102 COLONIAL REPORTS MISCELLANEOtfS. 



above, is still sufficiently so to have resulted in an elaborate and 

 special system of legislation being adopted for their protection 

 and management by those States that have included forestry 

 amongst their administrative measures. 



Before proceeding to discuss the steps that should be taken 

 on the Gold Coast, and indeed generally in our West African 

 Colonies, to ensure the protection of forest areas sufficiently largo 

 to serve these two purposes for which forests are required, it will 

 be advisable first to go into greater detail as to the results that 

 are likely to follow, and in some cases have followed, the whole- 

 sale and reckless destruction of forest vegetation, both in the 

 temperate zones and in the tropics. 



(b) Dangers attending and following the reckless destruction 



of forests : 



The presence of forests is most important in view of the effects 

 which they have 'both on the climatic and other factors of a 

 country; among these may be mentioned :- 



1. They mitigate extremes of temperature and render the 

 climate more equable. 



2. They exert a marked effect in regulating the water 

 supply, more especially by ensuring the sustained feeding of 

 springs and thus rendering the How of water in rivers more 

 continuous, and in tending to reduce the danger of violent 

 floods. 



3. They increase the relative humidity of the air, and in 

 consequence reduce the amount of evaporation. This effect 

 is strongly marked on hills in the tropics. 



4. By the mechanical action of their roots and stems the 

 plants composing forest vegetation assist in preventing land- 

 slips, erosion of hill-sides, the silting up of rivers, and arrest 

 the progress of shifting sands. 



5. They tend to increase the precipitation of moisture. 



6. They act as wind-breaks, and protect adjoining culti- 

 vated areas against the action of cold or dry winds. 



7. They act as barriers against the spread of fungoid and 

 insect attacks from one cultivated centre to another. 



Almost all these effects are more pronounced in the tropics, 

 especially in localities with well-marked wet and dry seasons, 

 than they are in the temperate zone. 



As regards 1, 2, and 3, their action is of the utmost importance 

 in preserving the water supply during the intense heat of a 

 tropical dry season, and it is in this connection that the whole- 

 sale destruction of the forests by the native farmers is attended 

 by the greatest dangers. In the maritime zones of tropical 

 West Africa, where the monsoon currents are very pronounced, 

 and a certain amount of precipitation occurs even in what are 

 considered the dry months of the year, and where the air is con- 

 stantly very humid, such destruction may be carried out with 



