Tufi's eco-tourism potential

Jetty at Sinapa built by local people.-pictures courtesy of DOUG ROBBINS
Eugenia Graydon from Uiaku village beating tapa
Bridge between Uiaku and Ganjiga villages over Vayova village
Women at Kewansasaf village listening to Doug Robbins

Afternoon at Airara village

Canoes at Sinapa village
Applying sand on mats at Sinapa village
Meeting at Sinapa village

Unfinished tapa bags at Uiaku village

Unfinished tapa bags at Uiaku village
Tapa products at Uiaku village
Tapa hats at Uiaku village

A woman dying tapa at Uiaku village

Woman with bags at Uiaku village

Ganjiga village

Doug Robbins with Josephine and Charlies Await at Fofo village
Guesthouse at Iu-ai-iu village
Tom and Blanchley Maroroa in front of their guesthouse at Awanen

Woman at Sarad station, Wanigela

Koreaf village

Tufi dancers

Pottery at Koreaf village

Mat making at Koreaf village

Arriving at Guruguru village along the Totore River

Lake with Mt Victoria in the background

Sunset over Guruguru Lakes

Crocodiles at Guruguru village

By MALUM NALU

Coming back to Collingwood Bay in Tufi, Northern province, is for Australian Doug Robbins like arriving at a place he’d never quite left.
Robbins, you see, served as a kiap (patrol officer) in the then Northern district from 1969-1973, two of those years at Tufi, hence has extensive general knowledge of it pre-independence.
Now aged 66, Robbins was in the country from April 9 to June 4, carrying out an eco-tourism business study for Australian Business Volunteers.
Northern province, particularly Tufi, is close to his heart and he takes to the job with gusto.
Before leaving for Australia, Robbins has a meeting with me, during which he talks about the tremendous eco-tourism possibilities for Northern province and shows some of the hundreds of photographs he has taken.
“I was in Papua New Guinea as a patrol officer from 1969-1973,” he tells me.
“Two of those years, I was stationed at Tufi.
“Tufi and Safia were my favorite districts.
“I did a lot of patrols out of Safia.”
During the time that Robbins was in the country, he spent three weeks - from April 16 to May 6 - doing the hard yards on his former kiap stomping grounds.
He visited numerous villages including Kofure, Uiaku, Kewansasap, Gegerau, Reaga, Airara, Sinapa, Ganjiga, Iu-ai-iu, Fofo, Awanen, Tufi station, Wayug, Sarad station (Wanigela), Naukwate, Koreaf, Tumari, Guruguru, Yogoru and Erika.
“We were received very enthusiastically by the communities, who are all in favour of becoming involved in eco-tourism,” he elaborates, “whether that is guesthouses, homestays as well as trekking.
“Collingwood bay was the main target for the assignment.
“We also visited parts of the Cape Nelson area and Lower Musa.
“The other satisfying thing for me was the enthusiasm, not only at the village level, but right up to higher levels.”
Robbins, in a report he has compiled for ABV, talks highly about the eco-tourism possibilities for Nothern province.
“Tufi district as a whole is virtually undisturbed and rich in natural and cultural attractions ideal for eco-tourism,” he writes.
“Collingwood Bay has been recognised since 100 years before independence as scenically attractive.
“Lower Musa has a much more-remote wilderness feeling.
“Popondetta has uninteresting groves of palm oil and a lot of seemingly-idle open country.
“Driving through it on Thursday, May 6, after three weeks in the field, I asked why, therefore, would distant Collingwood Bay need to be targeted for oil palm blocks.
“It begs the question: is it the timber that is the real and only prize?’
Semi-formal discussions with the village chiefs and community-based organisation committees and other community members were held in various Collingwood Bay village shelters starting from Kewansasap at the southern end of Northern province, and around Cape Nelson to the Lower Musa.
Women were noticeably in attendance, asking questions and expressing opinions.
“We learnt on our return to Uiaku from Sinapa on Saturday, April 24, that the women had requested an evening audience which we had around a fire in the village square,” Robbins notes.
“About 20 women raised important issues such as the high cost of travelling to Popondetta to sell tapa products, only to return with their earnings being used up in repaying monies borrowed for the fares.
“They want a tank for water supply, training for tour guides and, in their words, ‘all things relating to hospitality’.”
Generally, there are two types of eco-experiences available in the district: there are a number of good through walks (treks) including wartime routes and the other is ‘stationery’ village-stays with shorter trips to attractions.
Natural: “Among natural features are the high mountain backdrops, forests, a rare palm, orchids, waterfalls, hot springs, lakes, lagoons, rivers, birds including one with toxic feathers, butterflies, tree kangaroos, bandicoot, crocodiles, mangroves (with boardwalks proposed for better appreciation, fish and coral.
“Prof John Cox of the University of Hawaii tourism facility visited Tufi late 1971 at the invitation of the then pre-independence government to study the tourism facility in the area.
“He concluded that the scenery, together with the beaches, is by far the best in the Pacific.”
Cultural: “Traditional village housing, hunting, sago-processing and food from the gardens and forest, fish, mud crabs, prawns and crayfish from the waters; canoe-making, canoeing and rafting; arts and crafts including making tapa cloth and various tapa products, clay pots and ornaments, pandanus mats and bags, wooden objects and shell necklaces; customs, facial tattoos, traditional songs, dance and costumes; legends, stories, sacred sites and stone writings of unknown origin; and language translators at Ganjiga and Erika.”
History: “Christian missions, colonial administration, wartime involving Australian and American troops directly connected with the Papuan/Kokoda campaign, including allied camps, airstrips and aircraft crashes, Japanese burial sites and the substantial recruitment of local men as carriers on the Kokoda Trail (Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels).
“Of significance is the arrival of the very first ‘tourists’ (sailors) as long ago as 100 years before the country’s independence.
“Viewing the full length of Cape Nelson from the southern end of Collingwood Bay, their world-travelled captain wrote that ‘altogether the features of this lofty promontory are so striking’ that he ‘resolved to honour them with great names’.
“Furthermore, the resources acquired there (firewood) they paid with axes, mirrors and turkey red cloth (money being of no use to the inhabitants).
“On another occasion, the local made it clear that these intruders were not welcome, hence then naming of Spear Point.”
Many people contributed to Robbins’ successful trip including Cathy Starling and Rodela Demo of ABV, Adelbert Gangai and Andrew Yabara of Oro community Environmental Action Network (OCEAN), Gideon Ifoki Namii of Collingwood Bay Conservation and Development Association (CCADA), community-based organisations, clan chiefs, and Damien Ase, Marjorie Warisaihor and staff at the Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights (CELCOR).
Coincidentally, Delbert Gangai’s late father, Randolph, used to be an interpreter for Robbins during his kiap days.
Last year, when Robbins visited Tufi, he was asked by CELCOR to carry out the study, given his extensive experience as a kiap.
‘When Doug (Robbins) got to Australia, he got in touch with CELCOR and that’s how it all came about,” Gangai reveals.
“We engaged him under ABV.
“The report has raised a lot of excitement in the communities.
“We’ve already put together a sample walk.
“Doug has recommended a lot of training.
“We want to ensure that ownership remains with the people.”