1968-69 DEVELOPMENT PLAN PNG FOREST INDUSTRY

1968-69 DEVELOPMENT PLAN PNG FOREST INDUSTRY

The House of Assembly announcing a development program for the PNG Forest industry (1968-69 to 1972-73) which greatly impacted on the forested lands of PNG. Much of the existing Forest development in PNG today stems from that plan. The major objectives of that plan were: • to ensure, relative emphasis to be given to agricultural and industrial development. • rapidly increase the production of forest products. • increase export earnings and local employment by encouraging local processing of forest products. • improve the supply and quality of forest products for local use, establish a fully integrated forest industry by the development of industrial complexes working within permanent forest estates. • foster a measure of local equity participation in such industrial undertakings • increase the levels of training and employment in the industry • enforce environmental protection standards • adopt a logging code of practice. (In 1996, the PNG logging code of practice was formally adopted by the PNG government).

One example of such development was the North Coast of New Britain with rainforest areas being converted to oil palm plantations.

Hoskins Oil Palm development New Britain 1995. Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

Bialla Dick McCarthy 1971. We did find a tree or two at Bialla. Photo Credit DOF PNG.

Mount Ulawun Volcano. Photo credit John Davidson.