Forestry and Human Environment in Southern Africa

Abstract

Summary Forestry can make a considerable contribution towards the development of all territories in southern Africa. It is a major task of forestry to improve the environment in which we live. The role of forestry in southern Africa, as a business in which private capital can be profitably invested, or as a state-subsidized production of timber indispensable to the commonweal, has been fully appreciated, but the additional main purpose of forestry—the stewardship of green landscapes—has been rather neglected. The accessory benefits, the indirect and amenity values of forestry are very important. These include dune-reclamation, the management of water catchments and tree-planting for shade, shelter and ornament. Foresters must provide greenness. A new word, verdurize, is proposed to describe this task of providing verdure. Foresters should maintain nature reserves in forests and veld, with the accent on flora rather than on fauna, wherever the land has not been developed for agriculture or plantations of t...