No pain, no gain

By FAY DUEGA
Last week, I embarked on a walk through the jungle in Eastern Highlands to understand what foresters’ experience. I quickly found out how physically unprepared I was for the long trek, taking four hours longer to reach my destination.
I SAT down, unable to take another step. At the coaxing of my group members, I eventually adjusted my brain into positive mode and re-started the journey.
The girls kept telling me that this was the final mountain before the landscape would plateau off, but the climb seemed endless. The mountains seemed to go up, and up, and up. These are not hills, mind you.
As we ‘progressed’ I began to appreciate the work of foresters. This is their daily grind and I’ve not heard them complain about it. I often hear them talk about the surveys they do, walking the jungles of Papua New Guinea, spending days, weeks and even months to know the exact forest area. Things sounded much easier then.
Struggling alone in the forest, my mind wandered to whether the dense canopy held any ‘spirits’. What would they do to me? Anyway, God is good and ensured my safety, and that of those in the team.
At around 3:30pm, we met a woman who was returning to Matausa. She was one of 72 villagers who had helped to carry equipment and supplies.
As we neared the campsite, the track became very muddy. I usually avoid mud where I can as I imagine worms and other kinds of muck. But not this time. While the others, in boots, meandered their way around the puddles, I walked straight through it, barefoot. I was on a mission to reach the camp site at Nakaiesega as quickly as possible. While my legs could still move.
After four and half hours, the other members of my team pointed to smoke coming out from somewhere, saying that’s where the campsite is. We were now close, they said.
The camp finally came into sight at around 5:30pm, after five long hours of walking. What a relief!
Team One guys were already cooking dinner of cabbage, carrots, tinned fish and rice. The village guides were given lamb flaps. They cooked these, wrapped in edible green leaves, over hot stones to appease the spirits so we could roam freely in their forest.
A short briefing ensued after dinner with John Aba, one of the foresters explaining that the campsite was now only 700 metres away from the worksite.
The unfamiliar cold of the night made our sleeping bags and mats very welcoming. Up there in the mountains, the days are shorter.
Night falls quickly and the sun rises later. At around 4am, I couldn’t go back to sleep even though I tried. Two hours later, I was the first to move around the campsite. After finding someone to boil the kettle over an open fire, I washed the dirty dishes from the previous night.
Breakfast consisted of packet of biscuit, with either a cup of hot tea or coffee. After breakfast, the team began preparing equipment to go into the field, sorry, more like jungle.
The morning air was very cold and mist-like vapour was coming out of our mouths when we spoke. The environment around us was breathtaking and beautiful. The peaceful serenity made our surroundings look majestic.
By 10am, the ‘field team’ headed to work. Soon after, we began our journey back to Matausa.
The return trip, however, seemed faster. My leg muscles were now aching badly and the mostly-downhill trek didn’t do any good as I had to use my legs as brakes.
Again, I was the slowest of the pack. Our guide Mata and another of his village wantoks stayed with me for some time. Mata was very encouraging, telling me to take my time and to rest as much as possible. Sometime into the journey, the other guy left us to join our other friends who were already way in front.
I ended up walking the same five hours back. Looking back, I’m glad I did the walk. I regret not going out to the field with the others but I look forward to the next opportunity to write about the life of foresters, and especially the difficulties they face in the process of carrying out their duties.
The forest inventory work will go nationwide. From Eastern Highlands, national forest inventory teams will move to Western Highlands, Jiwaka, Chimbu,and then on to Enga.
Due to the general election, Hela and Southern Highlands will not be covered in this round. From the Highlands region, the teams will move to Momase, New Guinea Islands and Southern region. All work is hoped to be completed by 2020.
Forest inventories were traditionally conducted for estimating harvestable timber volume only.
This multi-purpose cataloguing, however, will also account for minor forest products, carbon stock, soil characteristics, biodiversity in both flora and fauna, and socio economic information of PNG’s forests.

• Fay Duega is public relations
  officer at PNGFA.