FORESTRY 1 93 



The replanting methods of the taungya type, described above, 

 have been worked with success in parts of Kikuyu, and are said 

 to be so cheap and effective that it will be possible to deal with any 

 increase in cutting. In other areas, such as Kiambu district, wattles 

 have been introduced and a profitable native industry has grown 

 up. The development of sawmilling by Europeans makes it 

 unnecessary for the department in Kenya to undertake utilization 

 work. The value of imports, however, at present exceeds that of 

 exports in the timber trade. 



In Kenya European opinion appreciates the importance of 

 forests and tree-planting. The Kenya Arbor Society was formed 

 in 1934 under the Presidency of Lord Francis Scott, with Major 

 and Mrs. Ward as secretaries. Its objects are to protect existing 

 forests, to encourage tree-planting, to prevent soil erosion and to 

 repair past damage from this cause. 



Huge forest areas in Uganda have been cleared in the past. 

 Indeed, some experts assert that there is none of the original flora 

 left except in a few small areas, such as part of the Budongo forest, 

 and the vegetation on the high mountains. Even on the slopes of 

 Mounts Ruwenzori and Elgon, the vegetation is being altered and 

 the forest is receding as a result of burning and cultivation. To 

 some extent the annual destruction of forest is offset by planting 

 under the supervision of administrative officers using funds from 

 the native administrations and trained staff seconded from the 

 forestry department. The trees thus planted are mainly exotics 

 such as black wattle, especially on high land, and Cassia in the lower 

 areas. Here the aim is less that of conservation than of definite 

 afforestation with a better class of tree. Native forest reserves like 

 those of Nyasaland have not been developed but the creation of 

 communal forests is under consideration. In this, as in other 

 branches of development in Uganda, the preliminaries for com- 

 prehensive land planning are started, and here a joint survey of 

 certain areas by agricultural, geological, forestry, and other officers, 

 referred to in other chapters, will doubtless be of the greatest im- 

 portance. 



The needs of the local population are at present met mainly 

 from the savannah forests, but . in these the importance of fire 

 protection is not fully appreciated by the natives, who burn the 



