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IntroductionThe neglect and degradation of PNG's unique forests is largely due to poor knowledge of the goods and benefits that may be available, coupled with inappropriate forest management. Assessment of available goods and benefits (such as timber, carbon, biodiversity, and community and cultural uses) is thus a priority, and can be undertaken using remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and PNG Forest Research Institute's (PNGFRI) Permanent Sample Plot (PSP) network. More appropriate forest management systems, such as forest certification prescribed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) also need to be more widely applied. Working closely with staff from the PNGFRI and the Village Development Trust (VDT) we hope to develop tools that can inform village level decision making. Tools will provide information on forest resources to local communities and will be based on forest growth modeling, remote sensing, and GIS. Systems that facilitate improved community level decision making (e.g. scenario analysis) will also be explored. Ultimately we hope to facilitate a move toward small-scale sustainable and certified forest utilisation. A recent article in the Partners magazine provides further background information and can be found here.
An example of small-scale community forestry - Kwato Island, Milne Bay
ProgressProgress on the project has been excellent thanks to continuing strong working relationships with PNG partner organisations; PNG Forest Research Institute (FRI) and Village Development Trust (VDT). Key achievements for 2008-09 include:
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Project activitiesStudy areasIn consultation with project partner VDT areas for assessment work have been identified; the medium scale community operations of Sogi in Madang Province, and KGWan in Chimbu and the small scale operations at Yalu and Gabensis in the Morobe province. Sogi and Kgwan community operations are based in primary forest, while Yalu and Gabensis are based in secondary forest. Please refer to the linked websites for detailed information.
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| Workshop particpants at Papua New Guinea Forest Research Institute. Left to right; Julian Fox, Rod Keenan, Thomas Warr, Theresa Phillips, Ben Sone, Francis Inude, Peter Dam, Janet Sabub, Pamela Avusi, Lois Nakmai, Emaus Toubu, Patrick Nimiago, Kunsey Lavong, Yati Bun, Frank Alkam, Ruben Taminza, Mex Peki, Kentis Igai, Raymond Yauieb, Frank Asok, Goodwill Amos, Bruno Kuroh, Francis Hurahura. |
Workshop - Prioritising attributes and values of secondary forests
During 2008 a project workshop was held on the 13th and 14th of March, 2008 in Lae, PNG with the objective of reviewing the status, and prioritising attributes and values, of secondary (cutover) forests. The twenty three participants were all stakeholders in the management of secondary forests. A full report from the workshop is provided here, whilst a précis of workshop outcomes is provided below.
Secondary, or cutover forest is a large (3.4 million hectares; 10% of PNG's forested area), but poorly understood resource. Assessment of this resource is a priority, and will be based on remote sensing and growth modelling to classify secondary forest according to the products (timber and carbon) and benefits (biodiversity, community and cultural values) it may provide now and into the future. Communication to communities of the goods and benefits that are available and the flow of these resources in the future is paramount to ensure they benefit from their forest and to avoid further degradation. The PSP sampling program maintained by FRI provides a sound basis for assessment activities; it is based solely in secondary forest, provides excellent geographic coverage, and includes up to fifteen years of continuous measurement. The current assessment method (strip-line inventory) used by PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA) and forest certification bodies is labour intensive, inefficient, and possibly biased. There is scope to modify this practice using random cluster sampling, and this is a priority in future project activities.
Cutover forest usually consists of minor timber species, and there are definite market prospects for these timbers when sold as certified or community based fair trade product. These minor timber species offer community revenue in certified operations, and there is unrealised potential in many other tree species in PNG. Group exercises conducted during the workshop demonstrated the vast array of goods andbenefits that communities derive from secondary forests. Forest utilisation is influenced by accessibility to towns which determines if the community has ready access to markets. Accessible secondary forest is likely to be used for forestry or agriculture with products flowing to nearby towns, while remote communities will principally use secondary forest for subsistence purposes. A second group exercise examined community level decision making, the sorts of information required to make decisions, and how project outputs can effectively inform this process.
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| Workshop participants involved in a carbon/timber trade-off group exercise |
Analysis of PSP database
During 2008 Dr. Fox spent extended periods at FRI in Lae collating and cleaning permanent sample plot (PSP) data collected between 1992 and 2008. The improved PSP database is compete and collaborative work with PNGFRI analysing the database has resulted in two manuscripts that are in review with international journals.
The first manuscript describes methodological advances for quantifying forest carbon (C) in PNG. The methods and results described in the manuscript will assist with the PNG governments preparedness for REDD. Methods and results are also of interest to the many communities within PNG that are seeking to participate in voluntary carbon markets. The methodology is the basis of a simple spreadsheet that is being disseminated in PNG (among government agencies, and NGOs), and is available on request. The dissemination resulting from publication will encourage further implementation both within government, NGO sectors, and communities, and will encourage transparency and consistency in the estimation of forest C.
The second manuscript reports a defensible estimate of forest C flux due to selective-logging for lowland tropical forest in Papua New Guinea based on the large PSP network. Quantifying forest Carbon flux due to forest degradation associated with selective-logging is one of the challenges of climate change mitigation initiatives such as REDD, and results reported in this manuscript can assist REDD mechanisms in PNG.
Beyond quantify forest timber, carbon and carbon dynamics, the PSP database provides scope for the development of growth models for secondary forest in PNG. Individual-tree growth models are being developed as they match the scale of community forest utilisation in PNG. These models will be the basis of sustainability and scenario analysis for small-scale utilisation at the community level. The tropical forests of PNG are structurally complex and highly diverse both in structure and the species they contain. Because individual trees in PSPs are spatially mapped, work is underway trying to extricate the spatial competitive processes governing tree growth. A paper on growth model development was presented at the FORTROP II International Conference “Tropical Forestry Change in a Changing World”. The paper titled “Growth models for small-scale forest utilization in Papua New Guinea” is provided here. A manuscript is in preparation reporting growth model development based on the PSP database. Quantitative study of competitive and species growth dynamics offers scientific insights into the structure and dynamics of these largely unknown forests. Based on ‘competition and growth guilds’ a suite of individual-tree growth models will be developed that capture the variability of tree growth observed on PSPs. Understanding the dynamic processes of growth and competition in these forests has high scientific currency. Beyond the scientific currency, individual-tree models will facilitate accurate growth and yield modelling that can inform small-scale community level utilisation.
To strengthen the PSP dataset, PNGFRI is undertaking a remeasurent program funded under this project. The program is proceeding well with PSPs remeasured in Western, New Ireland, Manus and West New Britain Provinces in the last 9 months.
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| PSP remeasurement team – Danaru PSP July 2008 |
Improving forest inventory
In collaboration with Cris Brack, a random variable-radius plot sampling strategy has been developed that can be used to efficiently calibrate and validate remotely sensed estimates of merchantable volume and biomass. The technique can also be used more generally to improve the efficiency and accuracy of forest assessment in PNG, and was the subject of much discussion at the recent workshop 'Improving inventory for timber and carbon in Papua New Guinea '. During the workshop the technique was communicated to the PNG Forest Authority, the Office of Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability (OCCES) and to organisations involved in forest certification in PNG (FORCERT, VDT, and FPCD). Current inventory methods prescribed in the Forestry Act require a strip-line sampling approach, and this approach is used by both PNGFA and forest certification bodies. The approach is inefficient and may be biased; the forest sampled on strip-lines may not be representative of other areas of the resource. There is considerable scope to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the strip-line approach using a random variable-radius sampling strategy.
A journal publication is in preparation documenting the random variable-radius strategy. It will describe an improved methodology for forest inventory and will detail comparisons of the 1% stripline inventory and the improved random variable radius plot technique for Sogi, Yalu, and Gabensis.
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| Sogi field inventory crew – September 2008. |
Improving forest assessment
Optical remotely sensed data from the LANDSAT 5, LANDSAT 7 ETM and ASTER platforms has been acquired over the project areas. Remote sensing data is being analysed to provide information on the condition of the forest and the volume and carbon it contains. An inventory of project areas will be used to validate remote sensing analysis of condition, volume and carbon. To compliment optical data, geo-corrected radar data from the JERS-1 platform has also been acquired for the entire land area of PNG. This has been processed to provide forest canopy backscatter information. Bioclimatic data has also been acquired for PNG from the WorldClim database (Hijmans et al. 2005); this data has been found to compliment remotely sensed data for the modelling of forest biomass.
The integration of remotely sensed (ASTER) data and random variable-radius plot survey has been completed for the Sogi project area. This work was presented at the recent workshop 'Improving inventory for timber and carbon in Papua New Guinea'. A manuscript is in preparation describing the ASTER remote sensing analysis for the project areas. The methodology can be followed to estimate timber resource and carbon stock in other community forest areas in PNG. Examples for Sogi, Yalu, Gabensis and Kgwan will be provided.
A collaboration with Dr. Mark Williams from Fugro EarthData Inc is aiming to generate high resolution forest resource information (merchantable timber volume and carbon) for the Sogi project area based on state of the art GeoSar remote sensing. The collaboration will initially focus on the Sogi project area, but there are opportunities to expand it to the whole of PNG, providing important outputs for communities and national REDD preparedness.
Exploring market linkages for community forestry
In collaboration with the project partners at The Woodage an initial review of PNG wood properties and their suitability for international markets has been compiled. In particular, opportunities where timber can be marketed as community based fair trade (CBFT) or certified product will provide the best returns to communities. To develop this further, Mr. Jim Grigoriou was engaged to review international market possibilities for PNG timbers. Jim concluded that the best markets for green sawn timber from small scale timber producers and community managed forests in PNG are those that offer the highest price and are sympathetic to small volumes and variable quality. Traders, be they local timber merchants or overseas importers that are prepared to aggressively promote and educate customers about both common and lesser known tropical hardwood species and the utility of non ‘select’ grade timbers need to be targeted. High prices are critical to the success of these forest enterprises as significant resources are needed to manage, process and transport timber resources. High prices improve the incentive to conserve the resource and grow the enterprise. A copy of his report can be found here.
Future work will link this information to forest assessments, and will be integrated in growth and yield analysis to estimate potential economic returns to communities from different utilisation patterns.
Engaging forest certification bodies
Forest certification bodies operating in PNG have been engaged and project staff and collaborating scientists participated in a workshop on "The Future of Forest Certification in PNG" held in Port Moresby on 11th and 12th March. During the workshop the requirements, challenges, and benefits of forest certification were discussed. Standards for forest certification are determined by the FSC that outlines the social, environmental and economic requirements for certification. Certification standards are rigorous, and to date only 15,000 ha in PNG have been officially certified. However, the challenges faced in seeking certification are outweighed by the benefits. Certification empowers landowners, improves livelihoods, preserves the natural environment, and can facilitate sustainable development. For these reasons it is a priority that the forest assessment activities underway in this project inform and improve forest certification efforts in PNG.
Quantifying the value of biodiversity to communities
During March 2009, Ms. Dalia Bastyte, a Masters student from Lithuania, accompanied Dr. Fox to the Sogi project area. Dalia has assisted the ACIAR project by evaluating the importance of local biodiversity to communities in Madang Province and the Sogi project area, i.e., its importance to local people for construction, food, household needs, medicinal, religious, spiritual and recreational values. She did this by talking to community members in focus groups. It was also valuable for female community members to spend time with Dalia and develop cross-cultural relatioships. A précis of Dalia’s completed Masters thesis is provided below.
The biodiversity of PNG’s rainforests is fundamental for sustaining the livelihoods of indigenous communities and is utilised in diverse and often unrecognised ways. Communities are dependent on biodiversity for basic goods such as food and construction materials as well as goods and services that are more difficult to quantify such as medicinal, spiritual, ornamental and recreational values. Hence, the management of Papuan forests should be cognoscente of these goods and services, and attention should be paid to the elements of biodiversity which are the most important to local people. Understanding the needs of local people may also facilitate better management of this unique resource.
The research was focused on estimating the relative value of wild biodiversity, defining its use categories and rating the most important species for the defined use categories. Pebble Distribution Method (PDM) was chosen as a simple and flexible scoring exercise and was applied in focus groups of 6 – 10 participants. PDM helps to identify the importance of local biodiversity based on the consensus of the focus group. Moreover, it stimulates dialogue between participants about their perceptions of biodiversity and its importance in sustaining livelihoods.
The exercises were carried out with 4 focus groups: men and women in Ohu and Yagi villages. Yagi village is in the Sogi project area. The participants were divided into men and women groups because of the distinct roles of the genders in their use of biodiversity. First of all the participants were asked to attribute the relative value to the source categories of biodiversity, namely: wild plant from forest; wild plant, not from forest; cultivated plant; wild animal from forest; wild animal, not from forest; domestic animal and wild mushroom. This part of the exercise showed that the participants attributed higher value to biodiversity from wild sources compared to cultivated sources. This evaluation was explained by the participants: wild biodiversity has many more uses than cultivated biodiversity. They explained that local wild biodiversity can be used for many purposes, in which it cannot be substituted, for example, magic. Also, people are dependent on wild biodiversity in unfavourable environmental conditions such as droughts.
During the second part of the exercise participants were asked to name the most important plant and animal species according to the use categories defined during the exercise. Several of the species identified by the focus groups are included in the IUCN Red List (e.g. Casuarius sp., Pterocarpus indicus and Intsia bijuga). Furthermore, some of the valuable and threatened species are acknowledged as keystone species, i.e. have a large, stabilizing influence on the ecosystem and determine the survival of many other species (e.g. Casuarius sp.). Results from Dalia’s research will be communicated to participating communities.
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| The womens focus group from Yagi village distributing pebbles among use categories |
For further information contact:
Dr Julian Fox
Department of Forest & Ecosystem Science
Melbourne School of Land and Environment
University of Melbourne, Burnley Campus
500 Yarra Boulevard, Richmond, VIC, 3121
Phone: +61 (0) 3 9250 6862
E-mail: jcfox@unimelb.edu.au