No. 31 Land Resources of the Vanimo Area, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

The Vanimo survey covered an area of ~5,520 km² in the extreme northwest corner of Sandaun Province with altitude ranging from sea level to 1,830 m in five major physiographic regions.

The report continues the major developments in methods of landscape classification and description from the Aitape–Ambunti report (No. 30). The 39 land systems range from 8 km² to 593 km² in eight groups based on geomorphic characteristics, but with no individual identification and description of land units. A synoptic description is provided for landform, terrain parameters, streams and drainage, geology, vegetation, soils, population and land use, and forest resources, with agricultural and engineering assessments.

The report provides mapped and captioned aerial photo pairs to illustrate each land system.

Individual disciplinary chapters describe:

1. Climate — principal features and controls; general climatic characteristics; and soil moisture regimes
2. Geology and Geomorphology — rock type and its relation to landforms and a framework of physiographic regions; stratigraphy and structure; and geological and geomorphic history and processes
3. Soils — soil classification and pedology of soil classes with ratings for physical, chemical and engineering properties important to land use; and distribution of classes in land systems
4. Ecology and Vegetation Types — characteristics of eleven major types and their sub-types, and their ecology and distribution
5. Forest Resources — classification of productivity types and summary of extent, stocking rates and access categories; descriptions of forest types and the occurrence of significant tree species

Aspects of population, land use and land capability are summarised in a general descriptive chapter near the beginning the report. An appendix explains terms used in the land system descriptions.

Map 1 — Land Systems and Agricultural Land Use Capability of the Vanimo area, Papua New Guinea. Two maps on sheet, each scale 1:250,000: Land Systems by E Löffler, PC Heyligers, HA Haantjens and JC Saunders; Agricultural Land Use Capability by HA Haantjens. CSIRO Land Research Series No. 31, 1972.

Map 2 — Vegetation and Forest Resources of the Vanimo area, Papua New Guinea. Two maps on sheet, each scale 1:250,000: Vegetation by PC Heyligers; Forest Resources by JC Saunders. CSIRO Land Research Series No. 31, 1972.

Editor's Note: The population of about 6,400 at the time of the survey had approximately trebled by 2011.