TROPICAL FORESTS AND THE WAR 517 



to the fact that the same class of forests extends throughout practically 

 the whole of the Malay region, including parts of Burma. My estimate 

 is that the virgin dipterocarp forests of the Philippines, Borneo, Su- 

 matra, Malay Peninsula, Burma, and Cochin China cover an area of 

 no less than 320 million acres. Again, to be conservative, cut the area 

 down one-half, to 160 million acres, and taking an average of 10,000 

 feet to the acre, we have a total of 1,600 billion feet of standing timber. 

 In amount this is about equal to the standing timber in the Pacific 

 Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and British Colum- 

 bia), which produces annually about 8 billion board feet. 



The Malay region is geographically nearer to the importing countries 

 of Asia and the South Pacific (Australia and New Zealand) than is 

 the Pacific Northwest, yet the latter has furnished to China and Aus- 

 tralia an annual supply of over 300 million feet. What are the possi- 

 bilities of the former region meeting this demand? 



Even in the Philippines, where the lumber industry is best developed, 

 with a maximum cut of 145 million feet (11), it is only in its infancy. 

 The Philippines alone, with a stand of timber of 200 billion feet, could 

 increase their cut to one billion feet without endangering the forest 

 capital. The impetus given to the lumbering in the Philippines has al- 

 ready spread to British North Borneo, where American foresters are 

 now in control, and to the Dutch possessions of Borneo, Java, and 

 Sumatra. It remains to be seen whether or not the conservatism of 

 the British in the Federated Malay States and Burma regarding their 

 practically untouched dipterocarp forests can be overcome. 



Turning again to South America, we find the largest continuous for- 

 ested region in the basin of the Amazon River. This forest, comprising 

 northern Brazil and portions of the republics of Colombia, Ecuador, 

 Bolivia, and Peru, is estimated to cover not less than 1,024 million 

 acres. Reducing the area one-third and estimating the remainder, 683 

 million acres, at the very low figure of 5.000 feet per acre, we have a 

 total stand of about 3,400 billion feet of timber. In the United States 

 the forested area is estimated at 550 million acres, carrying a stand of 

 2,800 billion feet, or about 5.000 feet per acre. 



The Amazon forest can be regarded as the greatest reserve forest 

 of the world. While it is not as near to lumber-consuming centers as 

 the other forest regions that have been mentioned, water transporta- 

 tion alone considered, it is nearer to the great centers of the eastern 

 United States and western Europe than the Pacific Northwest. Aside 

 from climatic conditions, there is no other forest region that has its 

 physical conditions so well adapted to lumbering. There are literally 



