‘Negligence’ ruins botanical gardens

Recent media coverage on the status of the National Botanical Gardens in Lae city is a sad affair. This is an important national asset that has been destroyed by the negligence of those responsible.
The Botanical Gardens was established after the Second World War in the 1940s by early botanists who collected plant samples throughout the country for the purpose of conserving the nation’s genetic diversity and for further scientific research.
This was successfully managed by the then Department of Forests during the colonial era and after independence.
The importance of the Botanical Gardens was ignored after the Department of Forests became an authority in the early 1990s and decided to disown it because it was a liability financially, under a misguided leadership.
The Botanical Gardens was a branch of the PNG Forest Research Institute and this was abolished with the setting up of a Forest Products Research Branch that I had opposed during a review of the institute in 1994.
The PNG Forest Research Institute has since deteriorated like the Botanical Gardens but the PNG Forest Authority has turned a blind eye to this situation.
As a member of the Forest Research Advisory Committee of the National Forest Board, we have worked hard to revive the Institute by engaging ACIAR to assist in a review but all our time and efforts have gone unnoticed.
I would like to congratulate the Minister for Forests Belden Namah for the confirmation of your commitment to fix the Botanical Gardens.
The FRAC, in a review of the Institute presented to the NFB in 2006/2007, gave prominence to the continued development and maintenance of the National Botanical Gardens under the Forest Biodiversity Programme.
The authority with all its professional foresters understands the importance of the PNG Forest Research Institute and the National Botanical Garden but protect their own little empire for selfish reasons.
Botanical Gardens throughout the world like Kew in London and Missouri in the United States are important assets to their respective countries not only for aesthetic values but more importantly, for scientific research.
I would like to remind the Minister that the Botanical Gardens was once managed by qualified personnel, many of whom are no longer employed, and the NFB should consider and approve the current proposal for reorganisation to ensure that the restoration programme is better managed.
I do not agree in contracting a professional group to do the job because the institute has qualified professionals who have managed this garden in the past. The garden was once maintained by nearly 60-70 employees but it now only has 10 employees and no operational funding.
Finally, I would like to point out that the Botanical Garden is not Lae Botanical Gardens but has been renamed, National Botanical Gardens.
Your initiative to have the PNG Forest Authority take full responsibility shows that you are a man with clear vision and wisdom.

Chawi Konabe
Former PNG FRI Administrator.