by A. L. GRIFFITH, Silviculturist, East African Agriculture and Forestry Organisation, Kenya
British East Africa consists of the three mainland territories of Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika and the group of islands called the Zanzibar Protectorate, off the coast in the Indian Ocean. It is roughly 1,500 miles (2,400 km.) from north to south and 1,000 miles (1,600 km.) from east to west, and varies in elevation from the sea coast up to Mount Kilimanjaro 20,000 feet (6,000 m.). The main inland feature is the Rift Valley with its series of lakes, the biggest of which is Lake Victoria, some 200 miles (320 km.) from east to west and 250 miles (400 km.) from north to south.
Such a country has a great diversity of vegetation, from the coastal mangroves to the giant lobelias, heather and groundsel of the alpine regions of the volcanoes which give place to vegetationless screes as the snow line is approached. Apart from this attitudinal change of vegetation, inland the forests range from the desert of the northern frontier to the rain forest of Uganda, with its Khaya spp., Entandrophragma spp., and Cynometra sp. Mention must also be made of the vast areas of miombo (a Brachystegia-Isoberlinia complex with many forms) which cover much of Tanganyika and which continue for long distances into Northern Rhodesia to the south.
A great feature of East African forestry is the raising of plantations of exotic softwoods such as pines and cypresses in the highlands of all three of the mainland territories. East Africa possesses only two indigenous softwoods, Podocarpus spp. and the pencil cedar Juniperus procera. These two species have been largely cut out and although comparatively easy to raise in plantations, they are slow growing and take some 150 years to reach millable size - 24 inch (60 cm.) diameter. Hence the emphasis on growing exotic pines and cypresses which produce a similar product of a similar size in some 30 to 40 years.
From this description of East Africa and its vegetation, it is obvious that to cope with forestry research under such very varied conditions needs a flexible organization and this is found in the East African Agriculture and Forestry Research Organization (EAAFRO). It is situated at Muguga which is some 15 miles (24 km.) outside Nairobi in Kenya. The organization is still in process of development and consists of some 35 research officers and scientific assistants, together with administrative and clerical staff. The subjects covered include soil chemistry, spectography, soil surveys, plant physiology, systematic botany, plant breeding, entomology, cytology, mycology, forest ecology, statistics, horticulture, etc. The basic principle is that the staff shall not work in watertight compartments, but shall be drawn upon as a team to work on any particular subject whether it be connected with agriculture, forestry or animal husbandry. Several colonial development and welfare schemes are based on EAAFRO.
A research organization which dealt chiefly with agriculture was originally founded by the Germans at Amani in Tanganyika in the first years of this century. It was restarted about 1920 as the East African Agriculture Research Organization, and in 1948 was reorganized and moved to its present headquarters. Forestry was added in 1950, and animal husbandry in 1952.
The reason that there is one research organization for all the territories is that most of the problems are inter-territorial, and it is therefore not necessary for each territory to go to the expense of having its research staff. Examples of such inter-territorial problems are the softwood schemes of all three mainland territories; the mangroves of Kenya, Tanganyika and Zanzibar; and the mule (Chlorofora excelsa) and the regeneration of the hardwoods of all three territories.
There are many problems which require to be studied, but the most urgent, which are being worked out at present, are:
1. information, its collection and distribution;
2. standardization of research procedure;
3. softwoods;
4. enumerations;
5. regeneration of hardwoods;
6. short-term tree cropping;
7. yield tables for important species.
In addition, insect and fungal problems are being studied by the appropriate staff, but these chiefly relate to softwoods.
Information
It was soon apparent that much technical information existed in the territories, but that it was usually scattered and difficult to find. A forest bureau was established within EAAFRO to collect and file all available incoming information. Information is dispersed as well: a number of publications such as an East African forest bibliography and a silviculture of East African trees are in preparation. One of the main reasons for the urgent necessity for such publications is that, owing to the war and postwar development, most of the forest departments consist of young officers, and technical books on tropical forestry are scarce, so that these young officers have great difficulty in obtaining instruction in silviculture quickly.
Standardization of research procedure
This had to be done as most of the territorial research officers were new to the work, and in order that the work of one territory should be immediately intelligible to another territory. It has largely been achieved by adopting the Indian Silvicultural Research Code as a general basis together with the standard forms for recording research data. This tends to minimize the recording of superfluous data while at the same time preventing the neglect of necessary information.
Softwoods
This is one of the main subjects being studied and includes seed and nursery problems, short and long term planting-out problems, and the trials of further exotics. Apart from the normal plantation difficulties of pruning, thinning, etc., there are two main softwood problems: the main groups of exotics, the gums, the cypresses, the pines and the wattles are all hybridizing among themselves; and secondly there is the question of disease susceptibility to both insects and fungi. Nursery problems are largely those of producing bigger and better plants more quickly, for, if a seedling has to remain in the nursery for two years instead of one year, its cost of production is greater. One nursery problem is that the soils of the nurseries over the three territories are so variable - from volcanic dust to heavy black cotton clay. Again, many of the exotics also require mycorrhizae and these are not introduced with the seed. Experiments are in progress on altering the seedbed soil structure, the addition of fertilizers and the cultivation of mycorrhizae. Further, there is no certainty yet that the best species or the best strains of the best species have been introduced. To test this an arboretum of small plantations (not of individual trees) is being established. Already it contains some 78 species.
Enumerations
Many forests in East Africa are being fairly heavily worked and, in consequence, much time and money is being spent on enumerations or inventories. Research on this subject is being carried out to try and find the most suitable, economical and efficient methods for stocktaking in the forests. Enumeration work is expensive both in time and staff, but it is essential to know what is in a forest if it is to be worked and developed.
Regeneration of hardwoods
The hardwood forests are being exploited and, in general, regeneration is not satisfactory by either natural or artificial means. Experiments have been initiated, but owing to the distribution of these hardwood forests the work must largely be done by the territories themselves with EAAFRO advising and coordinating.
Short-term tree cropping
A lot of work with exotics consists of short-term tree-cropping over rotations of 6 to 12 years with species such as wattle for bark and gums for fuel. This practice is alleged to exhaust the soil and lead to progressive deterioration in yield. Investigations have been started to determine whether the decrease in yield is due to stool mortality and stool deterioration (as was found to be the case in Southern India with the blue gum Eucalyptus globulus) or whether it is due to a genuine deterioration of the soil.
Yield tables for important species
There is little or no information on tree crop growth in East Africa except for that of an exotic Cupressus macrocarpa. Information is being collected, but this is a long-term project.
It will be appreciated that, although forestry research in East Africa has made a comprehensive start, it will be many years before work can get abreast of the problems that exist today, and no doubt each year will see new problems arising. One of the most encouraging features of the work so far undertaken is the complete co-operation between the four territories. Forestry research in East Africa is indeed being tackled as a combined operation.
