PNGAF MAGAZINE ISSUE # 7 of 11th JANUARY 2021

AUSTRALIAN FORESTERS in PAPUA NEW GUINEA 1922-1975

PNGAF MAGAZINE ISSUE # 7 of 11th January 2021 KEN GRANGER: THE CONTRIBUTION OF CSIRO TO PNG’s FOREST RESOURCE AND BOTANICAL KNOWLEDGE: 1953-1969

Ken Granger CSIRO Survey areas in PNG 1953 – 1969 (from Gael Kieg and others 2019)

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Editor R B McCarthy3 2021

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CSIRO 1973 Land-form Types and Vegetation of Eastern Papua Land Research Series No.32 CSIRO 1965 Lands of the Port Moresby-Kairuku Area, Territory of Papua and New Guinea Land Research Series No 14 3 District Forester TPNG 1963-1975 2

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TABLE OF CONTENTS “FORWOOD”

Page 3

Background to CSIRO Land Resource Surveys

Page 5

1953 Buna – Kokoda

Page 7

1954 Wanigela - Cape Vogel

Page 8

1956 and 1958 Ramu – Madang

Page 8

1957 Goroka - Mt Hagen

Page 9

1959 Wewak – Lower Sepik

Page 9

1960 and 1961 Wabag – Tari

Page 10

1962 Port Moresby – Kairuku

Page 12

1963 Safia – Pongani

Page 13

1964 Bougainville – Buka

Page 13

1966 Kerema – Vailala

Page 14

1966 Aitape – Ambunti

Page 15

1967 Morehead – Kiunga

Page 15

1968 Vanimo

Page 16

1969 East Papua

Page 16

Consolidating the Knowledge

Page 17

Reference

Page 18

Acronyms

Page 19

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“FORWOOD” The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Land Resource Surveys were described by Ken Granger4.

Ken described the fourteen integrated land resource surveys that CSIRO undertook during the period 1953-69, with the aim of identifying areas suitable for accelerated development. The resulting reconnaissance-level regional survey reports and maps provided extensive baseline information for national development planning. Substantial botanical collections carried out during the surveys contributed greatly to the Papua New Guinea National Collection at the Lae Herbarium.

Ken Granger Geographer was with CSIRO surveys in the Southern Highlands in 1961.

After joining the Dept of Forests in 1963, Ken was posted to Kerevat New Britain and engaged in resource assessment in Manus, New Ireland, New Britain, and Bougainville.

He was then posted to Port Moresby. He continued resource assessment work in New Britain; Madang; Morobe and Northern Provinces until 1967. Ken acted as Silvicultural Clerk in 1967 and then occupied the Management Clerk position until he departed TPNG in 1970.

He left PNG to a position as Photo Interpreter in the Joint Intelligence Organisation of Defence in Canberra. He worked in various positions in strategic intelligence analysis till September 1990. This included 4 years (1976-80) as the JIO Representative in the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby. From 1990 to 1996 he worked as a scientific advisor in the Queensland Department of Emergency Services. From 1996 to 2001 contract consultant to the Australian Geological Survey Organization managing a research project on analysing risks posed by natural disaster in urban communities. From 2001- 2017, Ken has been a consultant in disaster risk management.

“The MONEY IN THE SWAMP” Photo Ken Granger, September 19645

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Granger K 2019 The Contribution of CSIRO to PNG’s Forest Resource and Botanical Knowledge 1953-1969 Part B page 187-199 5 Photo published in Courier Mail, South Pacific Post, and New Guinea Times Courier 12th November 1964.

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South Pacific Post and New Guinea Times Courier Press Article 12 November 1964

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KEN GRANGER: THE CONTRIBUTION OF CSIRO TO PNG’s FOREST RESOURCE AND BOTANICAL KNOWLEDGE: 1953-1969 Background As early as 1947 the Administrator of the Territory, J.K. Murray, had urged the Department of External Territories (DOET) to arrange ‘the undertaking soon of a physical potentialities survey of Papua-New Guinea. The advice of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in this matter would be invaluable as the Council is conducting not dissimilar surveys in the Northern Territory’ (quoted in Gael Keig and others 2019).

CSIR, as it was at that time, in 1946 began undertaking “integrated” surveys of northern Australia to identify regions with the potential for agricultural and pastural development.

These surveys “integrated” the survey observations of team members that included pedologists, geomorphologists, plant ecologists and agronomists to derive and map essentially homogeneous “land systems”.

This land system approach was developed by C.S. (Chris) Christian and G.A. (Alan) Stewart and it is that approach that Murray was referring to. Christian became head of the CSIRO Land Research and Regional Survey (LRRS) Section (later Division) with Stewart as his deputy. They were not particularly keen on taking on work in TPNG because of the very heavy workload of surveys in Northern Australia as well as the need to recruit staff that were familiar with the environments of the wet tropics. It was not until 1950 that they had provided DOET with documents outlining their estimate of recruitment and training times (two years), costs and so on. By March 1951, the proposal had gained Ministerial approval and the Territory Administration had come up with a priority list for the areas to be surveyed.

Once this agreement had been reached a program of what were essentially reconnaissance surveys commenced which over a period of 17 years eventually covered 40% of the area of the Territories of Papua and New Guinea, much of it in areas with relatively dense populations and development potential. The exceptions were the New Britain, New Ireland, Manus, and Morobe Districts. These areas were already well covered by the work of Administration Departments especially Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries (DASF) and Forests.

While there was some degree of distance between the CSIRO management and the TPNG Administration, close ties were established at the working level and good channels of liaison operated. This was especially so between the Botany Division of the Department of Forests and the plant ecologists, plant taxonomists and forest botanists of CSIRO who made significant contributions to the National Herbarium in Lae as well as the Australian National Herbarium that was originally housed alongside the LRRS headquarters at Black Mountain in Canberra.

Pre-publication copies of the reports and the maps (usually hand coloured prints) were also made available to Forests and DASF for peer review.

The coverage of the CSIRO survey is shown in the following map which is taken from Keig and others (2019).

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CSIRO Survey areas in PNG 1953 – 1969 (from Gael Kieg and others 2019) The annotations used on the map do not reflect the order in which the surveys were undertaken nor the sequence of report publication. The chronological sequence is as follows:

k

1953

Buna - Kokoda

l

1954

Wanigela - Cape Vogel

d

1956 and 1958 Ramu - Madang

e

1957

Goroka - Mt Hagen

c

1959

Wewak – Lower Sepik

f

1960 and 1961 Wabag – Tari

i

1962

Port Moresby – Kairuku

m

1963

Safia – Pongani

n

1964

Bougainville – Buka

h

1966

Kerema – Vailala

b

1966

Aitape – Ambunti

g

1967

Morehead – Kiunga

a

1968

Vanimo

j

1969

East Papua

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Following are brief descriptions of each of these reconnaissance surveys and links to each of the reports that are available on-line from CSIRO Publishing.

1953 Buna Kokoda Chris Christian and Alan Stewart visited Port Moresby in early 1953 to finalise arrangements and to agree that the Buna-Kokoda area would be given the highest priority. While there appears to be no documentary evidence as to how that decision was reached, I was told many years ago by John McAlpine, my early mentor and long-time friend, that the catastrophic eruption of Mt Lamington in January 1951, and the need for a major effort to rehabilitate the area following that event, played a major part in the decision.

Field work on the Buna-Kokoda area was conducted between 1 July and 4 October 1953 and according to the final report published in 1964.

The field party consisted of G. A. Stewart, leader, S. J. Paterson, geologist/geomorphologist, H. A. Haantjens, pedologist, B. W. Taylor, plant ecologist, and R. D. Hoogland, plant taxonomist. K. Gorringe of the Department of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries, Port Moresby, and M. D. Keary, of the Department of Native Affairs, were seconded to the party for the purposes of general assistance and liaison with the administration and local population. A. J. Hart of the Department of Forests was seconded as a member of the team to report to his department on the forest potential of the area. In addition, J. S. Womersley, J. MacDonald, and J. Cavanagh of the Department of Forests and G. K. Graham of the Department of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries assisted the party in visits in the field.

Field work was done with a combination of traverses by foot and/or by road from base camps at Popondetta, Inonda and Kokoda with some work done by canoe on the Kumusi River. At that time, the Northern District road network was still primitive.

Crossing the Embogo River 1953 (CSIRO photo) Publication of the final report was delayed until full air photo coverage and suitable base mapping became available – a problem we encountered on many of the Forestry surveys

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across PNG until the 1970s. A copy of the Buna-Kokoda report, which was edited by Herman Haantjens, can be found at www.publish.csiro.au/cr/pdf/LRS10.

Herman Haantjens, together with several other scientists with experience in Dutch New Guinea had been recruited, it was said, to overcome the overall lack of appropriate experience in the wet tropics by Australian scientists. Herman went on to lead the LRRS New Guinea Survey for almost 20 years.

Herman Haantjens (6’6” tall) sampling peat swamp 1953 (CSIRO photo) 1954 Wanigela – Cape Vogel The second survey covered 1850 sq. mi (4800 sq. km) in the Wanigela-Cape Vogel area, also in Northern District. Field work for that survey was conducted between July and September 1954 and was led by Herman Haantjens (pedologist) together with Bruce Taylor (plant ecologist), John Saunders (forest botanist) and Roo Hoogland (plant taxonomist). A Port Moresby-based geologist from the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources, J.E Thompson, also accompanied the survey. The long coastline of the survey area meant that much of the field work was supported by work boats, with traverses into the interior done on foot.

This was the first survey to have a dedicated chapter and map on the forest resources, compiled mainly by John Saunders. John was to participate in 12 of the subsequent 15 years of field work! Apart from his mapping and descriptions of the forest resources John’s major contribution was the development of a timber identification key using punch cards and illustrated by a 10x macro-photo of a cross section of the timber.

A copy of the report and maps can be found at www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS12.

No field work was undertaken in 1955 though recruiting and training continued. Amongst the people recruited was ex-kiap John McAlpine who was to act as the transport officer and local liaison for many of the surveys to come. He also recruited a corps of field assistants from the Madang area that were to support most of the later surveys.

1956 and 1958 Ramu - Madang The Ramu-Madang survey field work was conducted in both 1956 (Gogol and Upper Ramu) and 1958 (Lower Ramu-Atitau). In 1956 John Saunders covered the forest resources and vegetation while in the 1958 field work Ross Robbins covered plant ecology and Roy Pullen worked as the botanical collector. John Saunders produced a map and a chapter on the forest 8

resources while the vegetation and ecology chapter was co-authored by Ross Robbins, John Saunders, and Roy Pullen. John’s introduction to the forest resource chapter reads as follows: Commercial forests contain at least 3000 super ft/ac of standing timber from trees having a minimum girth of 5 ft at breast height (or above the buttresses) ….

Commercial forest covers slightly less than 50% of the area, occurring from sea level to approximately 10 000 ft in a wide range of environments. The forest is mainly confined to the rugged mountainous terrain of the Adelbert, Finisterre and Central Ranges and the gentler terrain of the central hills and the middle Ramu val1ey.

Accessible forest is virtually restricted to the last two regions where stocking rates are generally depressed. Consequently, the overall forest potential of the area is moderate to low.

The Ramu-Madang report and maps are at http://www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS37.

1957 Goroka – Mt Hagen The first of the surveys in the highlands was undertaken in 1957 in the Goroka - Mt Hagen area between 22 June and 17 October. By this survey, the pattern of operation had become well established with the main team of pedologist, geomorphologist and plant ecologist supported by the transport officer operating from a series of base camps while the forest botanist and botanical collector made separate investigations focused on the potentially commercial forests of the area. The relatively dense road network facilitated movement by road though even the road that would become the Highlands Highway was still a primitive route. A separate survey by plant taxonomist Roo Hoogland and collector Roy Pullen had been conducted over the area in 1956.

Highlands Highway under construction 1957 (CSIRO photo)

A copy of the Goroka-Mt Hagen report is at http://www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS27.

1959 Wewak – Lower Sepik After the second stage of the Ramu-Madang survey was completed the following survey continued in the lowlands of the Wewak-Lower Sepik area. The introduction to the report finalised in 1968 gave the survey personnel as follows: 9

The field work was carried out between July 26 and October 12, 1959. The general mobile survey team consisted of H. A. Haantjens (pedologist), E. Reiner (geomorphologist), R. G. Robbins (plant ecologist), and J. R. McAlpine (transport officer). A separate and more detailed investigation of the principal forest types at selected sites was made by J. C. Saunders (forest botanist) and R. Pullen (botanical collector). Mr. J. A. Mabbutt (geomorphologist) visited the team in the field for three weeks.

John Saunders’ assessment of the forest resources were summarised in the final report as follows: The bulk of future timber resources undoubtedly lies in the forests of the lower ranges and hills. As can be seen from the forest resources map, these form a wide belt over the Prince Alexander Mountains and extend south-eastwards towards Angoram.

Generally, the forests are accessible. The present coastal road extending from Terebu but could serve for the exploitation of the coastal slopes of the ranges, but many short access roads would be necessary. The inland slopes accessible from the MandiMaprik road now offer little in timber resources. A road link from Mambe-Tring to Angoram would pass though the centre of the Angoram lowland hill forest and could play an important part in the exploitation of this forest tract.

The report and maps, published in 1968, can be found at www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS22.

1960 and 1961

Wabag - Tari

The focus returned to the highlands for the next two years with the Wabag-Tari survey. The northern (New Guinea) part was covered in 1960 and the southern (Papuan) part in 1961. The survey teams were again made up of the pedologist, geomorphologist, plant ecologist group and a separate forest resources and plant collecting group all supported by the transport office (and in 1961 by me as assistant transport officer). Separate botanical collections were undertaken by Roo Hoogland and Dick Schodde. In 1961 a bird survey in the Mt Giluwe and Lake Kutubu areas was undertaken by Sandra Schodde (CSIRO Wildlife Division) and study of the karst limestone area along the Erave River by Joe Jennings from the ANU. Logistics for these surveys was complex and relied heavily on employing lines of up to 130 locally recruited carriers to move from base camp to base camp. The 1965 report observes:

Access to the area from outside is restricted to aircraft. There are 16 air strips in the area, of which only three, Wabag, Tari, and Wapenamanda, are capable of handling DC3 aircraft. All air strips are commonly closed after rain or during bad weather.

Communication within the area is restricted to walking tracks, aircraft, and three separate road networks.

To the south, roads surround Mendi and Tari. In the north, Wabag, Wapenamanda, Kompiam, and Laiagam are connected by road. Since the survey, a road connecting Wapenamanda with the main highlands road system at Mt. Hagen has been completed (late 1961). However, the whole region remains dependent on aircraft for its outside supplies.

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Much of the area at the time was classed as “uncontrolled territory� which meant that movement beyond a radius of one mile from any patrol post required an escort by the RPNGC policemen. They proved to be invaluable in helping to organise carrier lines and to gather local information on tracks by which the field party could access locations in which they were interested, based on preliminary air photo analysis.

Highlands Highway under construction east of Mendi 1961 (KG photo)

John Saunders paying off his carrier line 1961 (KG photo)

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John McAlpine gathering local track information 1961 (KG photo) John Saunders introduces the forest types in his chapter of the report as follows: There is a wide altitudinal range in the area, and this may be subdivided into four zones: lowland, below 4000 ft; lower montane, 4000-10,000 ft; montane, 10,00012,500 ft; and alpine, above 12,500 ft. Forested land, covering 60% of the area, occurs in the lower three zones. The remaining 40% of the area is unforested primarily because of two factors, climate, and man.

The report and maps of the Wabag-Tari area are at www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS15.

1963 Port Moresby - Kairuku By way of complete change, the 1963 field work was undertaken in the dry coastal area of the south coast of Papua.

Field work was governed by the availability of vehicular roads and waterways. The use of vehicles, which was in any case necessitated by lack of carriers, gave greater inability than in any previous survey in New Guinea. Instead of walking traverses, daily journeys were made from a small number of base camps. Further, routes could be planned and areas for examination mainly selected before the party left Canberra.

Two Land Rovers and a motorcycle were made available by the Administration.

There was no forest resource chapter in this study however the vegetation and ecology chapter by Peter Heyligers draws a distinction between the deciduous and evergreen forms found in the area. Port Moresby, at the time with a population of 5900 expatriates and 23,000 nationals made for a relatively sophisticated base.

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Port Moresby 1962 (CSIRO photo) The Port Moresby-Kairuku report is at www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS14.

1963 Safia - Pongani In 1963 the focus remained in Papua with the Safia - Pongani survey. For the first time the LRRS team was supported by a helicopter for a few days operating out of Safia to access otherwise inaccessible sites. Apart from that innovation the survey followed the, by then, well established routine. Two new faces were also joined the team, plant ecologist Kees Paijmans and transport officer Paul Healy (like John McAlpine, an ex-kiap). John Saunders’ introduction to the forest resources chapter reads: Forest covers 70% of the area, occurring in a wide range of environments from sea level to approximately 10,000 ft and from high-rainfall areas to zones of lower, more irregular rainfall resulting in occasional periods of moisture stress. Generally, the higher-yield forests occur on well-drained alluvium, fans, and foothills in higher rainfall areas, such as the coastal plain and in the Ubo-Mafor region. However, the presence of scattered Araucaria in some other areas considerably increases the yield of otherwise relatively low-yield forest types.

The 1967 report is at www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS17.

1964 Bougainville - Buka The only survey to be conducted in the Islands Region was conducted in 1964, the Bougainville-Buka survey. On this survey the use of a helicopter was much more important as detailed in the 1967 report: Prior to the commencement of the survey, detailed air-photo interpretation and preliminary mapping were completed. Field sampling was carried out between midJuly and mid-September 1964, using a helicopter, with boat and motor vehicle where necessary.

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The Forestry survey of Empress Augusta Bay on the east coast of Bougainville took over the helicopter from CSIRO in September, and like them we also ran into problems in the Boku area because the locals had been stirred up by the local Catholic priest.

In his introduction to the forest resources chapter of the report John Saunders states: Forest covers 42% of the area, occurring in a wide range of environments from sea level to approximately 4000 ft. Within this range the forest exhibits a discontinuous distribution pattern due largely to clearing prior to cropping, and in some parts to volcanism. The woody vegetation above 4000 ft has no yield potential and, in many cases, should not be disturbed as it plays a valuable role in watershed protection.

Generally, the higher-yield forest types occur on the well-drained plains and on volcano-alluvial fans and low-altitude uplands with gentle to moderate slopes. These forests encircle the central mountain ranges but occur predominantly at the south-eastern end of Bougainville Island. Scattered, sometimes large, stands of high-yield forest also occur in swamps with through-flowing drainage.

The full report and maps are at www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS20.

No field work was undertaken during 1965, though the work of report writing, and mapping continued. To make up for that off-year two surveys were conducted during 1966.

1966 Kerema – Vailala This area covered much of the Gulf District of Papua and extended just into the Morobe District on the New Guinea side. The survey work was undertaken as follows: The survey team consisted of a geologist/ geomorphologist, a pedologist, a plant ecologist, a forest botanist, and an agronomist, who with the assistance of a transport officer traversed the area by boats near the coast and by helicopter inland between January 21 and March 26, 1966. The inclusion of an agronomist in the team was a novelty in New Guinea surveys and enabled a detailed assessment of the land capability to be made. Only one member of the team, Mr. R. Pullen (forest botanist), had experience of the adjacent Port Moresby-Kairuku survey area.

The forest resources chapter was authored by Kees Paijmans and Roy Pullen and summarised their findings as follows: Forest of various types covers 82% of the area. Generally, the forest with the highest timber volume occurs on rather limited areas of well-drained plains and foothills, notably along the Tauri River. Areas of very poorly to imperfectly drained alleviated basins, particularly large along the Vailala River, have a moderately high timber potential but would require costly road development if they were to be exploited by tractor and truck haulage. Forest on the beach plains, basically of good quality, has suffered much from interference by the local population.

Approximately 30 % of the forested area occurs in rugged terrain with slopes exceeding 30"; it is unsuitable for timber exploitation and lies largely above 1000 ft altitude. The forests on hills below 1000 ft have moderate timber potential, and generally these areas have been much less affected by clearing for shifting cultivation than the upland and lower montane forests above 1000 ft, which in any case are difficult of access for normal exploitation.

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The report also references previous forest resource surveys in the area including Lane-Poole in 1927 and Ted Grey in 1956.

The Kerema – Vailala survey report is at www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS23.

1966 Aitape – Ambunti Following hard on the heels of the survey on the Papuan Gulf, the next survey was focused on the middle-Sepik area between Aitape and Ambunti. Again, the use of a helicopter provided a far easier approach to sampling a large area in a relatively short time. The survey teams and methods were described as follows: The survey team spent 62 days in the field, from July 20 to September 20, 1966, and including 8 rest days. Operations were conducted from base camps at Bonahoi on the road from Maprik (21 days, including 13 days of vehicle traverses), Ambunti (7 days), Nuku (15 days, including 3 days of vehicle and walking traverses), Lumi (5 days, including one day of vehicle traverse), and Aitape (14 days, including 3 days of vehicle traverses) ….

The survey team consisted of Mr. H. A. Haantjens, leader and pedologist, Dr. P. C. Heyligers, plant ecologist, Mr. J. C. Saunders, forest botanist, and Mr. V. G. Dawson, who oversaw transport, logistics, and the 14 native field and camp assistants. Mr. J. R. McAlpine described the landforms at observation sites and collected information on population and land use until September 5. Mr. B. P. Ruxton joined the team as geomorphologist on August 29.

John Saunders’ forest resources chapter makes the following observations: Commercial forest (hereinafter referred to as forest) covers 48% of the area, occurring in a wide range of environments from sea level to approximately 6000 ft.

Within this range the forests exhibit a discontinuous distribution pattern, due largely to clearing prior to cropping and to swampiness and, in parts of the main range, to landslides.

At present there are no large-scale sawmills exporting timber from the area. Many mills associated with Government Stations and Missions are currently producing sawn timber for local consumption, the largest of these being located at Aitape.

The Aitape – Ambunti survey report is at www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS30.

1967 Morehead – Kiunga The southern border between PNG and the Indonesian Province of Papua (or Irian Jaya as it was known at the time) was one of the least known areas of the Territory. The survey, which covered 11,760 sq. miles was led by Kees Paijmans (plant ecologist) and included a pedologist and a geomorphologist. Roy Pullen also undertook a botanical collection during the survey.

Kees described the forest resources in the following terms: Forest covers roughly 60% of the survey area. Scattered pockets and bands of monsoon forest in the south become denser northwards and grade into rain forest which forms a virtually unbroken cover over the northern part of the area.

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No large-scale logging operations have been or are being carried out in the area. The Lake Murray Co-operative and some of the mission stations own small sawmills using trees such as Calophyllum and Podocarpus which are brought in by the population.

The timber is used locally. A sawmill on the Oriomo River north of Daru, outside the survey area, has recently closed.

The report of the Morehead – Kiunga survey is at www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS29.

1968 Vanimo The penultimate CSIRO survey covered part of the northern border between PNG and Irian Jaya based on the garrison town of Vanimo. The field work was described as follows: Field work was done in July 1968 with the aid of two helicopters from bases at Leitre, Pagei, and Vanimo. As nearly the whole survey area is densely forested, finding suitable landing grounds was a major problem. The riverbeds of the medium- and larger-sized rivers provided generally the only landing possibilities, and from them field traverses ranging from 20 yards to 3 miles were carried out. The density and spread of sample points were good along the coast and in the inter-montane lowlands but generally poor in the coastal and inland ranges.

John Saunders’ summary of the forest resources was as follows: Commercial forest covers 90% of the area, occurring in a wide range of environments from sea level to approximately 6000 ft. Within this range the forests exhibit an almost continuous distribution pattern primarily due to the relatively low overall population density, both past and present, and to the scarcity of herbaceous and other non-woody swamps. Consequently, the area is relatively rich in forest resources.

The Vanimo report is at www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS31.

1969 East Papua The field work for the final survey to be conducted by LRRS in PNG focused on the Owen Stanley Range that filled in the gap between the Port Moresby – Kairuku survey (1962) and the Buna – Kokoda survey (1953). The survey was carried out as follows: The 1969 survey was carried out by a team consisting of D. H. Blake, geologist/geomorphologist, and party leader; K. Paijmans, plant ecologist; J. C. Saunders, forest botanist; and R. M. Scott, pedologist. Prior to commencing field work, Blake and Paijmans completed an initial air-photo interpretation of the area.

Field work was undertaken in June and July 1969, and 345 sample sites were investigated. A helicopter was used to transport the team between sites.

The eastern end of the Papuan peninsula including the Milne Bay area was assessed from aerial photos only – no field work was conducted in that area.

John Saunders summarised the forest resources as follows: Commercial forest covers about 70 % of the area, occurring from sea level to approximately 3400 m in a wide range of environments. Much of the forest is confined to rugged mountainous country along the central ranges, whereas on the coastal hills and undulating terrain a large proportion of the land has been cleared of forest.

Relatively low and markedly seasonal rainfall in large parts of these latter areas 16

result in lower forest resources. The main areas of accessible forest occur along the northern coastal plains and hinterlands from Moi Biri Bay westwards. Despite the relatively large area of forested country, the forest potential of eastern Papua is moderate to low, because much of the forest is inaccessible.

The East Papua report is at www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS32.

Consolidating the Knowledge Gael Keig and others (2019) describe the wind-down and finalisation of the LRRS survey program as follows: By 1970, it was recognised that there was no possibility the regional surveys could cover the remainder of the country before the coming of PNG Independence and the probable cessation of funding. With the Eastern Papua survey completed, over 40% of the area of the Territory of PNG had been surveyed and, more importantly, all major land resource types or ‘environments’ had been investigated. Therefore, in 1971 it was decided that CSIRO should discontinue the regional survey programme and concentrate on producing land resource studies at national level, requiring only minimal further field work.

Among the “minimal further field work” was a survey that I undertook with Kees Paijmans of the forest in the Cape Hoskins and Kapiura River area of New Britain in 1966. This was the only field work done by CSIRO in New Britain and involved a survey along a continuous strip line two chains wide and about two miles long from near Koimumu Village towards the Pago volcano. We also used the Forestry Tempest speedboat to look at forest along the Kapiura and coastline.

Kees went on to publish the vegetation map of PNG in 1975 (four sheets at 1: 1 million scale). In the introduction to the explanatory notes, Kees states: The vegetation map at a scale of 1:1 000 000 is based mainly on interpretation of aerial photographs. Features of the structure and floristics of the vegetation that can be distinguished on aerial photographs as well as environmental factors such as topography, drainage and altitude have been used to define mapping categories and to establish their boundaries. Hence the map and its legend are intended to give the user information both on the various vegetation types and on their ecology and habitats.

Over the past 20 years plant ecologists in land resources survey teams from the Division have carried out field observations in various parts of Papua New Guinea covering about 40% of the country. These observations have made it possible to relate air-photo and ground features of the different vegetation types. These features are discussed in some detail in the following notes and are briefly summarized in the map legend.

It is worth observing that the bulk of the field work, mapping and documentation of the forest resources and plant ecology that enabled the publication of that series of maps was undertaken by an exceedingly small number of scientists: Bruce Taylor, Roo Hoogland, John Saunders, Roy Pullen, Ross Robbins, Dick Schodde, Peter Heyligers and Kees Paijmans.

The four map sheets and the explanatory notes are at www.publish.csiro.au/CR/LRS35.

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Reference: Gael Keig, Robin L. Hide, Susan M. Cuddy, Heinz Buettikofer, Jennifer A. Bellamy, Pieter Bleeker, David Freyne and John McAlpine: CSIRO and land research in Papua New Guinea 1950–2000: part 1: pre-Independence, CSIRO Publishing Historical Records of Australian Science https://doi.org/10.1071/HR18019.

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ACRONYMS ACT AEC ACIAR AFS AFPNG AIF AMF ANBG ANGAU ANU APMF APPM ASOPA BCOF “Beer Time” BFC BGD BUC C cm CALM CFA CNGT CRE CRE

CSIR CSIRO CHAH DEPT DASF DOET FAO F &TB FPRC Forkol ha IBRD JLO IFA L of N LRRS m3

Australian Capital Territory Administrators Executive Committee Australian Centre for Agriculture Research Australian Forestry School Association of Foresters of PNG Australian Infantry Forces Australian Military Forces Australian National Botanical Gardens Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit Australian National University Australian Paper Manufacturers Forestry Pty Ltd Australia Paper and Pulp Manufacturers Australian School of Pacific Administration British Commonwealth Occupational Force 1945-52 Any time.

Bulolo Forestry College Bulolo Gold Dredging Company Bulolo University College Commonwealth Centimetre Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management Commonwealth Forestry Association Commonwealth New Guinea Timbers Bulolo Corps of Royal Engineers 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).

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria Department Dept of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries TPNG Department of External Territories Food and Agriculture Organisation Forest and Timber Bureau Canberra Forest Products Research Centre Hohola Bulolo Forestry College Hectare International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Joint Intelligence Organisation of Defence in Canberra Institute of Foresters of Australia League of Nations Land Research and Regional Survey Section of CSIRO cubic metre 19

MM NAA NARI NB no.

NG NGF NGIB NZ NSW PIB PIR PNG PNGAA PNGAF PNGFA PNGFIA PNGUT POM Q QF RAE RPC SP UK UN UNE UNI UNITECH UNRE UPNG UQ US USA TPNG TUBL TA TA TRP VSF WA WB WW2

Military Medal National Archives Australia National Agriculture Research Institute New Britain Number New Guinea New Guinea Forces (relates to plant collection of Lae Herbarium) New Guinea Infantry Battalion New Zealand New South Wales Papuan Infantry Battalion Pacific Islands Regiment Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Australia Association Papua New Guinea Australian Foresters Magazine Series Papua New Guinea Forest Authority PNG Forest Industries Association PNG University of Technology Port Moresby Queensland Queensland Forestry Royal Australian Engineers/Australian Army Royal Papuan Constabulary South Pacific United Kingdom United Nations University of New England Armidale NSW University University of Technology Lae PNG University of Natural Resources and Environment University of Papua New Guinea University of Queensland United States United States of America Territory of Papua and New Guinea Territory United Brewery Ltd Timber Area Timber Authority Timber Rights Purchase Victorian School of Forestry Western Australia World Bank WORLD WAR 2

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