Brazil
France
Germany, federal republic
Hong Kong
India
Iraq
Libya
Nepal
New Zealand
Nigeria
Northern Rhodesia
Syria
United Kingdom
United States of America
It is reported that, having already sold 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of virgin land in the Brazilian interior to foreign investors for development, a private company has put a further 30,000 hectares (75,000 acres) much of it high forest - on the market. Sales of this land are claimed to be progressing well because the projected Pan-American highway passes through the area and will, in fact, be vital, both from the point of view of sending out the timber felled on the land purchased and also insofar as any possible agricultural development is concerned. The layout of secondary roads and exploitation of the timber are being planned in relation to the progress being made with the highway.
Two publications have recently been received by the editor. Techniques et matériels d'exploitation forestière by Jean Gadant (Editions: Ecole forestière de Meymac, Corrèze, France, 1961) will be of interest to forest owners and those engaged in logging operations, and also useful in schools and training institutions; Dendométrie by J. Pardé, ingénieur des eaux et forêts (Editions de l'Ecole nationale des eaux et forêts, Nancy, 13.00 F). This work takes stock of the possibilities offered by this science at the present moment to research workers and technicians. It fills a gap in the series of manuals in French on forestry techniques.
Der Forstpflanzgarten (The forest nursery) by H. Rupf, S. Schönhar and M. Zeyher (2nd edition, B.L.V. Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich, Bonn, Vienna, 1961, 242 p. illustr., DM 24) is a completely revised edition, ten years after first publication, of an essentially practical handbook for forest nurserymen. The many attractive, productive forest nurseries which impress the forester visiting Baden-Württemberg are mirrored in this informative book.
In co-operation with FAO, the German Foundation for Developing Countries organized its second seminar on forestry development from 29 July - 31 August 1962, this time for Latin America. Thirty participants from the following 19 countries were invited: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, El Salvador, Uruguay and Venezuela. Count von der Recke from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry, Professor J. Weck, Director of the Federal Forest Institute, P. Niemeyer of the Foundation and E. Kalkinnen, FAO Regional Forestry Officer for Latin America, were in charge of the seminar.
The tours included visits to natural forests, plantations, the Reinbek research institute, industries and timber importers. The final part of the seminar was devoted to lectures and discussions on a variety of topics including forestry and forest industries in Latin America, land-use planning, agrarian reform and colonization, surveying, statistics, natural forest types in Latin America, and the organization of forest administrations and education. A summary of the lectures is available from the German Foundation for Developing Countries, Villa Borsig, Reiherwerder, Berlin-Tegel, Federal Republic of Germany.
In opening the sixth session of FAO's Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission, the Governor of Hong Kong noted that the FAO Forestry and Forest Products Division was the first to use regional commissions to examine its many problems. In addition to the Forestry Commission for Asia, there were others for Europe, Latin America, the Near East, North America, and, most recent of all,, Africa.
"The Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission," he said, "has now been in existence for some 12 years and has had its previous sessions in Thailand, Malaya, Japan, Indonesia and India. I am afraid that Hong Kong is microcosmic in terms of the great forests of Asia but at least in our community, with its dense population, its intensively developed industrial economy and its absolute dependence on markets for its manufactured goods, we can illustrate clearly with the great compression of detail of a miniature, the one situation on which forestry can make its impact.
"Our first aim with the use of forests is to protect our critical water supplies; our preoccupation must be with the catchment areas in the hills round our existing reservoirs and round those we are planning. Our second concern is to protect such land as we can put aside for agriculture, and this represents only about 13 percent of the total area of Hong Kong, which is less than 400 square miles. You will be able to see while you are here what land means to us in relation to a population of 4,250,000 people, and you also will note that, in those areas where urban expansion is not in progress, the soils on our hills are generally poor and thin. Taken in conjunction with the dry winters and frequent grass fires, our poor soil makes the work of the forester a difficult one.
"Conversion into forest developed in Hong Kong shortly after the turn of the century and, by the later 1930s, it could be claimed that there was evidence of progress. But during the second world war, with virtually no imports of fuelwood, timber in quantity was stripped from our hillsides leaving many of those sparsely covered. Nevertheless, in spite of this serious setback and as a result of intensive planting in recent years, we have been able to develop and extend forestry plantations in the New Territories, so that they are now above the prewar level. Much, however, remains for us to do.
"Because of the size of our population and because of our compulsive concentration on industrial development, Hong Kong inevitably is and will continue to be primarily an importer of timber. We estimate the value of the forest products imported in each of the last two years to be HK$200 million.1 World need for wood and wood products is mounting steadily, while the forms in which people are using them, and the kinds of timber most in demand are changing constantly. These factors are forcing attention on species trials and the nurture of plantations in place of the management of natural forests.
1 US $ 1.00 = HK $ 5.70
"The search for species suitable for afforestation must be vigorously continued if the changing and increasing demand is to be met; the fact that a single issue of a single newspaper may use the timber of ten acres of forest makes it obvious that the pressure of modern needs and habits on forestry is immense."
To mark the celebration of the centenary of forestry in India (18611961) two interesting volumes have been issued under the title 100 years of Indian forestry. The first is a souvenir volume of messages of congratulation and encouragement, the second describes the forests of the country and is accompanied by a handbook of Indian forest statistics and a dossier of sixteen maps.
Another valuable work of reference is represented by Volume 4 of Professor E. P. Stebbing's The forests of India, being the history from 1925 to 1947 of the forests now in Burma, India and Pakistan (Oxford University Press, 1962, xvi + 485 p., illustrated 70s.) Sir Harry Champion and F. C. Osmaston edited and produced this final volume in the series after Professor Stebbing's death, completing the story up to the time of the establishment of the three countries as independent nations.
· A report to FAO states that, in the mountains of Iraq, only the scattered stands of Pinus brutia of the Dohuk district may be regarded as high forest in the accepted sense of the term. These pine forests are at present strictly protected and there is a ban on all fellings.
The natural oak forest, on the other hand, which makes up the bulk of the wooded lands in the mountains is worked as coppice, the trees being cut by the local population for firewood and charcoal or pollarded for livestock fodder or for the construction of summer huts and 'kepras'. These forms of 'utilization' continue as an ancient right of usage which the Forest Service is not yet in a position to control.
A scheme has been worked out for a more rational and systematic utilization of the oak forests for charcoal production. A start was made in carrying out this scheme, and some 400 tons of charcoal were produced at a profit of ID 3,000 around the Derbandi-Khan reservoir where the area will be flooded, but a major project has not yet been adopted.
The Ministry of Planning has decided to finance the construction of a rayon mill at Hindiya (estimated consumption is about 5,000 tons of imported chemical pulp annually), and at Basra a paper and pulp industry using phragmites reeds as raw material. This mill when in operation is expected to have an initial capacity of 20,000 tons of paper, later increasing to 40,000 tons, eventually supplying most of the country's needs in paper of all kinds with the except ion of mechanical pulp for newsprint, which must continue to be imported until such time in the future as the local plantations of poplars expand sufficiently to justify a wood pulp industry.
The Government is also pushing ahead with its policy of developing technical and vocational training centers to ensure a supply of managerial and artisan personnel to meet the needs of the expanding industrialization of the country. Recently, an agreement was signed with the United Nations to establish a technical training center in Bagdad.
The emphasis in forest research work is on ad hoc research, mainly relating to the improvement of the natural forests and development of irrigated plantations in the lowlands.
The establishment of laboratory facilities at the Forest Research Institute at Arbil is in progress. A forest research program has been drawn up, with the help of FAO experts, covering the whole field of forestry, but silvicultural problems are being given priority.
Experiments are in progress along the following lines:
(a) establishment of arboreta and species trials with the aim of finding as many exotic tree species as possible, suitable for Iraqui conditions;
(b) improvement of the natural Pinus brutia forest through encouraging natural regeneration;
(c) irrigation methods and frequencies;
(d) weed control in nurseries and irrigated plantations;
(e) techniques for establishing non irrigated plantations in the rain fed zone of the north;
(f) establishment of mixed plantations;
(g) increment and yield studies in different species.
· A report to the Near East Forestry Commission relates that certain new techniques in raising seedlings in nurseries and in afforestation have been successfully applied. Perhaps the most important development is the prior preparation of marginal and steppe land for planting. Deep plowing by Ferguson 65 tractor and heavy disk plow was first tried on an experimental scale during the 1957/58 season. The results of this experiment were so marked that since then the method has been adopted on an increasing scale and in a year's time it is hoped it will be possible to prepare all land in this way before planting.
Another development recorded is the success of private planting. Seedlings for this extensive program are supplied by the Forest Department at low cost and are transported to the distribution points free.
· The Forest Act which came into force in December 1961 provided wide powers for the proper protection and management of the forests of Nepal, and a beginning has been made by the Forest Department in the enforcement of the provisions. It is hoped that it will be possible gradually to put an end to the indiscriminate destruction of forest and trees in the mountainous areas of the country, which has been going on for centuries, and to introduce proper forest management, particularly in the very valuable sal (Shorea robusta) forests of the Terai. Forests constitute one of the chief natural resources of Nepal, and already earn a large proportion of its revenue. A recent government statement of forest policy accepts the principle of management of the forests on the basis of sustained yield.
The Forest Department is part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests and has a staff of 46 gazetted officers under the Chief Conservator of Forests, who is at present provided by the United Nations under its Program for the provision of Operational, Executive and Administrative Personnel (OPEX).
Most of the gazetted officers have received their forestry training at the Indian Forest College at Dehra Dun, and the training of rangers and foresters is carried out at the Nepal Forest Institute at Bhimphedi. The Indian Aid Mission to Nepal is constructing a new forest institute at Hetaura, which is situated in the sal (Shorea robusta) forests in the Rapti valley, south of Katmandu. It is hoped also to develop a forest research station at Hetaura at a later date.
A forest resources survey has been approved by the United States Aid Mission to Nepal, to be carried out in the period 1962-1964, as a basis for a preinvestment survey to be completed by 1967. A program is now being planned by an air-survey expert from the United States Forest Service, and priority will be given to the commercially valuable sal forests of the Terai, followed by the pine forests of west Nepal. The purpose of this survey is to assess the extent and growing stock of these forests and to enable the establishment of properly organized forest industries such as sawmills, plywood factories and pulp and paper factories. At present there are two sawmills, four match factories and one cutch factory in Nepal, the sawmills using mainly sal, while the match factories use semal (Salmalia malabaricum). The cutch factory uses Acacia catechu.
Earlier this year the Indian Aid Mission, in collaboration with the Forest Department, sent four working plan groups into the field under the direction of a senior officer of the Indian Forest Service. Three groups carried out stock-mapping in an extensive ares of sal forest, while the fourth carried out reconnaissance work in the sal forests of the Rapti valley.
In the Katmandu valley, where progressive denudation of the surrounding hills over many years has resulted in an extremely critical firewood shortage, plans are being made for extensive reforestation measures and initial planting has already been begun. At the same time efforts are being made to secure adequate protection of the remaining forests and to ensure proper control of cutting of trees for the supply of firewood to Katmandu. Measures to alleviate the firewood shortage include the transport of sal branch wood from Hetaura, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) by road from Katmandu, and oak firewood from Simbhanjang, about 77 kilometers (48 miles) from Katmandu.
The main function of the Wild Life Management Division is the protection of the great Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) which are found in the Chitawan district in the Rapti valley. Elsewhere, this rhinoceros is only found in one locality in Assam, and in very small numbers in one locality in Bengal. Its adequate protection in Nepal is therefore imperative, in view of its very restricted occurrence. Efforts in dealing with poachers this year have met with considerable success. In addition to the great Indian rhinoceros, Nepal possesses an extremely interesting fauna which is an important asset to the country, and whose preservation is naturally of equal importance.
A forest development plan, part of Nepal's second three-year plan, came into operation in July 1902, and this provides finance for the various activities described in this note and already initiated. The next three years should therefore see very considerable progress in all aspects of forestry in Nepal.
· The government has agreed to the building of an industrial timber training center and a new forest products research laboratory at Rotorua. The training center will comprise workshops, and courses will be conducted in wood technology, kiln drying, grading and saw-doctoring, woodwork machining and tool maintenance. Men selected by the timber industry will be given a thorough grounding in the latest techniques.
· The remarkable rate of growth generally achieved in New Zealand by Pinus radiata is largely a matter of equable temperatures, copious rainfall and adequate soil fertility. But on some areas, and in particular on certain Mites in the north of North Island, planted trees of this species, if they survived at all, were often spindly with spare, short, yellowish needles. The growth rate, after an initial spurt, was almost negligible.
The general cause of the trouble was clear enough. The plantations occupied sites formerly covered perhaps for many thousands of years by kauri rain forests. These were mostly exploited in the 19th century for timber and kauri gum, or destroyed by fire. The soils remaining after the removal of the forests were podzolic clays, very poor in structure and fertility, and any virtue remaining was further affected by repeated burning of the subsequent scrub lands.
Aerial top-dressing with super-phosphate at 600 kilograms per hectare (530 pounds per acre) has proved a spectacular success in arresting deterioration and restoring vigor. Rock phosphate at 400 kilograms per hectare (350 pounds per acre) has also been tried and was found more economical and suitable for trees on the less impoverished soils, but it tended to clog the hoppers of the aircraft. Its use was abandoned, for safety reasons, in favor of freer-flowing superphosphate.
As a result of the dressing, rapid recovery of foliage and increases in growth rates soon became apparent, and on this evidence, a major program was started. Some 5,500 hectares (13,600 acres) of radiata (insignis) pine have since been treated, costs averaging roughly US $ 24 per hectare (US $ 10 per acre), including administrative overheads. Probably only 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) in all will warrant eventual treatment with phosphates and this only at intervals of at least ten years.
· Early in 1962 the new forest products research laboratory at Ibadan was officially opened. This laboratory is designed to assist the successful introduction to the trade of lesser known timber species, and the industrialization of the Nigerian timber trade. It is felt that there is no room for academic research and that this would be carried out by the main research laboratories in the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, and France, or in collaboration with the United States Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wisconsin. Nigeria intends to advertise its timber products abroad at trade fairs and exhibitions are planned mainly in the wood-importing industrial countries, but also in those regions which are potential importers, for instance, North America and the Near East.
· Forest flora of Northern Rhodesia by F. White (Oxford University Press, 1962, xxvi + 455 p., illustrated, 63s.) is the first comprehensive account of the woody plants of this area of central Africa. It represents the culmination of 30 years' work by members of the botanical section of the Oxford University Forest Department, and rightly takes its place among the authoritative works on Africa that have been appearing in recent years.
· The Arab Academy of Damascus has published a Vocabulaire (anglais-français-arabe) des termes forestiers, being an Arab translation of terms from the Oxford Decimal Classification selected by FAO, together with the relevant definitions from the Commonwealth Forest Terminology. The vocabulary is available from the Arab Academy, Damascus.
· Exotic forest trees in the British Commonwealth by R. J. Streets and edited by Sir Harry Champion (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1962, xii + 766 pp., illustrated, 63s.) is a valuable compilation of reports submitted to the Seventh Commonwealth Forestry Conference on the use of forest trees outside their natural ranges, supplemented by information on their behavior in their native forests and by some data on their cultivation in other parts of the world. It is hoped it will be the forerunner of many similar volumes.
Tropical forestry by Charles J. Taylor (Oxford University Press, 1962, p. xv + 163, illustrated, 21s.) is intended as a generalized account, having particular reference to west Africa, for the training of forest rangers and for the information of others who wish to obtain an insight into the practice of tropical forestry. Admirable for these purposes though it may be, it represents another example of the traditional approach, giving all emphasis to silviculture and management, with forest industries and economies receiving scant, if any, mention.
· The Society of Foresters of Great Britain has decided to transform itself into a body which can fully represent the views of the professional forester, review the changing needs of education and research in forestry, and keep under continuous review the status of the forestry profession and the professional conduct of its members. This development has become necessary as the society has grown, in harmony with the development of forestry, into one of the major rural industries of the United Kingdom.
· A completely revised edition of the excellent textbook Forest products, their sources, production and utilization, has been published by the McGraw-Hill Book Company. The authors are A. J. Panshin, E. S. Harrar, J. S. Bethel and the late W. J. Baker (Price $ 12.50).
· Another excellent new book is Tree growth edited by Theodore T. Kozlowski (Ronald Press Company, $ 12.00). It covers a broad range of topics relating to the growth of trees, dealing not only with the physiological and biochemical aspects of tree growth but also with growth correlations, silvicultural implications, tree improvement and measurement of growth of individual trees and stands.
· The Forest by Peter Farb and the editors of Life magazine is one of the series of volumes published by Time Incorporated, New York, in the Life Nature Library. It constitutes an ideal medium for introducing schoolchildren to the whole concept of forestry.
· Policy and Procedures for pest control is the second of a series of reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences representing the consensus of opinion of a group of experts with varying interests in pest control and wildlife relations. The report sets out to show that, although pesticides are one of the gravest enemies of wildlife, with correct handling minimum damage can be achieved, and the experts conclude that the carefully planned use of chemical pesticides needs no apology. Against the background of increasing public criticism of the use of pesticides and insecticides, the report marks a levelheaded approach to a confused situation.
· At a time when new forestry schools are being created in many emergent countries and must prepare the textbooks which will fit their needs, Regional silviculture of the United States edited by John W. Barrett (Ronald Press Co., New York, 610 p., 1962, $ 12.00) is an example of what authors of textbooks should aim at in the field of silviculture at the national level.
· An editorial in the Journal of Forestry by Henry S. Clepper, Executive Secretary of the Society of American Foresters, merits wide reproduction.
"A few decades ago," he writes, "forestry as a profession was mainly ignored in public print because it was unknown or, if known, not well understood. Today forestry is widely recognized as an established profession by those who might be expected not to know about it at all. But as forestry and the work of foresters become even better known, there is always the probability of misunderstanding and criticism.
"Consider the matter of logging. In certain forest types, a silviculturally approved cutting system might leave an area for a year or two looking as if an atom bomb had fallen. Then, a decade later, the site may be a showplace for demonstration of good practice. The same will be true of scrub oak that has been bulldozed for eventual conversion to pine.
"Range that has deteriorated from grazing abuse and that supports undesirable species may be chemically treated prior to revegetation and eventual rehabilitation. During some interval in the process, it may have the appearance of damage to the point of permanent injury.
"All such operations may be, for a time, eyesores. There is simply no way of clearcutting a tract, as is necessary in Douglas fir management, for example, without temporarily creating brush, slash, stumps, and snags. That these areas come back to splendid stands of second growth is a fact attested by thousands of examples. Thus an observer who knows nothing about forestry might assume that the land is forever blighted, whereas simultaneously a silviculturist might be enthusiastic about the high quality of the operation.
"One self-appointed critic may neither understand the silvicultural principles involved nor want to understand them. Another, sincerely wanting to understand, may reserve his opinion until nature, aided by science, has performed is expected duty. In any case, the forester who interrupts his work and who spends an inordinate amount of time answering, or quareling with, critics gets little else done."
