110 COLONIAL REPORTS MISCELLANEOUS. 



In West Africa, then, the greatest danger threatening the 

 existence of the forests is not their over-exploitation for forest 

 produce, but their wholesale destruction for farming purposes, 

 and this is proceeding at a very rapid pace, so that no time is to be 

 lost if sufficient old forest to meet all likely requirements is to be 

 protected and maintained. With the land tenures in force in that 

 part of the world, it is hopeless for the paramount Government to 

 expect the handsome revenues from forest estates that are realized 

 by the Indian Government, to which the bulk of the forests in that 

 country belong. In our West African Colonies the best policy to 

 adopt in matters of forest administration would rather appear to 

 be that of selecting and managing for, and more directly with a 

 view to their own pecuniary interests, the best wooded areas be- 

 longing to the native communities that we have to deal with. If 

 this principle is adopted and practised I anticipate but few dif- 

 ficulties in getting the native tribes to agree to our managing the 

 forests for them. The essence of such a method is, of course, the 

 tangible and obvious recognition in the working of the system of 

 the native rights to the land and its produce, for this is a point in 

 regard to which the tribes are exceedingly sensitive and jealous. 



Nevertheless, it is always advisable for the paramount Govern- 

 ment to recognize, and, if necessary, in particular instances to act 

 upon, the principle that where the interests of the public in 

 general are concerned with regard to matters of forest policy it 

 has the right to interfere, if by so doing it can ensure the adoption 

 of any measures that are necessary for the public good ; but even 

 in such cases the advisability of sharing with the natives any 

 revenues derived from the venture should not be overlooked. This 

 right of the supreme authority to interfere, when necessary, in the 

 interests of the public welfare, with forestry matters, is recog- 

 nized in every civilised State that has had to deal with questions 

 of forest administration, and moreover it is being constantly prac- 

 tised with regard to private forests and those belonging to com- 

 munes, municipalities, &c., and feudatory native States. 

 Examples of circumstances calling for such direct interference on 

 the part of the supreme Government are, of course, dependent on 

 the inability of, or direct refusal on the part of, the bodies con- 

 cerned, whether they be municipalities, corporations, communes, 

 native communities, protected states, or even private individuals, 

 to carry out the measures required. 



Whenever it is necessary for the good of the public to protect 

 extensive forest belts with a view to preserving or improving the 

 climatic factors of the locality or to act as protective barriers 

 against other dangers, the direct interference of the State is justi- 

 fiable if the measure cannot otherwise be ensured; and the same 

 holds good in the matter of preventing the extermination of valu- 

 able species of plants and otherwise regulating their exploitation 

 (both as regards major and minor forest produce) when this is 

 desirable for the public welfare of the countries concerned. The 

 necessity of such interference from the Imperial standpoint be- 

 comes obvious when it is recalled that the protection or destruc- 

 tion of certain forests in, say, one native State may be of vital 

 importance to the inhabitants of adjacent or even remote States 



