AUSTRALIAN FORESTERS in PAPUA NEW GUINEA 1922-1975
PNGAF MAGAZINE ISSUE # 9B -5B4H2 of 25th July 2021 FOREST MANAGEMENT. Eminent TPNG Forester Alex Hart
Kikori River Kikori Alex Hart’s TPNG Forests1 forest inspection. Port Moresby
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Editor R B McCarthy2 2021.
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Alex Hart TPNG Forests 1946- 1957 Dick McCarthy District Forester TPNG Forests 1963-1975.
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OVERVIEW Alex Hart was an inaugural member of the 1948 TPNG Forest cadetship class together with Ted Gray and Don McIntosh. The three TPNG forestry cadets graduated in 1952. Althought they were the same AFS year as Kevin White, Kevin was a Queensland forestry cadet who did not joint the TPNG Forest Service till 1957. Alex’s description of work activites prior to the advent of helicopters vidily outlines the hazards of exploring the forests of TPNG. AUSTRALIAN TPNG FORESTRY CADETSHIP SCHEME3 1946 to 1963 After the Second World War, a cadetship scheme was undertaken by the Australian Department of Territories to train Australian Forest Scientists to ensure sufficient professional staff for the purposes of creating a functional Forest Department for TPNG. The TPNG Forestry cadetship was five years university study including a field year in TPNG.
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Surname
Positions
TPNG Cadetship 1948 1946 1946 Qld
Edward Charles Gordon Gray (NG) Alexander John Hart (NG) Donald Henry McIntosh (NG5) Kevin Joseph White (Q) Robin Levingston (NSW) Jaroslav Joseph Havel (WA)6 Robin Bilbrough Morwood (NG) Frank Harry Coppock (NG) Elliot Carby Tuckwell (NG) Et al
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AFS 1950/51 1950/51 1950/51 1950/51
Year graduation 1952 1952 1952 1952
1953 1952
1952/53 1953/54 1955/56
1954 1955 1957
1953 1953
1956/57 1956/57
1958 1958
The appointments of Australian TPNG Forestry Cadets were summarized in LT Carron’s book in 2000 titled “A brief history of the Australian Forestry School (AFS) 4 Cadet Forest Officer pamphlet courtesy Des Harries 2019 5 Don McIntosh Third Director of Forests PNG 6 Joe Havel First Principal Bulolo Forestry College
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The following article is a reprint from Roger Underwood’s7 book “Echoes from the Forest” Stories from the Lives of Australian Foresters p 112-113. UP THE KIKORI RIVER (WITH PADDLE) – Alex Hart When I left school at the end of 1946, I spotted an advertisement in the paper which appealed to me. Cadetships were available for young men prepared to train as a forester and work in Papua New Guinea. I applied and was successful. After five years study and field experience I was appointed a forest officer and started work in the Western District of Papua. Forestry in Papua New Guinea in the early 1950’s was an emergent activity. The tribespeople used timber widely, mainly for housing, but at a very low level of consumption and not for commercial ventures. During the war years both the Japanese and the Allied Armies had used local timbers for construction and engineering works, but it was not until the early 1950’s that the idea of seriously using New Guinea’s forests for the economic development of the country took hold. My job consisted largely of assessment work – finding out what was there so proper forestry plans could be drawn up. I was constantly on safari, measuring isolated areas of forests in response to request for access to timber resources. One such safari had moments of unexpected mirth, as explained in the following story. In prospect it was scarcely deemed a safari. The manager of a local copra and rubber plantation was seeking a supply of timber close by which he could mill for his own use on the plantation. The Department was asked to check out an area of rainforest just west of the Kikori River upstream of the small settlement of Kikori, and the job was passed to me. It wasn’t far - “a short hike, out the back” as it were. We just set off after lunch, expecting to be back for tea. The Kikori River has a total length of 445 km long and flows southeast into the Gulf of Papua with its delta at the head of the gulf. The settlement of Kikori lies on the delta. The catchment area extends from alpine grasslands of the Southern Highlands to mangrove wetlands of the mouth at Papua Gulf. Today, the Kikori river basin is home to large oil and gas fields that have been mined since the 1990s.
The plantation manager had organised the necessary guides and transport. These comprised local tribesman and their dugout canoes. I was a little apprehensive about the dugouts as they are notoriously difficult to balance and the river at this point was tidal, and well within the reach of the saltwater crocodiles and venomous sea snakes which were prevalent in the area.
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Personal communication and approval from Roger Underwood 9/4/19
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Gulf of Papua Delta Western Province. Photo credit R B McCarthy. Nevertheless, we safely reached the spot upstream where we wanted to land and then struck off on foot to the forest to be investigated. The terrain turned out to be flat, but randomly “shot” with limestone pinnacles and sinkholes, which made walking treacherous and difficult. Before long we entered the rainforest. I made notes of the tree species, stocking, density etc. as I followed the guide who veered this way and that through the jungle. It was extremely dark under the dense canopy, and we failed to notice the sun going down. We soon realised we were hopelessly lost. An atmosphere of fatigue, apprehension, or terror (depending on one’s origins) set in. Fortunately, a strong moon came out, and by dint of careful backtracking along my assessment line we eventually found our way back to the dugouts and began paddling towards home. Unfortunately, the tide had gone out while we were in the forest, and our passage home was blocked by a vast mudflat. The leading canoe grounded, and the company manager (who was exceedingly overweight and very unfit) decided to alight and move to higher ground. This was a mistake. He sank down to his thighs. My offsider (forest ranger Mick Jackson) went to his aid, but also sank deep into the gelatinous, stinking mud. In a word, suction had them in its grip! The extraction of the two men was difficult and tedious. Worse, it involved a great deal of thrashing and splashing, and I could sense the crocs gathering around us. Luckily, they held their attack and the manager, Jackson and I managed to extract ourselves from the ooze and clamber onto dry land. I can remember the relief with which our friend the manager pulled off his “wellies” and emptied out the leeches before redonning them for the final trek home. It was a lengthy hike back to the village. Eventually we bade our guide and the canoe men goodnight and trooped into the house to clean up. What a sight we were! The manager, having complained of sore feet throughout the last lap, plonked himself down in a chair, crying “My God, my feet are killing me.” All eyes were drawn to his feet, where it was clearly observed that his boots were on the wrong feet! The roars of laugher which greeted this ludicrous sight were, I think, as much derived from our relief to be safely home as from the humour of the situation. 4
Joe Havel8 advised that Alex Hart returned to Western Australia where he worked for the remainder of his working life with the WA Forest Department, mostly in the field of soil surveys for pine plantations. He was affected by his service in PNG, especially undertaking surveys of the mangroves in the Papuan Gulf. Roger Underwood9. Congratulations on the project. I will look forward to reading the book. I am very happy for you to use Alex’s nice little story. Strangely he always was called “Alec”, but I think his name was Alex. Alex was a kindly man with a lovely sense of humour. This comes through in the story, I think. He was also a skilful nursery man and was manager of the departmental nursery at Hamel for several years. He was also responsible for the establishment of several excellent little pioneering arboreta in the WA wheatbelt. These came in handy in later years when there was a growing interest in reforestation of catchments affected by salinity. People who knew Alex before he went to PNG and then after he returned said that his health had been badly affected (although he was a first-class golfer). Apparently, it took him many years to recover his get-up-and-go. As far as I know Alex died several years ago.
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Personal communication Joe Havel 18th September 2018. Personal communication Roger Underwood 9th April 2019.
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Alex Hart Bibliography Alex John Hart10 was born in Kojonup. He lived in Kulikup, York, Quairading, Narrikup, and Northam Western Australia. Alex graduated from Australian Forestry School in 1951. He worked as a forester in New Guinea and New Britain until 1957. In 1957, he joined the Western Australian Forests Department. Alex worked in Manjimup until 1964. He was the manager of Hamel Nursery and inland arboreta until 1975. He then moved to the Como Seed Store where he also did some extension work. Alex retired in 1987. NAME DATE JOINED FORESTRY PNG WHAT WAS YOUR OCCUPATION LIFE AFTER PNG A PNG FORESTRY CADETSHIP DATE OF GRADUATION
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Alex Hart 1946 Forest Officer Western Australia Forests Department Yes 1952
From “Wandoo in health and decline. A history.” Andrea Gaynor (2008).
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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 7
Forkol GAB Gbhob Gubab GIS ha IBRD IFA IFY ITTO JICA L of N LRRS m3 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 UN
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 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 United Nations 8
Unasylva UNE UNEP UNI UNITECH UNRE UPNG UQ US USA TPNG TUBL TA TA TRP Vol VSF WA WB
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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