Background
Acknowledgements
Outputs
Information and resources
Photo gallery
Background
The PNG Government formulated the National Strategies for Downstream Processing of Forest Products (2014 draft) with the view to encourage and promote domestic wood processing while phasing out log export over time, thereby building a sector that is sustainable and highly profitable. However, there are many research and structural challenges, constraints and opportunities (at Government, industry, community, and landowner levels) which need to be addressed to support the development of competitive value-added wood industries.
To address these challenges, ACIAR project FST/2012/092 aimed to increase the contribution that utilisation of forest resources makes to national and local economies, including landowners and processors, through the development of domestic value-added wood processing methods. The project was built upon the achievements of a previous project, "Increasing downstream value adding in PNG's forest and wood products industry" (FST/2006/120), which focussed on building capacity of wood science and wood processing research and training. I hope you enjoy reading about our achievements.
Prof. Barbara Ozarska, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Acknowledgements
The project was financed by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) with support from the PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA). Project activities were led by the University of Melbourne with in-country support from the PNGFA in Port Moresby and the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Lae.
Project activities were implemented in collaboration with another ACIAR project: Development of durable engineered wood products in PNG and Australia (led by the Queensland Government's Department of Agriculture and Fisheries). Both projects were guided by a single Project Steering Committee, which included the following partner organisations:
- Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, Australia
- Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Brisbane, Australia
- Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia, Brisbane, Australia
- Forest Research Institute, Lae, Papua New Guinea
- Pacific Island Projects, Rabaul, Papua New Guinea
- PNG Forest Authority, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
- PNG Forest Industries Association, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
- PNG University of Technology, Lae, Papua New Guinea
- Timber and Forestry Training College, Lae, Papua New Guinea
- University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Click here for more information about the project's multidisciplinary research team.
Outputs
The overall aim of the project was to increase the contribution that utilisation of forest resources makes to national and local economies, including landowners and processors, through the development of domestic value-added wood processing methods. The principal research outputs are:
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Knowledge of wood properties and processing characteristics of PNG timbers has been enhanced through the development of a wood database and technical materials for 26 PNG timber species from secondary and plantation forests. The research findings should reduce pressures on native old growth forests, and assist timber companies to adjust the processing and manufacturing methods when utilising younger timbers.
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A viable system has been designed for enhancing value-added wood processing though the establishment of a Central Processing Unit (CPU) at the Timber and Forestry Training College (TFTC) in Lae. This operation would enable landowners to increase their profit by selling timber for further processing and becoming more involved in value-adding processes.
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Several factors have been identified which are considered to impede growth in transitioning of PNG forest industry to enhanced domestic downstream processing. Also, several actions were suggested which could assist in creating a conducive environment for potentially capturing additional value, including enhanced downstream processing of PNG's forest resources.
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Local capacity has been enhanced in wood science, wood processing, manufacturing and waste utilisation; mainly through collaborative research and the development of strong network linkages between partner organisations representing education, research, training and the industry.
Information and resources
The project communications strategy involved targeted meetings, seminars and workshops with timber industry stakeholders in Lae and Port Moresby, together with broadscale information dissemination activities that link up directly with wood processors, public sector service providers, domestic and overseas markets.The project publications listed below are freely available for viewing and downloading.
Project news
Project newsletter #1- Project newsletter #2
- Project newsletter #3
- Project newsletter #4
- Project newsletter #5
- Project newsletter #6
- Project newsletter #7
- Timber and Forestry eNews #555 (pages 12-13)
Research publications
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Belleville B, Lancelot K, Galore E, Ozarska, B (2020) Assessment of physical and mechanical properties of Papua New Guinea timber species. Maderas Ciencia y Tecnologia 22(1):3-12.
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Belleville B, Iru R, Tsiritsi C, Ozarska B (2020) Planing characteristics of Papua New Guinea timber species from plantations and regrowth forests. European Journal of Wood and Wood Products 78(2):343-349.
Research presentations
Research reports:
Operational guidelines and standards:
Wood processors tool kit
The project produced a set of multi-media resources for the public and private sectors to improve the uptake and impact of the project's research outputs. These resources are freely available from the Wood Processors Tool Kit that is hosted on the Resources section of this website. They include:
Factsheets
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Wood Waste (Tips)
Checklists
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Wood Finishing (Operator)
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Wood Finishing (Quality controller)
Photo gallery
12 March-20 April 2018: Two PNG researchers, Elaine Galore of TFTC and Kilva Lancelot of PNG FRI, spent four weeks at the University of Melbourne undertaking training on testing gluing characteristics of PNG timbers. They were trained by Dr Benoit Belleville on how to prepare samples for testing, conduct the tests and analyse results. As the production of laminated wood and veneer products is increasing in PNG their skills will be of a great value as they will be confident to assess gluing characteristics of different species and define which glues are suitable for various service conditions (Photo Credit: Benoit Belleville).
24 April 2018: Project partners attending he fourth joint steering comittee meeting at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Lae.
21-29 March 2018: The Crawford Fund supported an intensive one-week training course "Advanced technologies in wood processing and manufacturing of high-quality timber products" for eight delegates from PNG institutions involved in the project. The trainees represented the following sectors: education (PNG UniTech), research (PNG FRI), training (PNG TFTC) and government (PNG FA). Two females were involved in the training which was organised by the University of Melbourne. The training was structured to provide the participants with both theoretical and practical knowledge of advanced wood processing and manufacturing technologies. Feedback from the participants indicates that the training course has exceeded their expectation (Photo Credit: Barbara Ozarska).
"The training has been an eye opener after seeing the operations of timber industries and as well as veneer companies. With the assistance of ACIAR, the PNG government should collaborate with timber industries and stakeholders to work out a way to adopt the practices used in Australia to develop downstream wood processing in PNG"
Nov. 2017-Jan. 2018: A Design Competition was initiated with the aim of encouraging TFTC students and teachers to design portable folded furniture with special joints which could be used by women and children in the villages. Seven designs were submitted of which 3 designs were awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes. Prototypes of the awarded products have been made (see photos on left and right). A program for transferring the skills on how to produce the furniture by rural village people is being developed.
The Design Competition is the result of a collaboration with ACIAR project ASEM/2010/052 "Examining women's business acumen in PNG: Working with women smallholders in horticulture" led by Prof. Barbara Pamphilon from The University of Canberra. The project has been working with remote villages in New Ireland (and other locations) and found that often the women groups don't have any tables or stools which would be used during their planning activities or for children to use for homework activities (Photo Credit: Barbara Ozarska).
28 August 2017: Project partners attending the third joint steering comittee meeting at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Lae.
21 April 2017: Project research team presenting their achievements to-date for discussion at the Gateway Hotel in Port Moresby.
The Forest Research Institute's new solar kiln, autoclave and experimental kiln dryer (left to tight)
11 February 2017: Project partners concluding the proect's monitoring and evaluation workshop.
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Project focus area: Communication, learning and knowledge building (CLKB)