BUC’S DIPLOMA IN FORESTRY PROGRAM FAREWELLED AFTER 63 YEARS
It was a bittersweet moment for Papua New Guinea University of Technology’s Bulolo Campus as guests, staff, and officials witnessed the last batch of Diploma graduates graduate on Friday the 2nd of May.
After 63 years of being delivered, the Diploma in Forestry Management program was officially phased out and farewelled.
PNGUoT’s Senior Executive Members Team (SEMT) represented by Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Gary Sali, expressed gratitude and thanked everyone who contributed to the growth of this program since its inception in 1962, under the Bulolo College.
Professor Sali said the diploma program has served its purpose graduating 925 graduates since Bulolo College was integrated into PNGUoT in 1994.
“It’s been 30 years of offering the diploma program and PNGUoT is willing to make changes. Those of us in authority need to make changes to see growth. After a long consultation process, this has come to pass.”
“We are happy to now farewell the diploma program and look further into the growth of the degree program”.
The Diploma in Forestry program was first offered as a short course for field trained officers when the Bulolo College was established in 1962. I was aimed at training mid-level training officers who were able to play supervisory roles in managing the country’s forest resources- both the natural and man-made plantations. During the days of colonial administrations in the 1960’s and 70’s, forestry was identified as an important resource to develop on commercial scales after the gold rush period in the Bulolo Valley.
In 1963, Bulolo College included a two year higher certificate program and started offering the government approved three (3) year diploma in the Forestry Program in 1964. In 1967 the diploma program started emphasizing on botanical collection, timber assessment, harvesting, plantation establishment, and conservation. By 1994, the college was integrated into Papua New Guinea University of Technology (PNGUoT) to enrich its curriculum with science driven and sustainability – focused education, and the name changed to Bulolo University College (BUC). In 2016, the diploma program revived the Forestry Diploma program; and in 2023 the Bachelor in Forest Resource Management (BFRM) Degree program was initiated. This replaced the stand alone Diploma program to focus on sustainable Forest Landscape Management, aligning with global perspectives of resource and environmental management standards and PNG’s Vision 20250.
The Diploma in Forestry at the then PNG Forestry College was very popular in the pacific, Australia and New Zealand which sought to attract students abroad.The major subjects that formed the backbone of this diploma in forestry were; agriculture, forestry management, and forest utilization whilst other subjects were built around those three core subjects. Apart from forestry subjects, there were courses related to safety and office administration were also taught. Later in the mid 1990s, business skills subjects were introduced for foresters to venture into SME businesses.
After 63 years of educating and training foresters through this program, the final batch graduated – marking the end of an era, and paving the way for the future.
This shift from the diploma to the degree program is part of the benchmarking process that PNGUoT is undertaking to improve the quality of education for its non-engineering courses.
The new Bachelor in Forest Resource Management (BFRM) Program, will offer 32 subjects under the Faculty of Natural Resources School of Forestry, and will be delivered at PNGUoT’s Bulolo Campus.
Head of School for Forestry (SoF), Dr Cossey Yosi, thanked PNGUoT for supporting the Bulolo Campus.
“The School of Forestry (SoF) is collaborating with the University of Canterbury to benchmark its programs to meet international standards and one of those changes is farewell to this diploma program”.
PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA) Director for Forest Research Institute, Professor Philip Siaguru said, it’s quite emotional to see this day come pass and he introduced the diploma program to Bulolo Campus in the 1960s.
“We will find a way to bring back this diploma program to cater for others who want to still pursue this program because there are still needs for this”.
A pioneer of the diploma program and now a staff member, Benson Gusamo said, the program was tough and intensive back then when they started school.
“We don’t often go back for holidays as we were on field practical in other provinces with prior arrangements of the provincial forest divisions, mostly involving us in forestry inventory services to assess stocking of forest resources, reforestation and afforestation activities.”
BUC Campus Director, Olo Gebia highlighted the farewell as a historic moment for not just BUC, but PNGUoT and Bulolo township as a whole.
“We are here to farewell the diploma program- a foundation of Forestry education in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Region.”
