SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.—K*. 495 
departments were regarded as oppressors, the people and sometimes officials being 
quite unable to understand that the forests stood in any need of protection. 
The good work, however, made great strides between 1900 and 1930 in Canada, 
Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, the Malay States, West and East Africa, Borneo, 
Fiji, British Honduras, British Guiana, the West Indies, Palestine, Tanganyika and 
Cyprus. British Somaliland represents probably the most primitive country in the 
Empire as regards development of its natural resources. There isno Forest Depart- 
ment, and shifting cultivation has done a good deal of damage, but a start has been 
made in inducing the natives to plant trees, and certain areas of cedar have been 
preserved. In Kenya the area of forests is very small, only 6 per cent. of the inhabited 
area of the Colony, but the pencil cedar is a valued product, and scientific management 
of the forests is well in hand. 
Ceylon is a colony where forest management has been in force for a long time, but 
it was noted at the Australian Conference in 1928 that ‘ up to quite recently our main 
work in Ceylon has been the exploitation of our hardwood forests for the supply of 
timber to public departments at cost price.’ This unfortunate system had most 
undesirable results, as exploitation was looked upon as the main duty of the forest 
officer. 
A census of woodlands of Great Britain has been completed, the total area being 
only 4,700 square miles, of which a good deal is classed as unprofitable. Great 
Britain, Spain, Greece and Australia seem to come well at the bottom of the list 
showing percentage of area under forest in each country, and Great Britain can at 
present supply only about 5 per cent. of her annual timber requirements. Small 
places such as Trinidad, Tobago, Dominica, Antigua and Hong Kong have been 
reported on, and a certain amount of interest is taken in their forest growth. In 
Hong Kong, in 1920, 8,000 pine plants were put out on bare hills, and there is a 
botanical and forestry service with two Europeans. 
In 1920, 1923 and 1928 Empire Forestry Conferences were held in Great Britain, 
Canada and Australia respectively. These proved of the greatest value in co- 
ordinating forest work throughout the Empire, in bringing forest officers together, 
in encouraging the care of forests in every possible way, and perhaps greatest of all 
in the creation of a ‘ forest sense.’ By ‘forest sense ’ I mean a general feeling among 
the population that forests are an essential and natural part of the life of a nation, 
that the country cannot get on without them, any more than it can without air and 
light. Such ideas have existed for many years in some of the countries of Europe, 
notably Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland. 
Among the important subjects dealt with at the conferences were :— 
Survey of Resources. 
Protection of Forests from Fire. 
Forest Research. 
Forest Education. 
It will be evident that, in estimating the forest resources of the Empire, the figures 
must be in some cases only approximate. Indeed a number of countries have been 
unable to give any exact details. A useful beginning has been made, however, in 
estimating the areas under forest, both accessible and unprofitable, and the quantity 
of timber that may be made available. Details of this kind will become more valuable 
year by year as surveys and working plans cover more and more of the remote areas, 
and it will suffice to mention here that India has 230,000 square miles of forest, Canada 
nearly a million, Australia 38,000, and New Zealand 18,000. 
The following resolution was adopted by the third Empire Forestry Conference 
held in Australia in 1928 :— 
‘The widespread damage to timber, property and life resulting from uncontrolled 
forest fires is a menace to the economic well-being of the British Empire, and constitutes 
the greatest single deterrent to the practice of forest management.’ 
This resolution had particular reference to Canada. 
Forest research has made great strides in the Empire during the present century. 
The number of subjects covered is very large indeed, and includes comprehensive 
investigation into silviculture in all its branches, including forest management on 
modern lines, nursery and plantation work, the protection of hills and slopes against 
erosion, and the use of valuable exotics, for example conifers in Australia, New Zealand 
and 8. Africa, and eucalyptus in S. India. 
On the side of forest utilisation or forest economy great progress has been made 
