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Historical Records of Australian Science Historical Records of Australian Science Society
The history of science, pure and applied, in Australia, New Zealand and the southwest Pacific
RESEARCH ARTICLE

CSIRO and land research in Papua New Guinea 1950–2000: part 1: pre-Independence

Gael Keig A I , Robin L. Hide B , Susan M. Cuddy C , Heinz Buettikofer D , Jennifer A. Bellamy E , Pieter Bleeker F , David Freyne G and John McAlpine H
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Honorary Fellow, CSIRO Land and Water, Black Mountain, ACT 2601, Australia.

B Honorary Senior Lecturer, School of Culture, History and Language, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

C CSIRO Land and Water, Black Mountain, ACT 2601, Australia.

D Formerly CSIRO Land and Water, Black Mountain, ACT 2601, Australia.

E Honorary Senior Fellow, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia; formerly CSIRO Division of Water and Land Resources, Black Mountain, ACT 2601, Australia.

F Formerly CSIRO Division of Water and Land Resources, Black Mountain, ACT 2601, Australia.

G Formerly Chief Land Utilization Officer, Department of Agriculture and Livestock, Papua New Guinea.

H Formerly CSIRO Division of Water and Land Resources—deceased author.

I Corresponding author. Email: gael.keig@gmail.com

Historical Records of Australian Science 30(2) 83-99 https://doi.org/10.1071/HR18019
Published: 25 January 2019

Abstract

During the period 1953–69, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) conducted fourteen integrated land resource surveys in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea with the aim of identifying areas suitable for accelerated development. The resulting reconnaissance-level regional survey reports and maps provided extensive baseline information for national development planning. Related disciplinary publications expanded scientific knowledge of land resources and resource use in the wet tropics more generally. Substantial botanical collections carried out during the surveys contributed to building the Papua New Guinea (PNG) national collection at the Lae Herbarium and to the establishment of what is now the Australian National Herbarium.


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