By P. ALLOUARD, Conservator of Waters and Forests and Technical of the National Committee for Tropical Timbers, Paris, and at present working with FAO Forestry Mission for Mexico
IN almost all tropical countries uncontrolled forest exploitation ends in the impoverishment of the peoples living in the forest and in the deterioration of the forest itself. By the very nature of its mixed composition, the tropical forest is a relatively poor one and, if cut regardless of silvicultural considerations, it becomes still less valuable, and may no longer be capable of supporting the people who inhabit it.
The utilization of the forest should therefore be carried out with a view to its future improvement and to raising the living standards of the people dependent on it.
The inhabitants of tropical forests subsist for the most part by means of temporary or shifting cultivation, using for the purpose small areas of land cleared of timber and burned, which they abandon after a time and move to new clearings. Such practices can, if uncontrolled, lead to a rapid impoverishment of the soil and to the progressive transformation of wooded lands into savannas entirely unfit for any kind of agricultural crop. When annual fires ravage the savannas, the soil becomes increasingly sterile, land erosion becomes more accentuated, the flow of the rivers becomes torrential and the micro-climate undergoes a change causing damage that may well extend to regions far distant from the place where the trouble originated.
It is imperative, therefore, to stop the depletion of the tropical forest, whether this be due to uncontrolled forest exploitation or to uncontrolled shifting cultivation. If these two evils could be simultaneously brought under control, then the exhaustion of forest resources and the deterioration of the soil - the two most important causes of the impoverishment of the inhabitants - would automatically be eliminated.
It is not enough, however, merely to eliminate the wastage of material resources. Attention must be given to the development of the inhabitants themselves, and they must not be dismissed as simply backward people. The inhabitants of almost all tropical forests - especially those who live by shifting cultivation - are thinly settled, live at a low economic level, and are slaves to their mode of existence; their lives are very primitive, their health bad, their huts poor, the birth rate low, and education practically nonexistent, but any improvement in their mode of living must depend on the progress that can be made in utilizing the natural resources by which they are surrounded.
Although there is still a great deal to be learned about tropical forestry and agriculture, some facts are already well known. Crop rotation, use of fertilizers, cattle raising, irrigation, anti-erosion land cultivation, the growing and tending of forests, fire suppression - all have been successfully practiced in many countries. Yet almost everywhere individual attempts to introduce these practices, no matter how praiseworthy, have had little effect in improving the condition of forest communities which were in a low stage of economic development. From this it has often been concluded that such populations are not adaptable to modern life and are incapable of progressing, with the result that efforts to help them have too often been abandoned.
Although forest communities, either because of their low standard of living or because of the sparsity of the population, may not be of great economic importance in the immediate future, they nevertheless deserve honest consideration. Efforts to improve their living conditions are justifiable first as a means of stopping wastage of natural resources - a wastage which can adversely affect more highly developed neighboring communities - and second, because any improvements, no matter how small, can often become the starting point for more solid achievements later on when conditions are favorable.
The ideas presented in this article are based on ten years' practical experience in Cambodia, Indo-China, on problems which affected six villages with a total population of about 1,500 persons, who were at varying stages of development towards a more modern way of life. The lessons learned have since been compared with experience in different countries, which has proved to be similar, and the principles laid down here are not, therefore, theoretical or Utopian, but have a solid factual basis. Long practice has taught that the application of these principles is a matter of the utmost necessity, which, if it were more generally realized, would be the means of avoiding many disappointments and considerable expense.
Need for Close Co-operation between Technicians
When one examines closely the reasons why a community does not adopt the more modern practices that are being pressed upon it, one discovers unexpected difficulties which can be understood only by putting oneself in the position of the people who stand to be benefited.
Here is a typical case with which the author has had to deal and which concerned the possibilities of improving certain lowlands by using a high-yielding variety of rice.
This particular variety of rice required not only irrigated land but fertilization - an agricultural process completely unknown to the local community. To obtain the necessary fertilizer, livestock would have to be raised, fodder provided and the manure collected. In addition, special driers were necessary to bring the rice up to standard, the operation of which required a higher physical condition than was to be found among the indigenous population. The whole project, therefore, depended on the improvement of the diet of the community; this could be most economically achieved if the rice were husked on the spot (and not, as hitherto at large milling centers), and the husks used for raising small livestock, particularly pigs, for the benefit of the community. A small local agricultural industry would thereby have been established requiring competent workers to manage it, even perhaps brought in from outside the area, in which case they would have to be provided with housing and sanitary facilities.
The purpose of this example is to show that for any given region where the economy is oriented toward raising one particular product (whether in agriculture or forestry), it is necessary to obtain progress not only in one technical field, even if it is the most important one, but also in all accessory branches of the work. It may be stated as a general rule that solid progress in one branch of a given activity is proportionate to the progress made in all other branches of the same activity. In other words, progress is either total or nil.
Another example from Cambodia may be quoted. A certain region was so swampy that it was scarcely inhabited, so in order to carry out forest work, the Forest Service was obliged to bring in workers from more populated regions. However, to make work in such an unhealthy locality at all possible, it was necessary to launch a systematic campaign against the swamp conditions, a preliminary measure being to inoculate with anti-malarial drugs all workers to be engaged in draining the area. As drainage of the whole region was not necessary but only of the areas to be freed from malaria, groups of people were settled in places where a minimum of drainage was required, leaving enough water for the log ponds for the sawmill, for watering the forest nurseries, and supplying the everyday needs of the inhabitants. The anti-malaria drainage channels were utilized for irrigating rich lowlands, which were then transformed into vegetable plots to provide local-grown food. Reforestation was done in such a way as to cover the drains with dense vegetation that kept out injurious weeds and prevented the breeding of the malaria mosquito. The log ponds near the sawmills were constructed so as to permit the treated water to pass out into the anti-malaria drains and kill any Anopheles larvae there. The animal quarters were situated so as to form a protective barrier between the human habitations and the mosquito zone, since mosquitos show a greater preference for cattle than humans. Here then is an example of how a difficult and costly enterprise can be solved through the co-ordination of several techniques - sanitary, agricultural and silvicultural.
Need for Co-ordination in the Field
Co-operation must exist not only between the different technical branches interested in rural economy, but also between the organizations representing private and public interests, administrative authorities, and any other services having local influence. The need for such co-operation seems so logical and elementary that it should not be necessary to emphasize it. In practice, however, technicians frequently become interested in their own activities to the exclusion of the activities of others. A spirit of co-operation must be developed which rises above personalities and specialized activities - co-operation which finds its expression in work in the field. For this purpose a single person should be responsible for directing the combined efforts of all services. The permanence of his position must be assured and he must be assisted by a staff of technicians. His role is to exert a favorable personal influence on the population and to direct all private and public activities towards the combined work of modernization. This is the same principle which has been followed, but on an infinitely larger scale, in the Tennessee Valley Authority; the same ideas recur in "l'Organisme francais de modernisation du paysannat au Maroc," and similar organizations in many other countries. This modernization movement need not be a purely public activity: it can be supported and sponsored by private enterprise if private economic interests coincide with modernization plans, or it may be undertaken as part of a contract with the government.
Importance of the Psychological Factor
Often the difficulties encountered in carrying out a modernization plan lie not in the lack of technical knowledge, but in the attitude and reactions of the local inhabitants. The populations of forest regions are often superstitious, unwilling to change their mode of life and suspicious of strangers, especially of foreigners. They often believe that a way of life different from their own and more advantageous conditions of work are the birthright of a privileged class, which has at its disposal wealth, which they themselves can never have, a class which travels at government expense and which associates with people whom they consider as oppressors. An essential, therefore, for creating a better understanding, is that the person who inspires any modernization movement and his collaborators should speak the language of the region; they must have both the desire and patience to reach an understanding with the local people, and be capable of appreciating the position and reactions of those with whom they have to deal. It must be remembered that if a forest population is recalcitrant and defiant, it is often due to the fact that their only previous contacts with the outside world have been with unscrupulous timber merchants who took advantage of their ignorance, or because they have been subjected to unwise and onerous administrative measures. But once their confidence has been gained, these populations, whose material needs are few, will often undertake work on projects from which they themselves do not derive any immediate benefits, a result which it is often difficult to achieve even with more highly developed communities.
Applied psychology is now the order of the day, and some countries in recent years have made considerable progress in this direction in connection with rural welfare. In embarking on any rural modernization in the forest regions of the tropics, many unnecessary and costly disappointments could probably be avoided if advantage were taken of the experience gained in the same field in other countries.
Development Sectors
In order that the head of any development enterprise can exert effective influence, experience would suggest that his responsibility should not cover a community of more than 2,000 to 4,000 people. This number may with advantage be reduced still further, depending upon the dispersion and degree of economic development of the population. Even within this size administrative unit any attempt at modernization must be gradual and should at first begin with a single community and the territory closely attached to it. For convenience let us call this unit a "development sector." Any local program of modernization must be integrated with the over-all program, but considerable latitude must be allowed for local adaptations which are proved to be necessary.
In development sectors, continuity of effort, assured financial support, and especially the retention of proven competent personnel, are of fundamental importance. There are many examples of rural development which began well but later failed, either because the particular person who inspired the movement left the area, or because the necessary funds ware suspended, or because the responsible authorities abandoned the project at the first difficulty encountered. Financial support must be assured, a point which promoters and even engineers do not always appreciate. A temporary stoppage in the construction of a dam or of a road does not as a rule result in any irreparable material loss, but an interruption in rural progress often strikes a blow from which it is difficult to recover. It may be easier to start all over again than try to repair the damage.
Creation of Pilot Sectors
The final goal of technical assistance is, of course, to bring about modernization not merely on small areas but over vast-territories. If it is desired to obtain results for demonstration purposes, these results must be substantial and pay for themselves. Those communities which are to be benefited by modernization, must be in favor of it and be willing to underwrite its cost, even though this be spread over a period of years. To create in a population a state of mind favorable to modernization it is necessary to show them the benefits which can accrue, besides giving them verbal assurances from the heads of development sectors. The most effective demonstration is not provided by the individual experimental station, but by the example of a neighboring village or township which has successfully raised its living conditions and is satisfied with the results.
This is especially so if the original conditions of the two communities are comparable and if the people speak the same language. What, however, is needed most is the creation of a pilot sector in each region or in each type of rural economy, a center where the most advanced lessons of accumulated experience can be shown, as well as a practical demonstration of their application. This should not be limited to a single type of experimental station or of technical procedure, but should be typical of the whole community with its inhabitants, the territory upon which they depend, its economic life and its problems. Intensive studies of a fundamental character can be concentrated at the pilot sector, practical tests of different methods of production carried out, pilot enterprises of one kind or another established, and other similar activities. The cost of maintaining such a center is usually fully justified because the experience gained stands to be of the utmost value over a very wide area.
Since the ultimate purpose is for the communities to bring about the necessary improvements by their own efforts, or with the aid of private enterprise, it is essential that the costing of development projects be accurately maintained and kept separate from expenditure on research. Only in this way can the real progress of modernization be tested. The use of a large number of inhabitants as regularly paid objects of research should be avoided. If research and studies are necessary, they should be conducted on pilot sectors and their cost kept separately.
Example is the Best Teacher
In communities which have fully assimilated the ideas of modernization, or which are on a higher plane of economic development, the results achieved in a pilot sector find ready application. Where the lessons learned do not spread beyond the sector, it is advisable to interest private enterprise or various authorities in arranging study tours from neighboring settlements. If this is not enough, then additional sectors must be established of a simpler character but over a wider field. Such additional sectors are best attached to some specific activity - to silvicultural projects in forest regions, for instance. Every forest enterprise, whether it be timber cutting or reforestation, assumes as a part of its work the establishment of settlements, construction of roads, drainage works, etc. These in themselves can serve as practical demonstrations of modernization.
In some countries, the sectors of agricultural modernization are combined for administrative purposes into one central organization forming a separate public service. In Morocco, for instance, it is called "Le Paysannat marocain." It is not necessary to have a separate organization for forest modernization; the types of economy and the conditions of life of forest populations are very much the same, and the need is rather for a small number of pilot sectors to demonstrate the means by which progress can be attained. The best solution seems to be to leave the control of these sectors to the Forest Service.
The means thus far discussed for raising the standard of living of populations in forest regions are based on persuasion, education, and on creating conditions appropriate to steady progress. The success of these efforts will depend on the personalities of the heads of the development sectors, on the effectiveness of the methods of propaganda and demonstration, and on technical improvements. The question often arises as to whether these means alone are sufficient and whether the intervention of the local administrative authority can be of some decisive help. For backward peoples, a paternal authority that is kept "well advised" is of great importance. This authority must indeed be well advised, because there is always the risk that any artificial changes imposed upon the mode of life of the inhabitants will disappear as soon as the authority weakens or changes. Nevertheless, imposed decrees are often the only way of stimulating enthusiasm for work in populations somewhat inclined to laziness. A rise in the level of rural life will not be long lived unless it has been "gained" by the efforts of those who ultimately benefit from it. But whatever means are employed - persuasion or authority - the influence of the local authorities already in being, whether they be administrative, religious, or even commercial, should never be undermined. Being on a higher level than the rest of the population, they are often the easiest to convert to ideas of modernization.
It remains true, however, that the best means are always persuasion and rural propaganda. What is needed now is a concerted effort through international cooperation to study new ways of reducing the costs of modernization, of discovering new methods, and of developing means for carrying out field investigations and spreading information, so that each step taken toward progress in this field, no matter by what country, may redound to the benefit of all others.
The following point needs special emphasis. The less a population is developed economically, the greater the need to study methodically and thoroughly the problem of modernization in the particular type of productive enterprises in which the inhabitants must actively participate. In forest regions, solid progress can be achieved only by great concentration of effort in the places where the work is to be done. An examination of the question as a whole will bring out the related problems for which a solution adapted to local conditions must be found. 1
1 The same thesis is expanded in the United Nations publication Formulation and Economic Appraisal of Development Projects.
In the domain of rural welfare, as in all human activities requiring a high degree of perseverance, it is wise to proceed slowly and within the bounds of possibility. The creation of pilot sectors, which allow problems to be studied in their entirety with a backing of adequate funds, must therefore be the first stage in any lasting progress to be achieved by technical assistance.
