11 



forest, as was that part of the native reserve in which the sources of the 

 streams are situated. 



5. FURTHER RESERVATION. Many forests under the administration of 

 the Forest Department have not yet been gazetted, as the descriptions of 

 boundaries have not yet been fully prepared : it is expected that the bulk of 

 this work will be completed within the next year. In addition, considerable 

 areas of forest still await reservation. These include the forests of Chepa- 

 lungu (a large tract in the south-west of the Colony), S. Elgon, Nandi, 

 Elgeyo and Marakwet, and the Masai reserve forests. These are all reported 

 to contain quantities of valuable timber, and it is advisable that early 

 steps should be taken to examine them with the view of declaring them forest 

 areas under the Forest Ordinance. 



5. FORESTS IN NATIVE RESERVES. 



6. CLASSIFICATION. Forests and prospective forest areas in native 

 reserves may be divided into two categories, (1) existing forests, sometimes 

 of large extent, which are capable, or can be made capable, of contributing 

 to the general timber or fuel supplies of the country, or whose conservation 

 and maintenance may for other reasons be of more than local benefit, (2) 

 small patches of natural forest, and areas to be afforested, which are only 

 of local benefit and are of no special concern to the country as a whole. The 

 former may be termed major forests and the latter minor forests. It is not 

 intended to imply, however, that the functions of the two classes of forest 

 should be totally different; thus major forests will be of as much benefit to 

 the population in their neighbourhood as minor forests, while on the other 

 hand there is no reason why surplus produce from the latter, after satisfying 

 all local requirements, should not be sold to outsiders. 



7. RESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT. The reservation of forests in native 

 reserves has been dealt with in 1;he previous section. The question of re- 

 foresting denuded tracts, partly for the supply of fuel and small timber for 

 local use and partly to secure the indirect benefits afforded by the presence 

 of forests, is a matter rightly regarded by officers concerned with the adminis- 

 tration of native reserves as an urgent one, and after traversing considerable 

 areas of native reserves which have been completely denuded of tree growth 

 I am convinced that early steps should be taken to prepare schemes of 

 afforestation and put them into operation. 



In several respects it will be convenient to adopt the same procedure in 

 dealing with major and with minor forests. Thus, both classes should be 

 gazetted as Native Forest Areas and should be subject to the provisions of 

 the Forest Ordinance, 1911. Their management and upkeep, and all work 

 connected with afforestation, should be in the hands of the Forest Department, 

 which should, however, be in close co-operation with the Administration on 

 questions of general policy with regard to the conservation and extension of 

 forest areas. Except when given free for special reasons, all produce supplied 

 to the local population from the forests and plantations should be charged 

 for at nominal rates. Apart from the fact that this is necessary in order to 

 defray the costs of maintenance, experience shows that produce is valued more 

 if paid for than if received free. 



8. ACCOUNTING. The question of accounting requires some considera- 

 tion. It is held by the Administrators of the native reserves that gazetted 

 forest land in those reserves would not be in the same category as gazetted 

 forest land in territories outside the native reserves, because whereas all 

 unalienated land in the latter territories is deemed to be Crown land, in the 

 case of native reserves forest land as well as other land is dedicated to the 



[243466] 2A 



