SOUTH AMERICAN FOREST RESOURCES 



A COURSE in Tropical Forestry has been established 

 at the Yale School of Forestry to train men to prop- 

 erly develop the forest resources of tropical countries. 

 There are at least two very large forest regions in the 

 tropics, the Amazon River basin in South America and the 

 Indo-Malay region of Southeastern Asia and adjacent 

 islands. The recent expansion of trade with these regions 

 has focused attention on their forest resources and has 

 shown the urgent need for their proper economic develop- 

 ment. This will be greatly aided by the avoidance of the 

 mistakes made in handling the forest resources of tem- 

 perate regions, which can be done only by the adoption 

 of a suitable forest policy during the early stages of exploi- 

 tation. What is needed is a public appreciation of 

 the value of the 

 undeveloped re- 

 sources and of the 

 possibility of mak- 

 ing them a perma- 

 nent asset This can 

 be brought about 

 by expert forest- 

 ers, who will not 

 only direct opera- 

 tions in the woods, 

 but also arouse the 

 public to the need 

 of forest conserva- 

 tion, and assist in 

 formulating a 

 proper forest policy, 

 and in the enact- 

 ment and enforce- 

 ment of suitable 

 legislation. In India 

 and in the Philip- 

 pines forest schools 

 have been estab- 

 lished to train men 

 for the forest service 

 of those countries. 

 Very little has 

 been done along 

 this line for tropi- 

 cal America, how- 

 ever, so the Yale 

 school's instruction 

 and investigative 

 work will be focused 

 largely on the Am- 

 azon country. 



A brief review of 

 forest conditions in 

 South America is 

 necessary for a 

 proper appreciation 

 of the problem and 



possibilities. The history of every country in the process 

 of development shows that excessive waste accompanies 

 the exploitation of its natural resources. Primitive people 

 of the tropics, by cutting and burning the virgin forest 

 areas to practice a shifting system of agriculture, have 

 been in the past the greatest enemies of tropical forests. 

 The virgin forest areas of the countries of Central America 

 and the West Indies have either been completely destroyed 

 or badly damaged in that way . South America has suffered 

 to a greater or less extent too. 



The South American forests, which are of broad-leaved 

 hardwoods, with the exception of two small areas, have 

 been roughly classified under four headings: dry for- 

 ests, temperate forests, swamp forests, and trop- 

 ical rain forests, 

 according to the 

 climatic conditions 

 prevailing in the 

 area occupied by 

 each. The dry 

 forests occur in the 

 temperate or sub- 

 tropical regions, 

 both at high and 

 low levels, over 

 immense areas 

 where the rainfall 

 is deficient or so 

 unevenly distribu- 

 ted throughout the 

 year as to cause 

 long periods of 

 drouth. The tree 

 growth, at its best, 

 is a dense forest of 

 comparatively few 

 species. The trees 

 are short-boled, 

 usually not exceed- 

 ing fifty feet in 

 height and in many 

 regions averaging 

 little more than 

 twenty-five feet. 

 The commercial 

 stem varies from 

 ten to twenty feet, 

 with diameters of 

 twelve to twenty- 

 four inches com- 

 mon. Perhaps 

 the best known 

 representatives of 

 this type are the 

 Q uebr acho- A 1 g a r - 

 roba forests of 

 Northern Argen- 

 295 



A "BUTTRESSED" TREE ON THE BANKS OP THE AMAZON 



While it is known that the forests of Brazil are rich in valuable hardwoods, they are so vast in extent 

 and the flora so slightly known that botanical investigation will have free scope in this practically un- 

 limited field for many years to come. 



