492 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



to fulfil the conditions outlined before and give free play to all the 

 beneficial effects of the forests. 



Taking the proportion of permanent forest to other land in the 

 more civilized countries, we get the following ratios : — 



Special note should be made of the fact that in all these countries 

 the agricultural development has gone hand in hand with the preserva- 

 tion of the forest, and especially with no detriment to the development 

 of agricultmx in any direction in which it seemed desirable. Russia 

 has, for instance, enormous exports of timber and enormous exports 

 of wheat. Austria-Hungary had before the war considerable exports 

 of hardwood timber, such as oak, as well as grain, both wheat and 

 other kinds. Judging by the experience gained in Germany with its 

 hundred and seventy years of forestry practice, a proportion of 25 to 

 33 per cent, of the land area of any country can reasonably be retained 

 under forest, or afforested if bare. Such a proportion allows sufficient 

 timber trees to be grown to cover the large quantities of wood used 

 in industrial development and also a considerable surplus for export 

 to other countries. 



Turning specifically to the West African Colonies, it would mean, 

 out of a total land area of 4,500 square miles, that in the Gambia, for 

 instance, an area of between 1,100 and 1,500 square miles should be 

 permanently set aside as Forest Reserves or Forest Reserve Affores- 

 tation Areas. In the latter case, when all were planted up they would 

 gradually become forests. 



In Sierra Leone, with a total land area of 31,000 square miles, the 

 area would vary from 8,500 to 11,000 square miles. 



In the Gold Coast, out of a total land area of 80,000 square miles, 

 the permanent forest area would varj- between 20,000 and 26,000 

 square miles. 



In the Southern Provinces of Nigeria, with a total area of 79,000 

 square miles, the permanent forest area would reach between 19,000 

 and 26,000 square miles. 



