No. 10 General Report on Lands of the Buna–Kokoda Area, Territory of Papua and New Guinea

Abstract

The Buna–Kokoda area of ~7,000 km² in eastern Papua extends from sea level to the Mt Lamington volcano at 1,600 m including the northern and western half of Oro Province. This survey, the first by CSIRO of natural resources in Papua New Guinea, was undertaken in 1953. It overcame many difficulties — mapping was incomplete and often unreliable, vertical aerial photography was incomplete and variable in quality and scale, and available oblique photography was of marginal value. Traverses were carried out by jeep, boat or canoe and on foot.

Completion and publication was delayed until 1964 by which time a base map had been prepared from improved imagery. No changes to the original mapping were required except for minor alterations in the mountainous western area.

The survey identified 30 land systems ranging from 26 km² to 1200 km² and the report provides tabular information describing the land systems and their 84 land units including area, distribution, geology, geomorphology, soils, vegetation and land class. Block diagrams are provided except for 14 systems with low relief.

The land capability assessment ranges from Class I (high with negligible limitations to cultivation) to Class VIII (very low or nil except for watershed protection). About 18% of the area was found to be in land systems with high to moderately high agricultural potential, 20% moderate and 62% low to nil.

Individual chapters describe:

1. Climate — climatic controls and characteristics related to plant growth
2. Geology — stratigraphy, structure and geological history
3. Geomorphology — regions, units and sub-units and morphogenesis
4. Soils — soil families and relationships to land systems
5. Vegetation — major formations, included associations and their distribution in land systems
6. Land Use Potential — methods and classification used and distribution of land-use groups in relation to land systems

Map 1 — Lands of the Buna–Kokoda area, Territory of Papua and New Guinea. One sheet: Geology, Geomorphology, and Land Systems. Scale 1:250,000. With insets: Physical Regions by SJ Paterson; Regional Land Use Potential by HA Haantjens; Lamington Land System, distribution of units by HA Haantjens and SJ Paterson; Traverses of team and sampling sites. CSIRO Land Research Series No. 10, 1964.

Editor's Note: The survey took place shortly after Mt Lamington erupted with 3,000 casualties.