25 



Chapter IV. 



THE FORESTS OF THE GOLD COAST— (continued). 



Area. 



The limits of the area within which the dense forest is to be 

 found have been approximately determined from the information 

 collected by Forest Officers during their tours, and are indicated on 

 the map showing the distribution of the forest, page 13. 



The system of shifting cultivation which has been in vogue from 

 time immemorial, and is still practised, makes it impossible to calculate 

 with any degree of accuracy the inroads made into the dense forest, 

 or to state how much is agricultural land, as any area maj- be converted 

 into farm land by the natives no matter with what type of vegetation 

 covered. For the. purpose of this calculation the word " forest " 

 is regarded as synonymous with " Guinea Zone," as the amount of 

 " Fringing Forest," " Savannah Forest," and " Transition Forest " 

 has not, so far, been ascertained. The amount is certainly considerable, 

 but too little is known of its extent at present. 



The proportion of the area of the country under forest, and the 

 extent of the requirements imposed on the forested area, as given below, 

 have been arrived at by an approximation somewhat similar to that 

 employed by Mr. N. C. McLeod in his " Statement for the Empire 

 Forestry Conference, 1920," but based on the 1921 Census. 



The data are obtained from a consideration of, (a) the area of the 

 Colony, Ashanti and the Northern Territories, (&) their population 

 respectively according to the Census of 1921, and, (c) knowledge that, 

 as a rule, a fresh area of land is kept under a rotation of crops for three 

 years, and that a return may be made to it after a rest of up to 10 

 years. This return to an area for agricultural purposes, after a period 

 of 10 years, is not always adhered to, as the natives find it easier, 

 where there is plenty of high forest available, to make a clearing of the 

 undergrowth and trees in the sapling and pole stage, rather than to 

 undertake the clearing of dense secondary growth. 



The total area of the country is 80,000 square miles, of which, 

 approximately, 28,000 square miles may be said to be under forest of 

 some kind, and the remaining 52,000 square miles under open Sudanese 

 vegetation. 



The population of the country in 1921 is given as 2,078,043. From 

 detailed examination of the figures in respect of the area within and 

 without the forest zone it may be assumed that roughly 894,000 are 

 living within the forest area. 



