Australia
Burma
Ceylon
China
Fiji
Hawaii
India and Pakistan
Indo-China
Indonesia
Japan
Korea, Southern Portion
Malaya
New Guinea and Papua
New Zealand
North Borneo
Republic of the Philippines
Sarawak
Siam
Solomon Islands
In endeavoring to present a background of information for the International Forestry and Timber Utilization Conference for Asia and the Pacific, it was thought useful to include a short summary of comparable data on Asiatic and Pacific countries. These summaries make no claim to be completely authoritative, since data were included only as available, but they do present a condensed sketch of general conditions.
AUSTRALIA has a land area of over 770 million hectares (1,900 million acres). This is 4 percent forest land, of which some 20.25 million hectares (50 million acres) are classified as productive forest. The population is 7.5 million, so the area per caput of productive forest is 2.7 hectares (6.7 acres). The forest land of Australia is distributed among the States as follows: Western Australia 23 percent, Queensland 22 percent, Victoria 22 percent, New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory 16 percent, Tasmania 12 percent, South Australia 5 percent. These figures exclude a considerable area which contains firewood material only. Of the total productive forest, 13.7 million hectares (34 million acres) are considered accessible. These include 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of broadleaved timber, mostly eucalyptus species, and 1.5 million hectares (3.6 million acres) oft conifers, consisting of Aracaria or hoop pine, Callitris or cypress pine, and a large acreage of Pinus radiata and other exotic pine plantations. Publicly owned forests make up two-thirds of the total productive forest area.
Annual growth of all accessible productive forests is estimated at 0.8 m3 per hectare (12 cu. ft./acre), or a total of 10.3 million m3 (367 million cu. ft.). This gives a total net annual growth of 8.6 million m3 (304 million cu. ft.), after subtracting 1.8 million m3 (63 million cu. ft.) as loss due to fire, insects, and disease. Past average annual fellings were estimated to be slightly over 8.2 million m3 (290 million cu. ft.), leaving a net balance of almost 400,000 m3 (14 million cu. ft.) per year. This balance is not as favorable as it appears because the eucalyptus forests are being over-cut at the rate of 266,000 m3 (9 million cu. ft.) per year, while the coniferous forest, especially in the plantations, has a net balance of 656,000 m3 (23 million cu. ft.) above annual fellings.
To meet its past consumption needs of over 8.8 million m3 (310 million cu. ft.), Australia imported over 2.2 million m3 (78 million cu. ft.). These imports came from Canada, 68 percent; New Zealand, 12 percent; U. S., 10 percent; northern Europe, 5 percent; the Philippines, 2 percent; British Pacific Islands, 2 percent; and other foreign countries, 1 percent. Since the war, Australia has been attempting to purchase as much as possible of New Zealand's exports of coniferous timber, which come mostly from Pinus radiata plantations in that country. The approximate 0.5 million m3 (18 million cu. ft.) exported by Australia are principally jarrah, Eucalyptus marginata, and karri, Eucalyptus diversicolor, which are valuable for railroad ties and dock timbers. These exports before the war were absorbed by New Zealand, 23 percent
United Kingdom, 19 percent; South and East Africa, 16 percent; India and Ceylon, 5 percent; other British countries, 5 percent; Egypt and the Near East, 14 percent; China, 12 percent; and other foreign countries, 6 percent. Before the war, there were over 1,500 sawmills, 23 plywood mills, 18 bark mills, and 35 paper-making plants. In addition, there were almost 3,000 plants engaged in making furniture, wood turning, cooperage, boxes, matches and miscellaneous wood products. All of these plants, including logging operations attached to them, employed over 80,000 people. The principal forest products produced annually before the war were over 2.8 million m3 (99 million cu. ft.) of sawn lumber for construction, manufacturing and boxes, 350,000 m3 (12 million cu. ft.) for roundwood (poles and piling), 2.8 million m3 (99 million cu. ft.) for fuelwood, over 12 million m2 (129 million sq. ft.) of plywood, over 300,000 tons of paper, of which 25 percent was made up from imported pulp.
Each of the six states is practically autonomous in dealing with forest land. The Commonwealth Forestry Bureau controls or advises on forestry matters in the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory,. and Papua, Norfolk Island, and New Guinea. The organization of the forest authority varies by states In New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania, Forest Acts define the powers and functions of forest authorities. This is not yet the case in Queensland or South Australia. Since the war, the Director-General of the Commonwealth Forestry Bureau has brought about considerable progress in liaison and co-ordination of forest authorities among the several states.
Research work in silviculture and forest management is the responsibility of the Commonwealth Forestry Bureau and is carried on as an activity of the" Australian Forestry School of Canberra. Continuous. efforts are made to co-ordinate this work with the Silvicultural studies of the individual State forest authorities. One of the outstanding forest products research institutions in the world is the Forest Products. Laboratory of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research at Melbourne. It has done important work in wood structure, wood chemistry, timber physics, timber mechanics, seasoning and preservation, veneers and gluing, and utilization. It has made, important contributions towards modernization of many of the wood-using industries, and particularly the pulp and paper industry of Australia It has also performed valuable work in standardization of grades and specifications of forest products.
The Australian Forestry School at Canberra performs an important function through the training of badly needed technical personnel. Established in 1925, it now has a teaching staff of eight and an annual student enrollment approaching fifty. It offers a degree of Bachelor of Science in Forestry at the end of a two-year course to students who have passed the approved two-year preliminary science course at the Universities of Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Western Australia, or Queensland. Field work is an important part of the course, including extended studies in the jarrah and karri areas of Western Australia, the plantations of South Australia, ash-type forest of Victoria or Tasmania, high-country forests in eastern Australia, west-coastal forests of New South Wales, the cypress pine belt, and certain districts in Queensland.
Reforestation has been an important activity in Australia to help make up for the scarcity of native coniferous forests. Pinus radiata, native to California, has been planted in many parts of Australia but reaches its best development in South Australia and Victoria. Phenomenal growth rates have been obtained in these plantations. In one case a 30-year-old Pinus radiata plantation has yielded 1,120 m3 per hectare (16,000 cu. ft./acre). Many of these plantations are being handled on a sustained-yield basis. Two large government sawmills and a private paper mill have been installed to keep up with the rapid rate of growth. Stabilized communities have been built around each of the government mills. Plantations of other exotic species, such as the southern pines of the United States, have also been successful, especially in Queensland. During the 1930's, unemployed laborers were used exclusively in nursery and planting work. Displaced persons from Europe are being brought in to provide semiskilled labor in the establishment of plantations.
Fire protection is a serious problem, especially in Victoria, Tasmania, and Western Australia. In 1939 there was a critical fire in Victoria which killed thousands of hectares of valuable eucalyptus forest. Fortunately, a considerable quantity of this timber has been salvaged for use as pulpwood and some of it for veneer.
One of the most important problems is the unsatisfactory condition of much of the eucalyptus forests. In the opinion of Australian foresters, this is due to the period of uncontrolled exploitation by long-established sawmilling interests, low standards of utilization, recurrent fires, and inadequate trained staff. Probably the biggest single need in Australian forests is more effective fire control. Considerable progress has been made along this line since the war.
Among other needs-for improving forestry in Australia are: a complete forest survey; development of working plans to adjust present and future industries to growth capacities of the forest; reservation of forest areas for timber production; a large-scale planting program on accessible plantable land for general-purpose softwoods; development of silvicultural management for Eucalyptus forests; the establishment of forest communities on the basis of growth capacity of the forest.
Fifty-eight percent of Burma's area of 68 million hectares (168 million acres) is forest land. Of this, over 25 million hectares (62 million acres) are classified as productive forest. With a population of 17 million people, this means 1.5 hectares (3.75 acres) of productive forest per caput.
The Irrawaddy and Salween rivers and their many tributaries make possible economic extraction of teak and other forest products to Rangoon and Moulmein, the centers of sawmilling and shipping.
The principal forest types are (1) tidal forests along the coasts, made up principally of several species of mangrove, important for fuel and tanning material; (2) beach and dune forests in narrow coastal flats above high tide limits, consisting of Casuarina, Hibiscus, and Pongamia, useful as sources of fuel, rope fiber, and turnery products; (3) tropical evergreen forests where rainfall exceeds 300 centimeters in shady valleys, with Dendrocalamus and other bamboos, so important for hut building, mats, and baskets, and dipterocarps, Hopea, Parashorea, and Lagerstroemia, important for structural timbers; and (4) mixed deciduous forests in areas with 100-300 centimeters (40-120 in.) of rainfall in fairly open stands, composed of several species of bamboo, teak, Tectona grandis, and the durable pyinkado or Xylia, Terminalia, padauk or Pterocarpus, and Shorea. This is the most important forest type in Burma. In addition, there are scrubby forest types in areas with less than 125 centimeters (50 in.) of rainfall producing fuel and hard timber useful for agricultural implements, cart shafts, and ox yokes. These types also include Acacia, which produces cutch, an important dye and tanning material. Other types include deciduous dipterocarps in sandy, gravelly, and lateritic soils up to 800 meters' (2,600 ft.) elevation, and small areas at elevations about 1,000 meters (3,300 ft.), of oak, chestnut, magnolia, laurel, and sometimes pure stands of Pinus khasya and Pinus merkusii.
An important and picturesque element in the forest landscape of Burma is the elephant, which is used like a tractor in logging areas where mechanization would be difficult or impossible. These animals are also extremely useful around sawmills and lumber depots.
The Burma Forest Service, organized by Sir Dietrich Brandis, has developed an excellent system of maps and working plans for all of the teak reserves and a number of other forests. The organization ifs now headed by a Chief Conservator who is under the Forest Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. To assist him, he has specialists in utilization, working plans, silviculture, entomology, and economics, and a chief game warden. There are five administrative circles, each in charge of a conservator under whom there were, before the war, some 34 forest divisions, each in charge of a divisional forest officer. Before the war foresters were trained at the University of Rangoon or at British schools, and subordinate personnel was trained at the Ranger school at Pyinmana. There are plans for expanding forestry training in Burma, either at Rangoon or Pyinmana, or at both.
Forest research work was carried out by the Dehra Dun Forest Research Institute in India even after Burma separated from India in 1937. As a result, Burma has yet to build up its own forest research program. Before the war a forest products laboratory was set up to study wood technology, conversion methods, preservation and seasoning (air and kiln), and such minor forest products as lac, cutch, and various drugs. Some work was also done on grading rules for teak.
Forest policy is the same as that for India, based on the original India Forest Act which was taken over at the time Burma was separated from India. Under this policy forests were classified into production, commercial, local supply, and pasture forests. In addition to the forest reservations, there are a number of wildlife sanctuaries and a good system of game protection, even outside the sanctuaries.
The silvicultural system for the teak forests is a group or tree-selection system, which in recent years has been guided largely by diameter limits. Trees are girdled according to the working plan and felled three years later on a 30-year felling cycle. Improvement cuttings and climber cuttings, as well as various measures to obtain natural regeneration, or planting where necessary, are important parts of the system. Another essential part is the taungya system of teak planting in combination with crop cultivation. Protection against fire is carried out principally in regeneration areas although the practice of complete exclusion or controlled use of fire are matters of current debate. Teak is considered to be quite fire resistant after it passes the regeneration stage, but deep fire scars are found in many teak logs.
Considerable engineering work has been done in construction of forest roads, trails, and administrative buildings. Another important engineering activity is the training of rivers whereby the heavy silt load of the principal log-driving streams are manipulated so as to create definite channels following a system originated by the Burmese and expanded by the British foresters. Logging has been done by the government in certain working circles, and by private concessionaires in the remainder. As of June 1948, however, all private concessions were nationalized and teak extraction is being taken over by the Timber Project of the Forest Service. Teak logs in the streams are examined at check points to make sure they have a government royalty stamp on them, and auctions are held usually at Rangoon and Moulmein.
Before the war, Burma produced about 710,000 m3 (25 million cu. ft.) of teak annually. Present production is considerably below this as a result of war dislocation and present uncertainties in the nationalization program. Burma exported annually between 284,000 and 355,000 m3 (10 and 12.5 million cu. ft.) - mostly as converted timbers, squares, and flitches - to India 75 percent, Europe 20 percent, and to other countries 5 percent. For comparison, India, before the war, exported somewhat less than 2,840 m3 (0.10 million cu. ft.) of teak, Siam 92,300 m3 (3.3 million cu. ft.), French Indo-China 18,460 m3 (0.65 million cu. ft.), and Dutch East Indies 15,720 m3 (0.56 million cu. ft.).
The world fame of teak is based upon certain outstanding characteristics. It shrinks only half as much as the principal timbers of Europe and America, such as pine, spruce, larch, Douglas fir, oak, ash, elm, beech, and hemlock. It can be worked easily by hand or machine and can be carved beautifully. It peels readily for veneer. Its superiority as a shipbuilding timber has been known for centuries, even back to the time of Nebuchadnezzar. The liner Queen Mary, commissioned in 1936, contains 1,500 m3 (53,000 cu. ft.) of Burma teak. The wood is useful for decking, gangways, handrails, paneling, and fittings of all kinds; for construction of railway cars, bridges, and sleepers; and for house building, both exterior and interior.
The principal problems in Burma are the filling of vacancies in the Forest Service with well-trained men who will be able to maintain working plans for the teak forests and to develop further working plans for other forests. Modernization of logging and sawmilling are important. Promotion of greater utilization of species other than teak would be helpful. Large-scale soil erosion measures are needed' particularly in the Shan states and Upper Burma.
Ceylon has a land area of almost 6.5 million hectares (16 million acres) of which 55 percent is forest land, slightly over 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) being classified as productive forest. The population is between 6.5 and 7 million people, so the productive forest area per caput is 0.16 hectares (0.40 acres).
All forest land is State owned and consists of dry mixed evergreen and wet zone forest types. Estimates of standing timber place the total at almost 141 million m3 (4,980 million cu. ft.), of which 20 per cent is of sawtimber quality and 80 percent of fuelwood size.
Among the important products are satinwood, for high-grade furniture, Campnosperma and Doona, useful for veneers for tea-chests. In addition, Ceylon produces bamboos, canes, tanbark, and dyestuffs. In 1944 Ceylon imported 11,500 m3 (406,000 cu. ft.) of timber to augment its own production of 64,000 m3 (2.3 million cu. ft.) to give a total consumption of 75,500 m3 (2.7 million cu. ft.). Ceylon was, however, self-sufficient in fuelwood, consuming an outturn of 235,000 m3 (8.3 million cu. ft.). The estimated annual increment was 252,000 m3 (8.9 million cu. ft.) of fuelwood and 60,000 m3 (2.1 million cu. ft.) of sawlog size.
Ceylon's forest policy seeks to make the country self-supporting in timber and fuel by systematic exploitation of existing resources and by artificial reforestation of selected areas. It provides further that all forest areas over 1,700 meters (5,600 ft.) in elevation are to be regarded as protection reserves and not as economic forests. It also provides for planting the patnas, or grasslands, at this elevation.
Considerable effort has gone into co-operative reforestation projects with teak and jak, Antocarpus, Acacia, and eucalyptus. Work has been done in enumeration as a basis for developing working plans for reserve forests. At present over 250,000 hectares (620,000 acres) are under plans for improvement felling, teak working, commercial felling plantations, or conversion fellings. Over 800,000 hectares (2 mil lion acres) are not yet under working plans. There are 28,000 hectares (69,000 acres) under natural regeneration and 800 hectares (2,000 acres) in plantations.
According to working plans in the dry-zone forests, which supply all the primary hardwoods suitable for sleepers and building construction, there is a surplus of increment over exploitation and loss. This surplus amounted to 37,000 m3 (1.3 million cu. ft.) in 1947. The wet-zone forests, however, which supply secondary hardwoods, plywoods, and box woods, were over-cut by about 3,700 m3 (130,000 cu. ft.) above annual increment. There is thus a net gain of growing stock for the country as a whole, exclusive of climatic reserves and inaccessible areas, of 33,300 m3 (1.2 million cu. ft.)
As a result of the war, there has been an expansion in construction of access roads into previously inaccessible forests. There has also been an increased use of locally produced timber as substitutes for teak and other imported species. The wood-using industries use 50 circular saws, 4 band saws, and 16 frame saws, which together have a potential capacity of 85,000 m3 (3 million cu. ft.). Shortage of timber because of transport difficulties and present supply of logs cannot keep more than 60 percent of this capacity in operation. One plywood plant operated by the government produces over 370,000 m2 (4 million sq. ft.) of tea-chest plywood. A new privately owned plywood factory has a capacity of almost 46,000 m2 (500,000 sq. ft.) of tea-chest plywood.
The Forest Department in 1946 consisted of 11 European forest officers in the senior category, 8 intermediates from Ceylon, and a subordinate field staff of 240. Facilities for research, which have in the past emphasized silviculture and forest management, may be expanded through the establishment of a central research institute. This could include new research into timber utilization on such immediate problems as seasoning, grading, charcoal production, saws, and preservation. The possibility of combining such a research institute with the establishment of a forestry school should be carefully considered. In the past, rangers and guards have been trained at the Coimbatore and Dehra Dun ranger schools in India, but the Forest Department has recommended a domestic school.
The Forest Department also recommends that crown forests now under the administration of revenue officers should be placed under the protection and management of the Forest Department.
Of China's 944 million hectares of land, less than 9 percent - or 83 million hectares - is forested. Of this, 56 million are classified as productive forest, which means that with a population of over 455 million there is only 0.12 hectare of productive forest per caput. The forest is classified as old growth - 29 million hectares with an estimated timber reserve of less than 5,000 million m3; and second growth forest of almost 54 million hectares bearing less than 3,000 million m3. It is estimated that more than 230 million hectares of denuded mountain slopes and wasteland are suitable for reforestation. The national and provincial governments own about 90 percent of the old growth and only 5 percent of the second growth forest. Private owners hold the balance. The national and provincial governments own 60 percent of the denuded mountain areas, the remainder being held by private owners and communities.
The distribution of the natural forests in China is as follows:
The southwest region - provinces of Szechwan, Sikiang, Yunnan, Kweichow, and Kwangsi - has almost 16 million hectares of fir, spruce, pine, Cunninghamia, oak, camphor, and liquidambar.
The northeast region - Manchuria - has over 45 million hectares of fir, larch, pine, birch, aspen, and oak.
The northwest region - provinces of Kansu and Ninghsia - has almost 7 million hectares of spruce, Thuja, juniper, elm, birch, and aspen.
The southeast region - Formosa, Hainan Island, Hunan, and Kwangtung - has over 4 million hectares of Chamaecyparis, pine, Cunninghamia, hemlock, oak, and camphor.
Central China - provinces of Shensi and Hupeh - has over 4 million hectares of spruce, hemlock, pines poplar, walnut, and chestnut.
Of high economic importance are the bamboos, Phyllostachys and Bambusa, which occur widely distributed in the Yangtze and Pearl river valleys.
A large share of the privately owned second-growth forests occurs as farm woodlots, usually on the rolling lands such as those south of the Yangtze Valley. These woodlots have been an important source of fuelwood, the supply of which is one of the most urgent problems in China. In many of the rural areas these rolling lands are devoted to grass, which is cut for fuel. In order to obtain fuel, the people often cut down young forest plantations before they have a chance to grow. Protection of such plantations has, therefore, been most difficult.
The timber requirements have been roughly estimated at 45 million m3. The annual cutting is about half of this amount so that large imports are necessary to make up the remainder. Forest products industries registered with government agencies so far include 24 sawmills, 1 plywood factory, 20 match factories, and 14 furniture and wood-turning plants.
Early in the history of the Chinese Republic, forest legislation was enacted. In 1940 the various government agencies concerned with carrying out such legislation were brought together into the Department of Forestry and the Bureau of Forest Research in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Considerable work has been done in reforestation and in research. Special activities have included the establishment of sand-blow control forests in the Yellow River flooded areas, and the supply of building materials for the Ministry of Communications in its transportation development program.
There are 10 universities giving forestry instruction and 20 vocational schools of agriculture which also teach forestry. The forestry graduates, who number almost 400, find difficulty in obtaining employment because the national budget provides only a small amount of money for forestry work.
Principal problems include (1) expansion of reforestation efforts, (2) development of transportation facilities to reach old-growth timber, (3) bringing in modern logging equipment and sawmills, and (4) above all an increased concern on the part of the government for an adequate forest conservation program.
Fiji is a British crown colony of more than 300 islands, about one-third of which are inhabited. Of a total land area of somewhat over 1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres) over one-half or approximately 957,000 hectares (2.4 million acres) are covered with forest, all classified as productive, including about 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of mangrove forest which lie below the high water mark. The population is 300,000, so productive forest per caput is 3.2 hectares (8 acres). Of the two main islands, Vitilevu (on which the capital, Suva, is located) is about 50 percent forested, and Vanualevu is about 60 percent forested. The islands are rugged and mountainous, with the highest point over 1,200 meters (4,000 ft.) above sea level. The underlying rock is mostly volcanic in origin. Most of the islands are surrounded by barrier reefs which usually have openings opposite the river mouths, an important factor in shipping material into Fiji or forest products out of Fiji.
Due to the prevailing southeast trade winds, the southeast sides of the islands have a rainfall of about 325 centimeters (130 in.) a year and carry tropical rain forest. The lee side of the islands has a rainfall of about 175 centimeters (70 in.) and contains some rain forest but mostly reed-covered plains. Hurricanes occur in the months of November and April. Fiji is an important cable station in the Pacific, but internal communications are not well developed. Travel from the coast into the interior is difficult and consists almost entirely of footpaths, some of which are wide enough for horse travel..
Despite the traditional dependence of the people on timber for house-posts, canoes, house utensils, spears, ropes, cloth, and gum for torches, large areas of forest were destroyed by the system of shifting cultivation. Sandalwood was an important factor in the settlement of the islands, and its careless exploitation has led to its almost complete extinction. Heavy cutting of mangrove and other species in the vicinity of Suva and the spread of erosion in many of the plantation areas aroused sufficient concern to bring about the passage of a Forest Ordinance in 1913 authorizing the governor to set aside reserved forests. Unfortunately, the few areas thus reserved were not protected or patrolled. In 1927 it was proposed to establish a Forest Department and to enact new forest legislation providing for a system of reserved forests, forest management and research to make Fiji self-supporting in timber. In 1937 this department was created.
The forest types of Fiji are mangrove forest, beach forest, and rain forest. In nearly all forest types the commercially valuable species are widely scattered. Much of the inaccessible inland forest has been seriously degraded by shifting cultivation. The principal local timbers include primary hardwoods: Eugenia spp., Intsia sp.; general utility - Agathis sp., Calophyllum spp., Podocarpus spp.; special utility - Bassia sp.; Dacrydium spp.; case woods - Endospermum spp., Myristica spp.; and firewood - Rhizophora mucronata, R. mangle.
As to ownership, 90 percent of the forest land is held by Fijians, largely in the form of tribal or family holdings, varying in size from 0.40 hectares (1.0 acre) to 400 hectares (1,000 acres). Complete approval by the family or tribe is necessary before any action can be taken on such land. The Crown owns comparatively little land, mostly in the form of small catchment areas, a few scenic reserves, and all mangrove forest.
Timber consumption figures indicate that of the almost 42,500 m3 (1.5 million cu. ft.) of timber used, 16,000 m3 (0.6 million cu. ft.) were locally produced and the remainder was imported; over 23,000 m3 (0.8 million cu. ft.) of fuelwood were produced locally. These figures are exclusive of forest products taken for domestic use by the inhabitants without payment. The colony therefore in 1938 produced less than 60 percent of its own requirements. There are six sawmills and a number of handsawing pits. Most of the sawmills log their own concessions, either on Crown land or on Fijian land. Extraction is done by ground-skidding, using cables and steam winches. Logs are then moved to the mill on small trucks hauled by tractors mounted on wooden rails. Royalty is collected on the basis of the sawmill measurement of lumber produced. Control of cutting consists of partial enforcement of a minimum diameter limit, usually 45 centimeters (18 in.). Some of the sawmills, mostly of Indian ownership, use logs purchased from individual loggers who make private agreements with the Fijian owners.
Fuelwood production is almost entirely made up of mangrove. Although some revenue is collected from these operations, there is little or no control of cutting. Most of the rural population obtains its fuelwood by indiscriminate cutting wherever it can. Although most agreements under which logging is done contain clauses for reforestation, there is little observance of such requirements.
Some experimental work has been done in plantations of exotics, including a number of conifer species from the United States. Work was also done on silvicultural treatment to obtain natural regeneration, as well as obtaining volume table data, collection of herbarium material, and the testing of certain species for paper pulp and match production, testing of various types of charcoal kilns, and the introduction of shingle-splitting. The principal problems include adoption of a forest policy, establishment of a system of forest reserves, initiation of silvicultural improvement work in these reserves, establishment of plantations in the dry zones, recruitment and training of a staff, and development of botanical, silvicultural, and forest-products research.
A territory of the United States, Hawaii has a total land area of over 1.5 million hectares (3.5 million acres), which is 46 percent forested, all classified as productive. The population is 500,000, and the per caput productive forest area is 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres). Of the productive forest area, less than 450,000 hectares (1.1 million acres) of mixed dipterocarps are considered accessible. The 40 percent of the forest area which is publicly owned is handled as protection forest. The remaining 470,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) is in private ownership and produces small amounts of logs for the four sawmills in the Islands.
Watershed protection and recreational use are the principal functions of the publicly owned forest land. The valuable pineapple producing areas on the level land place a high premium on the protective influences the forested slopes. During 1947, 100 hectares (250 acres) of cut-over land which had been damaged by grazing and by fire were reforested, using species tested at arboreta located at various climatic stations throughout the territory. Forestry work is under the direction of a territorial forester with a very small staff.
Owing to the absence of separate statistics since partition in 1947, information on India and Pakistan is presented together. Of the land area of over 222 million hectares (550 million acres), some 20 percent is forest land. The area under effective control of the Forest Department is between 13 and 14 percent of the total land area. The population of the areas now in Pakistan was in 1941 over 70 million people, with an average density of 80 people per km2 (200 per sq. ml.) but which ranges from 300 per km2 (780 per sq. ml.) in eastern Pakistan to 35 per km2 (go per sq. ml.) in western Pakistan. The provinces and states making up India had in 1941 a population of over 314 million people, with an average density of over 106 per km2 (275 per sq. mi.). Kashmir, about which no decision has yet been reached, has over 40 million people with an average density of 19 per km2 (49 per sq. mi.), and a forest area of over 2.5 million hectares (6 million acres). Taking India, Pakistan, and Kashmir together, this means roughly a per caput productive forest area of just over 0.1 hectare 0.25 acre).
The forests are distributed in the lower slopes of the Himalayas, the eastern hill ranges near the Burma border, the lower hill ranges in central India, the edge of the Chota Nagpur plateau, the Western Ghats and other hill ranges.
The Himalayan forests are essential for the protection of the Ganges Valley against erosion and floods. But they are especially important because the densely populated Ganges Valley and much of the northern Indian Plains are almost destitute of forests to supply villages with fuel and small timber. In the Sind and Punjab in western Pakistan the absence of forests is considered to be an important factor in the gradual drying out of the country. Much of the deteriorated condition of privately owned forests, which make up almost 30 percent of the total, can be traced to early and continued wasteful exploitation methods of cutting for railroad ties, construction lumber, and fuelwood. Even now the well-organized Indian Forest Service does not have sufficient authority to control adequately cutting practices on private land.
In 1878, the Indian Forest Act was set up with the following objectives: (1) maintenance of forests to preserve favorable climatic and physical conditions; (2) preservation of the minimum area of forest needed for the general welfare; (3) agricultural use must be given preference over forestry; (4) the needs of the local population for wood, free, or at low prices, has priority over (5) securing the greatest possible revenue, but only after the first four objectives have been met. Accordingly, government forests were classified as protection reserves to prevent floods, erosion, or desiccation; timber forests for industry and export as revenue producers; minor forests to meet needs for fuel and small timber; and pasture forests. Forest working plans were drawn up at an early date and were placed on a scientific basis after 1918 for government reserves. Only part of these reserves, however, have received adequate protection to prevent their deterioration, which in some cases is similar in degree to that of private forests.
In the year 1944-45 a total of 9 million m3 (320 million cu. ft.) of wood was produced from government forests. Of this amount, only 200,000 m3 (7 million cu. ft.) were softwoods; the remaining 8.8 million m3 (313 million cu. ft.) were hardwoods. Fuelwood and charcoal wood made up over two-thirds of the total production. This, of course, represents a serious overcut according to the sustained annual yield capacity estimated before the war. However, it is felt that the Forest Service can, with careful management, bring the forest back to normal yield within ten years. The output of plywood, which was greatly increased during the war, dropped with the closing of a number of factories. India consumes over 7.5 million m2 (80 million sq. ft.) of plywood for tea chests alone and could use a great deal more for all purposes. The present capacity of factories, if properly managed, is estimated to be over 9 million m2 (97 million sq. ft.) of plywood. Efforts to meet the need for training plywood technicians are being made by the Forest Research Institute. Total consumption of all wood in India is estimated to be about 0.03 m3 (1 cu. ft.) per caput per year, but with a slight increase in purchasing power it is estimated that effective demand could be six or eight times this amount. To achieve this, it would be necessary to improve extraction methods, utilize species, now considered "jungle woods," make greater use of wood waste from logging and sawmilling, and improve the growth of existing forests. A Paper Panel set up by the Government of India is making plans for the development of a paper and paperboard industry. Plans are also under way for increasing the production of rayon and cellophane. In addition to softwood pulp, such industries would require supplies of bamboo and grasses.
There is excellent provision for training professional forest service personnel at the Indian Forest College at Dehra Dun, with an annual capacity of 60 students; ranger-type personnel are now trained at the Central Rangers' College in Dehra Dun with an annual capacity of 110 students, or at the Rangers' College at Coimbatore, with an annual capacity of thirty. In addition, several of the provincial governments have plans for forestry training at agricultural schools for personnel below the ranger grade. Pakistan has plans for setting up a Forestry School at Murree. Forest research is centralized at the Dehra Dun Forest Research Institute; some provinces maintain research sections in their forestry organizations for silvicultural studies which receive guidance on a voluntary basis from Dehra Dun. The institute has done remarkable work in dendrology, silviculture, entomology, wood chemistry, minor forest products, cellulose and paper pulp, wood technology, wood preservation and seasoning, woodworking and timber mechanics.
Among the present problems are: (1) the supply of fuelwood to villagers for domestic needs (to overcome the burning of dried cow dung, which is vital as fertilizer for farmland) and of small timber for farm implements and housing; (2) the control of eroding lands by large-scale measures to stop wind erosion in the dry areas and soil washing and floods in the areas of heavy precipitation; (3) special legislation to control wasteful cutting on private land; (4) the development of farm forestry, although the tremendous pressure of heavy population makes this very difficult.
Indo-China has a land area of almost 67 million hectares, of which about 51 percent, or almost 34 million hectares, is forest land distributed among the five provinces as follows: Tonkin, 5.5 million (47 percent forested); Annam, 6 million (40 percent forested); Cochin, 2 million (33 percent forested); Cambodia, 10 million (66 percent forested); and Laos, 10.5 million (55 percent forested). Population before the war was in the neighborhood of 25 million, which means a per caput forest area of 1.4 hectares.
In southern Indo-China, comprising Cambodia, Cochin, southern Annam, and southern Laos, the forests consist of mangrove along the coast and swampy areas, mixed dipterocarps and leguminous species at the lower elevations, and Pinus merkusii and Pinus khasya above 1,000 meters' elevation, and in some places of mixtures of dipterocarps and Quercus. In a few localities there are mixtures of coniferous Dacrydium sp. and Podocarpus sp. In northern Indo-China, consisting of northern Annam, northern Laos, and Tonkin, there are mangrove forests along the coasts and swampy areas, mixed dipterocarps and leguminous species as well as Quercus at the middle altitudes, and Podocarpus, Chinese fir, Cunninghamia, hemlock, Abies, and Cryptomeria at the higher elevations.
There are no estimates of volumes except on individual reserves, which are under the close supervision of the Department of Forests and Waters. On these reserves, work has been done in the development of management methods especially for the dipterocarps and for turpentine production in the pine stands. Exploitation before the war was not done very systematically, and, since the war, military and political conditions have been so unsettled as to prevent the carrying out of plans which would improve the situation. In 1941, total production of timber was almost 900,000 m3 and 1.75 million m3 of firewood. Before the war, the principal production was in the hands of Chinese and Malayans, with only a few European operators. Methods of production vary in the provinces. For example, in Cambodia 10-meter-length logs are produced; in Tonkin log lengths are 4 to 6 meters, and in Annam 2 to 8 meters. Transportation from the stump to the road or river is by wooden carts hauled by oxen, and in some cases by tractors or elephants. Logs are then hauled by truck or floated or towed down the rivers to sawmills and markets. The Mekong is the principal river for log transport. Although no teak is produced in Indo-China, a considerable amount of teak logs comes down the Mekong River from Siam, and is sawed in Saigon mills.
The lumber industry before the war consisted of 10 European sawmills and a large number of small local and Chinese sawmills, furniture plants, match manufacturers, building contractors, and woodpulp producers. There is also an unknown number of hand-sawing pits. During the Japanese occupation, the sawmills were combined under Japanese control and all timber felling and lumber production was under their supervision. Since the war, unsettled conditions have greatly disrupted the sawmill industry, especially European-owned mills. The French Government has initiated government exploitation and sawmilling through an organization known as SOCAFOR. Under its direction, modern equipment is being brought in on several important logging operations and sawmills, especially in Cambodia and Cochin.
Before the war, there were six important match factories which produced annually almost 500 million boxes of matches. There is one important veneer and plywood factory at Saigon. Before the war there were five woodpulp factories using softwood and bamboo. Annual production of paper at one time reached almost 1,000 metric tons. There is also important production in furniture, boat-building, and railway ties.
The Department of Forests and Waters was patterned after the forest service of Metropolitan France. It was made up of graduates of the Ecole Nationale des Eaux et Forêts at Nancy. As a result of unsettled conditions since the war, almost the entire staff has been brought into Saigon, with a few men still working in Cambodia. A recent development is the use of locally trained foresters under the guidance of French foresters. There are plans for sending two local foresters to Nancy for training each year. Training for ranger-type personnel is also provided at Pnompenh.
Research accomplished before the war included important contributions in botanical descriptions and mechanical testing of the principal timber species of Indo-China. Unfortunately, the laboratory and the equipment near Saigon have been completely destroyed. Anticipating the settlement of present political difficulties, French foresters have plans for expansion of their work, including the construction of badly needed roads on a systematic basis into previously unexploited areas. They also hope to modernize the lumber industry and to expand the turpentine and rosin industries. There is a need here as in other countries of the region for the standardization of lumber grades and specifications. There is also a need for construction of dry kilns and the adoption of improved seasoning and preservation methods. There are also plans for converting low-value mixed dipterocarp forests into teak plantations following the culture intercalaire system, which is similar to the Burmese taungya. Considerable work has also gone into reforestation with other species, and there are plans for expanded work in this direction.
The forest area of Indonesia is estimated to be 120 million hectares, with a productive forest area of about 70 million hectares and the remainder almost entirely protection forests. The population is over 75 million, giving a per caput productive forest area of 0.93 hectares. Statistics for Indonesia are usually divided to cover Java and Madoera in one group, and in another group the remanider of the islands, consisting of Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, Soenda Islands, Moluccas, and western New Guinea.
Java and Madoera: Twenty-one percent of the area is forested, making a total of 28,000 km2 of forest land. Before the war, there were over 8,000 km2 of almost pure natural stands of teak, Tectona grandis. Exploitation of teak has been highly developed because its great value has justified the construction of narrow-gauge railways and roads from the forests to cities and coastal ports. Forests other than teak covered 23,000 km2 before the war, but some 3,000 km2 were destroyed during the Japanese occupation. The teak forests cover the lower slopes in eastern Middle Java. Other forests are principally confined to the mountain tops and upper slopes, where they serve the important purpose of protecting water supplies for the irrigated rice cultivation.
The forest policy has two principal objectives: (1) economic production of timber and other forest products, and (2) improving wherever possible the water, soil, and climatic influences of the forests. Since 1860 there has been an organized Forest Service which consists of 50 forestry sections concerned principally with productive management of teak. This has included the very carefully developed system of clearing natural forest for charcoal, fuelwood, and other forest products. In these cleared areas local people cultivate crops between rows of planted teak. This continues for several years until the teak saplings shade the ground; the people then move to other areas, and the process is repeated. Production before the war reached 500,000 m3 of teak timber, partly in the form of thinnings, and 1 million stacked meters of firewood. In the non-teak forests before the war there were produced annually 45,000 m3 of timber and 280,000 stacked meters of firewood; in addition some 20,000 tons of charcoal were produced from both kinds of forests. There were, before the war, some 64 sawmills. The exact number now operating is not known.
The Other Islands: The other islands have a much larger forest area, almost 1.25 million km2, or 68 percent of the total land area, and the density of population is much lower than in Java and Madoera. The forests consist of about 500,000 km2 of mountain type and of over 700,000 km2 of lowland forests, including dry land, marsh, and flood forest types. In an effort to overcome the prevalent roving agriculture, forest reserves have been set up by the Forest Service. Except for small stands in South Sumatra and on the islands of Moena and Boeton, there is no teak in this part of Indonesia. The forest consists principally of dipterocarps in the west, and of Agathis and eucalypts in the eastern part. In northern and middle Sumatra are found mixed and pure stands of Pinus merkusii. The pure stands occur in areas of frequent forest fires resulting from roving agriculture. Prewar activities in rosin and turpentine production have not yet been resumed. Pinus merkusii has been used successfully for reforestation purposes in Sumatra, Celebes, the Lesser Soenda Islands, and Java. The lowland forests, which are close to the coast or along navigable rivers along the northeast coast of Sumatra, adjoining the Straits of Malacca serve as a principal source of timber, especially for softwood production. Chinese operators using Chinese labor produce most of the logs. These logs, as well as the fuelwood and charcoal from mangrove flood forests, were shipped mostly to Singapore. Since the war, exploitation has been developed along the south coast of Borneo. An important problem here, as in other parts of the region outside Java and Madoera, is the shortage of labor. Recent tests of logging machinery to help overcome this shortage have proved successful in most cases. Production before the war was estimated at 1.3 million m3 of timber, 1 million stacked meters of fuelwood, and 290,000 tons of charcoal. There were 82 sawmills before the war. Other forest products, of considerable value, include rattan, resins, and gums. Among the resins is copal, from Agathis, used in the paint industry, and among the gums is jelutong, derived from Dyera, used in chewing gum.
The Forest Experiment Station at Buitenzorg, which before the war did important research, has resumed its activities, especially in the management of forests other than teak in the Outer Islands. Noteworthy botanical and dendrological work has been done by this station in conjunction with the Botanical Gardens at Buitenzorg.
Dutch foresters making up the Forest Service have usually been graduates of Wageningen University. Domestic ranger-type training is to be provided for the Indonesian personnel.
The four main islands of Japan have a land area of 37.5 million hectares which are almost 60 percent forested, giving a total of over 22 million hectares of productive forest area. The population exceeds 75 million, and the productive forest area represents 0.3 hectares per caput. More than 19.5 million hectares are classified as accessible and consist of 5.5 million hectares of conifers, mostly plantations, almost 10 million hectares of hardwoods, and over 4 million hectares of mixed types. Ownership is divided about half and half between public and private owners. Estimates place total volume of all species at 17,225 million m3 with 645 million in conifers and 579 million in hardwoods. The corresponding figures on a per-hectare basis are 62 m3 for all species, 83 m3 for conifers and 48 m3 for hardwoods. Growth on the accessible productive forest area is estimated to be 40.5 million m3 per year or 2 m3 per hectare.
In 1947 there were 34,000 sawmills in operation consuming 11.6 million m3 of sawlogs and 320 plywood mills producing over 16 million m2 of plywood. There are more than 100 pulp-producing and 300 paper-producing companies in Japan, but 85 percent of the pulp is produced by six companies, and 66 percent of the paper is produced by one company. Repair of war damage continues to require more than the productive capacity of all the sawmills. Railroad ties, mine timbers, and pulpwood are also in short supply.
Long noted for its active reforestation work both for watershed protection and for timber production, Japan has expanded its plans for forest nursery and planting programs. In 1947 over 400,000 hectares were reforested. Systematic forest working plans have been prepared for the almost 8 million hectares of nationally owned forests and progress is being made in the extension of working plans to private forest land. The Bureau of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, has consolidated forestry work in the 47 provinces, the imperial forests, and in the national forests. Forestry research is carried out by the experiment stations of the Bureau of Forestry, of the Imperial Household, and of a number of provinces. Most of the work has dealt with reforestation methods and dendrology, but some has been done in wood technology. It is hoped to expand research work in the field of products utilization. Forestry education is provided through forestry schools at the four Imperial Universities and at 17 provincial agricultural colleges. The principal problems facing the wood-using industries include restoration of transportation facilities and supplying certain raw materials, such as glue, to the plywood industry and coal and chemicals to the pulp and paper industry.
Data available on the portion of Korea south of the 38th parallel indicate that 40 percent of the total land area of 16 million hectares is forest land. Half of this forest area is poorly stocked and in need of replanting. Rough estimates place the volume of timber at 300 million m3. Growth is estimated to be -slightly over 12 million m3 per year. Because much of this growth is on very small trees, it will not be usable for some time to -come. The calculated allowable cut on a sustained-yield basis is estimated at about 7 million m3. With a population of 15 million, southern Korea has 0.4 hectares of forest land per caput. The minimum wood requirement is estimated to be 17 million m3 per year, which results in a forest land allocation of 44 percent for the production of firewood and charcoal, 30 percent for sawmill production, and the remainder for erosion control and watershed protection. One-quarter of the forest land is in public ownership. The forest types consist of red pine, Pinus densifora, Korean pine, Pinus Koreaensis, oak, larch, spruce, fir, and mixed hardwoods.
The forestry services have been reorganized with Korean foresters. In the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, the Director of Forestry with his small headquarters staff in Seoul has jurisdiction over forestry organizations in the eight Provinces.
In 1947, 800 sawmills produced almost 600,000 m3, or 40 percent of the rated capacity; three plywood factories produced almost 420,000 m2 of plywood; 14 paper mills produced over 3,000 metric tons. Firewood, charcoal, pulpwood, cork, tannin, lacquer, and resin are among the principal products of the forest.
In an effort to meet the reforestation needs of southern Korea, at one time set at 275,000 hectares per year, nurseries have been established with the object of producing 200 million trees. In 1947 the nurseries produced about 100 million. An important problem in connection with this reforestation program is the protection of the plantations through the enactment and enforcement of legislation. Lack of such protection has resulted in the destruction of many plantations, which were established during Japanese control. Research is carried on at the Forestry Research Station near Seoul. Studies have centered around reforestation methods, storage of seed, growth rate of trees, and strength of wood. Many of the prewar records have been destroyed. Experimental Forest Stations have been set up in each province. Before the war, forestry degrees were granted at the Colleges of Suigen and Taikeyu and all the middle schools in southern Korea have forestry courses.
The chief problem facing the forest services is that of attaining adequate government support for the recruitment of trained personnel, and for the work it will have to carry out.
Malaya has a land area of 13.5 million hectares, 77 percent of which is forested. Of this, 7.3 million hectares are classified as productive forest. The population numbers almost 6 million, so the per caput productive forest area is 1.25 hectares. Considerable work has been done on botanical description and on technical properties of the important Malayan timbers. The forest types consist of mangrove along the coast and swampy areas, and mixed dipterocarp forests, with Shorea sp. in the hills.
Exploitation of commercial timbers is well organized and carefully supervised by the Department of Forestry. At the end of 1946 there were in operation 4 match factories and 110 sawmills, the latter producing almost 500,000 m3 of lumber that year. One modern plywood mill, producing tea chests and wall panels, went into full operation in 1948. Malaya is a timber exporter and all shipments that go through Singapore must be inspected and graded by the forest officer at Singapore.
Progress is being made at Singapore in the development of grading rules that will be satisfactory to importers in the United Kingdom and other European markets, as well as in the Western Hemisphere. The important wood technology studies of the Forest Research Institute at Kepong near Kuala Lumpur have been of great value in the development of these grading rules. The Institute has also done considerable work in silviculture and management of the mixed dipterocarp forest types. The Forestry Department at present consists of 40-odd British foresters in charge of the forest reserves, assisted by about 20 local foresters trained at the vernacular school at Kepong. In addition, there are five British foresters at the Forest Research Institute.
The tin-mining industry is an important user of locally produced timber. The rubber industry, which is also highly important in Malaya, is endeavoring to obtain permission from the Forestry Department for the clearing of more forest land for new rubber plantations.
Among the outstanding problems involved in the expansion of Malaya's timber production are a better understanding of market requirement by producers standardization of lumber grades and specifications; high ocean freight rates; shortage of labor, which has been aggravated by current political difficulties; modernization of worn-out sawmill machinery; the construction of roads into previously inaccessible forest areas; general adoption of modern methods of seasoning and preservation of timber.
These territories are under the administration of the Department of Forests of the Territories in conjunction with the Commonwealth Forestry and Timber Bureau of Australia. They have a land area of over 46 million hectares (115 million acres) about equally divided between Papua and New Guinea. Together they are 60 to 70 percent forested. The population is in the neighborhood of a million. Forest types include the lowland rain forest from sea level up to about 700 meters (2,000 ft.) elevation. The midmountain forest consists of Araucaria and oak; and the mossy forest at 2,300 to 3,500 meters (7,000 to 11,000 ft.) elevation is composed of Nothofagus, Phyllocladus, Dacrydium, Libocedrus, and Podocarpus. There are also some swamp forests and savannah types of little economic value except for mangrove. The lowland rain forest resembles the mixed dipterocarps of Indonesia, the Philippines, Indo-China, and Malaya. The Araucaria resembles that of northeastern Australia, and the mossy forest is similar to the indigenous type of New Zealand.
The ownership of forest land remains with the inhabitants either as individuals or as village groups. Government ownership must be obtained through purchase from the inhabitants before territorial forest reserves can be established.
There has been extensive coverage of the territories by aerial photographs taken during the war. There has also been considerable botanical collection and classification work by the Australian Forest Products Laboratory of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research at Melbourne, and by the state botanist of Queensland in Australia. There are, however, only very rough estimates of the volume of timber in the territories. Such estimates place the rain forests at 38 to 114 m3 log volume per hectare (640 to 1,630 cu. ft. per acre) and the Araucaria-oak forest is said to carry about 1.1 million m3 (40 million cu. ft.) over a total area of 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres). During the war, U. S. Army sawmills produced considerable quantities of lumber. There are now 11 sawmills operating which in 1947 produced about 21,000 m3 (740,000 cu. ft.) of lumber. The Australian government operates a sawmill to train local sawyers and some skilled laborers. As production expands, Australia hopes to meet not only the present annual requirements of the territories, but to obtain considerable quantities of hardwoods for Commonwealth use. Although prewar annual consumption of timber in the territories was not great, it is estimated that rehabilitation requirements will need almost 23,600 m3 (830,000 cu. ft.) a year for the next five or six years. Minor forest products include sago from the Metroxylon palm, nipa palm leaves for thatching, mangrove bark for tannin, dammar gum, canes, and bamboos.
Among the problems facing any forestry program in the territories, one of the most urgent is the control of shifting cultivation. Territorial forest reservations will have to be made to meet local demands and expanded export industries. A comprehensive inventory should be made, taking advantage of the excellent aerial photographs that are available. It will be necessary to secure trained foresters, and such training is being provided at the Australian Forestry School at Canberra. Plans are under way for a research program in silviculture through the Commonwealth Forestry and Timber Bureau, and in products through the C.S.I.R. at Melbourne.
New Zealand has a land area of over 26 million hectares (64 million acres) which is 26 percent forested. Of this almost 2 million hectares (5 million acres) are classified as productive forest. The population is less than 2 million, so the per caput productive forest area is 1.1 hectares (2.7 acres). At the present time 60 percent of the productive forest area is considered inaccessible. The accessible forest consists of 85 percent coniferous species and 15 percent hardwoods. Two-thirds of the forest area is publicly owned, principally in the form of state forests with a small area in communal forests. Exotic conifer plantations constitute almost 50 percent of the total accessible forest land. Estimated volume of the accessible productive forest is 31 million m3 (1,100 million cu. ft.) of conifers and 19 million m3 (670 million cu. ft.) of hardwoods with an average volume per hectare of 47 m3 (670 cu. ft. per acre) for conifers and 316 m3 per hectare (4,520 cu. ft. per acre) for hardwoods. Annual growth has been roughly estimated at over 1.5 million m3 (53 million cu. ft.), or an average of 2.4 m3 per hectare (34 cu. ft. per acre). Average annual fellings are in excess of net annual growth.
Indigenous forests are classified as rain forest and beech forest. Rain forest consists of kauri, Agathis australis; rimu, Dacrydium cupressinum; white pine, Podocarpus darcydioides; and totara, Podocarpus totara. Beech forest consists of a number of Nothofagus species. The exotic plantations consist principally of Pinus radiata, with a number of other conifer species from the United States. Production, which in 1947 was almost 3 million m3 (106 million cu. ft.), was made up almost 50 percent of rimu and about 30 percent of Pinus radiata. The remainder of the production consisted of Podocarpus sp., kauri, and beech.
There are 608 sawmills, most of them cutting heavily in the indigenous conifer forests. In the past, much of this cutting implied clearing land for agriculture, and progress was slow in obtaining public recognition of the need for regeneration of these forests. Because of the phenomenal growth rate of Pinus radiata, considerable money was invested by private companies in plantations of this species in the 1920's and 1930's. The government itself utilized unemployed labor during the thirties to establish large acreages of such plantations in the state forests. Most of the original investors, however, failed to realize the anticipated quick profits. At the present time these government and private plantations are supplying several large government sawmills, a large number of private mills, pulp, paper, and fiberboard mills.
There is a danger of serious overcutting in the indigenous forest on the one hand, and a concerted effort to utilize the rapid growth of the exotic plantations on the other. Industry has been faced with a serious shortage of manpower, but because of active government efforts to supply high-standard housing and improved living conditions, the woodusing industry is somewhat better off in this regard than other industries. New Zealand is in an excellent position to maintain sizable exports in exotic pine lumber but must depend on imports for its hardwood supplies. Thus Australia and New Zealand are complementary to each other to a large degree. The expansion of government operation of sawmills and pulp and paper mills will, of course, affect this situation considerably. One difficulty is the shortage of shipping and loading facilities.
The State Forest Service has a small headquarters staff in Wellington and seven conservancy regions, each under a forest conservator. The remainder of the staff consists of 8 foresters, 5 assistant foresters, and over 125 forest rangers. The Director of Forestry is seeking to recruit more trained forestry personnel and hopes to reinstitute forestry training, which was suspended in 1934. The plan is to establish a training center at Rotorua, which is also the site of the newly established Forest Experiment Station. The faculty of the training center would include some of the research personnel. Past research work has included important contributions on such subjects as timber testing of most of the commercial species, air seasoning and kiln drying, and the protection of lumber against insect attack. The work on forest management, silviculture, entomology, and pathology has been concentrated in the past on exotic pine plantations and is now being expanded to cover the indigenous coniferous forests. An important research activity is the National Forest Survey, which is making excellent use of aerial photographs in combination with ground cruising methods to determine not only the volume, growth rate, and degree of natural regeneration, but is also obtaining ecological information as a basis for the development of effective forest management methods. Considerable effort has gone into fire protection of exotic pine plantations. Modern fire-prevention and suppression techniques have been adopted.
In view of the present efforts of the Government to increase population through immigration, the old question of land use is being re-examined. The distribution of land for high-value sheep production and farming as compared with land to be devoted to forest production and for soil and water protection purposes are matters of grave concern. Unwise land use has caused extensive erosion, especially on overgrazed slopes which should have been left in timber.
The principal problems in New Zealand include the recruitment of trained forestry personnel, manpower shortage, expansion of forest research, rational planning of utilization to relate productive capacity of sawmills and paper mills to the growth rate of the indigenous conifer and beech forests, and especially of the exotic pine plantations. More adequate control of exploitation in indigenous forests, perhaps through a revised forest policy, is needed.
Before the war, North Borneo was a British protectorate governed by the Chartered Company of North Borneo. Since the war direct administration has been taken over by the British Colonial Office. It has an area of 7.5 million hectares (18.5 million acres), which is 82 percent forested land. Of this slightly over 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) are classified as productive forest. The population before the war was 400,000, so the productive forest area represented 2.6 hectares (6.4 acres) per caput.
Of the total productive forest area one-fourth is considered accessible, consisting of mixed dipterocarps and mangroves. The forest types are similar to those in much of Indonesia and Malaya. Except for certain small alienations of private land, practically all of the productive forest is state-owned. Rough estimates place the total volume of commercially exploitable species at 11 million m3 (390 million cu. ft.) with an average stand per hectare of 42 m3 (600 cu. ft./acre). Average annual fellings before the war were over 350,000 m3 (12 million cu. ft.). This is more than 50 percent in excess of the estimated net annual growth. Before the war there were 5 sawmills, 1 tannin extract plant, 170 charcoal kilns, and 1 wood preservation plant, which, with the logging operations, employed annually almost 7,000 people. As a result of the Japanese occupation, all industrial installations were destroyed with the exception of the tannin extractory. Since the war, a small number of sawmills have begun operations to meet the needs of the local population for rebuilding.
Before the war, exports of hardwood logs and lumber reached volumes of over 250,000 m3 (8.8 million cu. ft.) per year. These exports were sent principally to Hongkong, Japan, the British Isles, and China, with small amounts to Australia and Africa. In addition to the timber for export, North Borneo is a potential fuelwood exporter, especially to Hongkong. It used to ship important quantities of cutch and mangrove bark, dammar gum, and jelutong.
The trained forestry staff returned after the war to find all its records completely destroyed. Considerable effort is being required to reinstitute forestry administrative work and to control shifting agriculture. The replacement of sleepers, bridge timbers, and housing for forest labor is absorbing most of the present productive capacity.
The numerous islands forming the Philippines group have almost 17.5 million hectares of forest land, some 59 percent of the total land area, and support a population of over 19 million people. Between 95 and 100 percent of the forest land is owned by the Government. The islands of Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, Negros, and Palawan are the most heavily forested. Of the 3,000 tree species known to occur in the islands, less than 60 are now brought to market. Seventy-five percent of the productive forest consists of dipterocarps, more commonly known as the lauans. It is estimated that the volume of commercial standing timber is well over 1,000 million m3. In addition to the dipterocarp type, there is the molave forest which occurs mostly in the dryer limestone areas; the pine type, comprising Pinus insularis and P. merkusii, which occurs in the high mountains of northern Luzon and Mindoro; the mangrove type along the tidal flats; and the midmountain and mossy type, which occurs at the higher elevations and is principally protection forest.
The commercially important timbers can be grouped into (1) lauans. Pentacme contorta, Shorea negroensis; (2) apitongs, Dipterocarpus grandiflorus; (3) guijos, Shorea guijo, (4) yakals, Hopea sp.; (5) other dipterocarps; and (6) legumes. The wood of most of these species has been tested; the mechanical properties and the most suitable uses are known. Minor forest products include the firewood and charcoal, palm products, cutch and tan bark, fibers, resins, gums, oils, rubber and gutta percha, beeswax, and medicinal plants. The Bureau of Forestry is responsible for issuing short-term (one year) and long-term (five to ten years) licenses for the extraction of timber and minor forest products. There is a stumpage charge for all timber cut, varying with the value of the species. In addition, there is a reforestation tax which goes into a fund for forest planting. There is also provision for free use by individuals, by religious institutions, and for public works.
In 1941 the 163 sawmills, having a daily capacity of over 3,500 m3, employed about 70,000 people. Annual production was well over 2.4 million m3. During the war, production of logs and lumber was practically at a standstill. After the liberation in 1945 only 38 sawmills, with a total daily capacity of less than 700 m3 were in operable condition. At present there are 342 sawmills with an aggregate daily capacity of about 5,000 m3. Of these, 207 are connected with logging operations and the remaining 135 depend on purchased logs. Production in 1948 is estimated to be about 3.2 million m3 (log scale), or a total lumber output of almost 593,000 m3. There are about 50,000 people employed in the lumber industry. In order to promote reconstruction there was a restriction on export of lumber, but as rebuilding progressed rapidly, the quota for export was increased to 50 percent of production, and there was a total exemption of peeler logs and flitches. In 1948 over 40,000 m3 of logs and 6 million m3 of sawn lumber and flitches were exported, a major share going to the United States. All export lumber and timber must pass government inspection according to Philippine grading rules or those of the U. S. National Hardwood Lumber Association.
The lumber industry has set an annual production goal of 4.7 million m3. To achieve this, many of the present mills, which are of the U. S. Army type, and much of the logging equipment will have to be replaced. It is also felt that greater investment will have to be made in additional sawmills, finishing mills, veneer mills, dry kilns, wood preservation plants, and box and barrel manufacturing plants.
The Bureau of Forestry consists of a director with an advisory staff, an inspection service, a field service of 44 provincial forest districts, and 144 forest stations. It has the following divisions: administrative, investigation, management, engineering, reclamation and reforestation, concessions, and sawmills and utilization. The Bureau is responsible for classification of land which is to be converted from forest to agricultural use. It also administers national parks, forest reservations, and communal forests and pastures. One of its chief activities is the reforestation of cut-over land and especially of the 5 million or more hectares of wasteland largely covered by cogon grass, Imperata exaltada, which moved in when the forest was destroyed by shifting cultivation. The Forestry School of the University of the Philippines was established in 1910 and up to 1948 had graduated 638 men in the ranger course and 182 in the professional forestry course. Eighty percent of the present personnel of the Bureau of Forestry are graduates of the school at Los Baños. A large share of the research work is concentrated there in connection with the school, and many research persons also teach.
The major problems include the following: (1) rehabilitation of laboratories, records, library, equipment, and museum collections; (2) lack of trained men to fill the ranks of government services; (3) more rapid progress in classification of land which is being requested for farms by ex-service men; (4) more adequate control of forest destruction by roving agriculture; (5) financial backing and technical guidance for rapid rehabilitation of the lumber industry; and (6) expansion of research in use of forest products.
Situated on the northwest side of the Island of Borneo, this British colony is 89 percent forested with a forest area of 10.5 million hectares (26 million acres). Of this, not quite 4 million hectares (10 million acres) is classified as productive forest, largely dipterocarps. There is also a small but important area of mangrove forest. The population is half a million, so there is almost 8 hectares (20 acres) of productive forest per caput.
Little damage was done to records, experimental installations, or to standing timber during the Japanese invasion and subsequent Allied operations. Demarcated forests cover not quite 8 percent of the land area of the colony. Forest working plans have not been considered necessary, inasmuch as silvicultural operations have been aimed principally at the production of jelutong for chewing gum, and the planting of Shorea and Casuarina. In 1946 production consisted of 14 million m3 (490 million cu. ft.) of sawlogs, 56,000 m3 (2 million cu. ft.) of fuelwood, and 2,500 tons of charcoal. Twelve sawmills were in operation. Cutch, dammar gum, and rattans are also important.
Additional working capital and equipment are needed to fulfill the promise of a growing lumber industry. Efforts are being made to revive the export trade with Borneo, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and China, and to begin trading with Australia and South Africa.
Siam has a land area of over 51 million hectares, which is 63 percent forested, all classified as productive. The population is over 18 million, so there is almost 1.8 hectare of productive forest per caput. The forests are in the hilly regions surrounding the central plain and along the narrow strip of the Peninsula. The eight main drainage basins are important factors in the transportation of teak. Two of these basins empty into the Salween River, which takes Siamese teak logs to Moulmein in Burma, and two other basins empty into the Mekong, which takes them through French Indo-China. The other four basins join together to form the Menam, which brings teak logs past Bangkok. This division of teak transportation complicates the administration of teak concessions because it involves dealings with Burma and Indo-China.
The forest types include evergreen forests in the moist regions, made up principally of dipterocarps and Hopea, with occasional teak trees, and the hill conifers, Pinus khasya and P. merkusii. These forests, which are largely confined to the Southeast and the Peninsula, yield a number of valuable timbers, bamboos, and canes. The principal type in Siam is the mixed deciduous forest, containing important quantities of teak along with numerous dipterocarp species, Pterocarpus sp., Xylia sp., Lagerstroemia sp. and Terminalia sp. Along with these grow numerous useful bamboos. Mangrove grows along the coast and in swampy areas. On the lateritic soils there are mixed hardwoods, which are important as a source of fuel. All teak is the property of the Government, which grants concessions to private operators. Logging is done principally by hand methods, with primary transportation to streams and tramways by elephant. Recently, in the drier sections, tractors and trucks have been brought in to replace the elephant. Before the war, European firms held 85 percent of the logging concessions, but now the whole question of timber leases is being re-examined with some possibility of increase in government exploitation. Control of exploitation for all products has been greatly disturbed during and since the war. The system of leases and permits requires, for adequate administration, a larger staff than is now available.
The Forest Department of Siam was created in 1896, very much along the lines laid down by Brandis in Burma. Support for the organization has fluctuated through the years. Management methods are similar to those used in Burma, namely, the group and tree selection system with improvement cuttings and the natural and artificial regeneration of teak. In addition to tile valuable teak timber there is considerable production of bamboo, lac, charcoal, fuelwood, special furniture woods, gutta-percha, gum benzoin, wood-oil from the dipterocarps, gamboge, and nipa palm leaves.
Foresters are trained in the Forestry School at Phrae. Professional training courses are being considered for the College of Agriculture near Bangkok. The recent FAO Mission to Siam recommended a reorganization and strengthening of the forest department under the Minister of Agriculture. It emphasized especially increasing the field staff in the divisions and provinces. The Mission also recommended an aerial survey of the country. There is need for systematic reservation of forests for watershed protection and for commercial production. Watershed protection is especially important to assure adequate water supplies for rice cultivation in the plains. The Mission estimated that if 20 percent of the forest land were reserved for commercial production it could yield annually 25 million m3 of timber and firewood, thus meeting Siam's requirements. As to the needs for firewood, poles, and stakes in the vicinity of fishing villages, tobacco-curing sheds and railway stations, the Mission recommended the establishment of fuelwood plantations, principally of eucalypts and Casuarina. It recommended further that farmers in the Central Plain, where trees are scarce, be encouraged to grow trees on small bits of land otherwise wasted. Species are to be selected to produce firewood, poles, tanbark, lee, and shade and fodder for cattle.
The Mission also felt that artificial regeneration should be undertaken on a large scale, employing the taungya system, as developed in Burma and Indonesia for teak. Closer administration of logging concessions should also be aimed at, with natural regeneration where feasible. An important recommendation of this Mission was for the strengthening, of the Research Division of the Forest Department, including the setting up of an equipped laboratory to study wood chemistry and wood technology, and to emphasize silvicultural research in the forests.
These Islands, under British protectorate before the war, have a land area of almost 3 million hectares (7 million acres), 94 percent of which is forested. Of this, less than 21,000 hectares (52,000 acres) are considered to be accessible productive forest and over 2.5 million hectares (6 million acres) are classified as nonproductive forest, including a small amount of " bush fallow " rotation under shifting agriculture. The population was estimated in 1945 at somewhat over 94,000. Very few Europeans have returned since the war. Less than 6 percent of the land area has been alienated through Crown or other leases, occupational leases or freehold, but there are no forest reserves.
The forests consist of the littoral and inland types. The littoral forests are composed of the beach forest of Calophyllum, Barringtonia, Terminalia, Casuarina, Intsia and Hibiscus, and mangrove forests. The inland forests are made up principally of Pometia, Vitex, Calophyllum, Terminalia, and in small areas Agathis in the lowlands and foothills. There are also fresh-water swamps with Calophyllum and Terminalia. Clearing for shifting cultivation has produced mixtures of savannah and low-value tree species, including bamboo. The timbers of the islands have been studied and found to be useful for furniture, posts, and general construction, and such special uses as carving, turnery, oars, tool handles, and veneers. Minor forest products include mangrove tanbark, cordage for nets from rattans, thatching, dyes, and medicines.
The islands produced timber for the armed forces during the war, mostly through the use of U. S. Army sawmills and logging equipment. Some estimates place this at over 28,000 m3 (1 million cu. ft.). Fuelwood consumption has been estimated at about 0.08 m3 (2.8 cu. ft.) per person per year, which would mean a total production of over 7,500 m3 (260,000 cu. ft.). Sample enumerations on most of these islands give a rough estimate of almost 8 million m3 (280 million cu. ft.) of standing timber, with the heaviest concentration in the New Georgia group Santa Isabel Island, Guadalcanal, and Choiseul.
Forest industries include a logging and milling operation on Malaita and another on Vanikoru Island which produces kauri, Agathis sp., timber similar to that produced in New Zealand. Canoe and boat building are also important activities.
Problems include the organization of a new forest department, passage of forest legislation, establishment of forest reserves, silvicultural operations in the kauri forest of Vanikoru, encouragement of exploitation under proper control, better utilization of local timber, and the initiation of research into growth rates and methods of regeneration.
