The items appearing here are condensed selections of news thought to be of interest to readers of UNASYLVA. They are grouped alphabetically by countries under headings currently used by the Division of Forestry and Forest Products for reference purposes. The Editor will be glad to receive direct from readers authenticated items of interest and of news value for this part of the review.
General
Fundamental science
Silviculture and management
Mensuration, increment, and yield
Protection
Conversion
Utilization
Economics and statistics
Policy, legislation, and administration
Meetings
Personalities
International Forestry and Timber Association (Association Internationale de la Forêt et de Bois)
Argentina
· On 2 July 1949 a decree was issued by the Argentine Government establishing a National Commission on Forestry Education to formulate a plan of extensive public education on forestry. The Commission is made up of one representative from each government department, one from the municipality of Buenos Aires, one from each province, and one representative of the private forestry organizations. The executive committee in charge of implementing the plan will be presided over by the Minister of Education and will include representatives of the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Defense, Public Works, Transport, Industry and Commerce, and of the municipality of Buenos Aires.
Dominican Republic
· Information regarding Dominican forest resources has been published by the National FAO Committee in a document describing the geography, topography, and different forest regions of the country. Data concerning the growth and use of some fifteen of the more important species are also included. The forest policy of the country is outlined, and the development and possibilities of the timber trade are summarized. A number of statistical tables show the production import, and export of forest products. The report also contains a reprint of FAO publications and recommendations regarding forestry and forest products. It thus serves two useful purposes - to make available up-to-date information about the forest situation of the Dominican Republic and to broaden the knowledge of those inside the Republic of the work of FAO.
Italy
· Reforestation and vocational training programs will be financed with 10 thousand million fire (about $17,390,000) from the Italian counterpart fund built up under the Marshall Plan. Five thousand million fire will be spent on restoring Italy's war-damaged forests, increasing production of timber and other wood products, and establishing forestry training courses. Under the program, 60,000 unemployed persons will be trained and employed in 740 reforestation centers throughout the country.
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
· "Making the cities green" has become the popular slogan of a widespread movement to create parks and to plant trees along city streets, highways, and boulevards and forest rings around cities. Some 7,500,000 hectares of forests close to the cities have now been designated as city parks. Where there are no natural forests nearby, planting is undertaken, especially in the prairie region. The city councils are the primary movers for creating forest belts around the cities. In the Republic of Uzbek the Council of Ministers has assigned close to 15,000 hectares of land to be planted to parks around Tashkent, Fergana and other cities. The Kerghiz Republic has some 500 hectares already assigned for park purposes, and more areas are being surveyed under the program. Large parks projects are under way around the cities of Baku, Erivan, and others.
United States of America
· The Northeastern Forest Experiment Station has published a summary of Research literature on the effects of defoliation on growth of certain conifers. The purpose of the survey was to determine what additional research should be carried out. One conclusion to be drawn from the literature reviewed is that defoliation of the crown, whether by fire insects, disease, or other causes, immediately diminishes the increment, the reduction in growth being directly proportional to the degree of defoliation. Reduction in diameter growth is usually greatest near the base of the tree and less in the upper part of the stem. The tree's prospects for survival and resistance depend to a large extent upon its vigor before defoliation. There are, however, exceptions to some of these general rules. Some species, such as spruce, fir and larch, increase growth at the base of the stem during the year following defoliation caused by fire. There are also exceptions among certain other species to the rule of maximum loss of growth at the base of the tree. Finally, it has been noted that certain pines (Pinus palustris and Pinus caribaea) can survive total defoliation caused by fire. It would be of value to know the reasons for such exceptions and to determine whether they apply also to other species.
Union of Soviet Socialists Republics
· For a number of years occasional observations have been reported of a unique, mutually beneficial symbiosis between the common brown mound-building wood ant (Fomica rufa) and spruce and birch trees. The ant hills, when opened are found to be filled with a thick network of intermingled fine rootless of the trees, around the base of which the mounds are built. The branchlings at the end of the roots, contrary to the habit of roots to grow downward, actually grow upward. The trees whose roots are enmeshed in the ant hills appear in better condition, on the whole, than the neighboring trees which have no ant hills at their base. (The same effect has been observed in the ease of some berry-producing plants (Rubus saxatifolis), which grow luxuriantly in proximity to ant hills and less so where they lack them.) The reason is that, while the ants find among the roots a ready-made and living structure into which they can easily build their galleries and numerous passages, these galleries, in turn, provide access for air into the relatively compact forest soil in which the northern spruce and birch grow. Thus the trees benefit by better soil aeration - an important factor for plant growth.
· The giant Sequoia (Sequoia gigantea) grew naturally in the Crimea during the cretaceous and tertiary eras, but completely disappeared during the glacial period., During the middle of the last century it again appeared, this time as an introduced planted tree. It is planned now to plant Sequoia on a large scale on the southern shores of the peninsula that lie between the sea of Azov and the Black Sea, where it grows well at elevations between 0 to 400 meters above sea level. The climate of southern Crimea corresponds closely in average annual temperatures, absolute minimum temperatures, and annual precipitation to the climate of the natural environment of the "big tree" in the California Sierras at altitudes between 1,900 and 2,440 meters. The only difference is that the precipitation is more uniformly distributed throughout the year in the Crimea than in the Sierras. Sequoia in the Crimea begins to bear seed at the age of 35 to 40, but bears most abundantly at the age of 70 to 80. The number of cones tree runs into hundreds, if not thousands, and each cone contains on the average 150 seeds. But the viability of the seed is low (only from 5 to 10 percent), a feature that also characterizes the Sequoia in the Sierras (15 percent). On the whole, the Crimean foresters are of the opinion that the giant Sequoia can be successfully grown on the southern shores of the Crimea from local seed at elevations from 200 to 400 meters and perhaps even more successfully at higher elevations, where it has not yet been introduced.
· Another species that has been successfully transplanted is the giant western red cedar (Thuja plicata or T. gigantea), whose natural habitat is along the Pacific Coast from northern California to British Columbia. It was introduced for the first time into the Ukraine in 1870. Today, it is growing in many places, and the largest specimens at 70 years of age reach 22 meters in height and 36 centimeters in diameter. It has withstood the exceptionally cold winters of the last years. It produces good seed, which is now being used for further propagation of the species. Experience with exotics points to the conclusion that similarity of climates is not a sufficient criterion in introducing new species. An introduced species often shows a greater degree of adaptability than would be anticipated from the area of its natural distribution. So far Thuja has been planted only as a decorative tree in parks and in arboreta, but it is planned now to introduce it into forest culture. The most suitable region for it is thought to be western Transcaucasia Ciscaucasia, the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, and southern and southwestern White Russia.
· The conifer forests of the European part of the U.S.S.R. occupy a very large area, but they are limited to a relatively few species. Recent studies of their composition have revealed in the northern forests some large areas of a conifer tree to which little attention has been paid in the past, namely Juniperus communis. In Russia it is called kipariss, or cypress, although it is not a true cypress. Ordinarily of small growth, in some parts of northern Russia it reaches a height of 10.75 meters and a diameter of 19 centimeters at the base. Sometimes the juniper forms solid stands; for instance, there is one such stand which contains some 1,032 trees per hectare, ranging from 3 to 15 centimeters in diameter breast high. The average age of the stand was 63 years, the average height 5.9 meters, diameter 5.7 centimeters, and volume 9.3 cubic meters. The tallest tree in the stand was 12.8 meters high, with a diameter of 15.5 centimeters at 114 years of age. The only use now made of the juniper wood is locally for fence posts and wooden crosses in cemeteries. But with its fine grain, its attractive reddish color, and its narrow strip of fragrant sapwood, the wood lends itself to many other uses. It is easily worked and takes a good polish.
Canada
· A recent survey of silvicultural studies conducted by member companies of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association although it does not cover areas west of the Rocky Mountains, describes an array of projects dealing with natural regeneration, artificial regeneration, reproduction cuttings, growth studies wind damage, slash disposal, and site classification and summarizes work undertaken by these companies in Newfoundland. The survey points out that companies may have depended unduly on governmental research, though their own great stake would clearly justify far more active attention to silvicultural research. It is suggested that each company could well: set aside an experimental forest, professionally managed, on which the results and costs of various methods in use or under consideration might be studied.
Southern Rhodesia
· The main program of afforestation in Southern Rhodesia is concerned with exotic conifers since the territory is naturally deficient in softwoods. There are now 8,130 acres (3,290 ha.) under conifers. The annual rate of planting is to be increased from the present 1,400 acres (570 ha.) to 3,000 acres (1,200 ha.) by 1951. The area set aside for afforestation is 50,000 acres (20,000 ha.), but the aim is 85,000 acres (34,400 ha.) of growing stock within the next thirty years.
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
· Between 1921 and 1944 more systematic forest maps were published in the Soviet Union than in the previous 120 years. Considering that the U.S.S.R. occupies nearly one-sixth of the world's land surface (extending 11,000 kilometers from east to west and 4,500-5,000 kilometers from north to south) and that a large part of the country is forested the need for accurate forest maps is obvious. In 1923 a map of the forests of the European part of the R.S.F.S.R. (Russian Republic) was printed on a scale of 1:4,000,000. In 1926 another map appeared, covering the forests of the European part of the entire U.S.S.R. on a scale of 1:2,520,000. In 1938 the first volume of the monumental Soviet World Atlas was issued. Out of the 168 maps in this Atlas, four were forest maps: a world map of the forest and paper industries on a scale of 1:80,000,000; a map of the forests and the timber and paper industry of the Asiatic part of the U.S.S.R. (scale 1:20,000,000), and two maps showing the forests and the timber and paper industry of the European part of the U.S.S.R. (scale 1:7,500,000). During the years 1941-44 a schematic map of the forests of western Siberia (scale 1:1,000,000) and several other regional maps appeared. These maps, however, prepared by various unrelated agencies, without a central plan, lacked many essential features. They are, therefore, considered inadequate, and serve only for general orientation In 1944 the Government charged the Institute of Forestry of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Science with the task of formulating a unified plan for the preparation of forest maps. After a year's work the Academy made the following recommendations: (1) That an all-Union Administration of Forest Cartography, with local branches in the various Republics, be created in the Ministry of Forestry. (2) That a large number of specialized cartographers of high and medium qualifications be trained. (This problem is to be solved by enlarging the courses of cartography at the forest schools of University grade and also at some of the engineering schools.) (3) That certain uniform standards for the preparation and printing of maps be adopted. (4) That four types of maps be issued - general, regional, local, and thematic. The general maps, which are to be made to a scale of 1:2,500,000, are to show the different forest regions and the geographic distribution of the dominant species, and are to serve as a basis for determining the broad problems connected with the development of national forest policies. Because of the size of the country, general maps will have to be prepared for separate parts of it such as the European part of the Russian Republic, Siberia and the Far East, the Caucasus and the Middle Asiatic Republics, and Transcaucasia - at a scale of 1: 1,000,000 or 1: 2,000,000. Regional maps, of which there are to be some 150, will correspond largely to the political subdivisions of the country - the various republics, provinces, etc. - at a scale from 1:300,000 to 1:1,000,000, depending on the available information and the size of the territory. Local maps are largely maps of forest administrative units (Timber Trusts). They are to be, wherever possible, on a scale of 1:300,000 or even larger. Finally, so-called "thematic" maps are to show, for instance, the location of especially valuable species, areas of latex-containing plants, forest areas serving as sources for certain foods, etc.; for the present only 20 to 25 such maps are to be issued in the form of an atlas.
· Aerial forest surveys have now become the only practical method of obtaining data on the extent, location, and character of the vast unexplored forests of the U.S.S.R. Some 410 million hectares of forests have so far been covered by aerial surveys. More than half of this area lies in the Far East in the basins of the rivers Yenisei and Lena. In European Russia the forests in the basins of the Mezen and the Pechora have been entirely covered by aerial surveys. However, large forest areas still remain unsurveyed. Although some parts of the country within the last few years have been covered by aerial photographic maps, aerial photography-in forest surveys is still used only to a very limited extent. Using the best available topographic maps for the region as a basis, an outline map is prepared to the scale of 1: 200,000. On it the two observers, one at each side of the airplane, sketch in the character the location of the different types of forest, and any other natural landmarks. The flights are arranged along parallel lines 4 kilometers apart and at a height of 400 meters above ground. The observers are supposed to sketch in about 70 percent of the distance between the airlanes. Depending upon the character of the territory, the intervals between the parallel lines of flight are increased to 6-7 kilometers with a corresponding increase in height of the flight. Before the actual aerial survey starts, the crews are trained on the ground and from the air to distinguish differences in stands, their density, etc. Often an aerial reconnaissance is made at a height of 1500-2000 meters at intervals of 16-20 kilometers apart to get a general idea of the lay of the land and to determine points of orientation. The flight routes are laid out perpendicularly to some clearly defined boundary, usually a river. The location of the airplane is determined at any moment by its speed and the time it takes it to cross the distance between two known points and by the distance from the base line. The data are later compiled in the form of a forest map to the scale of 1:500,000. The accuracy for large areas is plus or minus 20 percent, sufficient for preliminary orientation. For small areas the margin of error is much greater. This, of course, is true also for surveys obtained by the statistical method on the ground.
Aerial surveys produce far quicker results than ground surveys. A crew of three in an airplane in a one-hour flight can cover an area of 25,000 to 47,000 hectares; and during the field season an area of 2.5 to 3.5 million hectares. To survey 2.5 million hectares by the statistical method would require 21 forest experts and 130 workers. Moreover, the statistical method does not show the location on the ground of the different forest types. Besides being more productive, the aerial survey is also cheaper; the largest item in its total cost, accounting for 30 to 50 percent, is the cost of operating the airplane.
Canada
· In view of the heavy damage caused by the spruce budworm (Cacoecia fumiferana) in the pulpwood forests of central and eastern Canada, the forest authorities of Ontario have made special surveys to determine susceptibility to its attacks. In an area of 3,500,000 acres (1,410,000 ha.) the composition of the forest was found to be as follows:
|
White spruce (Picea glauca) |
8.4% |
|
Black spruce (Picea mariana) |
47.3% |
|
Balsam fir (Abies balsamea) |
9.5% |
|
Jack pine (Pinus banksiana) |
17.9% |
|
Birch |
9.9% |
|
Poplar |
7.0% |
|
|
100.0% |
White spruce and balsam fir, which together total 17.9 percent of the stand, are the species affected by the budworm. In the area surveyed, which lies north of Bake Superior, 80 percent of the forest remains for use by industry even though a severe budworm epidemic may have virtually wiped out the mature stands of the susceptible species. In the eastern part of Canada, where balsam fir and white spruce constitute a larger proportion of the total stand, the results of an epidemic may be more serious.
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
· Ability to predict the approach of conditions under which fires may start is an important factor in the defense of forests. Investigations in the Soviet Union have shown that the degree of inflammability of a forest depends on three factors: (1) temperature in degrees centigrade during the preceding 13 hours; (2) moisture deficiency in millibars during these 13 hours, and (3) the number of days elapsed since the last rain, counting the last day of rain as the first day in the sequence. The amount of precipitation apparently has little effect on the inflammability of the vegetation on the ground, where most fires start. This can be explained by the character of such vegetation. Lichens, mosses, and also leaf litter can absorb moisture during a rain in excess of their dry weight, but they lose this moisture content a day or two after the rain and are then in the same state of inflammability as before. Shrubs and grasses obtain moisture only from the ground, and therefore the water content of their leaves and stems is little affected by rainfall. The circumstance most favorable to the spread of fires is the presence of a ground cover that dries out quickly after rainfall.
Administrative units are regularly informed of fire-hazard conditions. Short-term forecasts are made for two or three days ahead; long-range forecasts for a month ahead and for the entire season.
United States of America
· The helicopter has been used effectively in two out of the thousand fires handled in California by the Forest Service during the first seven and a half months of 1949 (up to 15 August). On one fire, fire leaders were landed in a natural opening, thus speeding control, and men were later taxied out to various other points where fire suppression parties were urgently needed. On the other, the helicopter was refueled in the air by a small plane and was able to bring supplies to fire fighters on the ground wherever these were needed. Both fires were in difficult and inaccessible terrain.
India
· The Japanese inventor of the Bambania Process has arrived in India to supervise the manufacture of bamboo sheets for panels, ceilings, and mosaics. The process involves boiling and subjecting the bamboo to pressure during conversion.
United Kingdom
· As a result of the Economic Cooperation Administration program, a technician from Great Britain's Department of Scientific and Industrial Research will spend three months in the United States and Canada gathering information on improved methods of seasoning wood. In requesting this study, the British Government pointed out that the United States has made great strides in timber-seasoning research and practices. Because of the shortage of timber in Great Britain, the avoidance of waste - possible through the use of improved methods of seasoning - is essential. British technicians have followed U.S. developments through exchanges of information, but there has been no firsthand contact between the United Kingdom organization primarily responsible for research and advice on timber seasoning and their American colleagues for 22 years.
India
· A bridge constructed almost entirely of wood, including the use of bent round poles as trusses, has been opened over the Rishabhavati River. It has a 10-ton load capacity and a span of more than 60 feet (18 m.). The total cost of its construction was about half that of a cement and steel bridge of similar length and capacity.
Burma
· The trend towards nationalization of timber extraction operations and milling in Burma appears to have been reversed. It has been officially announced that the country will be opened to large-scale foreign investments to develop natural resources, including teak extraction. Conditions will be attached to safeguard national Burmese interests but also to assure investors security for their capital and a reasonable return on it.
Canada
· Canadian newsprint production is expected to total 5.2 million short tons (4.7 million metric tons) in 1949, an increase of 4 percent over Canadian-Newfoundland production in 1948. Total shipments during the first seven months of 1949 were 5.5 percent greater than in 1948. The United States took 84 percent, overseas markets 9 percent, and Canadian customers 7 percent. In 1945, 75 percent of total shipments went to the United States and 19 percent to overseas countries. The drop in exports to overseas countries has been due almost entirely to the world-wide dollar problem. Many former customers - Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, and India - have been investigating the possibility of producing their own newsprint, and Canada has found itself more and more dependent upon the U.S. market. Consumption in the United States has risen by about 1.6 million short tons (1.5 million metric tons) since 1945. In 1948 it was 5.1 million short tons (4.6 million m. tons); in 1949 it is expected to total 5.4 million short tons (4.9 million m. tons). Canada supplied 79 percent of the 1948 total, and is expected to supply approximately the same percentage in 1949 In 1939 Canada supplied only 64 percent of the newsprint available for consumption in the United States. Newsprint is Canada's foremost U.S. dollar earner. In 1947, newsprint exports to the United States were valued at Can$ 292 million; in 1948, at Can$ 340 million; and in 1949 they are expected to exceed Can$ 400 million.
Ceylon
· Consulting engineers have completed detailed plans for the establishment of a modern paper mill in Ceylon, with an estimated annual capacity of 3,000 tons, to be in operation in 1951. According to 1948/49 budgetary allocations the Government plywood factory is being reorganized so that by the end of 1949 its annual capacity will be 400,000 tea chests.
Finland
· The agreement covering Finnish deliveries to the Soviet Union during the sixth year of war reparations, ending 31 December 1950, provides among other items for the delivery of two plywood mills and two prefabricated house factories, one paper industry combine comprising a mechanical pulp mill with an annual capacity of 50,000 tons, and a board mill with an annual capacity of 58,000 tons. In addition, two paper machines and a parchment paper machine will be delivered under the same agreement.
Hungary
· In 1946 Hungary imported wood to the value of 25 million forints; 1 in 1949 it is estimated that its imports will amount to 400 million forints. To meet the growing demand for wood, efforts are being made to increase home supplies. First, long-term projects for afforesting large sandy areas, that have been discussed for the last 150 years, are being given serious attention. Second, immediate measures are being taken to increase the productivity of existing forest resources. Hungarian foresters believe that timber supplies from their own forests could be increased 50 percent by lowering the cost of forest work and increasing productivity through mechanization. During the first two years of the three year plan (1947-1950) some 6.4 million forints were set aside for improving the transportation facilities in the forests, and 2.7 million forints have already been expended for mechanizing forest operations. It is hoped that the introduction of modern transportation, tractors, cranes, and special transport facilities will bring about a 20 percent reduction in production costs.
1 1 forint = $.0846.
Israel
· Under a trade agreement signed between Finland and Israel for 1949/50, exports to Israel are to include newsprint, 800 metric tons; paperboard, 1,950 metric tons; paper bags, 1,750,000 units; fiberboard, 500 metric tons, prefabricated houses, $680,000; plywood, 900 m³; lumber, 1,000 standards; boxboards, 1,250 standards; and wood and metal finishing machinery, $80,000.
Kenya and Tanganyika
· A British company has started operations in Kenya and Tanganyika to obtain supplies of sawn timber and veneer butts for the production of pencil slats. The preliminary survey carried out shows that the substantial supplies of cedar in East Africa appear to be somewhat scattered and inaccessible. In the mountains, at from 6,000 to 11.000 feet (1,800 to 3,400 m.), between Abyssinia and Tanganyika, scattered forests occur. The volume per acre can be high, and the, trees are sometimes big, running to over 12 feet (3.7 m.) in girth at breast height. With such a wide variation in the range, the texture of the wood is not uniform. The trees are logged and milled on the snot into "slats." A slat is about 7 ¼ x 2 ½ x ¼ inches (18.4 x 6.4 x 0.6 cm.), and the mill produces thousands of gross of these each month. Every one is cut on the true quarter, and milling to thickness has to be exact to 0.1 millimeter. Drying also has to be exact and controlled to avoid warping, which may cause a loss of 20 percent or more. The demand for cedar is considerable, and with the shortage of dollars it is falling increasingly on East African cedar. The United Kingdom takes 50 percent of the production, and its pencil industry is a small one.
Portugal
· Plans have been drawn up by a Portuguese private group for an integrated mill to manufacture. at the start, 20,000 metric tons of sulphite pulp (10,000 tons bleached) and 18,000 tons of paper annually. As designed, the mill will permit doubling the pulp capacity, while maintaining the same ratio of bleached pulp to total pulp, and increasing the paper capacity to 28,000 tons annually, with a minimum of expense. If the plans are carried out, the mill (in conjunction with a sulphite-pulp mill now producing 6,000 tons of Pulp annually) will ultimately supply Portugal's entire requirements for kraft paper and bag paper and most of its requirements for fine paper, and will still have from 30 to 50 percent of its pulp capacity left to supply the export market. The promoters of the company believe that markets can be developed in Europe for this amount of wood pulp. In 1948, Portuguese exports of pulp reached 2,420 tons, of which 500 tons went to Belgium-Luxembourg, 650 tons to France and 1,270 tons to the United Kingdom.
Turkey
· A first shipment of Canadian pitprops, loaded in New Brunswick, has been made to Zonguldak, the principal coal port of Turkey. This was the first occasion on which a Canadian ship, with a full Canadian cargo, was discharged at a port on the Black Sea. The shipment of 2,002 piled cords (6,800 m³) was part of an order for nearly 12,000 cords (41,000 m³) of pitprops, placed in the Maritime provinces of Canada by the Eti Bank, a Government-owned company responsible for the operation of coal mines in Turkey. The balance of the order is expected to be delivered during 1949.
United Kingdom
· It is reported that, under a recent agreement, France will ship to Britain around 200,000 tons of timber for railway sleepers, wagon bottoms, packing cases, and pitprops. This would double the normal volume of wood imported by the United Kingdom from France The agreement is regarded as a means of helping France dispose of the standing timber killed in the extensive fires in the Landes area in August 1949.
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
· The Soviet Union hopes to obtain complete self-sufficiency in naval stores by tapping its vast reserves of Scots pine. In earlier days most of the turpentine products were imported from France. When the tapping of Scots pine began in Russia, the first operations were haphazard, not co-ordinated with the activities of the timber industry, and often controlled by different agencies. The Ministry of Forestry has co-ordinated turpentine operations with general forest exploitation, and the industry is now developing at a rapid pace. The pine reserves suitable for turpentining are unevenly distributed. Operations for the next ten years could extend in the north to 15.5 percent of the area of reserves; in the northwest to 16.9; in the central region to 12.2; in the Volga region to 0.7; in the Ural to 11.2, in western Siberia to 10.0; in eastern Siberia to 28.5; in the Far East to 0.6; in the south to 0.9, and in the west to 3.5. This means that 60 percent of the turpentine operations would be located in the European part of the U.S.S.R. and about 40 percent in the Asiatic part, chiefly in eastern Siberia.
British west Indies
· It has been possible during the last few years, through the Development and Welfare Fund for the British West Indies, to attack forest questions in the Windward and Leeward Islands and Barbados. The operation is supervised by the Conservator of Forests for Trinidad and Tobago, while the actual work is carried out by an Assistant Conservator of Forests detailed from the Trinidad Department. There is now a Forestry Section in the Agricultural Department, Windward Islands, and an Assistant Conservator of Forests is stationed for one year at a time in each of the islands. Forest supervisors are receiving training at the Trinidad Department. A number of reports have been published containing geological, topographical, and forestry information from the Leeward and Windward Islands gathered during preliminary visits.
Ceylon
· In Ceylon no clearing of crown above an elevation of 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) is allowed for any purpose whatsoever. This prohibition has been enforced from as far back as 1874. Shifting cultivation is largely confined to flat land. It is the main occupation, besides the growing of rice, of the resident population in the dry lowlands. The clearing of crown forests for this system of Agriculture is allowed only on permits issued by the Government, on the basis of one acre (0.4 ha.) per family for planting food crops and another acre if required for growing cotton. The land is burned and cleared during the July-September period, and dry grains, pulses, and chillies are planted during the northeast monsoon rains in October and November. After harvesting, the land is tilled with hand hoes and sown again, this time with sesame for the brief southwest monsoon period. A third crop may finally be taken for the following monsoon season, again with dry grains and pulses, after which the land is abandoned because of increasing weed growth. The Government attempts to wean the people away from this practice by (1) colonization on land plots served by major irrigation works, (2) development of village irrigation works, (3) introduction of dry-farming arable crops in rotation under a system of alternate husbandry with pasture and fodder, and (4) co-operative reforestation of cleared areas with teak and hamilla (Berrya cordifolia). To induce the cultivators to stay on the land as long as possible, they are given financial assistance in proportion to the stocking achieved, and are permitted to grow plantains on the clearings or chenas (Burma-taungya; India-Kumori; Indochina-rai).
Czechoslovakia
· To facilitate the maintenance of a proper balance between the requirements of the wood-using industries and the sound exploitation of the country's forests, Czechoslovakia has created a new central organization known as "Drevona." Its chief function is to act as a marketing agent for unfinished and semi-finished forest products such as logs, ties, flooring, poles, wooden constructions, plywood, etc., to all industries using wood, thus assuring systematic control of timber utilization.
Ecuador
· In January 1949 an Institute of Forest Conservation and Development was set up in Ecuador under the Ministry of Economy and Agriculture to ensure the protection and development of forest resources. Its work falls into three main divisions, as follows: (1) inventory classification, and research on forest resources; (2) afforestation, reforestation, and forest exploitation, (3) forest legislation and protection. The first division is responsible for inventories of forests and woodlands, forest type maps showing distribution of commercial species, Research laboratories for wood technology and forest pathology, public education through publications (bulletins, leaflets, etc.), radio programs, a herbarium and a museum of natural resources. Its staff includes a dendrologist, a botanist, a museum assistant, a draftsman, a field assistant, and secretarial personnel. The second division is responsible for the planting of native and foreign species to determine their adaptability to different climatic and soil conditions; execution of a five-year reforestation plan based on free distribution of 5 million plants of 50 different species; development of soil conservation practices by means of forest plantations; regulation of forest exploitation to reduce waste; enforcement of fire protection and control, control of domestic and export trade in lumber and forest products; control of establishment of new agricultural areas within forested regions; and development of forest industries. It is headed by a chief agronomist-forester and staffed by 17 professional agronomists and 50 forest guards and rangers. The third division, formed by the Executive Council of the Institute, is in charge of forest legislation and protection, it has outlined a program which includes the compilation of forest laws, by-laws, and regulations, protection of wildlife, granting of lands and forests to individuals and companies for industrial development; granting of long-term credits at low interest rates through development banking institutions; and the sale at cost of machinery, equipment tools, plants seeds, etc. to forest planters and industrialists in lumber and forest products. This Division is headed by the President of the Institute. Its membership comprises a legal adviser and representatives of the Ecuadorian Institute of Natural Sciences, the National Irrigation Board, the National Council of Economy, the National Development Bank, and the Chamber of Agriculture.
· A resolution passed by the national directors of the Canadian Forestry Association at a special meeting held in September 1949 urges the calling of a Canadian Forestry Congress in 1950. Spokesmen for several provinces pledged their support of the proposal, and copies of the Association's pamphlet The Case for Forestry in Canada, which was made public at the meeting, have been placed in the hands of the Prime Minister and all provincial premiers. The pamphlet draws attention to the outstanding feet that the forest will more than support itself economically on an increasingly profitable basis if the steps recommended are taken without further delay.
· The Thirteenth Annual Constitutional Convention of the International Woodworkers of America, assembled in Vancouver, Canada, in October 1949, reaffirmed its faith in the principles of the forestry resolutions adopted by the Twelfth Convention. These resolutions outlined "a comprehensive forestry program which, if implemented by necessary and effectively administered legislation would result in a perpetually adequate supply of first class timber and contribute immeasurably to the conservation of many of our natural resources such as land and water supply."
· The Chief of the Forestry Branch of FAO's Division of Forestry and Forest Products, Mr. Stuart Bevier Show retired from active duty with the Division on 30 September 1949. Although he has left Washington and returned to his home in Palo Alto, California, he will continue to act as a consultant and will carry on other part-time work for the Division.
Mr. Show has the Bachelor of Science degree from Leland Stanford University, and the Master of Forestry degree from Yale. For 36 years he served continuously in various posts in the U. S. Forest Service. He became Regional Forester in California in 1926 and occupied that position for twenty years.
During his three years of service with FAO, Mr. Show's wide experience as an administrator was of great value to the Organization as a whole, and his knowledge of technical forestry and of the history and development of forestry in the United States were of exceptional value to the Division's work. It is a matter of satisfaction that his services will still be available as a consultant.
· Mr. F. Merveilleux du Vignaux succeeds Mr. Bernard Dufay as Director-General of Waters and Forests of France. He has until now been Inspector-General of Waters and Forests.
· Mr. C. S. Purkayastha until recently Development Officer (Timber) in the Ministry of Industry and Supply of the Government of India, joined the staff of the Forestry and Forest Products Division at Washington in September 1949.
Mr. Purkayastha was an honor student in mathematics at Calcutta University and subsequently studied forestry at the Forest Research Institute at Dehra Dun. He obtained the Indian Forest Service diploma in 1927. Most of his working life has been spent in the Province of Assam, where his various posts included those of Silviculturist and Working Plans Officer. During the past two years he has had headquarters at New Delhi.
· U. Kyi, Principal Forest Officer for the Shan States, Burma, has been awarded a U.N. Economic Affairs Fellowship for a six-month period of training in the United States. He hopes to concentrate his studies on the combined use of agricultural, forest, and mineral resources and the relations of such land use with river basin development, soil conservation, and flood control.
· Mr. of the Indian Waterways, Irrigation and Navigation Commission, a delegate at the Mysore Conference, is to lead a party of Indian scientists on the third Himalaya Expedition for selecting a suitable site for a high-altitude multipurpose research station. The proposed station will be the highest in the world for the study of biological sciences, physiology, glaciology, seismology, astronomy, and cosmic rays.
There has hitherto existed no international association which could embrace all forestry and timber specialists in its membership.
The need for such an association has long been felt in many countries by foresters and wood users who wished to establish closer contacts amongst themselves and promote their mutual interests.
Mr. Bernard Dufay, Honorary Director-General of Waters and Forests of France, who was for more than three years head of the French Forest Administration, has taken the initiative in founding an International Forestry and Timber Association (Association Internationale de la Forêt et du Bois), with headquarters provisionally in Paris. Mr. Dufay, president of the Association is well known to FAO as Vice-Chairman of the Standing Advisory Committee on Forestry and Forest Products. For two years, he was Chairman of the FAO European Forestry and Forest Products Commission, as well as of the Timber Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
The aims of the Association are (Article 2 of the Statutes)
- to draw together, despite political and economic frontiers, all those individuals, groups, administrations, services and public institutes, which are interested in exchanging ideas, information and scientific knowledge in the domain of forestry and the utilization of forest products;- to establish and foster friendly relations among all its members, irrespective of nationality, race, religion, and professional or doctrinal training,
- to enable its members to share ideas to profit from each other's experiences and to broaden their knowledge, in a spirit of understanding and mutual respect;
- to lend the support of foresters and wood users to governments and international governmental organizations in their efforts to raise standards of living and to establish peaceful relations between nations.
The Association is divided into six international sections:
1) Silviculture
2) Logging and Sawmilling
3) Industries
4) Timber Trade
5) Scientific Research and Education
6) Technical Publications
Should the members in a given country so desire, the Association will bring them together into a national group which elects its own chairman with a seat on the Executive Committee of the Association
The Executive Committee, which directs the Association is composed of the Chairmen of the international sections and the Chairmen of the national groups. The Executive Committee elects, every three years, the President of the Association and each of the six international sections elects a Chairman every second year.
The French National Group has already been set up and has designated as its Chairman, Mr. René Chaplain, Honorary Director-General of Waters and Forests, who, before the war, presided over the International Association of the Comité International du Bois The Secretary-General is Mr. E. V Letzgus, Director of the Revue Internationale du Bois.
Any professional in any country of the world, who is interested in the forest and the utilization of its products, may become an individual member of the Association in the international section of his choice; the individual annual subscription is 2,000 French francs or $6.00.
Collective admissions, by groups, and affiliations are also provided for.
The central office of the Association Internationale de la Forêt et du Bois is located at 97 rue St. Lazare, Paris, France, and full information about the Association may be obtained from this address.
