I T T o

INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANIZATION

DRAFT PROJECT DOCUMENT

Title INTENSIFICATION OF GROWTH AND YIELD STUDIES IN PREVIOUSLY LOGGED FOREST

Serial Number PD 162/91 Rev.1 (F)

Original ENGLISH

Prepared by DEPARTMENT OF FORESTS, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Submitted by OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, INDEPENDENT STATE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Duration 5 YEARS

Field of Activity REFORESTATION AND FOREST MANAGEMENT

Co-operating Governments

Executing Agency

Estimated Starting Date

Estimated Project Cost

Financing Sources and Amount

- ITTO Contribution

- Government of the Independent State of

Papua New Guinea

Signed

On behalf of ITTO

On behalf of Government of

PARTICIPATING GOVERNMENT

FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF FORESTS, LAE, PNG

JULY 1991

US$ 1,723,000

US$ 1,628,000

US$ 95,000

Date

Date the Independent State of Papua New Guinea

INTENSIFICATION OF GROWTH AND YIELD STUDIES

IN PREVIOUSLY LOGGED FOREST

PART I. LEGAL CONTEXT

This project proposal meets the following objectives of Article 1 of the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1993 (ITTA):

(c) To promote and support research and development with a view to improving forest management and utilization;

(f) To encourage members to support and develop industrial tropical timber reforestation and forest management activities;

(h) To encourage the development of national policies aimed at sustainable utilization and conservation of tropical forests and their genetic resources, and at maintaining the ecological balance in the regions concerned.

The proposal is submitted in accordance with Article 23 of the ITTA. It relates to areas (b), (d) and (e) of paragraph 5 and is consistent with criteria (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of Paragraph 6 of that Article.

PART 11 THE PROJECT

1. Objective

The Requirement for a reliable estimate of sustained yield from PNG forests underpins the Papua New Guinea National Forest Action Plan (NFAP) and the Minister of Forests requirement for key planning data within two years of the NFAP donors Round Table Meeting in april 1990.

There is a need to consolidate and extend a programme of growth and yield studies in previously logged forests so as to provide this data in a policy relevant form for management planning.

The principal objective of this project therefore would be to strengthen and expand the permanent timber stand improvement (TSI) plot system established by the Papua New Guinea Forest Research Institute (FRI) , and to provide a mechanism for using this data for management planning. Specifically:

(i) To provide for continuity in existing field measurement and data processing programmes.

(ii) To design and establish an expanded series of plots to cover in time the full range of industrially significant forest sites and to provide data on additional relevant socio-economic and biophysical variables.

(iii) To develop predictive models and otherwise strengthen the Papua New Guinea Department of Forests (DOF) capacity to utilize output data from the present and expanded plot series for management planning and yield control.

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(iv) To provide a research linkage with other relevant NFAP projects and in particular to provide data management and planning support for the proposed Management and Monitoring Task Forces and the Forest Resource Inventory programme.

(v) To train additional staff to support the widening scope and intensity of the expanded permanent plot system as it develops.

2. Background and Justification

The project is one of a family of related projects which were developed during the ITTO Mission to Papua New Guinea (PNG) to help prepare an "Ecological,Economic and Socially Sustainable Tropical Forest Use Project (EESSTRU)" for consideration of the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC). The EESSTRU proposal had previously evolved as a result of the interaction of Papua New Guinean and Australian scientists in a number of forums to consider the research needs for sustainable forest use in PNG. EESSTRU has subsequently been adopted by the Government of Papua New Guinea as the principal research component of its National Forest Action Plan (NFAP).

Both the World Bank Tropical Forest Action Plan (TFAP) Mission and the Barnett Commission of Enquiry into the timber industry demonstrated convincingly that prevailing patterns of timber utilization in PNG are not ecologically sustainable. While certain individuals and companies were prospering from their association with the international trade in tropical timber, the TFAP and the Barnett Enquiry also threw serious doubts on both the economical sustainability and the overall socio-economic value of the current practices of the log-export oriented forest-based industry. A significant issue in this respect is the pattern of benefits received by rural landholders, since forest use sustainability in PNG depends entirely on their concurrence because of PNG's land tenure system where some 98% of forest lands are held in customary land ownership.

For the PNG timber trade to be ecologically, economically and socially sustainable, the Government of Papua New Guinea has recognized that it has to make drastic changes to both the present administration and methods of forest management, and to the practices of timber harvesting, utilization and marketing. The development of these alternative systems and methods of forest administration is the basic thrust of PNG's National Forest Action Plan.

The Action Plan was developed in response to the realization that existing forest management practices were falling short of the intent of Clause 4 of the Constitution of Papua New Guinea which states:

"Natural Resources and Environment. We declare our fourth goal to be for Papua New Guinea's natural resources to be conserved and used for the benefit of all and be replenished for the benefit of future generations"

The Action Plan is PNG's total organized activity in forest management. EESSTRU is seen as the necessary research component of the Action Plan and it is designed to monitor the environmental, economic and

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social effects of forest management so that improved forest management policies and practices can be developed in the long-term interest of PNG. Hence, the EESSTRU Programme has been designed to address the following points identified in the Action Plan :

the principal objective of managing forest land is not sustained yield forestry alone but optimum resource usage;

most of the land currently covered by forest would probably be most profitably managed as natural forest;

conversion of forest to other uses should not be undertaken until a thorough analysis of the sustainability and relative profitability of alternative uses has been made;

traditional use of products from natural forest has probably been undervalued in past assessments;

little is known about the regenerative capacity of natural forest after logging, particularly of the current forest dominants;

there is virtually no understanding of the financial, economic, and environmental advantage of forest harvesting procedures in accordance with sound silvicultural practice;

timber harvesting and/or post-logging management for sustained forest production will not be supported by forest owners unless they obtain an equitable share of the timber profits and are convinced that the value of timber and other products of natural forest will exceed that of conversion to agriculture;

the need for an evaluation of current timber right and royalty arrangements;

the social and economic implications of the conservation options need to be assessed in order to design the optimal mix of reserves, regulations and practices for a National Conservation Strategy which is consistent with development objectives;

the need for training of new and existing staff for the Forest Research Institute;

support of NGOs is required to assist in the formation of a bridge between government, industry and forest owners;

dissemination of information to forest owners is imperative if effective conservation and optimal or sustainable use of forest is to be achieved.

EESSTRU will approach these tasks through the media of research and training, survey, analysis, debate and information diffusion in the combined fields of natural science, silviculture and socio-economics.

The Mission joined with officials from the PNG Department of Forests (DOF) , the PNG Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) , the PNG Office of International Development and Assistance (OIDA) and various

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representatives of PNG Universities and NGOs in January and February 1991 to review the relevance and details of the original EESSTRU Programme and its co-ordination with other aspects of the Action Plan. As a result of this process, the Mission found that the

Programme would be more likely to be efficiently implemented through a series of smaller related projects than the single large integrated project. This series of projects comprises:

* The Definition of Indicators of Ecologically, Economically and Socially Sustainable Forest Use in PNG and the Dissemination of Information about them for Forest Management and Planning.

* The Impact Commercial Timber Harvesting on the Factors Governing Sustainability of Forest Production in PNG.

* Effects of Alternative Logging Systems on the Sustainability of Forest Production in PNG.

* The Intensification of Growth and Yield Studies in Previously Logged Forest.

* The Conservation Requirements for Sustainable Timber Harvesting in PNG.

The Mission was assured that the first companion project of the EESSTRU Programme ( The Definition of Indicators of Ecologically, Economically and Socially Sustainable Forest Use in PNG and the Dissemination of Information about them for Forest Management and Planning) could be implemented under on-going UNESCO programmes for PNG. The remaining four projects have been prepared for the consideration of the International Tropical Timber Council for IT TO support.

This project - The Intensification of Growth and Yield Studies in Previously Logged Forest - aims to strengthen the capacity of the PNG Department of Forests in the areas management planning and yield control. It will focus on the existing Forest Research Institute system of permanent Timber Stand Improvement (TSI) plots to ensure both the continuity and development of field measurement and data processing for management planning purposes.

Ensuring the continuity and development of this programme is a problem because the existing TSI plot systems depends on a single trained research forester for its supervision. In addition, the present TSI system only covers a narrow range of sites and more representative cover is needed for long term yield scheduling and management planning. In addition, as neither of these activities can be effectively undertaken on the basis of increment data of presently commercial species alone, there is a need to expand the scope of the TSI system to include other biophysical and socio-economic variables. This project will link directly to other EESSTRU Projects by providing data to aid in both the development and application of predictive modelling for yield scheduling and management planning.

The closest liaison will be with the modelling group being established under the EESSTRU project on the Effects of Alternative

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Logging Systems on the Sustainability of Forest Production in PNG.

Such a project is immediately relevant to both the charter and priorities of ITTO. In essence, the project seeks to develop and operationalise key data gathering and data processing requirements for the Forest Management and Forest Management Planning requirements in the ITTO Guidelines for the Sustainable Management of Natural Tropical Forest. It also involves diagnosis, demonstration and facilitation activities for basic strategies (f), (g), (h), (j), (1) and (m) identified for Reforestation and Forest Management in the ITTO Action Plan (Criteria and Priority Areas for Program Development and Project Work) which was presented to the Ninth Session of the ITTC in Yokohama in November 1990.

3. Outputs

The project will have three main outputs:

(i) An expanding series of long-term forest inventory plots in logged-over forest, representing the full range of commercial forest types of PNG.

There is presently little understanding of how the various forest types of PNG respond following logging operations. It is therefore difficult if not impossible to identify a meaningful sustainable utilizable capacity of these forests and this has been seen as a major deficiency in the DOF's planning systems and in the allocation of forest management agreements. It is therefore proposed to expand the inventory plots to include the following forest types:

a) Lowland plain forests b) Lowland foothills c) Lowland hill d) Lower mountain foothill forests e) Lower mountain hill forests f) Mid mountain foothills g) Upper mountain foothills

(ii) Development of analytical tools and predictive models for better understanding the output data from the expanding series of inventory plots, and a data management and recording system which will recognize and cater for the long term nature of TSI inventory.

The capacity to analyze the data and use this as a basis for better defining sustained yield for management planning and yield control purposes is fundamental NFAP objectives.

(iii) Training of two specialist professional staff at the FRI in planning of inventory programmes, and the analysis and interpretation of data arising from these; and training of two specialist technical staff in the establishment, maintenance, measurement, and recording of an extending series of TSI plots.

This training objective will relate closely to the Human Resource Development (HRD) project of NFAP, which essentially aims to provide a programme of recruitment and training of new staff and of

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strengthening existing staff capacity through in service training. It is likely therefore that through the HRD programme there will be opportunities for other staff od DOF to gain new skills from this project also, even though this is not a specific objective.

4. Activities

This project will run for five years in two broad phases.

The first phase will last for approximately two years and will be primarily dedicated to planning the extended TSI system and for commencement of a programme of establishment and measurement of field plots, and development of data handling techniques. Staff would be selected and trained.

The second phase will see a consolidation of data collection and analysis leading to the production of the first round of results useful in estimating forest growth rates and species turnover for management planning.

Activities during these periods will include:

4.1 Initial Project Design (duration c. 1 year)

a) Selection of an international consultant in forest inventory for an initial 2 year contract with follow up visits over the subsequent 3 years.

b) Selection and training of two local foresters and labour crews to act as the primary project data collection team.

c) Design of a sampling programme that builds on the existing TSI plot system. This activity should be undertaken by the international consultant working in close consultation with local foresters.

d) Selection and training of two local foresters or relevant science graduates in data analysis and interpretation techniques.

e) A three week study tour for the four PNG nationals and the international consultant engaged on the project, of Queensland and tropical Malaysia to view forest inventory and data management programmes.

4.2 Initial Project Implementation (duration c. 1 year)

a) Initiation of regular cycle of measurements by the data collection crew.

b) Assessment of the suitability of the methodology based on the consultant's analysis of the initial data sets. Modification of techniques where necessary.

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c) Training of the local forester's/scientists in data analysis and interpretation by the consultant.

4.3 Project Consolidation (duration c.3 years)

a) Continuation of regular cycles of data collection, analysis and routine reporting of results to forest managers.

b) Visits by the consultant for periods of up to 1 month per year to assess progress and to consolidate training.

c) Collaboration with the modeller trained in the EESSTRU Project on the Effects of Alternative Logging Systems on the Sustainability of Forest production in PNG to establish an integrated system of forest inventory and yield prediction for management planning.

5. Inputs

5.1 Inputs by ITTO:

a) Project funds of US$l,628,OOO

b) Participation in evaluation missions at the end of year 2 and year 5.

5.2 Inputs by the Government of Papua New Guinea:

a) Provision of office space, secretarial support and access to existing computer facilities at the Forest Research Institute in Lae.

b) Provision of existing TSI plot network and access to data previously collected from this network.

c) Provision of field labour and facilities to a total of US$95,OOO as detailed in Part IV, Budget.

6. Preparation of Work Plan

Annex 1 presents the work plan for the project. It contains a list of all activities, and shows the beginning and end dates for these activities relative to the start date for the project. Reports are expected at the end of year 2 by which time operational procedures should be fully developed and refined, and at the end of year 5, the final year of project activity.

7. Framework for Effective Staff Participation

The project has been designed to ensure maximum levels of participation by PNG nationals and maximum human resource development for both the Forest Research Institute and the Department of Forests as a whole. Features of this framework include:

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a) The project will be fully executed by the Forest Research Institute and all project personnel will be under the direct supervision of the Director of this Institute.

b) Non PNG staff will be restricted to a single forest inventory specialist who will be employed on a full-time basis for only the first two years of the five year project. The fundamental role of this specialist is to develop data collection and data analysis methodologies relevant to local needs and to train PNG nationals to implement these methodologies for the operational phases of the project.

c) This project like all other EESSTRU and NFAP projects in PNG will be supported by the EESSTRU Project on the "Definition of Indicators of Ecologically, Economically and Socially Sustainable Forest Use in PNG and the Dissemination of Information about them for Forest management and Planning". This project will produce regular newsletters and hold periodic workshops to ensure the maximum possible dissemination of the results from all EESSTRU projects to forest managers, other researchers, training institutions and forest owners in PNG.

8 Development Support Communication

As noted in (c) above, this project will be supported by the EESSTRU Project on the "Definition of Indicators of Ecologically, Economically and Socially Sustainable Forest Use in PNG and the Dissemination of Information about them for Forest Management and Planning" to ensure that both the objectives and findings of the project are made available to concerned publics within and beyond the government sector.

9 Institutional Framework

The project will be implemented by the Forest Research Institute which is located in Lae, a city which also houses the University of Technology which contains a Faculty of Forestry that is responsible for training the majority of Papua New Guinea's graduate foresters. The Forest research Institute is the research arm of the PNG Department of Forests. It has a staff of 50 officers including 17 scientists, 14 professional foresters and 16 technicians and support staff. The Institute also employs a total of 45 labourers. The Institute is housed in a modern research laboratory which was opened in April 1989. The Institute was built with funds provided by the Government of Japan and continues to receive on-going research and equipment support from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

10 Prior Obligations and Prerequisites

The Forest Research Institute has on-going research programmes in the fields of forest botany, forest management research, forest products research and forest protection research. It is also responsible for the maintenance of the National Herbarium and the National Botanic Gardens. It therefore needs additional staff and financial resources if it is to

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meet the expanded research requirements of EESSTRU and the National Forest Action Plan. Provision of the inputs listed in 5. above will be required before the project can be initiated.

11 Possible Future Assistance

With the institutional and human resources development focus of the project, no specific future assistance needs beyond the project life of five years are anticipated.

PART Ill. SCHEDULES OF MONITORING, EVALUATION AND REPORTS

1. Monitoring Reviews

The project will be subject to periodic technical monitoring in accordance with the policies and procedures of ITTO and of the Government of Papua New Guinea.

2. Evaluation

The project will be subject to review and evaluation in accordance with the policies and procedures of ITTO and the Government of Papua New Guinea. The organization, terms of reference and exact timing of the evaluation shall be decided upon between ITTO and the Government of Papua New Guinea. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that the first significant evaluation will take place in the latter half of year 2 of the project when the international consultant has nearly completed the methodogical development phase of the project. The major evaluation will take place at the end of year 5 when results of the field inventory programme have been collated for management planning purposes.

3. Reports

Reports will be produced after each of the above evaluation exercises. The first report should summarize the methodological procedures that have been developed and evaluated and would logically also be capable of acting as a field inventory manual for the PNG Department of Forests. The final report should attempt to summarize the collected inventory data and include sections on the application of this data to management planning, including a section on the application of the data in the predictive models developed in the companion EESSTRU project on the "Effects of Alternative Logging Systems on the Sustainability of Forest Production in PNG".

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PART IV. BUDGET

ANNEX 1 - WORK PLAN

1.1 Initial Project Design (duration c. 1 year)

a) The GOPNG to select a international consultant in forest inventory and locate at the FRI in Lae.

b) The GOPNG and international consultant to select and install two local professional foresters/scientists for each of the following roles:

- supervision of field inventory teams - analysis and interpretation of inventory data.

c) The project team of the international consultant and the project foresters/scientists should review existing TSI procedures and data with a view to improving field data collection, data analysis procedures and data presentation format to facilitate use in management planning.

d) Project team should hold discussions with other FRI staff, staff of other EESSTRU or other NFAP projects to determine data needs including the needs for new data parameters such as socio-economic variables.

e) Project team to select and train additional field labour team to begin field data collection.

1.2 Initial Project Implementation (duration c. 1 year)

a) Begin the regular cycle of field data collection under the supervision of the project field foresters with periodic checks by international consultant.

b) Project data analysis forester to begin immediate processing of incoming field data under supervision of the international consultant.

c) In consultation with international consultant and other senior officers of DOF, the project foresters should critically evaluate data collection and analysis procedures with a view to simplifying and improving the methods.

d) Conduct ITTO review and evaluation mission.

e) Produce joint report for ITTO and DOF including a draft field inventory manual for DOF.

1.3 Project Consolidation Year 1 (duration c. 1 year)

a) Routine field inventory cycle and data analysis under the supervision of the project foresters and the National Coordinator.

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b) Annual visit by international consultant to review progress and supervise preparation of an annual report by the project foresters.

1.4 Project Consolidation Year 2 (duration c. 1 year)

a) Routine field inventory cycle and data analysis under the supervision of the project foresters and the National Coordinator.

b) Annual visit by international consultant to review progress and supervise preparation of an annual summary report for the DOF by the project foresters.

1.5 Project Consolidation Year 3 (duration c. 1 year)

a) Routine field inventory cycle and data analysis under the supervision of the project foresters and the National Coordinator.

b) Annual visit by international consultant to review progress and supervise preparation of an annual summary report for the National Coordinator by the project foresters.

c) Visit by ITTO representatives during period of (b) above to review project performance and outputs.

d) Preparation of final report.

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ANNEX 2 - TIMETABLE

: Year 1: Year 2: Year 3: Year 4: Year 5: Activities

: HI H2: HI H2: HI H2: HI H2: HI H2:

PROJECT DESIGN Select into consultant Select local foresters Review existing procedures Investigate add. data needs Select and train field team

X X X X X

INITIAL PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION Field data collection Data analysis Data interpretation Procedure review ITTO review Report preparation

PROJECT CONSOLIDATION PERIOD: Field data collection Data analysis Data interpretation

X X X

Annual consultant's review Preparation of annual summary report: ITTO Review Preparation of final report :

X X X X

X X X X X X

X X X X X X

X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X

X X

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ANNEX 3 - BUDGET

(All budget figures in US$,OOO)

Item : Year 1: Year 2: Year 3: Year 4: Year 5: Total

A. INTERNATIONAL PERSONNEL 24 months full-time 144 1 month per year in years 3-5

B. LOCAL PERSONNEL Field support forester(2) 26 Data analysis forester(2) 32 8 field labourers 56 @ $7,000/person/year

C. FIELD SUPPORT 150 nights per year for a team of five @ $16 per night

D. EQUIPMENT Vehicle purchase Vehicle running Field equipment Operating costs

E. INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL International personnel @ 1 trip per year

F. PNG FIELD TRAVEL 2 teams 5 people each 20 return air fares @ av cost $200, plus hire 4x4 each trip for: 4 days @ $170/day

G. STUDY TOUR 5 people @ $4,000 airfare plus per diem $120/day for 24 days, plus management fees @$300 for 24 days

24

30 15 20 10

3

54

H. ITTO MONITORING, REVIEW 4 & EVALUATION

I. REPORTS AND TRANSLATION 6

J. CONTINGENCY (10%)

TOTAL 424 LESS PNG CONTRIBUTION 19

144

26 32 56

24

15 15 10

3

54

36

415 29

12

26 32 56

24

15 10 10

3

54

242 19

12

26 32 56

24

15 5

10

3

54

10

10

257 19

12

26 32 56

24

30 15

5 10

3

54

14

16

88

288 36

130 160 280

120

60 75 55 50

15

270

36

28

32

88

385 :1723 19 95

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NET FUNDING SOUGHT FROM ITTO $ 1.628.000

Note: Funding for the internationally recruited inventory specialist is based on current UN rates of $12,OOO/month all inclusive. The local foresters supervising field data collection and data analysis: Grades 2 Officers would have from 3-5 years post-graduate experience while Grade 4 Officers would have more than 5 years post-graduate experience.