REPORT OF THE COUNCIL, 1926-27. xv 



intended for commercial uses. The matter was referred to the Lords 

 Commissioners of H.M. Treasury, from whom a reply was received that 

 ' having regard to the impracticability of framing a statutory exemption 

 which would be free from grave difficulties of definition and administra- 

 tion,' they were unable ' to submit to Parliament proposals of the nature 

 desired by the Association.' (Resolutions of Sections D and H and the 

 Conference of Delegates of Corresponding Societies.) 



(c) The Council received from Lord Clinton and Dr. T. F. Chipp the 

 fullest assistance in investigating the disastrous effects which follow the 

 destruction of hill slopes in tropical hill-regions, and a statement drawn 

 up by Lord Clinton was forwarded to H.M. Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies for communication to the Colonial authorities concerned. The 

 statement was also ordered to be printed in the Report of the Council, 

 and is as follows (Resolution of Section K) : — 



Owing to strict limitation in the programme the only aspect of this question 

 which it was possible to consider at the Meeting at Oxford was the destruction of 

 forest on hill slopes. 



Reports, articles in the local Press of countries, periodicals and statements of 

 eye-witnesses all bear witness to the continued prevalence of this practice and emphasise 

 the consequent loss sustained by many of our tropical Colonies. 



The destruction of these hillside forests is due to several causes : the natives 

 destroying the forest by fire in the annual burning preceding their hunting ; the 

 native agriculturalist destroying the forest in the course of his shifting cultivation ; 

 the farmer encouraging young pasture grass for his cattle ; or over-grazing old 

 pastures ; or again the agriculturalist, practising a more intensive system of 

 agriculture, who replaces the forest by permanent crops such as rubber, coffee or tea. 



Whatever be the cause, the ultimate result is the same. Impoverishment of the 

 soil is effected by destruction of organic matter by fire. The torrential rains soon 

 leach the exposed soil surface and very quickly remove it entirely to the valleys 

 below. The bare exposed rocks heated by the sun tend to disperse the rain clouds 

 and the daily temperature variation becomes extreme. The hillside is freely exposed 

 to the action of every wind with the consequent desiccation of the atmosphere. The 

 rain water rushes destructively down the slopes almost as soon as it falls, scouring 

 the mountain sides, cutting into neighbouring farms and depositing broad beds of 

 silt in the lower part of its course. Such impoverished hillsides soon become barren 

 and the headwaters of the rivers become seriously affected. In the low-lying ground 

 the silt brought down chokes the ordinary river channel so that the water spreads 

 over the valleys, causing inundations both periodic and permanent, with the destruction 

 of lowland vegetation, crops and even towns. 



Where plantations replace the forest the process is more gradual, but without 

 protective measures the soil is continuously removed from the clean-weeded ground 

 and the roots of the trees freely exposed so that the crop becomes stunted and 

 valueless. 



All this tends to the impoverishment of a country, the gradual drying up of the 

 highlands and the conversion of the lowlands into swamps, the spoliation of agriculture 

 with the failure of the population to find land on which to support itself, for the 

 hillsides become unstable or more frequently barren rocky slopes. 



Afforestation as a remedy is a big problem and in country of this nature requires 

 the advice of expert foresters, and a long period must elapse before its effects can be 

 realised. Intensive agriculturalists, as in Ceylon, when the terrain permits, resort 

 at great expense to terracing, generally with the aid of cover crops. 



The argument it is now desired to emphasise is that every effort should be made 

 to prevent such destruction rather than wait till destruction has taken place and 

 then try to remedy the error. Prevention entails preliminary reconnaissance and 

 the scheduling of areas likely to prove dangerous, where, in the interests of the 

 country, it is not expedient that the natural vegetation shall be removed. 



Clinton, 

 Chairman of the Forestry Sub-section, 

 British Association. 



