JAMAICA. 339 



W. OTHER BRITISH POSSESSIONS. 



The information received from several other British Colonies 

 and Protectorates is so meagre that no general description of the 

 state of their forestry can be prepared ; hence, only the following 

 short notes are given. 



Jamaica has no Department of Forestry, and particulars 

 regarding the growing timber are said not to be available. The 

 Island was, at the time of its discovery, a well-wooded country 

 with an abundance of fine timber, but it has not escaped the con- 

 sequences of "the mark of civilization" (as the local authorities 

 are pleased to call it) ; what now remains of forest is mostly 

 inaccessible. All building materials are imported from the 

 United States of America, at the cost of about £260,000 a year. 

 Since the war, some attention has begun to be given to the native 

 lumber supply question. Here the information given by the 

 local authorities ends. 



The Island of Jamaica lies between the 17th and 19th degrees 

 of northern latitude, and it has an area of 4,207 square miles. 

 Of that area, some 30 per cent, is still forest, or rather jungle. 

 For a long time past shifting cultivation has been carried on over 

 some 30,000 acres annually for the production of yams, ginger, 

 and other vegetables ; the land is cleared, cultivated for a year 

 or two, and abandoned. The result is almost complete denuda- 

 tion of the slopes of the Blue Mountains between 2,000 and 4,000 

 feet elevation. In the forests which now remain the most 

 important trees are (or were) Cedar {Cedrela odorata), Mahogany 

 {Swietenia Mahogany), Logwood {Ha^mafoxylon Campeackianum) 

 and Fustic {Madura tinctoria). Of these a considerable export 

 trade existed formerly, but it has now shrunk to very small 

 dimensions, except in the shape of transhipments. 



Although the authorities of Jamaica may be of opinion that 

 forest conservancy is not necessary, as timber can be imported at 

 cheap rates, the facts remain that deforestation is interfering with 

 the water supply of several districts, and that forests also prevent, 

 or at any rate reduce, a torrential flow of water in the rivers, 

 thus protecting the low lands. Under these circumstances 

 Jamaica will be wise in protecting, at any rate, the upper parts 

 and slopes of the Blue Mountains and elsewhere. 



