PROTECTION FORESTS. 39 



(4) Rules for the management of existing forests. 



(5) State management of private forests, if necessary. 



(6) Prohibition of dividing or selling private forests. 



(7) Regulation for the use of forest produce. 



The establishment and maintenance of private forests should be 

 encouraged ; hence, the measures of control should be reduced to 

 the smallest possible minimum, and this should be imposed only 

 when absolutely necessary in the interest of the community as a 

 whole. 



5. Protection Forests. 



By Protection Forests in the present sense are understood 

 forests which must be maintained on account of their influence 

 upon natural phenomena and their effect upon climate. Such 

 forests may be the property of the State, communes, other 

 corporations, or private persons. The law of the country should 

 provide for their formation if they are required for purposes Uke 

 the following : — 



(a) The preservation of the soil, especially on hillsides, so as to 

 prevent erosion, denudation, landslips, the formation of ravines, 

 the silting up of fertile land at the foot of the hills and the 

 extension of shifting sands. 



(6) Preservation and regulation of the water supply in springs 

 and rivers, so as to secure an even flow and prevent floods, the 

 supply of water for irrigation, the reduction of evaporation, and 

 the prevention of the defilement of the water in catchment areas. 



(c) Protection against injurious air currents, such as gales, hot 

 or cold winds. 



(d) For the benefit of the pubhc health. 



(e) For the prevention of avalanches. 

 (/) For the defence of the country. 



Protection forests may be made subject to special regulations 

 as regards the manner of cutting and working generally, the 

 execution of planting or sowing, the construction of accessory 

 works, such as dams, weirs, erection of fascines, fixation of shifting 

 sands, the regulation or prohibition of cattle grazing, the removal 

 of litter and similar matters. 



The procedure followed in declaring protection forests differs 

 considerably in the various States ; in some, a selection of such 

 forests has been made, in others they are declared from time to 



