelines on the protection of catchment areas. Poorly controlled harvesting operations can be a major cause of damage to the remaining stems in the rainforest.
Page 6 of the first edition (April 1966) of the PNG Logging Code of Practice delineates that all conditions imposed by the PNG logging code of practice will be in compliance with requirements of the Forestry Act 1991 as amended, Environmental Planning Act Chapter 370, Water Resources Act Chapter 205, Environment Contaminants Act Chapter 368, Conservation Area Act 1978, Investment Promotions Act No. 8 of 1992, Public Health Act Chapter 226 and its regulations (Drinking Water 1984), PNG labour Law, Industrial Safety Health and Welfare Act Chapter 175 and its orders and regulations, Land Transport Board Act as amended No. 11 of 1991, Civil Aviation Act Chapter 239, Public Works Committees Act Chapter 28, Land groups Incorporation Act Chapter 147.
11 The Acts described above are binding on all parties and individuals involved in selective logging in PNG. (In addition, concurrent Provincial legislation may also apply in some forest areas.)
10 PNGAF Mag Issue # 9D3 of 12 dec 2021 re the development of PNG’s Forest management Systems – rehabilitation of PNG’s Degraded Tropical Moist rainforest.
11 The Papua New Guinea Logging Code of Practice was formally adopted by the National Executive Council in March 1996.
The adoption of new Forestry Regulations 1998. These focus on strengthening three crucial areas:
1. The acquisition of forest resources by the PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA), via Forest Management Agreements (FMAs), which require proper consultation with customary resource owners, and which take due consideration of environmental and biodiversity concerns.
2. Theallocationofforestmanagementrightstoforestrycompanies,viaTimberPermits, in a competitive and transparent manner, with operation conditions based on sustainable forest management principles.
3. Appropriate monitoring of forest operations to ensure that all aspects of the Act, Regulations and Logging Code of Practice are properly adhered to.
Section 137 of the new Act provided that all permits, licenses, and authorities granted under the old Forestry Act and agreements entered into under the Forestry (Private Dealings) Act would continue to have full force and effect for the balance of their term as if those Acts had not been repealed These became known as “saved projects.”
Section 137 also provided the National Forest Board power to vary any term or condition applicable to a saved project which it considers is “at variance with the provisions of the (new) Act to an extent which makes it unacceptable”.
12The current forestry law (Forestry Act 1991 as amended) and its Forestry Regulations and various procedures that have been developed including the PNG Logging Code of Practice (LCOP), Planning Monitoring and Control procedures, etc., are intended as tools to address and promote SFM. 12 FAO 2009 ASIA-PACIFIC FORESTRY SECTOR OUTLOOK STUDY Working Paper No. APFSOS II/WP/2009/19 PAPUA NEW GUINEA FORESTRY OUTLOOK STUDY by
Establishment of Timber Industry Training College (TITC) University of Technology Lae (Unitech).
Members of the PNG Forestry Trade Training Board 1997 UNITECH Lae. (L to R) Kanawi Pouru GM National Forest Authority, Frank Corin Principal Timber Industry Training College, Dr Bryant Richards Team Leader and Dick McCarthy
ANUTECH/AusAID Human Resource Development Project,and Jim Belford13 Executive Officer PNG Forest Industry Association. Absent Dr Phillip Siaguru Head Forest Department UNITECH.
Photo Credit March 1997 National Forests and Timber Newspaper.
13 Jim Belford TPNG Forests 1970-1981
14 Brendan Bailey recalled vividly at Forest Headquarters Port Moresby, that Dave Num was the first to introduce an electronic computer for calculations.
• Brendan Bailey15 recalled purely from memory, two types - hand crank mechanical calculator and motorised (electrical) mechanical calculator. He recalled just old-fashioned pencil and paper calculations. From memory, some of the mechanical calculators had a paper tape/roll. He knew there were some special scientific mechanical calculators around, but they were not his stock and trade. He has painful memories of just filling-out columns of figures with paper and pencil/pen.
• Neil Brightwell 16recalled most of the calculations being done in the 1960's were in the imperial system using inches(?) and feet and resulting in millions of super feet true volume. As Dr Google assures him that as Australia did not move to the metric system until 1974, Neil suspected that the 1970 Bulolo plantation assessment would have also been presented in imperial form.
• Dave Num17 reported that the volume calculation for >5Girth at BH was using an established set of tables in existence when he started surveying. He was certain that it was calculated using Hubers method but whether 10' or 20 ft log length were used he was uncertain. The relationship between volume and total log length was established using linear regression. He understood logs from a couple of hundred trees were used. Evan Shield and Eric Hammermaster were involved. Similarly for 2-5ft girth trees, pulpwood, he established the table using trees from the Madang and Cape Rodney Forest assessment survey.
• Dave Num18 reported that he worked with Vince Bary a (P)STO with CSIRO Forests Canberra when he was doing his programming training at CCAE in 1971. Vince Bary was the CSIRO statistician and expert programmer who wrote the programs that analysed the resource surveys that PNG NFS used to send down to him for analysis on the CSIRO CDC3200. Dave Num confirmed that he worked on preparing the PNG inventory data for processing at CSIRO. The volume equations were included in the FORTRAN programs PNG would punch the basic field book onto the cards locally before sending to Canberra.
• Chris Borough and Dave Num started pre-processing them for errors locally, writing some Fortran programs for the IBM 1130 in the Boroko computer bureau owned by David Lee and managed by Andrew Podger. They were then sent on to Vince Bary for him to shepherd through processing on CSIRO’s Black Mountain CDC3200.
• The FORTRAN programs NFS were using of course had the equations in them for calculating volumes. Other programs Dave Num wrote for the HP9810a used the formula for some processing work in PNG in the 70's.
14 Cartoon from Bob Brown’s Grass Roots Guide to PNG Pidgin South Pacific Post.
15 Personal communication 23 June 2021 Brendan Bailey TPNG Forests. 1969-1974.
16 Personal communication 11th June 2021 Neil Brightwell TPNG Forests. 1961-1984.
17 Personal Communication Dave Num April 2021 TPNG Forests 1966-1979.
18 Personal communication Dave Num 29th May 2021 TPNG Forests 1966-1979.
• Gary Archer understood David Num fitted volume equations to the tree measurements he supervised for rainforest trees < 5' girth above buttress during the Madang survey in 1970, but Gary never saw those volume equations before he left PNG in 1973.
John Davidson reported (21/2/21) on bushies getting ready for computerisation.
LOG ON: Adding wood to make the barbie hotter
LOG OFF: Not adding any more wood to the barbie.
MONITOR: Keeping an eye on the barbie.
DOWNLOAD: Getting the firewood off the Ute.
HARD DRIVE: Making the trip back home without any cold tinnies.
KEYBOARD: Where you hang the Ute keys.
WINDOWS: What you open when the weather's hot.
SCREEN: What you shut in the mozzie season..
BYTE: What mozzies do
MEGABYTE: What Waigani swamp mozzies do.
CHIP: A pub snack.
MICROCHIP: What's left in the bag after you've eaten the chips.
MODEM: What you did to the lawns.
LAPTOP: Where the dog/pig sleeps.
SOFTWARE: Plastic knives and forks you get at Chinatown.
HARDWARE: Stainless steel knives and forks - from Chinatown.
MOUSE: The small rat that eats the rice.
MAINFRAME: What holds the shed up.
WEB: What spiders make.
WEBSITE: Usually in the shed or under the verandah.
SEARCH ENGINE: What you do when the PMV won't go.
CURSOR: What you say when the PMV won't go.
YAHOO: What you say when the PMV does go.
UPGRADE: A steep hill.
SERVER: The person at the pub who brings out the counter lunch.
MAIL SERVER: The bloke at the pub who brings out the counter lunch.
USER: The one talk who keeps borrowing things.
NETWORK: What you do when you need to repair the fishing net.
INTERNET: Where you want the fish to go.
ONLINE: Where you hang the washing.
OFFLINE: Where the washing ends up when the pegs aren't strong enough.
AAD Australian Antarctic Division
ACT Australian Capital Territory
ACIAR Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
ACLMP AusAid funded World Bank Land Mobilisation program.
ACP African, Caribbean and Pacific States
ADB Asian Development Bank
AEC Administrators Executive Committee
AFAP Australian Foundation for the Peoples of Asia & the Pacific Ltd.
ADB African Development Bank
AFLEGT African Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
AFPNG Association of Foresters of PNG
AFS Australian Forestry School
AFTA Asean Free Trade Area
AIF Australian Infantry Forces
AMF Australian Military Forces
ANBG Australian National Botanical Gardens
ANGAU Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit
ANU Australian National University
APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
APMF Australian Paper Manufacturers Forestry Pty Ltd
APPM Australia Paper and Pulp Manufacturers
ARD Afforestation, Reforestation and avoided Deforestation
ASEAN Association of South East Asian Nations
ASIO Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
ASOPA Australian School of Pacific Administration
ATIBT Association Technique Internationale des Bois Tropicaux
ATL Accelerated Tariff Liberalization
ATO African Timber Organization
AusAID Australian Aid Agency
BA basal area
BCOF British Commonwealth Occupational Force 1945-52
BDV Brussels Definition of Value
“Beer Time” Any time.
BFC Bulolo Forestry College
BGD Bulolo Gold Dredging Company
BNGD British New Guinea Development (Company Limited)
BUC Bulolo University College
C Commonwealth cm centimetre
CALM Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management
CBD Convention on Biological Diversity
CDM Clean Development Mechanism
CEFACT United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business
CEPT Common Effective Preferential Tariff
CERFLOR Certificate of Origin of Forest Raw Material, Brazil
CFA Commonwealth Forestry Association
CFE Community forestry enterprise
CGTM Cintra for Global Trade Model
CIF cost, insurance, freight
CIFOR Centre for International Forestry Research
CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
C & I Criteria and indicators
CNGT Commonwealth New Guinea Timbers Bulolo
CO2 carbon dioxide
COC chain of custody
COP Conference of Parties
CPF Collaborative Partnership on Forests
CRE Commander Royal Engineers
CRE CRE is a term inherited by RAE from RE and is the term for the Commanding Officer of a RAE unit which is headed by a Lt Col. Although the officer is called the CRE the name is also used for the name of his unit.
E.g., CRE Aust Forestry Group or 1(NG Forests).
CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation
CHAH Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria
C&I Criteria and Indicators
C&L Certification and Labelling
CSD Commission on Sustainable Development (United Nations)
CTE Committee on Trade and Environment
DASF Dept of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries
DBH/ dbh Diameter at breast height
DEPT Department
DESA United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
DIES Department of Information and Extension Services
DIY Do-it-yourself
DPI Department of Primary Industry
DOF Department of Forests
DSB Dispute Settlement Body
EC European Commission ECA Export credit agency
ECE Economic Commission for Europe
ECOSOC Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
EEA European Economic Area
EFI European Forest Institute
EIA Environmental Investigation Agency
EMAS Eco-Management and Audit Scheme of European Union
EMS Environmental Management System
ENB East New Britain Province.
e.g. For example
ENGO Environmental Non-governmental Organisation
Etc et cetera (more of the same)
EU European Union
EVSL Early Voluntary Liberalisation
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation
F &TB Forest and Timber Bureau Canberra
FIM Forest Information System
FMA Forest Management Agreement
FPRC Forest Products Research Centre Hohola
FRA Forest Resource Assessment
FRG Forest Red Gum
FRI Forest Research Institute Lae
Forkol Bulolo Forestry College
FSP/PNG Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific
FCCC See UNFCCC
FD Forest department
FDI Foreign direct investment
FIELD The Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development
FLEGT Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
FLEG Forest Law Enforcement and Governance
FLONAS National Forest logging concessions, Brazil
FOB free on board
FSC Forest Stewardship Council
FTAA Free Trade Area of the Americas
GAB Girth above buttress
Gbhob Girth breast height over bark
Gubab Girth under bark above buttress
GIS Geographic Information Systems
G8 Group of Eight (leading economies)
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GEF Global Environment Facility
GFTN Global Forest and Trade Network
GFPM Global Forest Products Model
GHG greenhouse gas
GIS Geographical information system
GMO genetically modified organism
GNP Gross National Product
GPA Plurilateral Government Procurement Agreement
GSP Generalized System of Preferences
GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit
ha hectare
IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
IEA International Energy Agency
IFA Institute of Foresters of Australia
IFY International Year of the Forest
IADB Inter-American Development Bank
IBAMA Amazon Environmental Institute, Brazil
ICA International Commodity Agreement
ICCI International Conference on C&I for Sustainable Forest Management
IDB Inter-American Development Bank
IEA International Environmental Agreement
IEC International Electrical Commission
IFC International Finance Corporation
IFF Intergovernmental Forum on Forests
IHPA International Hardwood Products Association
IIED International Institute for Environment and Development
IMF International Monetary Fund
INGO International Non-Governmental Organisations
IPC Integrated Programme for Commodities
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IPF Intergovernmental Panel on Forests
ISO International Organization for Standardisation
ITC International Trade Centre
ITTA International Tropical Timber Agreement
ITTC International Tropical Timber Council
ITTO International Tropical Timber Organization
IUCN The World Conservation Union
IWPA International Wood Products Association
JICA Japanese International Cooperation Agency
L of N League of Nations
LRRS Land Resource Soils Survey (branch of CSIRO)
LCA Life Cycle Analysis
LEEC London Economic and Environmental Centre
LEI Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute
LULUCF Land Use, Land Use Change and Forests
m3 cubic metre
MCCAF McCarthy & Associates (Forestry) Pty. Ltd.
MHA Member of House of Assembly PNG
MM Military Medal
MUS Malayan Uniform System
MEA Multilateral Environmental Agreement
MFN Most Favoured Nation
MIGA Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
MOU Memorandum of Understanding
MTTC Malaysian Timber Certification Council
n.a. not available
NAA National Archives Australia
NARI National Agriculture Research Institute
NB New Britain
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
NHLA National Hardwood Lumber Association
NRRP Natural Resources and Rights Program
NT National Treatment
NTB non-tariff barrier
NTCC National Timber Certification Council
NTFP non-timber forest product
NTM non-tariff measures
NWFP non-wood forest product
NDS Northern District Sawmills
NFCAP PNG National Forestry and Conservation Action Plan
NGM New Guinea Mainland
no. number
NG New Guinea
NGF New Guinea Forces (relates to plant collection of Lae Herbarium)
NGIB New Guinea Infantry Battalion
NGI New Guinea Islands
NGO Non-Government Organisation
NGVR New Guinea Volunteer Rifles
NZ New Zealand
NSW New South Wales
NTSC National Tree Seed Centre PNG Bulolo
OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
OTO Office of Trade and Investment Ombudsman
OIC Officer in Charge
OISCA Organisation for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement International Japan.
OTML Ok Tedi Mining Ltd
P or p page
PEFC Pan European Forest Certification Scheme
PIB Papuan Infantry Battalion
PIR Pacific Islands Regiment
PNG Papua New Guinea
PNGAA Papua New Guinea Australia Association
PNGAF Papua New Guinea Australian Foresters Magazine Series
PNGFA Papua New Guinea Forest Authority
PNGFIA PNG Forest Industries Association
PNGRIS Papua New Guinea Resource Information System
PNGUT PNG University of Technology
POM Port Moresby
P&C Principles and Criteria
PEFC Pan-European Forest Certification Framework
PGA Plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement
PPM production and processing method
PPP Polluter Pays Principle (other meaning Purchasing Power Parity)
QLD Queensland
QF Queensland Forestry
RAE Royal Australian Engineers/Australian Army
RPC Royal Papuan Constabulary
RRA Rapid Resource Appraisal
RIIA Royal Institute of International Affairs
RIL reduced impact logging
RFE Russia Far East
RTA Regional Trade Agreement
RWE roundwood equivalent
SAP structural adjustment programme
SPS Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
SFM Sustainable Forest Management
SGS Société General de Surveillance
SMS Selective Management System Malaysia
SP South Pacific
SPWP Secondary Processed Wood Products
sq m square metres
TAG Trade Advisory Group of ITTO
TSS Tropical Shelterwood System
TBT Technical Barriers to Trade
TFF Tropical Forest Foundation
TFRK traditional forest-related knowledge
TNC Transnational corporation
TRAINS Trade-Basic Indicators of UNCTAD
TREM trade-related environmental measures
TRIM Trade Related Investment Measures
TRIP Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
UK United Kingdom
UN United Nations
Unasylva Journal of FAO of UN
UNCCD United Nations Programme to Combat Desertification
UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
UNCSD United Nations Committee on Sustainable Development
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNESCO United Nations Economic and Social Council
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNFCCC Framework Convention on Climate Change of United Nations
UNFF United Nations Forum on Forests US,
USTR Office of the US Trade Representative
UNE University of New England Armidale NSW
UNEP United Nations Environment Program
UNI University
UNITECH University of Technology Lae PNG
UNRE University of Natural Resources and Environment
UPNG University of Papua New Guinea
UQ University of Queensland
US United States
USA United States of America
USD United States dollar
TPNG Territory of Papua and New Guinea
TUBL Territory United Brewery Ltd
TA Timber Area
TA Timber Authority
TRP Timber Rights Purchase
Vol volume
VSF Victorian School of Forestry
WA Western Australia
WB World Bank
WCMC World Conservation Monitoring Centre
WCO World Customs Organisation
WSSD World Summit for Sustainable Development
WTO World Trade Organization
WWF World Wide Fund for Nature