PNGAF MAGAZINE ISSUE # 9 D 1 of 25th Sept 2021 - LAND USE

AUSTRALIAN FORESTERS in PAPUA NEW GUINEA 1922-1975

PNGAF MAGAZINE ISSUE # 9D1 of 25th Sept. 2021 THE DEVELOPMENT OF PNG’s FOREST MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS UTILISATION OF RAINFOREST SITES Is it possible to achieve balanced land use of forested lands in the tropics?

Mosaic of plantations on traditional lands in Gogol Timber Area 2005.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

JANT 2005 wood chip mill, chip pile and sawmill.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

Gogol Valley from Amele Madang 1972.

Photo credit Ian Whyte.

Editor R B McCarthy1 2021.

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Dick McCarthy District Forester TPNG 1963-1975.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS “FORWOOD”

Page 3

The Use of Forested Lands

Page 5

The Use of Forested Lands to Provide Major Forest Products

Page 9

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Fuelwood

Page 12

The Use of Forested Lands to Provide Minor Forest Products

Page 13

The Use of Forested Lands to Provide Alternative Use

Page 28

– Indirect Benefits from Rainforest

Page 28

The Alternate Land Uses of Forested Lands

Page 30

Where to?

Page 39

References

Page 42

Acronyms

Page 43

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“FORWOOD” “Is it possible to achieve balanced land use of forested lands in the tropics?”

Tropical rainforest countries are faced with dual problems in balancing land use of their forested lands.

One difficulty is to ensure that adequate areas of forested lands are retained in the face of increasing agricultural and other pressures to provide for all current and future needs from the forest itself.

The other difficulty is to maintain a wise balance within it’s forest estate of all the direct and indirect benefits that forests provide. This difficulty manifests itself because those direct and indirect needs are sometimes compatible, sometimes conflicting.

For example, watershed protection and water harvesting against the needs of major and minor forest products.

For example, the preservation of flora and fauna and recreation pursuits against the need for provision of major and minor forest products.

Many countries in ensuring adequate areas of forested land are retained, attempt to identify the significant needs. They include: •

• • •

The preservation of representative and undisturbed examples of all the natural forest types for scientific study. This includes environmental effects as atmospheric, hydrological, soil and biodiversity. These effect carbon storage, nutrient cycling, water, and air purification. Population health effects include the provision of areas for current and future bioproducts for medicinal purposes.

The protection of all critical catchment areas and the maintenance of stream flow.

The preservation of habitat to maintain viable populations of native wildlife.

Social and cultural benefits as traditional resource uses (including food gathering), spirituality, recreation through the provision of adequate areas of forested land for these needs.

Over time, the need most open to contention is the retention of forested areas for timber supplies. Hopefully, if populations were ultimately to reach stability, then an estimate could be made of the likely annual requirements of forest products in the future.

Because timber products are bulky, freight charges contribute to a large proportion of the final cost of those timber products. It is argued that for this reason alone, countries should aim to be as self-sufficient as possible in timber.

The actual amount of forested land to produce that timber volume will vary, dependent on the intensity of natural forest management applied, combined with the quantity of forest plantation established.

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Newspaper Article WANTOK NIUSPEPA - BISNIS NIUS Disemba 9-15, 2004 pes 25.

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The Use of Forested Lands FAO defines a forest as land spanning more than 0.5 hectares (1.2 acres) with trees higher than 5 metres and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under agriculture or urban land use.

Any area of land which supports forest can be used in two ways: • •

As a source of various products obtained from the forest itself.

Or the forest can be destroyed to enable it’s site to be used for a variety of other purposes.

3 Forests are described above by climatic domain and ecological zone. Worldwide, there are five major climatic domains - boreal, polar, temperate, subtropical and tropical.

3 Source - FAO The State of the World’s Forests 2020.

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Of the global forested lands, (45 %) is found in the tropics, followed by the boreal, temperate, and subtropical domains.

Source. FAO The State of the World’s Forests 2020.

To Early Man, the forest provided: • • • •

Shelter from their enemies.

A source of food as plant products and game.

Timber for shelter and transport Fuel wood for heating and cooking.

With the changes in lifestyle from a food gatherer to a food raiser with agricultural knowledge, forest sites took on a new significance. They occupied sites which were required for the growing of crops for food and subsequently for cash. This meant the forests had to be destroyed.

At the same time, the use of agriculture enabled Man to live a more settled existence. This resulted in new uses being found for timber as a construction material and as a source of fuel for heating.

Eventually there became the realisation that whilst agriculture supplied the staple ingredients of Man’s existence, forests were necessary if Man were to maintain a civilised standard of living. This realisation became more acute as populations increased and more and more forest area was destroyed.

In the majority of tropical rainforest regions of the world, this growth of popluation has been a relatively recent affair. Previously tropical diseases had caused many people to die, which prevented much of the rainforest from being cleared.

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With the control of many of these tropical diseases during the last century, coupled with introduction of more stable government, populations increased rapidly. Now the question of proper land utilisation and the desirable proportion of land to be retained as forest become matters of very grave political significance.

The rising population levels have resulted in further appreciation of the need for retaining certain areas under forest, not only for their direct value of supplying the obvious products derived from the forest plants but also from indirect, and in some cases more important benefits which forest provide. These include: • • • •

Protection of watersheds and the regulation of stream flow.

The conservation of unique plants and animals as part of a nation’s heritage.

The provison of recreation and scenic areas.

Wilderness areas.

There are three major uses of forested land, though those uses are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

• • •

The management of the area under forest for the direct benefits which it provides in the way of major and minor plant products.

The retention of areas under forest for its various indirect benefits.

The conversion of the area away from forest cover to some other form of land use, usually though not invariably, associated with growing of plants for food for cash or growing plants to nuture grazing animals which are then onsold for cash.

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PNG Forested Lands as at 19724 Dept of Forests PNG Locality Area in hectares Total land mass 46886000 Tree cover 40000000 Commercially accessible forest 13000000 Inland Rainforest Cloudy Bay TA. Photo credit Dick McCarthy 2005.

Block 6 Vanimo TA landscape.

Photo credit Ian Whyte 1974.

Open Bay TA New Britain landscape.

Photo credit Ian Whyte 1974.

Gogol Valley Gogol TA. Photo credit Ian Whyte 1974.

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New Horizons – Forestry in Papua New Guinea a Dept of Forests Publication 1973 Jacaranda Press.

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The Use of Forested Lands to Provide Major Forest Products.

The so-called major forest products are those directly derived from wood.

• • • • •

Round logs for pole production for structures and bridges.

Round logs to be processed to produce sawn timber for buildings, furniture etc.

Round logs for processing to produce veneer for construction and furniture manufacture.

Round logs for wood chip production to make pulp and paper manufacture or conversion to other processed board products as particle board.

Round logs for firewood and/or charcoal production.

In most areas of the World where rainforest is under some form of management, sawlog and veneer log production have been the forester’s primary aim.

Tropical rainforest timbers show a very great range in qualities and characteristic, as would be expected from stands with such diverse botanical composition. Wood densities vary greatly e.g. a very heavy wood as kwila to a light wood as balsa. Similarly, colours range from black (e.g. ebony) through shades of red, brown, yellow, pink, purple to white. Varying degrees of durability, figure, strength, toughness and other working qualities can be found amongst rainforest species. With such variety present, species suitable for almost any timber use can be obtained from the rainforest, though the quantity of preferred species may be very small and often not worth extraction.

The World’s major timber using industries developed in the conifer (softwood) regions of the Northern Hemisphere whereas in the tropical regions, the use of timber for purposes other than fuel was generally very late in developing. Hence, the utilisation of rainforest species has for centuries been concentrated upon the export of relatively few species with outstanding characteristics not found amongst temperate species. This includes species such as ebony, mahogany, cedars etc. These species have been primarily specialty cabinet woods.

It is only in the last few decades that more general purpose species have been utilised on any scale from the tropical rainforests. This recent development has been sparked by a world wide shortage of such timbers, enabling tropical exports to compete with more traditional species on the World’s markets. At the same time, there has been a growing demand within the tropical rainforest countries themselves as living standards rise and as timber treatments ensure increased durability for the lighter and softer species.

Globally in 2002, of the 3.4 billion cubic metres of wood produced: • • • •

Wood fuel was 53 % of total usage.

Sawn wood was 23 % of total usage.

Wood based panels as plywood, and other composite boards as particle board were 7 % of total usage.

Pulp and paper products were 12 % of total usage.

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Other industrial uses as charcoal production etc. were 4 % of total usage.

In PNG in 2002, of it’s annual wood flow of 8 million m3: • • • •

63% was wood fuel (5 million m3 firewood)5.

23 % was log exports (1.8 million m3).

8 % was industrial processed exports as sawn timber, plywood, veneer and wood chips (0.645 milion m3).

2 % was domestic industrial wood usage as sawn timber, plywood (0.2 millin on m3).

Destinations for PNG log exports in 2002 were: • •

A total of 1.8 million m3 of logs were exported. 90 % of the log trade was to China, Japan and Korea.

Other minor markets for PNG logs included Vietnam, Taiwan, India, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Log export Vanimo TA.

Log Pond, Bay of Tokyo Japan.

Photo Credit Dick McCarthy 1995.

Photo Credit Dick McCarthy 2003.

Destinations for PNG wood processed products in 2002 were: •

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Some 80,000 m3 of sawn wood with Australia being the major market. Other minor markets included countries as New Zealand, China, and Korea.

FAO studies published CFA Newsletter Vol 4 December 2002.

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• • •

Sawn wood species included Balsa, Kwila, Dillenia, Hopea, Malas, Mersawa, Pencil Cedar, Red Cedar, Taun, Vitex, Walnut, Water Gum, Wau Beech and mixed sawn batches.

Some 3,760 m3 of plywood was exported with Australia being the major market.

Some 97,000 m3 of wood chips exported with Japan being the major market.

Some 70,000 m3 of veneer exported with Taiwan and the Philippines being the major markets.

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Sawn Kwila ready for export to Australia. Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

Sawn Rosewood Port Moresby ready for export to Fiji. Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

8 Sawn Rubberwood Galley Reach Central Province ready for export. Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

9 Veneer RH Operations Western Province ready for export. Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

10 Sawn Balsa being kiln dried at old Kerevat sawmill site. Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

11 Range of Plywood sizes exported to Australia. Source PNGFP. 12 Wood chips ex Madang being unloaded Bay of Tokyo Port. Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

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Fuel wood PNG Particularly in rural areas there is reliance on traditional sources of biomass energy for cooking. In 2002, FAO estimated fuel wood usage was some 5 million m3. (At the rate of 1.8m3 per person). At the end of 2009, the total population was estimated to be 6.5 million.

Hence fuel wood usage would be some 11.7 m3. By 2050 it is estimated the population will be 11.2 million. This implies that by 2050 there will need to be found some 20.6 million m3 of fuel wood in PNG alone.

Fuel wood Acacia managium Markham Valley via Lae PNG. Photo source Dick McCarthy 1995.

Fuelwood usage Buso. Mu mu Bulolo Forestry College Students .

Photo credit Mike Jones 1968.

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The Use of Forested Lands to Provide Minor Forest Products Minor forest products are those products other than timber of commercial value which can be obtained from trees and other plants in the rainforest.

Powell13 in 1976 described in detail the ethnobotany of the Papua New Guinea people with regard to the staple and supplementary crops, the agricultural systems present and the wild plant resources available for utilisation as food and as raw materials for products of material culture.

There are many useful plants described by Powell including: • Narcotics, stimulants and intoxicants.

• Medicinal plants.

• Ritual and magic.

• Art. • Tools and weapons.

• Hunting and fishing.

• Canoes and rafts.

• House building.

• Food preparation including containers and vessels.

• Cordage, bark cloth and other textiles.

• Clothing and personal ornamentation.

Although, outside the scope of this project, for those readers interested in a detailed description of the various plants used by Papua New Guineans, read: • Powell 1976:108-112 for a listing of over 250 kinds of food plants.

• Powell 1976:135-147 for a listing of medicinal plants.

Many of these products lie on the borderline between forestry and agriculture. The following chapters describe some of these plants and their applications.

Perhaps an outstanding example is rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), which provides an important but still minor forest product in it’s native Brazil, but which in Malaysia, PNG and other southeast Asian countries provides an agricultural crop of unequalled importance.

New Rubber Tree Plantation Galley Reach Central Province PNG. Photo credit Dick McCarthy 2000.

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Powell J M 1976 Ethnobotany in Paijmans K(editor) New Guinea Vegetation. ANU Press, CSIRO Canberra.

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Minor forest products serve a host of needs and are best classified by the type of product they yield.

Elastomers (a natural polymer having elastic properties e.g. rubber.)

A number of rainforest plants produce latex in their stems.This is used to provide a variety of elastomers.

The major elastomer is rubber from the rubber tree ( Hevea brasliensis) which now forms the basis of major industries in many Southeast Asian countries.

Rubber Tree Plantation Sogeri.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy 2000.

Other rainforest plants which have been used on a smaller scale to provide rubber include Castiulla elestica from Central America and Ficus elastica from India.

Other elastomers which are usually obtained by the selective working of trees within the rainforest include: Chicle, the milky latex of the sapodilla tree from Central American Achras sapota used to make chewing gum. It can also be obtained from trees as the Brazalian Manilkara huberi and the Malayan Dyera costulata.

Balata used in golf balls and telegraphic cables and obtained from northern South Americas species Manilkara bidentata.

Gutta percha is the substance that is used to fill the tooth to prevent reinfection. Gutta percha is a thermoplastic filling that is heated and then pressed into the tooth canals. It is derived from a Malaysian plant Palaquium gutta.

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Resins Resisn are used in such products as varnish, paints, certain medicines, ointments and incense.

Resins come from a variety of rainforest trees including many species of Burseranceae, Dipterocarpaceae (vatica resin) and from Araucariaceae as Agathis sp.(copal).

Edible Oils Edible oils are found in the fruit of many tropical rainforest plants.

Oil palm (Elaeis guineesis) from West Africa. It has oil rich fruit. Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp of the fruit of the oil palm. The oil is used in food manufacturing such as margarine, in beauty products such as soap, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from oil crops in 2014. Oil Palm plantations now exist in many countries.

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

Drugs and Medicinal Products.

Drugs and similar products are obtained from many rainforest plants.

Hyoscine is used in the treatment of mental illness and travel sickness. It is obtained from the leaves of a common secondary tree species Duboisia myoporoides.

Certain Strychnos spp. are noted for the presence of poisonous indole alkaloids in the roots, stems and leaves of various species. Among these alkaloids are the well-known and virulent poisons as strychnine and curare.

Medicinal camphor comes from the rainforest species Cinnamomum camphora.

The source of cocaine comes from the Andrean species Erythoxylum coca.

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An important insecticide comes from the roots of the leguminous vines Derris spp. and Lonchocarpus spp.

The neem tree of India, Azadirachta indica provides a strong smelling aromatic oil (obtained from the fruit) which is used to treat malaria, rheumatism etc.

Many more examples abound of drugs and medicines obtained from rainforest species.

Essential Oils The distillation of essential oils is not widely practised in tropical rainforest areas but some specific examples include: Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus Cinnamomum e.g., Cinnamomum culilawan bark provides essential oils as eugenol and saffrol for food flavouring, perfumes and pharmaceuticals.

Massoy essential oil (Cryptocarya massoy). Before World War 2, massoy oil was exported from West New Guinea (West Irian). Massoy essential oil was once widely used as a natural coconut flavouring and other food flavouring, perfumes and pharmaceuticals. It has been largely superseded by a synthetic alternative because the extraction process is expensive and the process of removing the bark kills the tree.

Rosewood oil. The Amazonian species Aniba roseodora, the wood of which is distilled to provide rosewood oil, much valued in perfumery.

Sandalwood oil obtained from the reddish heartwood of Santalum spp. which is used in perfumery.

Source Dick McCarthy.

Eucalyptus oil distilled from the leaves of Eucalyptus spp. which is used in medicine as an antiseptic and in perfumery.

Eucalyptus Leaves in small steam distillation unit.

Source Wikipedia.

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The wood of the gaharu tree (Gyrinops ledermanii) in PNG is known as eaglewood or agarwood. Gyrinops is closley related to Aquilaria spp. In the past all species were considered to belong to Aquilaria .Agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood or gharuwood is a fragnant dark resinous wood producing an oil, much valued in perfumery, incense and small carvings. It is formed in the heartwood of the tree when they become infected with a type of mould (Phialophora parasitica.).

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Fruit and Other Foodstuff The fruits of many rainforest plants are edible and provide a valuable source of food.

Trees which provide edible fruits include: Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry and jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) family (Moraceae). It is believed to be a domesticated descendant of Artocarpus camansi originating in New Guinea, the Maluku Islands, and the Philippines.

Artocarpus spp. (breadfruit).

Source Wikipedia.

Mango (Mangifera indica) Port Moresby.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy 2000

Candlenut. Aleurites moluccana). Both the nut and the oil that can be extracted from it are used. While mildly toxic when raw, the nut is appreciated in many cultures once cooked or toasted.

Candlenut foliage and nut.

Source Wikipedia.

Galip Nut. (Canarium indicum), is a mainly dioecious tree native in eastern Melanesia. It is usually found in rainforest, secondary forests, old garden areas, around villages and settlements. It is also used as a shade tree. It is important in the world food system as it can be used as a food and timber source, in traditional medicine and intercropping.

Source Wikipedia.

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There are many rainforest fruit bearing plants now propagated commercially in plantations around the World. Examples include plants such as: Musa (Banana) Port Moresby.

Musa species are native to tropical Indomalaya and Australia. They are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea. They are grown primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make fibre.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy 2000.

Passiflora (passionfruit).

Source Tok Pisin.

The fruits of some plants, though not providing a direct foodstuff are used in the manufacture of edible products as: Cocoa bean Theobroma cacao (cocoa bean or simply cocoa) is native to Central and South America. It is used in chocolate manufacture and beverages. Cocoa bean is the dried and fully fermented seed from which cocoa solids (a mixture of non-fat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted.

Cocoa Pods at various stages of ripening.

Cocoa beans: with flesh, without flesh, without flesh and skin. Source Wikipedia.

Berries of Coffea canephora. (syn. Coffea robusta) Source Wikipedia.

It is commonly known as robusta coffee. It is a species of coffee that has its origins in central and western subSaharan Africa. Though widely known as Coffea robusta, the plant is scientifically identified as Coffea canephora.

Coffea robusta represents 43% of global coffee production, with Coffea arabica constituting most of the remainder. There are several differences between the composition of coffee beans from C. arabica and C. robusta. Beans from C. robusta tend to have lower acidity, more bitterness, and a more woody and less fruity flavor compared to C. arabica beans.

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Coffea arabica fruit Source Wikipedia.

Tea. Camellia sinensis (tea) a native of northeast India.

Camellia sinensis is a species of evergreen shrubs or small trees in the flowering plant family Theaceae whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea.

Macmillian14 in 1935 reported that tea is supposed to originally have belonged to two varieties of Camellia Thea. Var Viridis (a synonym of Camellia sinensis) L) Kuntze) is a native of NE India and origin of most varieties whereas var Bohea is from China.

Other rainforest species provide products from parts of the plant: Spices and condiments from their fruits as Capsicum. (peppers).

Buds as Eugenia caryophyllata (cloves).

Roots or tubers Zingiber officinale (ginger), Colocasia esculentum (taro), Dioscorea spp (yams).

Bark.

Bark as Cinnamon zeylanicum (cinnamon). Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus Cinnamomum e.g., Cinnamomum culilawan bark provides essential oils as eugenol and saffrol for food flavouring, perfumes and pharmaceuticals Bark of the Cinchona tree provided extracts for quinine in 1820. The original source of quinene for the treatment of malaria came from an Andean species Cinchona officinalis. It is native to Peru. Bark extracts from the cinchona tree have been used to treat malaria since at least in 1632.It was introduced into Spain as early as 1636 by Jesuit Missionaries. The bark of several species yields quinine and other alkaloids that were the only effective treatments against malaria during the height of European colonialism, which made them of great economic and political importance. The artificial synthesis of quinine in 1944, an increase in resistant forms of malaria, and the emergence of alternate therapies, eventually ended largescale economic interest in cinchona tree plantation cultivation.

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Macmillan H F 1935 Tropical Planting and Gardening with special reference to Ceylon. Publisher MACMILAN & CO London Fifth Edition 1943. Reprinted 1962.

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Bark extract (Cutch) for Tannin production from mangroves and other species. Cutch can be used variously as a food additive, astringent, tannin, and dye. It is extracted from several species by boiling the wood in water and evaporating the resulting brew.

In PNG, in 1949 there was the commencement of a tannin extracting industry based on the mangrove forests of the Gulf of Papua, which threatened to leave to waste vast quantities of timber following commercial stripping of the bark.

Cutch Factory, Aird Hills, Papuan Gulf. The steamer 'Narani' was used to transport processed cutch to Port Moresby in the early 1950s. Photo credit National Library of Australia.

In 1951 Narani was sold to the New Guinea Borneo Mangrove Company and taken to Aird Hills in the Kikori River Delta, Papua. Its role was to transport cutch - bark harvested from mangrove trees and processed - to Port Moresby. The cutch factory had a railway line to transport bark to the processing plant and then transport processed cutch back to the Narani The Australian Women's Weekly Wednesday 27 June 1951 published this account: "English couple Charles and Phyllis Cook left Sydney in the old N.S.W. coaster Narani recently, counting the days till they are back in the jungle. Mr. and Mrs. Cook are on their way to a river delta at Perome, 300 miles from Port Moresby, in Papua, where they will establish a factory to make a bark extract from native trees.

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The Cooks like jungle life. Before coming to Sydney, where their ship took on six months' supplies and equipment, they lived in Borneo.

In Borneo Mr. Cook was managing a factory producing bark extract, which is called cutch, and is used to dye materials khaki and to preserve fishing nets. The bark extract, then made from a type of wattle in India, was used to colour British military uniforms khaki last century after the War Office had decided that the resplendent redcoats were too easily spotted by the enemy.

Mr. Cook will use mangrove bark to make the extract in his Papuan factory. It is claimed that this type of bark produces the best dye."

Perome is a small village near Aird Hills on the Delta of the Kikori River. Most of the Delta area is a flood plain largely supporting Sago Palm. Aird Hills is relatively close to the Gulf of Papua and deep-water access to the volcanic hills. It is these conditions that allow mangroves to develop and provided a resource for a cutch factory to be established.

Michael Pearson1 in his book, The End of the Line described PNG's Great Train Robbery: The cutch factory was the centre of a notorious event described brilliantly in PNG's Railway History "The Borneo New Guinea Mangrove Company established a pioneer factory in the swamps of the Kikori River Delta at Aird Hills to extract cutch (a tanning fluid from mangrove bark). A short tramline (about 1300 metres) was built from the wharf to the factory. It carried firewood and the bark inwards, and cutch out for shipment. There was a small IC-engined locomotive which hauled flat trucks and hopper wagons over the line.

By 1958 the venture had failed, and the equipment was abandoned. Mr. Keith Tetley, a local trader, collected rails to build a wharf and copra drier.

Steamships Trading Company (STC) eventually purchased the assets of the Borneo New Guinea Mangrove Company from receivers with the intention of using them at their Baimuru Sawmill. On arrival to collect their bounty, STC crews discovered its disappearance. Whereabouts of the railway equipment was soon discovered, and the company took Mr. Tetley to court, thus commencing the case of PNG's Great Railway Robbery. Mr Tetley eventually won the case as there was no caretaker at the site and the rails were not on land belonging to the company, and therefore, they could be considered abandoned. He is reported to have arrived at the Kerema Hall for the annual Christmas party pulling a toy train, much to the delight of those present. STC lost out badly, not only losing the rails and the money paid for them but also having to pay court costs.

Source Wikipedia.

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Stems Stem as Metroxylon sagu (sago).

L to R. Sago palms (Metroxylon sagu) in New Guinea. Source Wikipedia.Making sago in Papua Source 1913 Sydney Mail Annual.

Sago is extracted from Metroxylon palms by splitting the stem lengthwise and removing the pith which is then crushed and kneaded to release the starch before being washed and strained to extract the starch from the fibrous residue. The raw starch suspension in water is then collected in a settling container.

L to R. A sago palm being harvested for sago production. A sago starch filter. Sago pancakes. Source Wikipedia.

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Palms are among the best known and most extensively cultivated plant families. They have been important to humans throughout much of history. Many common products and foods are derived from palms. In contemporary times, palms are also widely used in landscaping, making them one of the most economically important plants. Palm products such as coconut, is the fruit of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). It's used for its water, milk, oil, and tasty meat. Coconuts have been grown in tropical regions for more than 4,500 years.

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Aerial View Robinson River Coconut Plantation. Photo credit Dick McCarthy 2005.Robinson River plantation Abau was one of the biggest coconut plantations in Papua comprising some 3,400 acres of plantation producing some 1000 tons of copra annually, with regular DC3 loads of beef to Port Moresby. There were over 20 miles (31 kms) of railway lines throughout the plantations for transport of coconuts to a central copra drier. During World War 2, the Australian Army removed the railway lines. It was purchased by Burns Philip in 1936. It had been originally developed and managed for the Horn family by BNGD.

Trasporting copra to jetty in 1936.

Abandoned Jetty.

Source PNG National Archives.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy 2005.

Abandoned plantation buildings. Abandoned airport terminal and overgrown airstrip.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy 2005.

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McKillop R F & Pearson M 1977.End of the Line. A History of Railways in PNG. ISBN 998084096x UPNG Press.

Lewis DC 1996. The Plantation Dream. ANU Press. ISBN 0959547789

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Other Types of Products from Rainforest Plants include: Fibres such as rattans, bamboos, canes, raffia.

Crossing a cane suspension bridge with part of their gear on the Jimi Valley Survey.

Photo credit Paul Ryan.

Water Craft Construction Lakatoi Papa Lei Central Province.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

Dyes used for colouring textile.

Kapok (Ceiba pentandra). This is a tropical tree native to Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America. The tree is cultivated for the cotton like fluff from its seed pods.

The fibre is light, very buoyant, resilient to water but very flammable. The fibre is used as an alternative to down as filling in mattresses, pillows, upholstery, and stuffed toys as teddy bears and for insulation. It was previously used in life jackets and similar devices until synthetic materials largely replaced the fibre. The seeds produce an oil that is used locally in soap and can be used as fertiliser.

Single dehiscent fruit revealing kapok-surrounded seeds.

Source Wikipedia.

Seeds visible within fibres of dehisced fruit with shrivelled valves.

Source Wikipedia.

Food Plants.

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Many plants are gathered from the forests and used as vegetables. These vegetables can be the leaves of trees (e.g., Ficus) shoots and stems of trees, vines, bamboos, fern fronds, cabbage heart of palms, edible grasses, or parts of ground plants.

Fruits, nuts, and seeds.

Some fruits include lau lau (Syzygium malaccense and S agueum), taun (Pometia pinnata) and Ficus species.

Nuts Galip Nut (Canarium sp) Pandanus nuts in the Highlands.

Seeds Okari seeds. (Terminalia species) Medicinal Plants 16

Some examples of the way plants are used in PNG include: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

To treat cuts and wounds e.g., wild daka leaves, ginger leaves.

For burns e.g., chewed up leaves of taun and galip.

For skin diseases and sores e.g., sap of Ficus sp.

For dressings and bandages e.g., palm fibre or leaves.

For general body pains e.g., Ficus leaves.

For toothache e.g., ginger plants.

For ear and eye infections.

For coughs and colds e.g., inhaling the smoke of the fern Polypodium.

For lung problems and tuberculosis.

For stomach aches, dysentery, and diarrhea. e.g., some palm species and gingers.

For fever, including malaria.

For poisons e.g., the smell of some rhododendron flowers causes vomiting.

For fertility and childbirth.

Fungi (Mushrooms)

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Non-Timber Forest Products – Alternative ways to use the forests of Papua New Guinea. 1995. Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific and Australian Foundation for the Peoples of Asia and the Pacific Ltd. ISBN 9980851171.

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PNG Bulolo Investigations for Shitake.

Dr Bob Thistlethwaite was involved with Dr Kisaku Mori D. Agr., supported by a small team of Japanese scientists and officials, to investigate the presence of Shitake in PNG. Jack Simpson, Department of Forests pathologist based at Bulolo in Morobe Province, guided the Mori team to Castanopsis forests where Shitake was identified on the first morning of the field visit. After Dr Mori’s field visit, Shitake was found widely distributed on Fagaceae, especially on Castanopsis in the highlands of PNG. At the Tari market in Hela Province, different varieties of edible mushrooms were being sold.

Shitake was known locally “abus long abus” or meat with meat and was highly prized.

Kevin White Assistant Director PNG Forests greets Dr Kisaku Mori and the OIC Mori Research with Bob Thistlethwaite at the Davara on Ela Beach Port Moresby.

Mori research team: The 6-man Mori team arrive at Bulolo.

Shitake party 1: L to R: Bob Thistlethwaite, Egon Horak, Jack Simpson, Dave Lamb, Kisaku Mori.

Shitake party 2: L to R: Bob Thistlethwaite, Jack Simpson, Dave Lamb (partly obscured at rear), OIC Mori Research, Egon Horak, Kisaku Mori in Castanopsis forest at Bulolo.

Photo credits Bob Thistlethwaite.

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The Use of Forested Lands to Provide Alternative Use – Indirect Benefits from Rainforest Because of the generally late development of forestry in the regions where rainforest occurs and because of low human population, an appreciation of the indirect benefits derived from rainforest have been late in developing in most rainforest countries.

The indirect benefits of rainforest fall into four main classes. They are not mutually exclusive, nor are they all necessarily exclusive of the need to manage rainforest for its direct benefits in the way of major and minor forest products.

•

• • •

The preservation of representative and undisturbed examples of all the natural forest types for scientific study. This includes environmental effects as atmospheric, hydrological, soil and biodiversity. These effects include carbon storage, nutrient cycling, water, and air purification. Population health effects including the provision of areas for current and future bioproducts for medicinal purposes.

The protection of all critical catchment areas and the maintenance of stream flow.

The preservation of habitat to maintain viable populations of native wildlife.

Social and cultural benefits as traditional resource uses (including food gathering), spirituality, recreation through the provision of adequate areas of forested land for these needs.

The indirect benefits are those which result from keeping the ecosystem in a relatively undisturbed state.

The most restrictive indirect benefit is the preservation of undisturbed forest for scientific study. However, this indirect benefit serves two purposes: • •

To provide areas of natural forest in which the growth of the World’s most complex and luxuriant vegetation can be studied and observed.

To provide the raw material for future evolution and to provide the source of materials for future studies for the benefit of Man.

Watershed protection to maintain regular stream flow and to avoid excessive soil loss with its consequent siltation of rivers has long been recognised as an extremely important function of forests generally. It is of particular importance in rainforest areas where rainfall is heavy, and the river catchments are frequently in very rugged mountainous terrain.

The objects of wildlife protection run parallel to the reasons for the preservation of undisturbed forest for scientific study. However, providing the habitat is not too drastically altered, wildlife protection can frequently be attained whilst still maintaining the forests to provide major products.

Social and cultural benefits (as traditional resource uses, spirituality, recreation) form the fourth indirect benefit of rainforest. Often there is insufficient provision of adequate areas of 28

forested land for these needs. Few plant communities offer such facilities for social and cultural benefit development as does rainforest.

Papuan Coastline looking back towards Own Stanley Ranges Central Province.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

Ramu River Flood Plain Madang Province.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

Gulf of Papua Delta Western Province.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

Bulolo Valley Morobe Province.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

Mountainous Terrain of the Highlands.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

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The Alternate Land Uses of Forested Lands In most rainforest countries the natural rainforest is being removed to make ways for other forms of land use, usually agriculture and mining. This demand for land is one of the most vital issues facing tropical rainforest countries.

PNG Population Distribution 1990.

PNG Slope Categories.

Source PNGRIS.

PNG Minerals Potential.

Mining Projects 2004.

Petroleum & Natural Gas 2004

Source PNGRIS.

PNG Mining and Petroleum Projects 2021.17

17

Source PNG Business News 2021 PNG Mining and Petroleum Projects <info@pngbusinessnews.com>

30

Ok Tedi Mining Mt Fubilan open pit mine in the Star Mountains, Western Province.

Source PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum.

Gold Mining Edie Creek Wau 1973.

Source Dick McCarthy.

The alternate uses for rainforest lands are numerous and range from sites for housing, roads, power lines, mining sites etc. However, the major competition for rainforest lands comes from the field of agriculture.

18

Land use and Land Use Intensity 1975. Source PNGRIS.

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PNG has a dual economy. The economy generally can be separated into subsistence and market sectors.

80 % of the population are subsistence farmers living within tribal or clan communities on traditional lands. Most people work in the large subsistence sector, producing food for consumption, raising animals, and producing agricultural commodities for sale in domestic and international markets. Most rural Papua New Guineans earn cash from agriculture and closely associated activities such as selling firewood, betel nut, fish, or animals. The distinction is blurred by small holder cash cropping of coffee, cocoa, and copra.

The types of agriculture practised on rainforest lands are extremely varied. The most primitive is shifting cultivation where temporary settlements are made, and then patches of forest are cleared and burnt and crops raised on the site for one to two years till fertility from the original vegetation is lost. The people then move to a new area, repeat the process, and allow the formerly farmed lands to revert to forest, which in times restores the fertility of the soil.

Akin to shifting cultivation, is the bush fallow system of agriculture. Here the people live in permanent settlements and rely on the rainforest regrowth, in part at least, restoring the natural soil fertility. While such settlements are small and the “fallow” period long, there is a reasonable chance of maintaining soil fertility. However, as population increases, the fallow period inevitably decreases, and the soil becomes less fertile at each rotation except for relatively small areas of unusually good soil e.g., river flats.

In an agricultural sense, such farming practices are inefficient since the land is out of production for most of the time.

More permanent agriculture requires one of several alternatives, namely the restriction of farming to particularly rich soils, usually in areas where the fertility is to some extent replenished by periodic inundation and siltation, or the regular use of manure or artificial fertiliser or the growing of green crops (e.g., legume) which maintains the soil fertility. E.g., the sugar cane fields of Queensland and Ramu sugar.

Distribution of Fruit and Vegetable Crops in PNG in 2004.

Source PNGRIS 2004.

32

Intensive Village Garden on Laloki River flats.

Banana Sweet Potato (kau kau)

Photo credit Dick McCarthy 2009.

Crops which maintain fertility are typically those ones which to some extent resemble the natural rainforest, particularly by being composed of trees. One of the features of humid tropical agriculture is the prominence of tree crops such as rubber, cocoa, oil palms, etc. For the best results, these crops usually benefit from fertilising. But in contradiction to the normal food crops, they can maintain productivity on the typical poor rainforest soils for long periods without fertilising being essential. As described previously, such crops are mainly rainforest plants, and they play a vital role in the economy of many rainforest countries.

Distribution of Agricultural Tree Crop Plantations in PNG in 2004.

Source PNGRIS 2004.

33

Distribution of Rubber Tree Crop Plantations in PNG in 2004.

Source PNGRIS 2004.

Distribution of Oil Palm Plantations in PNG in 2004. Source PNGRIS 2004.

34

Distribution of Coconut Plantations in PNG in 2004.

Source PNGRIS 2004.

Distribution of Cocoa Plantations in PNG in 2004. Source PNGRIS 2004.

35

Distribution of Betelnut Plantations in PNG in 2004.

Source PNGRIS 2004.

Betelnut plantation Cloudy Bay Abau.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

36

Distribution of Robusta Coffee Plantations in PNG in 2004.

Source PNGRIS 2004.

Distribution of Arabica Coffee Plantations in PNG in 2004.

Source PNGRIS 2004.

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P 199. Bourke R M & Harwood T (eds) 2009 M Food and Agriculture in PNG. ISBN 978192536601.

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Where to?

PNG has a dual economy. The economy generally can be separated into subsistence and market sectors, although the distinction is blurred by small holder cash cropping of coffee, cocoa, and copra. About 80% of the country's population relies primarily on the subsistence economy.

The export economy of Papua New Guinea is dominated by foreign investors in the agricultural, forestry, and fishing sector and the minerals and energy extraction sector. The agricultural, forestry, and fishing sector accounts for much of the labour force of PNG while the minerals and energy extraction sector is responsible for most of the export earnings.

PNG’s export economy is dominated by minerals (gold and copper) and oil accounting for 77 % of total exports in 2006. However, the contribution of agricultural exports is significant at around 17% with the remainder from forestry (5%) and marine resources (1%).

20Annual

Mean Value of Major Exports 2004-2006.

Source. Bank of PNG.

Agriculture currently accounts for 25% of GDP and supports more than 80% of the population. Most agriculture is subsistence, while cash crops are exported.

The main crops by value are coffee, palm oil, cocoa, copra, tea, rubber, and sugar. Fish exports are confined primarily to shrimp, although fishing boats of other nations catch tuna in Papua New Guinea waters under licence.

21Annual

Mean Value of Main Agricultural Exports 2004-2006.

Source. Bank of PNG.

Australia is the largest trading partner followed by Japan then the United States; Singapore; China; Great Britain; and New Zealand.

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Manufacturing is limited, and the formal labour sector consequently is limited.

In general, the Papua New Guinea economy is highly dependent on imports for manufactured goods. Its industrial sector—exclusive of mining—accounts for only 9% of GDP and contributes little to exports. Small-scale industries produce beer, soap, concrete products, clothing, paper products, matches, ice cream, canned meat, fruit juices, furniture, plywood, and paint.

The small domestic market, relatively high wages, and high transport costs are constraints to industrial development.

For many purposes in PNG, it is essential that the rainforest environment should remain undisturbed by Man but for many purposes limited disturbance e.g., selective logging, can be countenanced.

The aim of forest management in any area should always be to balance the various purposes against each other to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number in the long term.

This is the principle of multiple use management of forests.

Whilst in various areas, one or other of these uses will predominate, and exclude some of the others, in most cases it is possible to achieve a balanced management regime which serves most purposes.

22Distribution

22

of logging concessions 1998. Source PNGRIS.

P 343 Bourke R M & Harwood T (eds) 2009 M Food and Agriculture in PNG. ISBN 978192536601.

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The challenge is still to ensure the retention of sufficient forested land area to provide for the future PNG population needs of major and minor forest products together with the indirect benefits forested lands provide.

PNG is very much the land of the unexpected because it is a land of immense agricultural and forestry potential to a land of still untapped mineral wealth within an envelope of rugged terrain and unique cultural and linguistic diversity.

Sunrise Central Province PNG. Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

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References Bourke R M & Harwood T (eds) 2009. Food and Agriculture in Papua New Guinea. ANU Press. ISBN 978192536601.

Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific and Australian Foundation for the Peoples of Asia and the Pacific Ltd 1995. Non-Timber Forest Products – Alternative ways to use the forests of Papua New Guinea. ISBN 9980851171.

Lewis D C 1996. The Plantation Dream. ANU Press. ISBN 0959547789.

McKillop R F & Pearson M 1977 End of the Line. A History of Railways in PNG. ISBN 998084096x UPNG Press.

Powell J M 1976 Ethnobotany in Paijmans K(editor) New Guinea Vegetation. ANU Press, CSIRO Canberra.

Wantok Niuspepa. A weekly PNG newspaper in Tok Pisin language operated by Word Publishing Company.

Zelik J F U 1970 Minor Forest Products Forest Products Research Centre. Dept of Forests PNG.

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

CSIRO CHAH DASF DBH/ dbh DEPT DIES DPI DOF e.g.

Etc FAO

Australian Antarctic Division Australian Capital Territory Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research AusAid funded World Bank Land Mobilisation program.

Administrators Executive Committee Australian Foundation for the Peoples of Asia and the Pacific Ltd. 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 Security Intelligence Organisation Australian School of Pacific Administration Australian Aid Agency basal area British Commonwealth Occupational Force 1945-52 Any time.

Bulolo Forestry College Bulolo Gold Dredging Company British New Guinea Development (Company Limited) Bulolo University College Commonwealth Centimetre Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management Commonwealth Forestry Association Commonwealth New Guinea Timbers Bulolo Commander 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).

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria Dept of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries Diameter at breast height Department Department of Information and Extension Services.

Department of Primary Industry Department of Forests For example et cetera (more of the same) Food and Agriculture Organisation 43

F &TB FIM FMA FPRC FRG FRI Forkol FSP/PNG GAB Gbhob Gubab GIS ha IBRD IFA IFY ITTC ITTO JICA L of N LRRS m3 MCCAF MHA MM NAA NARI NB NDS NFCAP NGM no.

NG NGF NGIB NGI NGO NGVR NZ NSW NTSC OIC OISCA P or p PIB PIR PNG PNGAA

Forest and Timber Bureau Canberra Forest Information System Forest Management Agreement Forest Products Research Centre Hohola Forest Red Gum Forest Research Institute Lae Bulolo Forestry College Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific Girth above buttress Girth breast height over bark Girth under bark above buttress Geographic Information Systems Hectare International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Institute of Foresters of Australia International Year of the Forest International Tropical Timber Council International Tropical Timber Organization Japanese International Cooperation Agency League of Nations Land Resource Soils Survey (branch of CSIRO) cubic metre McCarthy & Associates (Forestry) Pty. Ltd. Member of House of Assembly PNG Military Medal National Archives Australia National Agriculture Research Institute New Britain Northern District Sawmills PNG National Forestry and Conservation Action Plan New Guinea Mainland Number New Guinea New Guinea Forces (relates to plant collection of Lae Herbarium) New Guinea Infantry Battalion New Guinea Islands Non-Government Organisation New Guinea Volunteer Rifles New Zealand New South Wales National Tree Seed Centre PNG Bulolo Officer in Charge Organisation for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement International Japan. page Papuan Infantry Battalion Pacific Islands Regiment Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Australia Association 44

PNGAF PNGFA PNGFIA PNGRIS PNGUT POM Q QF RAE RPC RRA SFM SP TAG UK UN Unasylva UNE UNEP UNI UNITECH UNRE UPNG UQ US USA TPNG TUBL TA TA TRP Vol VSF WA WB

Papua New Guinea Australian Foresters Magazine Series Papua New Guinea Forest Authority PNG Forest Industries Association Papua New Guinea Resource Information System PNG University of Technology Port Moresby Queensland Queensland Forestry Royal Australian Engineers/Australian Army Royal Papuan Constabulary Rapid Resource Appraisal Sustainable Forest Management South Pacific Trade Advisory Group of ITTO United Kingdom United Nations Journal of FAO of UN University of New England Armidale NSW United Nations Environment Program 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 volume Victorian School of Forestry Western Australia World Bank

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