NIGERIA. 313 



{d) Prohibit certain acts in a Forest Reserve. 

 (e) Make regulations to protect and regulate the taking of 

 forest produce both in reserved and unreserved forests, 

 and to provide for the collection, payment and the 

 disposal of fees and royalties on forest produce. 

 The Regulations constitute certain timbers " protected timber," 

 and this may not be taken for sale or export until the prescribed 

 fees and royalties have been paid. 



The protected trees are arranged into 8 classes according to 

 value. The fees range from 92 shillings for mahogany to 3 pence 

 per tree for mangrove poles, and the royalties from 20 shillings for 

 mahogany trees to 6 pence. A minimum girth limit is also fixed 

 for all trees, ranging from 11 feet for mahogany to 3 feet. 



Certain articles of minor produce such as rubber, bamboos, 

 fibres and grass are also protected, and fees and royalties fixed for 

 them. 



Timber licences are granted by owners of protected trees on 

 native and communal lands, with the consent of the Governor, 

 for areas not exceeding 100 square miles, for a period of 5 years, 

 with the right of renewal with the approval of the Director of 

 Forestry. Detailed conditions are appended to the licence, one 

 of which provides for the planting of 24 seedlings for every big 

 tree cut. Similar permits are given for the removal of minor 

 produce. 



It will be seen that the State has authority to protect and 

 control the management of the forests, but the Forest Authority 

 is not supreme, as forest reserves cannot be constituted without 

 the consent of the native owners of the land. Such consent, 

 though frequently obtained by the exercise of political and 

 administrative influence, is not always given, in which case the 

 State is powerless to act. ■ 



It is an offence under the Forestry Ordinance to set fire to any 

 grass in a forest reserve without taking due precaution to prevent 

 its spreading. 



With a view to the regeneration of the natural forests, some 

 planting has been done on cut-over and old farmed land, and such 

 plantations are extended yearly. 



Most of the forestry in Nigeria is carried on by the Government. 

 Some Native Administrations have their own forest staff, but in 



