PNGAF MAGAZINE ISSUE # 9 C of 10th Sept. 2021. PNG Forest Ownership and Forest Estate

AUSTRALIAN FORESTERS in PAPUA NEW GUINEA 1922-1975

PNGAF MAGAZINE ISSUE # 9C of 10TH Sept. 2021 PNG FOREST OWNERSHIP AND FOREST ESTATE 1

2

Editor R B McCarthy3 2021.

1

Source. PNGRIS.PNG Population 1980.

Source. PNGRIS. PNG Timber Leases 2004.

3 Dick McCarthy District Forester TPNG 1963-1975.

2

1

“FORWOOD” Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world with over 851 known languages. Most of the population of more than 8,000,000 people live in customary communities which are as diverse as the languages.

Nearly 40 % of the population lives a self-sustainable natural lifestyle with no access to global capital in strong traditional social groups based on farming.

These societies and clans are explicitly acknowledged by the Papua New Guinea Constitution, which expresses the wish for “traditional villages and communities to remain as viable units of Papua New Guinea society” and protects their continuing importance to local and national community life.

Customary land remains the dominant land tenure form. Land is owned by the people of Papua New Guinea.

The policy of Government has been of using the nation’s natural resources, of which timber is one of the few that is renewable, to bring development to the rural sector. For this to happen, the government must acquire, or purchase timber rights from the customary owners.

For this timber to be harvested, the State must first acquire timber rights from the landowners before allocating the rights to logging companies.

In general landowners were reluctant to sell large areas of land for forestry development.

However, they wished to have development of their natural resources and were willing to sell the timber resources growing on their land for periods of up to 40 years.

Be that temporary, this landowner approval allowed the government to establish a forest estate, by acquiring control over some 1.5 million hectares of forest resources.

Constitutionally guaranteed customary land ownership is the key policy domain influencing forest use. PNG citizens think of themselves as landlords and staunchly defend their territorial right to claim “compensation” from the process of resource development which takes place on their land.

Prior to 1992, the Government had to acquire, or purchase timber rights from the customary owners. This was done either through the negotiation of a Timber Rights Purchase (TRP) or a local Forest Agreement.

Timber rights were acquired through a process referred to as Timber Rights Purchase (TRP) where various land-owning clans or groups are identified, and at least 75 % of the adult clan members agree to sign the TRP agreement. This could be a protracted field exercise.

The rights under this system were exclusive only to the harvesting of the merchantable timber. It did not allow the State or the concessionaire the rights to manage the forest.

By 1975, Australian foresters had undertaken initiatives for the development of communitybased forest management interventions including a forest concession system catering for all parties i.e., landowners, government agencies and forest industry investors.

2

Papua New Guinea is a country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia (a region of the south-western Pacific Ocean north of Australia). Its capital is Port Moresby. It is the world’s third largest island country with an area of 462,840 km² (178,700 square miles).

4

Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. As of 2019, it is also the most rural, as only 13.25% of its people live in urban centres. There are 851 known languages in the country of which 11 now have no known speakers. Most of the population of more than 8,000,000 people live in customary communities which are as diverse as the languages.

5

4 5

P Ryan Editor Encyclopaedia of Papua and New Guinea Melbourne University Press ISBN 0522840256 Source. PNGRIS. PNG Population 1980.

3

6

The sovereign state is classified as a developing economy by the International Monetary Fund. Nearly 40 % of the population lives a self-sustainable natural lifestyle with no access to global capital. Most of the people live in strong traditional social groups based on farming.

Their social lives combine traditional religion with modern practices, including primary education. These societies and clans are explicitly acknowledged by the Papua New Guinea Constitution, which expresses the wish for “traditional villages and communities to remain as viable units of Papua New Guinea society” and protects their continuing importance to local and national community life.

7

Constitutionally guaranteed customary land ownership is the key policy domain influencing forest use. PNG citizens think of themselves as landlords and staunchly defend their territorial right to claim “compensation” from the process of resource development which takes place on their land.

Customary land remains the dominant land tenure form. Customary land is land which is owned by indigenous communities and administered in accordance with their customs, as opposed to statutory tenure usually introduced in the colonial periods. Land ownership in PNG is vested with customary owners who comprise a large share of the rural population. 97 % of the PNG land mass is under customary land ownership. There are distinct customary systems of tenure.

Land is owned by the people of Papua New Guinea. There are strict rules which protect the customary owners of the land. They cannot sell their land to anyone.

6

Source. PNGRIS. Map showing location of census units.

Filer C with Sekhran N 1998. Loggers, donors, and resource owners. Policy that Works for Forests and People.

Series No. 2. Papua New Guinea. National Research Institute, Port Moresby, and International Institute for Environmental and Development London UK. 7

4

Nearly all forest in PNG grows on customary land. Traditional land ownership in PNG is vested with customary owners who are mainly rural based.

The policy of Government has been of using the nation’s natural resources, of which timber is one of the few that is renewable, to bring development to the rural sector. For this to happen, the Government must acquire, or purchase timber rights from the customary owners.

For this timber to be harvested, the state must first acquire timber rights from the landowners before allocating the rights to logging companies.

Timber rights area Bulolo opposite Crystal Creek on east side of Bulolo River. Yam garden on area timber rights held where large klinkii trees had been felled.

Photo credit Linda Cavanaugh Manning.

In general landowners were reluctant to sell large areas of land for forestry development.

However, they wished to have development of their natural resources and were willing to sell the timber resources growing on their land for periods of up to 40 years.

Highlands Region. Mildyip Creek Timber Rights Purchase. Messrs MacInnes and Emanuel with customary landowners. The kiaps oversaw the Timber Rights Purchase.

Photo credit Linda Cavanaugh Manning.

Jack Emanuel was Deputy District Commissioner in the Highlands before being posted to East New Britain.

5

Errol John "Jack" Emanuel1 GC 1918-1971.

Errol John “Jack” Emanuel GC was born on 13th December 1918 in Enfield, New South Wales, Australia. He was the son of Robert Percival and Elsie Emanuel (nee Adams). He went to school in Sydney, and later, worked as, first, a police officer, and, later, as a fireman. However, after the Second World War, he went to Papua New Guinea, off northern Australia, as a patrol officer. He married Alma May Bown in 1944 and had three children.

She died in 1965 and he married again to Ellen.

In July 1969, he was given special duties as District Commissioner for the East New Britain area. There were some hostile indigenous groups there, but Emanuel insisted on travelling alone to meet them, often at night, in order to build up a trust. For two years, he encouraged some 70,000 Tolai people to discuss their problems in a peaceful manner. However, he was often the target of death threats. On several occasions, he met with public confrontations and scenes of imminent violence between police and protestors. He often placed himself at risk to try and pacify the dissidents and his courage often averted bloodshed.

On 19th August 1971, at a plantation on the Gazelle Peninsula, Emanuel again took on the role of peacemaker in the presence of hostile locals. Some of the Tolai had donned warpaint to show their hostility. At the invitation of some of the dissidents and in particular a man called William Taupa, Emanuel left the protection of the police. Taupa then led Emanuel towards a path into the bush and they left the sight of the police. Twenty minutes later when Emanuel had not emerged, Senior Superintendent Greville Feeney sent two police officers down the bush path to look for him. Tragically, they found Emanuel’s body, stabbed to death with two rusty Japanese bayonets nearby. There was no sign of Taupa.

Taupa was arrested the following day at 7.30am attempting to board a flight to Port Moresby. Taupa was one of 13 men who were tried for Emanuel’s murder. The trial occurred between February and June 1972 in Rabaul, where incidentally, Emanuel was laid to rest in the European Cemetery. Just two days before the opening of the trial, Emanuel’s posthumous GC was announced. The result of the trial saw 8 men acquitted, three conspirators were given shorter sentences, while the two main defendants, Taupa and Anton Tovaliria (whom Taupa claimed was the murderer) were sentenced to 14 and 11 years respectively. The George Cross was posted to his widow on 29th March 1972 from Government House, Canberra. A planned presentation of the medal in Port Moresby was cancelled due to the delicate political situation there. Emanuel’s George Cross was sold in 1977 for £3,000 and is held in the National Museum in Port Moresby.

Location of Medal: National Museum, Port Moresby, PNG.

6

Burial Place: Rabaul European Cemetery, Rabaul, PNG.

1975 photo of Jack Emanuel’ grave. Presumably the old cemetery was impacted by the 1994 volcanic eruption.

Photo credit Ken Granger.

Ken Granger8 advised that he met Jack briefly in 1970 when he was doing the work on the population pressures/alienated land issues on the Gazelle in 1970. Ken was shocked and greatly saddened by his murder in 1971. Of all the kiaps Jack was highly regarded by the Tolai as he spoke Kuanua fluently and his wife was also well regarded.

8

Personal communication Ken Granger 6th September 2021.

7

Be that temporary, this landowner approval allowed the government to establish a Forest Estate, by acquiring control over some 1.5 million hectares.

An indication of the ownership pattern of forest areas for the establishment of a Forest Estate as at 30th of June 19699.

Territorial Forests 30,979 ha Timber Reserves 13,096 ha Land acquired for forestry purposes 36,954 ha Other land 100,240 ha Timber Rights Purchases 1,544,239 ha Total 1,725,508 ha Legend.

Territorial Forests refer to government land set aside to be managed as part of the permanent Forest Estate.

Timber Reserves are areas of land in Papua that were set aside for forestry purposes under a previous Papuan Ordinance.

Land acquired for forestry purposes are areas of government land set aside for forestry purposes, but which has not yet been declared part of the Territorial Forest.

Other land. This refers to areas of government land over which timber concession have been issued to loggers, generally to permit them to clear the land ahead of agricultural development. E.g., North Coast Oil Palm Development New Britain.

Timber rights purchase. These are areas over which the right to harvest timber has been acquired.

10

Alienated land refers to land acquired from customary tenure which was purchased for the development of coastal plantations under European management during the early colonial period (especially in what was then German New Guinea) or leased by the early colonial 9

P64 New Horizons Dept of Forests 1973 Jacaranda Press. ISBN 0701681845 P 65 Figure New Horizons Dept of Forests 1973 Jacaranda Press. ISBN 0701681845

10

8

administration for the development of towns, outstations, and economic infrastructure or for resource development.

Following the first World War, the Australian administration of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea took a conservative approach to the question of land tenure, largely preventing any further alienation of customary land except through the acquisition and subsequent transfer of government leasehold for specific uses. The temporary acquisition of mining leases and timber harvesting rights was part of this general pattern.

Prior to 1992, the government had to acquire, or purchase timber rights from the customary owners. This was done either through the negotiation of a Timber Rights Purchase (TRP) or a local Forest Agreement.

Timber rights were acquired through a process referred to as Timber Rights Purchase (TRP) where various land-owning clans or groups are identified, and at least 75 % of the adult clan members agree to sign the TRP agreement. This could be a protracted field exercise.

The rights under this system were exclusive only to the harvesting of the merchantable timber. It did not allow the State or the concessionaire the rights to manage the forest.

Under the Forestry Ordinances (section 9 (1)), the government in purchasing timber rights also acquired the right to allow its permittees or licensees, to construct roads, bridges, and other infrastructure within the boundary of the Timber Rights Purchase area. Land rights were required specifically for the building of timber processing plants, accommodation etc.

It did however permit access to road building materials and contained provisions for recognition and protection of traditional sites and areas of customary and environmental importance.

Much legal descriptive work was undertaken by the mapping section to describe Timber Rights Purchase Agreements. To establish a Forest Estate, be that temporary, the Government was allowed by the landowners to acquire control over some 1.5 million hectares.

Bob McKeowen 11 reported the work of the Mapping Branch in describing the Timber Rights purchase documents. The purchase documents had extremely basic maps with “meets and bounds”, descriptions of the subject land. There were no surveys, roads, fences, or property boundaries so they had to use natural features.

Blue Ramsay as Timber Rights Purchase Officer would drop whatever map to Bob with the area outlined. Bob would then write a description for him. They were a good team!

By 1975, Australian foresters had undertaken initiatives for the development of communitybased forest management interventions including a forest concession system catering for all parties i.e., landowners, government agencies and forest industry investors.

In relation to a sustained yield concept, the felling cycle for such Timber Rights Purchase Areas was based on a 35-year rotation selection logging model.

11

Personal communication Bob McKeowen 28th January 2021. TPNG Forests 1967-1976.

9

PNG Forested Area as at 197212 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.

12

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

10

In 1972, the Department of Forests publication New Horizons13, detailed an appreciation of the work performed and of the assessed resource by major forest types.

Forest System

Specified Timber area

Area in thousands of hectares

Western Papuan Papua Sth Coast

Not available Abau Aroa Sagarai Gadaisu Musa Kumusi Ioma Mai’ama Open Bay Ania Kapiura Kandrian Arowe Kapaluk Melkoi Nakanai Kaut Torakina Vanimo Middle Ramu Giluwe Jimi

South East Coastal

Bismarck

Solomons Sepik Ramu Highlands

TOTAL * Girth above buttress

3000 (est) 90 45 48

Volume in thousands of cubic metres (M3) 0.5 – 1.5 metres GAB* Not available 3540 1179 4250

Volume in thousands of cubic metres (M3) 1.5 metres + GAB* Not available 4365 1179 3303

80 28 182 24 104 110 121 157 103 27 n/a 10 13 239 131 n/a n/a 1,512

4719 2360 11780 2830 4480 7080 7790 8260 6135 2360 2360 470 945 8495 5665 Not available Not available 81,600

2478 2360 10380 2950 7080 5660 8260 8730 6135 1650 4955 470 1160 10620 5665 1840 5190 83,000

Forest Systems of Territory of Papua and New Guinea.

Source. Dept of Forests PNG 1970.

13

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

11

The Dept of Forests reported that the forest resources were extensive and varied in composition. Some 200 species have economic potential but only some 30 species account for the bulk of merchantable timber.

14

PNG Forest Types.

Source.

PNGRIS.

By 1972, approximatley one third or 4.4 million hectares had been classed as having economic potential and assessed to a level where development planning was possible.

The forests are divided into seven fairly homogeneous systems.

PNG Potential Forest Areas. Source 1970 Dept of Forests.

By 1975 some 4,800,000 ha had been covered. By the late 1980’s, over 7,400,000 hectares had been covered.

Following the 1991 National Forest Policy, legislation was enacted in 1992 when a new Forestry Act came into force. Now, the system for acquiring timber rights was through the

14

Source. PNGRIS.

12

negotiation of Forest Management Agreements (FMA) between the PNG Forest Authority and customary owners.

The process is facilitated through a process of incorporation of all the various land-owning groups. It is a form of land registration under the Land Group Incorporation Act. A Forest Management Agreement (FMA) is then entered into between the registered land groups and the PNGFA. The rights acquired under this system empower the State or a concessionaire to harvest and manage the forest on a sustainable basis15.

PNG Industrial Forest Development After McAdam established the forest service in 1938, several Europeans and Christian missions had commenced sawmilling operations to service the domestic market. Some plantation owners were exporting logs and processed timber to the American veneer market.

After World War 2, there was a significant expansion of sawmilling operations to meet the domestic demand for reconstruction materials.

The Bulolo Plymill utilising hoop and klinkii pine stands was established in 1954. Timber became the second most important export commodity after copra.

However, the pace of development of the forestry export industry was thought to be unsatisfactory. Encouraged by the World Bank, a shift occurred in policy emphasis towards the harvesting of natural forests for pulp and paper manufacture. This strategy culminated in the establishment of a wood chipping and plantation project in Madang by JANT Pty Ltd. Forest resources were drawn from the Gogol Timber Area.

After Independence in 1975, the number of logging concession increased and by 1985, logging operations existed in most lowland provinces.

16

PNG Forest Concessions as of 2004.

15

Personal communication Jim Belford 23rd April 2020.TPNG Forests 1968-1981 and Executive Officer PNGFIA 1981-1997. While elements exist for improvement of forest management within the FMA mechanism, little has been done in practical terms. Procedurally a Forest Management Plan should have preceded the Forest Management Agreement and been incorporated as a working requirement of the Project Agreement/Timber Permit. There would then be a benchmark on which to gauge operational performance, which is currently missing in the system, there being no defined “forest management” definition within the Forest Management Agreement.

16

Source. PNGRIS. PNG forest concession as of 2004.

13

Filer17 reported that very little commercial logging ocurred prior to Independence in1975, but by 1994, raw log exports reached a peak of nearly 3 million m³ with a value of about US$410 million, representing just over 18 % of domestic export values, from which the national government collected about US$111 million in log export taxes. There were up to 7,000 people directly employed in PNG’s industrial forestry sector. About 50 % of log exports were under the control of a single Malaysian company, Rimbunan Hijau and another 30-35% under the control of other Malaysian companies.

Sawing Kwila. Wewak Sawmill.

Photo credit Dick McCarthy 1995.

17

Filer C with Sekhran N 1998. Loggers, donors, and resource owners. Policy that Works for Forests and People.

Series No. 2. Papua New Guinea. National Research Institute, Port Moresby, and International Institute for Environmental and development London UK.

14

An Example of a Timber Rights Purchase: Chris Borough18 A few months of Chris’s life as a Forest Officer in TPNG This was but a small part of Chris’s experience as a Forest Officer in TPNG – an experience that made a lifetime impression on him.

It was September 1967 and Chris’s first Timber Rights Purchase – Collectively known as East New Britain TRP from memory. Jim Cavanaugh from HQ at Konedobu knew of Chris’s assessment experience in New Britain and gave him the task of organising a Timber Rights Purchase (TRP) covering an area from Wide Bay to Open Bay. It was a rapid learning process. The purchase of the Right to harvest timber was being used as a method of securing timber resources without the need to purchase land – land purchase was a concept that was totally rejected by the traditional owners across the nation. It was around this time that the Mandated Territory of New Guinea was under increasing scrutiny by the United Nations and activities that had once been taken for granted no longer applied. One of the constraints was that money could not be withheld to be paid over a longer period of time. Also, every person who was identified as an owner would need to be identified and their consent agreed. In addition, the money paid for the Purchase would have to be distributed in accordance with the area owned. For a Timber Rights Purchase this meant that Chris would be responsible for handing out a considerable amount of money and would need an accurate assessment of area by clan.

The project required a range of skills – few of which were part of Chris’s forestry training! A helicopter was hired from Helicopter Utilities with Bill Wallace as pilot and Brian Turner as engineer. Other staff on the project included Gary Flegg (draftsman) and Dave Num (Forest Officer) and local staff Technical Officers/Technical Assistants. The project would require legal assistance in the field and Patrol Officer (Kiap) Bob Willis was appointed. In addition, they needed a typist as the legal documentation required very accurate typing with NO mistakes as well as a lot of skill in translating names. As Chris recalled, the trickiest name to be translated from tok ples was a clan leader that he translated into English as Manas Lariangsenggerriu.

Step 1 was to identify the various clan boundaries. The helicopter had equipment (this is prior to GPS) that allowed the flight path to be downloaded and used by the draftsman to define clan boundaries. Initially this involved a Forest Officer flying with one of the clan leaders and then the other and noting on the air-photo the path taken. Where there are many clans and a huge area to cover, this can be very boring. None of the clan leaders had ever been in a helicopter before but, without fail, each clan leader would follow the same path. As a result, it was decided that the helicopter pilot would take up both relevant clan leaders and the whole process was simplified. Relatively few clan boundaries were established on the ground.

Step 2 was for the clan boundaries to be transferred onto the map that had been prepared at the time of the forest assessment. Using a dot grid, the area of each landholding was calculated. The assessment data collected in late 1966 were used as the basis for distributing the funds rather than specific estimates of forest volume by species for each clan area.

Step 3 was to ascertain the names of every person within each clan – regardless of age or gender. This was essential as all traditional owners had a right to vote and ultimately sign the legal documentation. The task was given to Bob Willis (Patrol Officer) and Chris. The 18

Chris Borough article from a few months of my life as a Forest Officer in TPNG” 27/4/20.

15

ability to speak PNG Pidgin fluently was essential. For days on end Bob and Chris had to listen intently to the views of everyone involved. By some magic, a complete list was created for each clan and legal documents prepared. Initially the list of landholders was flown to Keravat to be typed up by Chris’s wife Robyn.

An appeal to Jim Cavanagh at Konedobu for a resident typist to join the team in the camp was accepted and June Dowler from the typing pool at Konedobu volunteered for the task.

Armed with her trusty typewriter she flew to Cape Hoskins where the chopper picked her up to her new “home” at Ulamona – at the foot of The Father volcano. June was the subject of much interest at Ulamona – a Catholic Mission that was operated by Priests and Nuns. June was accommodated with the nuns for her protection from the rest of the team in tents nearby.

June quickly adapted to the new typing environment and soon her typewriter became completely covered with SP beer labels.

The Money As Chris recalled, Head Office in Konedobu set the value of the entire resource under consideration as $180,000 for the right to harvest the timber resource for the following 30 years. The task of calculating each owners’ entitlement was laboriously undertaken with a hand-held FACIT calculator; this was in the days before electronic calculators.

Landowner touches the pen as Bob Willis places As it was TAMBU to withhold any an “x” on the document that has her “x” mark. money it was essential to have the DIES September 1967. capacity to pay each individual in cash.

It was, however, also considered undesirable for landowners to spend their money on items such as speedboats, outboard motors or sewing machines. Chris was required to become an agent for the Commonwealth Bank and was duly issued with passbooks by the Rabaul Branch of the bank and told to use his negotiating skills to encourage landowners to save their payout.

How did we get the funds there?

The logistics of getting $180,000 in cash to Matanakunai as well as the need for a lot of change was mind bending. The Manager of the Commonwealth Bank was most reluctant to release such a large amount but agreed with some trepidation. The paper money was not too much of an issue as it could be carried by Bob Willis and Chris on the next helicopter trip.

The $20,000 in coin was more of an issue. Can you imagine several patrol boxes full of 10 and 20 cent coins being loaded onto the panniers of the chopper? This was the only practical option of getting the all-important cash to Matanakunai. The pilot was last seen struggling to achieve take-off along the long Rabaul airstrip. Hoping the chopper would not crash or the pilot head for South America, Bob and Chris were relieved when the chopper returned a few hours later to take them and the paper money back to camp.

16

Chris Borough witnessing signature of Traditional owners with Bob Willis Open Bay TRP Matanakunai Sept/Oct 1967.

Photo credit Chris Borough.

Mambumutka Simbali receiving the TRP money from Bob Willis – Dengnagi Purchase Wide Bay. Photo credit Chris Borough.

What happened to the money?

Only a relatively small amount was voluntarily deposited in the Commonwealth Bank. The great majority wanted what Chris and Bob had, and, in only a short time, it was noticed that a number of speedboats were pulled up at the village and Meris (Pidgin for women is Meri) were busy making clothes. They were witnessing a spending spree that was likely to be a “one-off” and who could blame them?

Cargo Cult Part of the area covered a very remote area in the Baining Mountains. Chris had heard of the cargo cult where villages believed that the goods that the white man had would one day become the property of the villagers. You can imagine Chris and Bob’s surprise when they approached one particular village that had a very strange looking garden – quite close to the village itself. The garden was circular shaped with various areas of neatly organised crops.

17

What a great chopper pad! It was only when they explained to the villages that they had come to give them lots of money for the right to harvest timber that it was revealed that each section in the garden was established to provide food for the chopper. Lo and behold Chris and Bob had confirmed the existence of cargo cult beliefs. But they also had achieved their goal of having the TRP documents signed.

Food garden in Bainings designed to “attract” helicopter. Photo credit Chris Borough.

Protecting the Owner’s Rights Chris was impressed by the local owners’ use of the forest for food and building materials. In pidgin Chris was able to advise local landholders that areas of land could be excluded from the rights and conserved on the grounds of cultural significance, food and building materials.

Chris was able to identify areas and have them excluded from the purchase documents.

Chris Borough operating VL8PN radio to Rabaul Sept/Oct 1967.

Photo credit Chris Borough.

19

In New Britain, patrol officers involved in surveying potential Timber Rights areas and ownership were told that the acquisitions would not be approved unless the subsequently cleared areas had viable plans for future economic development. In other words, the cleared land would be used for economic activities such as cocoa, coffee, copra, or cattle. Obviously, later this also became oil palm.

19

Personal communication 15th April 2021 Ross Wilkinson ex kiap 1968-1981.

18

Ken Granger20 in his Rolling Recollections of Timber Rights Purchases during PNG Times.

After finishing the Derimbat report, Ken went with his full team to Talasea on the Waimana to start a survey of the Bagum area at the base of the western side of the Willaumez Peninsula. That trip took five days because the Waimana stopped at just about every mission and plantation along the way. The Bagum area adjoined the area known as Kulu-Dagi that had been surveyed by Neil Brightwell and Keith Pearson a year or so before. To assist with the carrying of their gear they hired six local villagers as carriers and guides.

It was an easy job because the terrain was relatively flat coastal plain. The main problem was that some of the streams were coming from solfatara fields and were almost too hot to walk through. They were also heavily contaminated with sulphur. This survey was memorable for two reasons: first, their oldest Waria labourer Yaki, who was regarded as a masalai man (a man with a connection to the spirit world), received a spirit message that his uncle had died back in the village. That set off the labour line in mourning (a telegram that Ken received four days later confirmed that Yaki’s uncle had indeed died back in Bulolo on that day); the second was that Ken contracted dysentery.

Ken was able to control the dysentery for the most part when they moved on to Ruango village (adjoining San Remo plantation where the town of Kimbe was later to be established) which they used as a base to survey the boundary for the Kulu-Dagi Timber Rights Purchase and start the collection of genealogies for the purchase documents. They used the government work boat the MV Toa to transfer people such as patrol officers Bob Willis and Hans Wetzler between Talasea and San Remo and to bring Jim Cavanaugh who had come over from Port Moresby for the purchase from Cape Hoskins. Ken had time to absorb some of Jim’s many stories about pre-war forestry and his role during the war. He also encouraged Ken to develop his skills in photo interpretation.

The Toa at San Remo, May 1964.

The timber rights purchase of the Kulu-Dagi brought £23,160 into the local economy in one go. Not surprisingly the Catholic Bishop from Rabaul arrived a day or so ahead of the pay out 20

Page 15/16 PNGAF Magazine Issue # 9B-5B4G1 of 20th July 2021 Eminent TPNG Forester Ken Granger’ Story.

19

to conduct confirmations. He also brought several aluminium dinghies as cargo on the mission ship Louis Coupe that were quickly snapped up by the recently wealthy locals.

At the end of that job, Ken flew back to Rabaul via Lae after 42 days in the field and was only back in Keravat a day when he became very sick and was driven by Les Austin into Rabaul to see Dr Treblecock, the local GP. He diagnosed severe appendicitis and Ken was off to Namanula Hospital to have “a very hot appendix” removed. That was a close shave – a couple of more days in the field may have been fatal.

With the main resource assessment survey program starting to wind up the next stage of developing the forest resource was to purchase the timber rights from the local people. Ken had some experience of this process in New Britain.

Ken was poached by Jim Cavanagh to shift from the Silviculture Division back to the Management Division as Management Clerk with a focus on the process of formally gazetting the timber rights purchases that were starting to get under way.

This process involved preparing the legal description of the boundaries of the purchase area.

Given that the boundaries of most of the larger purchase areas were not surveyed, the description typically involved terms such as “from the mouth of the Toriu River at the coast upstream for approximately 15 miles to its headwaters then following the crest of the ridge that runs to the east for approximately 10 miles to the headwaters of the Bookoo River …” and so on. The whole lot was without punctuation and had to be vetted by the Lands Department before it could be formally gazetted.

Timber rights purchases were for a specified period (from memory 40 years), and they gave the Government the right to lease the resource to commercial operators. The land remained in the ownership of the local people, and they could still use the land for other uses including gardening and hunting. This was explained in terms such as “Gavman I no baim graun, I baim diwai tasol”.

This form of tenure was consistent with the traditional form of land tenure which, in most of PNG, were simple rights of use (usufructary rights) rather than ownership in the western sense. A villager might be given the right to garden an area while another villager would be given the right to harvest galip nuts from trees on that land and another villager could be given the rights to hunt pigs on the same land. This approach was consistent with the Australian Government (and United Nations) requirement to limit the alienation of land to that which was essential for development purposes such as resettlement schemes, ports, townships, or airfield sites. At the time of independence less than 4% of the PNG area had been alienated and most of that was in the Gazelle Peninsula. Those alienations mostly dated from German times in the 1880s and 1890s.

20

Nothofagus Logs. Goroka area Hicks Logging. Photo credit Linda Cavanaugh Manning.

21

In the Southern Highlands most use from Timber Rights was for local construction in towns such as Tari as they grew, otherwise losses occurred from village clearing for garden areas. Observations from patrolling officers made recommendations to reforest these cleared areas and were referred on to Forestry officers.

22

Tom Cole worked as an expert stockman on properties throughout northern Australia, as a repairman of the Overland Telegraph Line, hunted crocodiles and buffalo, was a horsebreaker, brumby runner and drover, owned and managed cattle stations and a coffee plantation in Papua New Guinea before retiring at seventy-two years old. Born in England in 1906, Cole became a real-life Crocodile Dundee, renowned for an adventurous spirit that first brought him to Australia at the age of seventeen.

Awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1994 for his contribution to history, his experiences inspired his collection of short stories Spears and Smoke Signals and his memoirs Hell West and Crooked and, its sequel, The Last Paradise. The Last Paradise is the sequel to Tom Cole's bestselling autobiography Hell West and Crooked. It recounts his story of thirty years in New Guinea amongst "crocodiles, cannibals and coffee". Operating as the first professional crocodile shooter in New Guinea, Tom Cole risked life and limb hunting from frail canoes in wild and sometimes unexplored country, working with everyone from cannibals to missionaries to government officials, and the larger-than-life characters still drifting around the Pacific after the war.

Pages 198 and 199 describe a timber rights purchase in the Highlands with Jim Cavanaugh23.

21

Personal communication 15th April 2021 Ross Wilkinson ex kiap 1968-1981.

The Last Paradise. Author Tom Cole. Publisher Harper Collins Australia 1996 ISBN 9780207190391 23 Jim Cavanaugh TPNG Forests 1938-1972.

22

21

22

23

References Anon, 1975. Forestry Legislation in Papua New Guinea: Project findings and recommendations. UNDP & FAO, Rome. FO: DP/PNG/74/051 Terminal Report. v+95 p.

Carson, G.L., 1974. Forestry and forest policy in Papua New Guinea. Commonwealth Fund for Technical Aid. 20 p.

Dept. of Forests 1970 Forest Systems of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea.

Filer C with Sekhran N 1998. Loggers, donors, and resource owners. Policy that Works for Forests and People. Series No. 2. Papua New Guinea. National Research Institute, Port Moresby, and International Institute for Environmental and Development London UK. Foote Sir Hugh 1962 UN Visiting Mission to New Guinea Report to Trusteeship Council May-June 1962.

Jephcott, B., 1974. Forest Policy in Papua New Guinea Minister for Natural Resources, Papua New Guinea. 8 p.

McAdam J 1952 “Forestry in New Guinea” Address to Papua and New Guinea Scientific Society Annual Report.

New Horizons Dept of Forests 1973 Jacaranda Press. ISBN 0701681845.

PNGRIS. Papua New Guinea Resource Information System.

Ryan P Editor 1972. Encyclopaedia of Papua and New Guinea Melbourne University Press.

ISBN 0522840256.

Suttie, W.R., 1962. Forestry in Papua and New Guinea: A transition period 19511961. Presidential address to Papua and New Guinea Scientific Society, March 1962. 10 p.

Tok Pisin English Bilingual Dictionary and Encyclopedia of Papua New Guinea.

United Nations 1962 UN Visiting Mission to New Guinea Report to Trusteeship Council May-June 1962 -Sir Hugh Foot.

White, K.J., 1972. Forest Resources of Papua New Guinea. Commonwealth Forestry Review 51:58-61.

White, K.J., 1975. Constraints on the development of forest industries in PNG. University of Papua New Guinea. 14 p.

Wikipedia Outline of Papua New Guinea.

Womersley, J.S. & J.B. McAdam, 1957. The forests and forest conditions in the Territories of Papua and New Guinea. British Commonwealth Forestry Conference. 62 p.

World Bank 1965 Report # 11153 The Economic Development of Papua and New Guinea.

24

ACRONYMS AAD 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 DIES DPI DOF e.g.

Etc FAO F &TB FIM FMA

Australian Antarctic Division 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 Information and Extension Services.

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 Management Agreement 25

FPRC FRG FRI Forkol 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 PNGAF PNGFA PNGFIA PNGRIS PNGUT

Forest Products Research Centre Hohola Forest Red Gum Forest Research Institute Lae 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 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 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 26

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

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

27