48 FORESTRY IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 



Commissioners asked for a statement describing the position of 

 forestry in each part of the Empire, to be used as a basis upon 

 which proposals for an Empire forest pohcy could be elaborated. 

 Thirty-four such statements were received and printed, covering 

 517 foolscap pages. Some of these statements contain the 

 required information, while others are deficient in various direc- 

 tions. Extracts showing the more important matters, with such 

 critical remarks as appear called for, are recorded in subsequent 

 pages. In this Summary attention may be drawn to a few points. 



2. Area of the Forests. 



Although the available data are not complete so as to deal with 

 all parts of the Empire, those given below for the greater part of 

 the area may be of general interest : — 



Area, Per cent, of 



square miles. total area. 



Forests, marketable . . . 685,130 . . 8 



,, unmarketable or inaccessible 1,112,030 .. 12 



unclassed . . . 40,000 



Forests, total area . . . . 1,837,160 

 Agricultural land .... 1,570,030 

 Other land 5,753,030 



Grand total of area dealt with . 9,160,220 



20 

 17 

 63 



100 



The area given in the above statement represents about three 

 acres per head of population, or 1^ times that in Europe. 

 Moreover, the 5| million square miles of " Other land " may be 

 found, on further examination, to contain considerable additions 

 to the now known forest area. 



3. Ownership of the Forests. 



Of the total forest area, 1,387,020 square miles are classed as 

 State forests, equal to about 76 per cent. The rest belongs to 

 corporations and private persons. The lowest percentage of 

 State forests occurs in the United Kingdom with 2-^- per cent. In 

 other parts of the Empire it is still high ; in South Africa, 37 per 

 cent. ; in Australia, 69 per cent. ; in India, 75 per cent. ; in 

 Canada, 93 per cent. ; and in British Guiana, 100 per cent. In 



