Eucalypts in Papua New Guinea - P.B.L. Srivastava

Papua New Guinea (PNG) Forest Research Institute, Lae

ABSTRACT

As much of the country is tree covered (>77%), reforestation is minor; logged over forest area accumulates at least at 100,000 ha/yr. The National Forest Policy includes a programme of afforestation of non-forested and severely deforested land and woodlot establishment in wood short areas. Companies and land owner groups are encouraged to participate in reforestation. Major future expansion would focus on customary held land. E. deglupta is the only endemic eucalypt in plantation activity; exotics E. grandis and E. robusta are used in highland planting. Impact of eucalypt plantations is not large; a wood chip unit now derives 30% of its needs from plantations and plans to move to a higher proportion, reducing impact on natural forest; highland plantings have reduced the drain on natural forest remnants; grassland plantations have improved soil quality; grass understory are suitable for cattle grazing. Intercrops have been grown. Plantation development assists in permanent road formation and access to villages. There is a loss of biodiversity, however afforestation in grasslands plantations improves the environment. No strong criticism of plantations in general or of eucalypts in particular is noted.

Key words: Eucalyptus deglupta, Papua New Guinea, plantations, customary land, private/community forest investment, wood chips.

INTRODUCTION

Forest resources of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea (PNG) with a land surface area of 467,500 km² (46.75 million ha) and with a population of just over 3.8 million (average density of 6-7 persons per square kilometre) is situated between the equator and 12°S and longitudes 141° to 156°E. For majority of the rural population (over 90%), the forests even today provide most of their basic needs and are an integral part of their social and cultural heritage.

Presently Papua New Guinea is among the few tropical countries in the world with major land area (over 77%) still covered with tree vegetation. There is, however, a controversy about the productive forest resources. The oft quoted figure of 15 million ha of accessible forests with 400-500 million m³ timber is being seriously questioned. It is now believed that there are about 6-8 million ha of productive forests with about 150-200 million m³ of commercial timber. These figures are to be further tested through two projects, an ongoing Rapid Resource Survey followed by a detailed survey of the forest resources of the country. There is also a controversy about the logged area. According to Bun (1992), only 850,000 ha have so far been logged since commercial logging started about 3 decades back. Others estimate this figure to be about 2.0 million ha (Srivastava 1991). The timber industry is export-oriented with a small local market. The export figures of the last 5 years are shown in Figure 1.

In view of the reduced productive area, and logged over forest area being accumulated at the rate of at least 100,000 ha annually, reforestation and afforestation achieve greater significance, specially when no technique has so far been developed to manage the logged over forests on sustained yield basis.

Figure 1. Export of forest products (1,000 m³ and million kina)

POLICY GUIDELINES ON PLANTATIONS

The new National Forest Policy passed by the Parliament in 1990 has the following statements in relation to reforestation (Anon, 1991a).

• Reforestation will be promoted as a means to maintain a permanent forest estate to supply existing and new forest industries. Programmes for plantation development will be guided by economic criteria and feasibility studies to assess commercial potential of processing plantation material for a variety of end uses.

• A programme of afforestation of non-forested and severely deforested land shall be pursued.

• Woodlot establishment, agroforestry and tree planting, including planting programmes contracted to youth groups in both rural areas and urban centres, will be promoted and supported by active forestry extension, with emphasis on those areas of the country where there is a shortage of wood and wood products for domestic consumption.

The following strategies are planned to implement the policy statements:

• Encourage reforestation by timber companies (as part of timber projects) or as commercial enterprises in their own right. Plantation decisions to be guided by options for profitable processing within the country.

• Promote plantation establishment by landowner groups.

• The PNG Forest Authority to take primary responsibility for supervising long term investment in reforestation and undertake reforestation programmes where social and environmental factors are a prime consideration, engage youth groups and set up mechanisms to facilitate reforestation by timber companies.

• Initiate studies to look into the commercial feasibility of wood chipping, wood pulp, sawn timber and veneer production based on plantations.

• Give priority to managing existing plantations for sustainable output.

• The National Forest Service to set up a forestry extension capacity.

The TFAP mission report (Anon, 1990), in its review of plantation activity observed (with particular reference to New Britain island) the exceptional potential for growing forest tree species in PNG. It also listed a number of problems with plantation programmes besides land tenure, e.g. a) high plantation cost, K1,000/ha as a realistic bench mark; b) shortage of expertise at project management and technical levels; c) fire risks; and d) insufficient research into plantation forestry.

Against this background, a two day Workshop on Reforestation - Strategies and Programme - held on 22-23 October 1991, made the following observations (Anon, 1991b).

• All the older plantation projects are on the State land. The JANT (Japan New Guinea Timber Pty Ltd) project (Madang Province) was the first major reforestation project where leasing customary land for reforestation was pioneered. Although there are still some large tracts of State land potentially available for reforestation, future major expansion clearly would need to focus on customary land.

• Most reforestation projects commenced as experimental projects without establishing clear criteria as to their commercial viability.

• Reforestation in PNG is yet to be proven an economical proposition on purely commercial grounds.

• A reforestation levy, first introduced in 1988, is now being imposed on a number of permit holders for the purpose of funding reforestation.

• PNG has not capitalized on advances in plantation technology elsewhere. (Tree improvement in Brazil with eucalypts has doubled production from 30 to 60 m³/ha/yr).

• There are currently a number of plantations which have reached or are reaching maturity. By and large and with some exceptions, utilization has failed to realize the value of these plantations.

The Workshop came up with the following recommendations:

A. As a guiding principle, it is necessary at the outset of any reforestation project to determine the principal purpose and to maintain awareness of this purpose throughout.

B. Only three principal objectives were identified to justify reforestation.

1. Land rehabilitation: Reforestation to rehabilitate degraded sites.

2. Land protection: Reforestation to protect land against soil and wind erosion and to protect water supplies.

3. Economic: Reforestation as a viable commercial enterprise and form of land use.

As strategies, the Workshop recommended:

C. Management of the country’s natural forest resources should be the mainstay of forestry in the decades to come.

D. Plantation strategies should be complementary to this scenario:

• By providing for timber resources in those parts of country where there is not enough to satisfy local demand for domestic and/or industrial uses; and

• By promoting private investment in export oriented industrial plantations, provided that a competitive position to sell on world markets can be demonstrated.

It may be noted that there are no specific policy statements and strategies in the Forest Policy or by the Reforestation Workshop with regard to Eucalyptus plantations.

NATIVE EUCALYPTUS SPECIES

Before discussing the present situation and socio-economic aspects of Eucalyptus plantations in PNG, it would be necessary to briefly describe native Eucalyptus species which are components of various forest types. Carr (1972) reported the following Eucalyptus species from PNG.

Figure 2. Distribution of Eucalyptus in PNG

Source: Carr, 1972; * Mr. N. Howcroft: personal communication.

The best known species is E. deglupta or ‘kamarere’, a typical humid tropic species which does not occur in Australia. Heather (1955) has described kamarere forests in the island of New Britain of PNG - “It occurs as a very fine riverine type thriving best in pure stands on the alluvium in a valley which is flat enough to be subject to annual flooding in the height of the rainy season”. Pure stands also occur on almost unweathered pumice slopes of active volcano, Mt. Ulawan. Kamarere also occurs occasionally in rear dune sago swamps. Isolated specimen of kamarere have also been recorded on 450 m pumice ridges of Northern Gazelle Peninsula. The annual rainfall varies between 2,500-5,000 mm with almost uniform temperature around 30°C and high humidity (70-90%). The soils on riverine flats are of recent origin varying in colour, composition and depth with a distinct A₀ humic layer. The gravel pumice soils are loose gravel or pumice derived from slopes vesicular olivine basalt on Mt. Ulawan. These soils, although unweathered, are quickly colonized by kamarere. The ash-pumice soils in Northern Gazelle Peninsula have a heavy overlayer, hundreds of metres thick of recent volcanic ash with bands of pumice (Carr, 1972).

Kamarere prefers well drained soils. In swampy areas, their form is poor. It is highly susceptible to fires. In New Britain, kamarere forests occur as pure stand on extensive areas as first colonisers which have a mixture of Pometia pinnata, Dracontomelum mangiferum, Homalium sp. Celtis sp. and Pterocarpus indicus during the succession to a natural rain forest. Kamarere also forms associations with sago palm, secondary rain forest species, with Casuarina, and with ‘erima’ (Octomeles sumatrana).

In the western area, E. confertiflora, E. papuana, E. tereticornis and E. polycarpa have been recorded. Only E. polycarpa has been recorded for Daru Island. Eucalyptus are very poorly represented in the Morehead-Kiunga part of the area. They occur with monsoon forest species in the plant communities called “Low Mixed Savanna”. The country is of low relief and reaches its maximum elevation at 90m. The habitat is inundated or water-logged during the wet season and burnt during the dry. The soils are derived from Pleistocene sediments, except that there are small outcrops of granite near Mabaduan and mudstones (possibly of Pliocene age) outcrop near Weam.

In the eastern area, which is approximately centered on Port Moresby, the species present are E. papuana, E. confertiflora, E. alba and E. tereticornis. In common with those of the western area, they occur, in the Port Moresby-Kairuku area, as constituents of savanna in communities which are subject to fire. In frequently burnt areas, the tree layer consist of eucalypts but in areas which have not been regularly burnt, eucalypts occur with monsoon forest species. E. tereticornis sometimes occurs as isolated patches in marginal rainforest. E. papuana, E. confertiflora and E. alba are chiefly found in the coastal hill and foothill zones, on plains, slopes and ridges. E. tereticornis, by contrast, tends to occur separately from, and at higher elevations than, the other species and is characteristic of the upland zone.

From the Port Moresby-Kairuku area eucalypts extend parallel to the coast in a south easterly direction and cross the dividing range into the Musa Valley. They do not occur north-west of Popondetta. Although low rainfall country which appears suitable for their growth occurs in the Ramu-Markham trough, no eucalypts have been found there. In Papua, E. tereticornis is the most widespread of the four species and appears to have exploited a greater variety of ecological situations. However, each of the species, E. papuana, E. confertiflora and E. alba occupy a variety of sites, although over an altitudinal range less than that of E. tereticornis. The soils on which they occur are varied and are derived at least in the Port Moresby-Kairuku area from materials of Cretaceous-Paleogene age. According to Havel (1972), in rain shadow area around Port Moresby there are no definite strata. The forest consists of very open stand of old E. alba and E. confertifolia which are short bold and broad crowned with sclerophyll leaves. In between the old trees are groups of poles and saplings of the same two species. Apart from scattered individuals of low Pandanus and Cycas there is no shrub stratum, but there is a continuous layer of tall grasses, in particular, Ophiuros exaltata. Epiphytes and climbers are completely absent. The type is a sub-climax maintained in the past by recurrent fires for gardening and hunting.

EUCALYPTUS PLANTATIONS

Plantations of native Eucalyptus species

The reforestation (and afforestation) programme has been slow in Papua New Guinea in comparison to Southeast Asian neighbours. It is partly due land tenure problems but also because there is a feeling that the country still has abundant natural forest resources, small local demand and problem of end use of the plantation timber. To date, over 42,000 ha have been planted. Most of these plantations are on State land except in one case (JANT) where leasing of customary land for reforestation is practised. Most reforestation projects commenced as experimental projects without clear criteria for commercial viability and end use. As a result there are currently a number of plantations which have reached maturity without any plans for their proper utilization. Moreover, in majority of the plantations due to various reasons (lack of infrastructure, funding, staff, etc.) post-planting management practices (pruning, thinning, etc.) were not followed on schedule (Srivastava, 1992).

Almost 37.4% of the total plantations are under kamarere (E. deglupta) (Diagram 1). Figure 3 and 4 provide the details of age class and species in different localities and provinces. The statistics may be higher after the planted area in 1992 and 1993 is added. For instance, the latest figures for SBLC (Stettin Bay Lumber Pty Ltd) for 0-5 year age class are 2,338 ha, and for OBT (Open Bay Timber Pty Ltd) are 5,956.3 ha. On the other hand, JANT have switched over to Acacia mangium plantations because of its higher yield and shorter rotation (instead of 168.9 m³, 57% survival at age 10 for E. deglupta, 164.1 m³, 80% survival at age 6 for A. mangium).

Diagram 1 PNG Forest Plantations: Species distribution

(From: database as at 1/1/1991 - 36,930 ha)

Figure 3. Eucalyptus plantations as at 1/1/91

The following are some salient features (Fenton et al., 1977) of raising these plantations specifically of kamarere.

Nursery practices. Eucalyptus deglupta flowers early in life. Seed with high viability has been collected from two year old trees. There are about 12,000,000 seeds per kg; a seed yield of approximately 2% of the dry weight of the capsules can be expected. Seeds are stored in sealed containers under refrigeration. It remains viable up to four years in these conditions. Seeds are sown in seed boxes with adequate drainage and filled with sterilised (by heating over an iron plate) sandy loam soil and sand. Generally a fungicide is applied to control damping off. This disease which can be serious sometimes, can also be controlled by controlling watering (soil moisture), increasing ventilation and reducing shade. The ants, which can carry off seed, are destroyed with gammexane or dieldrin. Eucalyptus seedlings are tubed in polythene bags when 2-3 pairs of leaves develop above the cotyledons. Full shade is provided to the tubes after transplanting which is gradually reduced to full light about a month prior to planting out in the field. Adequate watering is done during the nursery period.

Figure 4. Eucalyptus plantations in Papua New Guinea

Site preparation and planting. Kamarere requires relatively well drained soils. In departmental planting for saw log production, kamarere has been planted at a spacing of 4.5 x 4.5 m (approx. 500 plants/ha). For chip production in Madang most common spacings are 3.0 x 3.0 m (1,111 s.p.h.) and 4.0 x 4.0 m (625 s.p.h.). The most desirable height of the seedlings at the time of planting is between 20-30 cm. Site burning is practised. During the first six months, the planted area is clean tended to eliminate weed trees, vines and scramblers. In the second year, ring tending in a radius of 0.6 m around each plant is combined with cutting of weed trees in intervening areas. No tending is generally necessary in the third and subsequent years. Kamarere does not coppice, and it is fire susceptible and intolerant to frost.

Growth and yield. On favourable sites, kamarere puts up excellent growth. Figures from a yield plot in Kerevat (East New Britain Province) showed the following growth trends (Figure 5).

Figure 5. E. deglupta growth trends in a yield plot at Keravat

On good sites, 10 year plantation rotations for pulpwood are envisaged to produce 25-40 m³/ha/yr. For sawlogs, thinnings are recommended at age 5, 10 and 15 leaving behind 100 s.p.h. for final felling at age 25-30. However, the growth has not been so good in Madang plantations due to poorer soils than in New Britain island. JANT obtain about 150-200 m³/ha at age 10.

Kamarere plantations may suffer from boron deficiency, termite attacks, damage by Agrilus opulentus (under bark borers) and heart rot, the last one being the most serious problem. In PNG, intensive tree improvement work has been carried out on kamarere with provenance and progeny trials and establishment of seedling and clonal seed orchards (Davidson, 1873 a,b) on different sites.

Plantations of exotic Eucalyptus species

Although a number of exotic Eucalyptus species have been screened for reforestation (and afforestation) in PNG in different localities (Figures 3 and 4) (East Sepik, Open Bay, Western Highland, Bulolo), the two most successful species are E. robusta and E. grandis in the swampy areas of PNG Highlands. The Waghi swamps were planted with these species after species trials in mid 70’s. The plantation programme continued till mid 80’s and a total of about 2,000 ha were planted, mostly with pure E. robusta but also with pure E. grandis and a mixture of the two species. The description of these plantations is based on Vigus, (1986).

Site factors. Waghi swamp covers an area of about 5,000 ha which constitute the flood plan of Waghi river and is about 3-5 m below the general valley floor at an altitude between 1,500-1,600m. The average temperature is quite high, around of 17.1°C with daily maxima around 24°C and minima around 12.8°C. Being in the tropics, the mean temperature varies by only 2.2°C during the year. The average monthly rainfall is about 170 mm seldom with a dry spell of more than two weeks. The total annual rainfall is 2,500 mm. The soils are dominated by dark brown, open textured, poorly decomposed peat mainly derived from Phragmites. The original vegetation cover of Waghi valley is dominated by “pitpit”, Phragmitis karkar in association with Saccharum spontaneum, the former making almost pure stands of 3-6 m high.

Silvicultural techniques. The high water table and annual flooding - up to a metre for up to a week several times a year, led to the selection of two main species, E. robusta and E. grandis. Seedlings are first raised in trays then transplanted into small plastic tubes when they have two pairs of true leaves. The soil in the tubes is fertilised with urea, 60 g per 50 kg soil, and superphosphate, 360 g per 50 kg soil. The tubes are placed in standout beds until they are about 25 cm in height. They are then ready to be planted. The planting area is first cleared and drained. The vegetation, mostly Phragmites karkar is cut, allowed to dry and then burnt. Drains 0.6 m deep by 0.6 m wide are dug 20 to 40 m apart depending on the amount of waterlogging. These drains lead into deeper ones, (1.0 m deep and 1.0 m wide) 100 m apart. The deeper drains then lead into a main drain (1.5 m deep by 2-3 m wide) spaced at 400 m apart, and the main drain lead into major drains which are strategically placed in each plantation area and are 2 m deep by 4 m wide. The drains are arranged in a herringbone fashion to facilities flow and reduce erosion. The purpose of the drains is to lower the water table prior to planting and keep the water flowing during the wet season. The trees are planted 2.5 m by 2.5 m and have to be tended every six to eight weeks during the first year, as the Phragmites karkar regrowth is very vigorous. By the end of the second year the canopy has normally closed and the trees are well above the competing vegetation.

Figure 6. Yield Table (E. robusta), boron applied (m³/ha)

Growth and yield. The growth is variable, mostly influenced by soil type and water table. In high water table area where drainage is not good, there is almost 100% mortality. A yield table prepared from 250 temporary yield plots of E. robusta stands with no boron application showed the following results (Figure 6). The MAI at age 6 varied with site class from 17.3 m³ for site class I, 11.5 m³ for site class II, and 6.7 m³ on site class III. The average stocking in these plots was 800 trees/ha from an original 1,600.

Management and utilization. E. grandis grows much faster and a mixed compartment treated with boron yielded 275 m³/ha at age 8. One tree in a 14 year old stand of E. grandis reached 50 m in height and over 85 cm in d.b.h. E. robusta is a good coppicer while E. grandis does not produce coppice shoots, though faster in growth rate. A coppice with standards system has been recommended to manage these plantations. With no thinnings, the trees are clear felled at age 6-10 years leaving standards at 10 x 10 m spacing (100 trees).

The main use of plantation wood is for fuelwood for the tea factories in the vicinity. However, the demand was not as high as envisaged; hence harvesting of plantations was not carried out on schedule. Presently, treated poles of these species are in high demand for fencing, house construction, electric and telephone poles. The area under plantation has, however, not increased over the years due to land disputes and financial constraints.

IMPACT OF EUCALYPTUS PLANTATIONS

Budowski (1983) has summarised the pros and cons of reforestation. The issues which he covered, in general, related to, (i) monocultures by replacing native forests, (ii) influence of plantations on biodiversity, (iii) afforestation on marginal soils, (iv) raising mix stands instead of single species plantations, (v) plantations of native species vs exotics, and (vi) inclusion of MPTS (Multipurpose tree species) in plantation programmes.

In Papua New Guinea, no detailed studies have been carried out on the impact of plantation forestry in general and Eucalyptus plantations in particular for the following reasons. So far, reforestation (and afforestation) programmes are not large; there is enough timber still available from natural forests. The new Forest Policy has laid more emphasis on management of logged-over natural forests on sustained yield principles rather than to replace them with monocultures. Except in a few cases (such as, teak for lumber, kamarere and A. mangium for pulpwood chipping, hoop and klinki pines for conversion to plywood) end use of plantation wood has not be defined for other successful and potential reforestation, (and afforestation) species; uncertainty about marketability of plantation timber.

This is notwithstanding the risks and problems to which the plantations are susceptible, such as, fires, damage due to insect and pest attack and sub-optimal growth on many sites. The following however, is a brief account of these impacts based on observations, comments and a few publications.

Positive impacts

A. Resource sustenance and conservation of native forests

In the context of Papua New Guinea where there are still large tracts of unlogged natural forests with unparalleled biodiversity and strong emphasis on the conservation of tropical forests in their pristine glory due to their importance in maintaining environmental equilibrium and their untapped knowledge for pharmaceutical products. This is the strongest point in favour of reforestation of degraded (due to uncontrolled heavy logging, followed by gardening practices by the landowners) logged over forests and vast stretches of anthropogenic grasslands throughout the country. There are about 5.0 million ha of such grasslands, mostly with marginal soils which could be considered for afforestation. This is conditional on the land being made available by owners, financial resources, and species selected on the basis of well defined end use. These grasslands are unproductive for most part (except for cattle ranching in a few localities and gardening where forest lands are not available) and under utilized. With proper selection of species, tree improvement programmes, agroforestry approach and market research, these sites can be converted into productive lands even for other land uses (such as, growing of cash crops after one or two rotations of forest plantations).

The best example of conserving biodiversity in natural forests in PNG is provided by JANT company through its plantation programme. Till 1989, the company was clear felling natural forests for chips of hardwood mixture in which even the low d.b.h. trees of high value timber species such as, kwila, rosewood were being felled. However, since 1990, it is increasingly using E. deglupta plantation material. Presently almost 30% of chip production is obtained from plantations. Subject to the availability of land for reforestation programme, the company hopes to completely switch over to plantations for its annual chip production, thus keeping the natural mixed tropical forests intact. Similarly Waghi swamp plantations of E. robusta and E. grandis have fulfilled the needs of fuelwood of the tea factories in the vicinity and the public in the Western Highlands Province avoiding illegal felling of trees in small remnants of natural forests of this province (Vigus, 1986).

B. Socio-economic

Plantation forestry is a labour intensive operation. In every plantation project, meaningful employment has been provided to a large number of people. In fact this is one of the justifications for developing large scale reforestation (and afforestation) projects in suitable areas in PNG. It is estimated that about 50,000 students are dropping out of schools every year and hardly 2,000 new jobs are created. The results is unemployment on large scale and urban drift with new settlements in every town.

At its peak, Waghi swamp plantation project employed about 400 casual workers (Vigus, 1986). Similarly OBT employs 400-500 people which has given rise to small villages within the reforestation area. According to its Managing Director (Mr. Sakaki - Pers. communication), the vibrant social and economic atmosphere can be observed during fortnight paydays when the workers and residents from nearby villages flock to various stores in Open Bay to buy goods for their daily needs. Fish and farm goods are also sold in the Open Bay market by the villagers during market days (every Saturday). The company workers relax and entertain themselves with various kinds of sport in the Open Bay playgrounds every Sunday after attending masses in their respective chapels. The situation with regard to the employment should be the same in other big plantation projects (JANT, SBLC).

The plantations also require higher density of all weather roads (than logging in natural forests) and these open up otherwise completely isolated villages and their inhabitants living on subsistence agriculture. Thus Wahgi swamps have changed from a broad expanse of “pitpit” to a flourishing community of forest workers, their children, a church, a school and many kilometres of roads that provide access to villages for easy transport of their produce to the markets in the nearby town (Mt. Hagen) (Vigus, 1986).

Presently the biggest use of Eucalyptus wood from Waghi swamps plantations is in the form of treated poles for fencing, house construction and even electric and telephone lines which is a boon to a timber scarce highly populated area.

C. Environmental

Successful establishment of plantations on marginal soils has always resulted in some positive impacts. The following examples from PNG substantiate this statement.

• Due to improvement in drainage and some soil properties after raising Eucalyptus plantations in Waghi swamps, the soils have become suitable for establishing coffee plantations. In fact, there is tremendous pressure on the government to release this land to the original landowners for this purpose. This has been one of the impediments for increasing acreage under plantations in the locality.

• The new growth of grasses under plantations has been found suitable for cattle grazing. A number of compartments in Waghi swamps have been leased for this purpose in spite of the fact that the cattle have some damage to the trees and coppice shoots.

• In Madang, cocoa has been successfully raised in combination with E. deglupta plantation and Lucaena, though it is questionable at this stage whether timber (or chips) production from these plantations can be economically viable. Probably objectives of the plantations in such a case has to be revised.

• In Waghi swamps plantations, the forest workers have successfully cultivated sweet potato (kau-kau) in plantation before the closure of the crown. It is one of the most popular staple food in PNG.

• In Eastern Highlands Eucalyptus (and Pinus patula) plantations, successful trials have been carried out with cardamom.

In plantations raised after clear felling logged over forests such uses have not been considered, the main object being timber (or chip) production.

Negative impacts

The only negative impact of prominence due to conversion of logged-over forests to Eucalyptus plantations is the loss of biodiversity. It is quite evident in areas where the original forest had E. deglupta as one of the important species. Partly due to closer spacing, single species and intensive weeding in the first 2-3 years, very few other species (especially trees) are able to established in a monoculture. This is not the case in Eucalyptus plantations in grasslands where grasses continue to appear and survive under the tree cover.

In Papua New Guinea, there has been strong criticism against the harvesting of natural forests by the resource owners, environmentalists, and NGOs (Forestry Commission Inquiry, 1989). The criticism has centred around the following issues: a) heavy uncontrolled logging; b) severe damage the environment including some irreversible ecological changes; c) poor economic returns to the landowners and the State; d) no initiative to increase downstream processing by the transnational logging companies; e) no interest in managing the resource on sustainable basis; and f) poor track record of employment of the local people (Lamb, 1977, 1990; Anon, 1989).

However, there has not yet been a strong criticism of plantation forestry in general and Eucalyptus plantations in particular although the process of getting land from resource owners for reforestation/afforestation had always been arduous, long and frustrating.

REFERENCES

Anon. 1989. Forest Inquiry Commission Report, PNG Govt.

Anon. 1990. Papua New Guinea: The Forestry Sector: A Tropical Forestry Action Plan Review. The World Bank.

Anon. 1991a. National Forest Policy, Ministry of Forests, September 1991 Pub.

Anon. 1991b. Report: Workshop on Reforestation Strategies and Programmes (21-23 October 1991). Dept of Forests, PNG.

Bun, Y. 1992. Present status of natural forest management. Paper presented at the the seminar, “Management of Logged-over Forests”, 14-15 May 1992, FRI, Lae, Papua New Guinea.

Carr, S.G.M. 1972. Problems of the geography of the Tropical eucalypts. In.Bridges and Barrier. The natural and cultural history of Torres Strait (Ed. D. Walker); 153-181, A.N.U. Canberra Pub.

Davidson, J. 1973a. Natural variation in Eucalyptus deglupta and its effect on choice of criteria for selection in tree improvement programme. PNG Trop. For. Res. Note No. SR2.

Davidson, J. 1973b. A tree improvement programme for Eucalyptus deglupta (a summary of progress). PNG Trop. For. Res. Note, No. SR3.

Fenton, R., R. Roper and G.R. Watt. 1977. Lowland Tropical Hardwoods: An annotated bibliography of selected species with plantation potential. Pub. by Ext Aid Dn., Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wellington, New Zealand.

Havel, J.J. 1972. New Guinea Forests: Structure, composition and management. Australian Forestry, 36 (i): 24-37.

Heather, W.A. 1955. The Kamarere forests of New Britain. Emp. For. Rev. 34 (3): 255-78.

Howcroft, H. 1993. Scientific Officer, FRI, Lae. Pers. comm.

Lamb, D. 1977. Conservation and management of Tropical Rain forest: A dilemma of development in Papua New Guinea. Environ. Conservation, 4 (2): 121-129.

Lamb, D. 1990. Exploiting the Tropical Rain forest: An account of pulpwood logging in Papua New Guinea. Man and Biosphere Series, Vol. 3. MAB/UNESCO Pub.

Srivastava, P.B.L. 1991. Management and utilization of forest resources in Papua New Guinea. Proc. of the Session on Tropical Forestry for People of the South Pacific, XVII Pacific Science. Congress, 27-28 May 1991, Honolulu, Hawaii

Srivastava, P.B.L. 1992. Present status of reforestation in Papua New Guinea - Research needs. Paper presented at the International Symposium on, “Rehabilitation of Degraded Forest Lands. in the Tropics” 16-17 September, 1992, Tsukuba, Japan

Vigus, T.R. 1986. Plantation forestry in the Papua New Guinea Highlands. The Waghi swamps afforestation scheme. In. Proc. workshop on Impact of Man's activities on tropical upland forest. ecology systems. (Eds. Y. Hadi, K. Awang, N.M. Majid, S. Mohamed). 167-182. Univ. Pertanian Malaysia Pub.