THE FORESTS OF BELGIUM 



29 



battle was carried to a point where the 

 League now considers that it has at- 

 tained the following results : 



L In relation to the preservation of 

 the integrity of the forest : 



a. That no concession of land of any 

 kind, in the forest proper, shall be 

 granted to any person soever. 



b. That every concession so- 

 licited for land bordering upon 

 the forest shall be rigorously 

 examined and rejected whenever 

 its granting would in an}- way 

 impair or endanger the forest. 



c. That, should the necessities 

 of the bordering communities 

 demand the construction of a 

 tramway through the forest, it 

 shall follow the line of the already 

 established main routes, every 

 other route being irrevocably 

 closed. 



d. That no new road, path or 

 avenue, for any jDurpose soever, 

 shall be opened in the forest. 



e. That not even the tiniest 

 parcel shall be diverted for the 

 ptirpose of a so-called park, and 

 that those spots which ha^•e been 

 so treated shall be allowed to 

 grow up in natural forest. 



2. In relation to the forestry 

 administration : 



a. Cutting by *blanc-etoc has 

 been completely abolished. 



b. The coupesf jardinatoires, 

 which have supplanted the coupes 

 a blanc-etoc have been modified, 

 so that the reserves shall be 

 respected up to the point where 

 their decay shall become mani- 

 fest or a danger to the passer-by. 



These conditions have dimin- 

 ished the revenue of the forest 

 from five hundred thousand 

 francs to two hundred thousand, 

 the League now desires to go further 

 and, in addition to preserving the forest, 

 to also accomplish the destruction of 

 such features as have been introduced 

 in order to give to it an "ornamental, 

 exotic, or resinous" character, since 

 these features are not onlv foreign to its 



physiognomy but are also contaminated 

 with specimens which are destructive 

 to the indigenous flora. In other words, 

 the League believes that the Forest of 

 Soignes shall and must be preserved as 

 "a national reserve of natural beauty," 

 and it is precisely in relation to the 



ONE 



but 



DkEVE DES ExtANIS XOYES. 



OF THE INNUMERABLE FOOTWAYS WHICH MAKE THE 

 FOREST OF SOIGNES SO THOROUGHLY .ACCESSIBLE. 



influence of such a reserve of beauty 

 upon the lives, the welfare, and the de- 

 velopment of a people that there was 

 written the pamphlet with the quaint 

 title. 



Is it any wonder that artists such as 

 Stevens and Swaelman made so passion- 

 ate a plea for the preservation of the 



Literally "white-stump," and referring to complete deforestation of whole areas, 

 t After the manner of gardening; that is to say, the method of cutting out only the ripe 

 and full-grown trees, and providing for a perpetual renewal. 



