NIGERIA 165 



to the timber leaseholder they would be worth at least ten times as 

 much. Of course, in this calculation all sizes of trees above a girth 

 of 4 feet are considered, for the sake of making the valuation as com- 

 jjlete as possible. Naturally, the smaller girth trees would not imme- 

 diately be utilized, but when we are totalling up the amount of forest 

 or wood capital involved in the valuation, it is necessary to include 

 them and put a value on them. If the necessity arose, even they 

 could also be utilized and would at least bring in the amount of the 

 lowest valuation per tree. 



The Forest Reserves stand also in a special position to the local 

 people, for, after all, these Reserves formed originally part of the forest 

 from which were supplied all the major wants of the native, such as 

 timber, firewood, oil nuts and seeds, fibres, domestic articles and 

 medicinal plants ; therefore, whatever the main lines of protection 

 of a good forest, the needs of the people of that locality must have the 

 first consideration. After these wants have been fully supplied, then 

 any surplus in the way of timber or other commercial products can 

 be sold or exported elsewhere. This leads us to consider the fact that 

 a Permanent Forest or Forest Reserve leads to a permanent source 

 of revenue from that particular forest. Owing to the fact that there 

 is the permanent yield of timber established in that area, it means 

 that permanent money is being obtained from those trees and being 

 brought into the Treasury as part of the permanent revenue of the 

 country. If there is any increase, owing to the increased value of the 

 timber trees thus gained — and the more stability there is, the better 

 for the country — better arrangements can be made with regard to the 

 reproduction of the forests. If there is a greater revenue being obtained 

 from the forests, even more money can be justly expended by the 

 Forest Department for the buying of better implements for planting 

 and the Forest Station generally, for the making of permanent improve- 

 ments in the forests, such as draining, road-making and fire protection. 

 If these forests are not protected and unreserved, then in the course 

 of time they must completely disappear, owing to the fact that man 

 is so constituted that if he sees land, which may or may not be 

 suitable for agriculture, covered with trees, he naturally thinks it would 

 be better to cut these down and see what agricultural crop will grow 

 there, regardless of the fact that there may already exist, or he may have 

 cleared, fifteen times as much land as he requires for farming opera- 

 tions each year. 



In addition to all the above, there are the indirect effects of forests, 

 which have been considered in the section dealing with the relation 

 between Agriculture and Forestry. On the whole, it is better for the 

 Central Government or Federal Government to manage the Forest 

 Reserves, as by that means there is greater impartiality in their manage- 

 ment and more stability and continuity in the Forest policy adopted 



