The World Forest Situation 



747 



not be described in detail nor is that 

 necessary in drawing the broad picture 

 of the world forest situation. It is first 

 necessary to note that in most of the 

 forest and geographic regions the 

 same destructive practices still persist 

 on a large scale which have been tra- 

 ditional throughout history. These de- 

 structive forms of land use destroyed 

 forests and wrecked agriculture in 

 many of the ancient countries of the 

 Mediterranean, China, and India. 



ONE MAJOR FORM of destruction of 

 forest and land is shifting cultiva- 

 tion that is, deliberate clearing of the 

 forest to make room for annual field 

 crops. The practice, particularly de- 

 structive on sloping land, is today 

 widespread in many parts of Latin 

 America, Africa, the East Indies, and 

 elsewhere. Through erosion induced 

 by clearing forests, the soil, agriculture, 

 and downstream lands suffer. Asso- 

 ciated with shifting cultivation is the 

 use of fire for clearing land, a practice 

 that, if unwisely used, expands and 

 speeds up the ill effects of shifting cul- 

 tivation. 



Overgrazing, another widespread 

 practice, first depletes the natural 

 grasslands, then drives flocks and herds 

 to seek new lands the forest lands. 

 Since these may not be naturally pro- 

 ductive of forage, fire or logging is 

 used to open them up in the first place, 

 and firing is often repeated to make 

 feed accessible. Great areas of Africa 

 and Asia have been treated in that 

 way. In Africa it is estimated that 

 more than 60 percent of the original 

 forest has been destroyed by shifting 

 cultivation, overgrazing, and the asso- 

 ciated use of fire. The process is con- 

 tinuing. 



In countries and regions in which 

 those practices are sanctioned, it is 

 found that no effective effort is made 

 to control forest fires ; fire, whether de- 

 liberate or accidental, continues to be 

 a major destructive force in most re- 

 gions and many countries. In the 

 United States, which has an advanced 

 organization for the control of forest 



fires, there remain, according to the 

 United States Forest Service, about 

 111 million acres of productive forest 

 on which fire control is not applied. 



In many lands, the exploitation of 

 forests for their useful products re- 

 mains on a destructive basis, in whole 

 or in large part. The effect, whether 

 caused by logging alone or by logging 

 plus fire, is to prevent or delay re- 

 growth, thereby retaining unproduc- 

 tive land. 



The effect of any or all of these 

 destructive forces is twofold: Re- 

 growth is prevented or delayed or re- 

 duced in volume far below what the 

 land could support. Further, the bene- 

 ficial effects of forests in stabilizing 

 waterflows and soils are reduced or de- 

 stroyed; thereby the ill effects of al- 

 ternating floods and low water stages, 

 of erosion and deposition of unwanted 

 soil and rock, are visited on crop lands 

 in the lower river basins. 



ALL THIS is the negative side of 

 forest management. That there is a 

 large continuing reduction of produc- 

 tive forest area and a failure to realize 

 the potential useful growth of the pro- 

 ductive forest lands there can be no 

 doubt, even though statistical meas- 

 ures of extent are now lacking. De- 

 structive forces and practice must, of 

 course, be brought under control be- 

 fore forestry can be most effective. 

 Information for the world as a whole 

 is far less complete than it is for the 

 United States. 



But the other side of the story 

 constructive and effective forest man- 

 agement needs emphasis as well. 

 Many forest lands in Europe are han- 

 dled to obtain a high percentage of 

 their full growth capacity, and idle 

 land is the exception. But considerable 

 areas are only partly stocked ; on them 

 the full growth capacity is by no 

 means utilized. Large and increasing 

 areas of Canadian and United States 

 forests are kept at work, though gen- 

 erally on a less intensive (that is, fully 

 productive) basis than those of west- 

 ern Europe. A great deal of the forest 



