PNGAF MAGAZINE ISSUE #9B-5B4R2 of 12th August 2021 Eminent TPNG Forester Alan Ross.

AUSTRALIAN FORESTERS in PAPUA NEW GUINEA 1922-1975

PNGAF MAGAZINE ISSUE # 9B -5B4R2 of 12th August 2021 FOREST MANAGEMENT. Eminent TPNG Forester Alan Ross.

Alan Ross1 and Kanawi Pouru MD NFS Brisbane, July 2013 (Having tea at his favourite Japanese Restaurant after signing the Scholarship Trust Deeds)

Editor R B McCarthy2 2021.

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Alan Ross TPNG Forests 1950’s to 2002.

Dick McCarthy District Forester TPNG Forests 1963-1975.

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THE LAST OF THE AUSTRALIAN FOREST GUARDS In Acknowledgement of Alan Eugene Hugh ROSS, OBE By Kanawi Pouru 2020.

Author - Kanawi Pouru Managing Director NFS 2007-2015.

Kanawi Pouru3, a graduate of Bulolo Forestry College4 in 1975 became Managing Director of the National Forest Service (replacement to Department of Forests) from 2007 to 2015. He continues to express his gratitude for the work of the Australian Foresters in PNG. Source: Post Courier.

Before Kanawi got to know Alan Ross well as a personal friend, he read his field report dated some time in May-June 1957 following a forest inventory survey around Crocodile Point in the Arawe forest region on the south coast of West New Britain.

Kanawi was then about a year and seven months old when Alan conducted that survey. Kanawi came to realise how long Alan had spent his working life in PNG when he was 31, as Provincial Forestry Officer in Kimbe. The report was in the Resource Investigation File 87-14-0.

Only then did Kanawi realise that Alan was a forester. Prior to that, Kanawi supposed that many foresters of his time who were mostly provincially based, knew Alan as an Economist – not a forester. This included the likes of Cathy Munagun, then, timber permits officer in HQ who worked under Alan who was the Principal Management Officer. Cathy had always thought Alan was an economist and not a Forester. This all changed when she visited Kimbe and Kanawi handed her the file containing the field report.

“Is this Cadet Officer A E H Ross the same Alan Ross at HQ?” she asked. Kanawi said yes.

She could not believe it - Alan was in the country long before she was born. It became the talk of that afternoon among the office staff.

Seven years later, Kanawi moved to HQ and finally caught up with Alan. They worked side by side for the first time in 1994 – the transitional stage of the newly established PNG Forest Authority. Alan was Special Projects Officer attached to the office of the Managing Director, and Kanawi was Divisional Manager Operations. They were both tasked by the Managing Director to visit all 19 provinces and establish their respective Provincial Forest Management Committees.

During the provincial tours, Kanawi came to know more of him. In every province, he would go to the market looking for avocados and pawpaw. Every expenditure he makes, he will always count the change before putting the shillings into his pocket – not one toea short. When we were in Goroka, he pulled out an old string bilum from his brown leather brief case and

Kanawi Pouru MD NFS 2007 to 2015 PNGAF Mag Issue #4 of 21st November 2020 p40.

Dick McCarthy was Kanawi Pouru’s Senior Lecturer in Forest Management in 1973 and then under the AUSAID forestry project 1995-2000 his HRD/Od adviser when Kanawi was General Manager NFS. 3 4

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went looking for avocados, other fruits, and veggies. That bilum dated back to the ‘70s when he was last stationed in Goroka.

The other thing about Alan is, he does not seem to believe in new technologies – he prefers the old ways. In his Hohola office, he refused to have a desktop on his desk, while some of us eagerly accepted – a change from the old ribbon typewriter. Alan continued handwriting all his correspondences – letters, minutes, reports etc. and his Steno would type them out for him.

Reading his handwriting was always a challenging feat for the many young Stenos that were assigned to him. Margaret Suru, a young steno at that time reckoned Alan’s handwriting was same or worse than that of John Gardner. John and Alan both found that Margaret was the only steno that could cope and read their handwriting.

Alan believed in writing out a cheque slip as opposed to swiping a ‘save card’ in an ATM machine. Kanawi never asked him if he owned a “save” card, but Kanawi was sure he had a credit card; otherwise, he and Helen would not have travelled the length and breadth of this planet.

With motor cars, Kanawi reckoned Alan and Francis Pana owned and drove the oldest cars among all the HQ wokman na wokmeri in the seventies to the nineties. Jerome Siprokau’s blue Datsun 120Y would probably be the next in line. Before the turn of the century, Kanawi supposed they all ended up at the 6 Mile dump because none of the auto shops in town would have had any spare parts for them.

Speaking of corporate memory, Alan was a living achiever as NFS transitioned from the Department of Forests to the PNG Forest Authority. Between him and Keai Mirou they would eventually point to or locate the file or a document within the building if it is not anywhere in the file registry.

There are countless extraordinary acts, surprises, and experiences many would say about Alan during his working career. He was certainly an extraordinary forester and economist. For his service to PNG, he was awarded the 10th Anniversary Independence Medal, and later, Her Majesty’s OBE Medal.

Alan and Helen chose PNG as their home for their entire working life. They had served faithfully alongside many Australian and PNG colleagues in their respective profession.

During his tour of duty, Alan had seen and worked the length and breadth of PNG. He was part of a new nation, attaining nationhood in 1975. Like many of his Australian colleagues, Alan respected and accepted the localization agenda, leading towards Independence, and knowing what turbulence can do to a young independent nation.

No matter what the future then may unfold, he chose to remain and stood with his national colleague to weather whatever the storm. He adapted and accepted PNG’s Melanesian culture and mingled well with staff. With his wealth of knowledge and experiences, he became a teacher, a mentor, a living archive, and a script of perfection. He scolded but guided and provided advice to the younger generation of foresters. He was a great man, a true forester, and role model.

As his last tour of duty before retiring and leaving the shores of PNG, Alan was the National Forest Board Secretary. He officially retired from the PNG Forest Authority in 2000 and in 2002, he and Helen bid farewell to Hohola and PNG and returned to live in Brisbane, Australia.

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On the eve of their departure, they announced and pledged to establish a Forestry Education Trust Fund. The Fund would assist with some of the living expenses of PNG Foresters selected to undergo post-graduate studies in Australian Universities.

The Trust Fund was established in 2013. It will come into operation after the passing of both Alan and Helen. The Trust is being managed by Walsh Halligan Douglas Lawyers; a Brisbane based law firm. Drawdowns from the Trust Fund will be by a signed resolution of the National Forest Board approving the post graduate recipient and the financial assistance.

In his own words and Kanawi quotes, “To work and live in Papua New Guinea has been a rewarding and pleasant experience for both my wife and me. To provide a trust fund of this nature is a way of saying thank you and giving something back to this country.”

Unquote.

By their invaluable generosity, Alan and Helen will long be remembered by the future generations of foresters through the financial assistance and support by the ROSS EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP TRUST FUND, the cornerstone and testimony of their love for the profession and Papua New Guinea as their home.

Alan Eugene Hugh ROSS, the last of the PNG based Australian Forest Guards gracefully stood down from active service at the turn of the Century in 2001, and sadly passed on at 2.00am, Saturday 31 May 2014 in Brisbane.

Alan Ross and Kanawi Pouru in Brisbane, July 2013 (Having tea at his favourite Japanese Restaurant after signing the Scholarship Trust Deeds)

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NAME DATE JOINED FORESTS PNG WHAT WAS YOUR OCCUPATION

WORK LOCALITIES DEPARTURE PNG LIFE AFTER PNG

Alan Ross Early 1950’s Senior Forest Ranger to Forest Officer to Board Secretary Throughout PNG 2002 Retirement Died 2014

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

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

Etc FAO F &TB FIM FPRC FRG FRI

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

Administrators Executive Committee 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 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 Primary Industry Department of Forests For example et cetera (more of the same) Food and Agriculture Organisation Forest and Timber Bureau Canberra Forest Information System Forest Products Research Centre Hohola Forest Red Gum Forest Research Institute Lae 6

Forkol GAB Gbhob Gubab GIS ha IBRD IFA IFY ITTO JICA L of N LRRS m3 MHA MM NAA NARI NB NFCAP no.

NG NGF NGIB NGO NGVR NZ NSW NTSC OISCA P or p PIB PIR PNG PNGAA PNGAF PNGFA PNGFIA PNGRIS PNGUT POM Q QF RAE RPC RRA SFM SP UK

Bulolo Forestry College 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 Organization Japanese International Cooperation Agency League of Nations Land Resource Soils Survey (branch of CSIRO) cubic metre Member of House of Assembly PNG Military Medal National Archives Australia National Agriculture Research Institute New Britain PNG National Forestry and Conservation Action Plan Number New Guinea New Guinea Forces (relates to plant collection of Lae Herbarium) New Guinea Infantry Battalion Non-Government Organisation New Guinea Volunteer Rifles New Zealand New South Wales National Tree Seed Centre PNG Bulolo Organisation for Industrial, Spiritual and Cultural Advancement International Japan. page 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 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 United Kingdom 7

UN Unasylva UNE UNEP UNI UNITECH UNRE UPNG UQ US USA TPNG TUBL TA TA TRP Vol VSF WA WB

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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