Review

Author(s): R.L. Willan

Review by: R.L. Willan
Source: The Commonwealth Forestry Review, Vol. 75, No. 2 (1996), pp. 180-181
Published by: Commonwealth Forestry Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/42608295
Accessed: 28-06-2016 05:27 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted
digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about
JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Commonwealth Forestry Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access
to The Commonwealth Forestry Review

This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Tue, 28 Jun 2016 05:27:17 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
180 Commonwealth Forestry Review 75(2), 1996

W.D. Hawthorne FROGGIE - Forest Reserves of Ghana Although the user can quickly obtain striking results (e.g. of the
Graphical Information Exhibitor (Manual for the program). distribution of any species), the full possibilities of the system need

IUCN, Cambridge. 1995. 137pp. Nps. ISBN 2-8317-0263-1. imagination and careful reading of the manual. Altogether, this
bundle (book, manual and programme) is unique, and will probably
These two closely-related books are some of the fruits of a series of stimulate people in other countries to consider developing similar
systems. For anyone interested in Ghana's forests, this is an essen-
ODA-Government of Ghana bilateral aid projects which began in
the mid 1980s, and comprise a detailed record of forest resources in
tial resource, and the ideas on forest protection are relevant to all
areas of the humid tropics.
Ghana. Forest protection in Ghana is the parent text and FROGGIE
is the programme and manual for the computer application which M.D. Swaine

includes all of the data described in the parent text. There is little REFERENCE

point in acquiring the programme manual without the programme,

Hall, J.B. and Swaine, M.D. 1981 Distribution and ecology of
which is available from the author at the Oxford Forestry Institute,
vascular plants in a tropical rain forest: forest vegetation in Ghana.
Oxford 0X1 3RB, or from the Forestry Adviser (West Africa),
Junk (publishers), The Hague.
ODA, 94 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5JL.
Ghana's forests and their plants are better-known and described
than those of any other tropical country, and these publications
describe a substantial augmentation of existing published data. John Holmes. Natural forest handbook for Tanzania. Vol-
This knowledge offers the opportunity to manage Ghana's forest umes I and II. Sokoine University of Agriculture, Faculty of
resources with some precision, which is the main objective of the Forestry, Morogoro, Tanzania. 1995. xxvii + 888pp. Noprice
continuing bilateral aid projects. Forest protection has a high stated. ISBN 9987-8843-34.
priority because of increasing pressures on forest resources due to
fires, logging, human population growth and economic demands. This book has been published by the Sokoine University of Agricul-
Forest protection in Ghana describes the results of a survey to assess ture, with financial support from the Norwegian Agency for Devel-
the botanical resources and forest conditions of Ghana's Forest opment Cooperation (NORAD). Jack Holmes, with over 40 years'
Reserves completed in the late 1980s, and includes detailed discus- experience in Tanzanian forestry, had unique qualifications to write
sion of and recommendations for managing and protecting these the book.
botanical resources. Volume I (Forest Ecology and Managenent) contains chapters
Novel methods are described for the measurement of floristic on:

importance of any piece of forest (a Genetic Heat Index) using 1. The Forests, 2. Forest Management, 3. Silviculture, 4. Forest
species rarity and distribution, and of the status of economic species Protection, 5. Wildlife Habitat, 6. Timber Harvesting, with a final
(especially timber trees) weighted according to their degree of chapter 7 consisting of formulae, conversion tables, etc.
exploitation. These produce interesting and robust patterns of Chapter 1 starts with abrief introduction to ecology followed by
forest importance for two independent measures of conservation a description of the main vegetation types of Tanzania, based on
value. In a topic fraught with value judgements, it is encouraging to Greenway's 1943 classification, with typical constituent species. The
find a reasonably objective approach which produces useful results. remainder of the chapter is devoted to site factors geology, soil, ero-
The book contains a great quantity of information (including 130 sion, topography and climate. Detailed practical instructions are given
pages of Appendices) which is presented in a very readable and for ecological survey, soil sampling, rainfall and temperature meas-
perceptive text. It is an important practical and theoretical contribu- urements, and calculation of soil moisture buildup at planting time.
tion to conservation biology. Chapter 2 notes that lack of staff and funds has severely inhib-
All the information used in the book is incorporated in FROGGIE, ited natural forest management over recent years. As a result, seri-
which is essentially a database comprising the details of all botani- ous deterioration has occurred in many forest types. The adoption
cal records (including those of Hall and Swaine 1981) and summa- of a Tropical Forest Action Plan
ries of the enumerations of trees >5 cm DB H for all Forest Reserves. for Tanzania will, it is hoped, improve the situation. In the long run,
The latest versions of the programme will include full details of it is suggested, timber needs could be supplied predominantly or
individual enumeration plots, amounting to over 30 Mb of data. The wholly from plantations, leaving the natural forests to continue their
information is made available through a graphical GIS-style inter- essential environmental role and to supply non-timber products, which
face in which botanical samples and Forest Reserves are shown on could be harvested with less disruption of the forest habitat.
maps of the forest zone of Ghana at a resolution of 1/1000 degree In the absence of local experience, the sections on management fol-
(c. 100m). A great diversity of analyses can be conducted with this low standard textbook format (objects of management, yield regu-
system and results shown as coloured maps or as text. The maps lation, working circles etc.). Outline headings for a Management Plan
may be exported as .HPG (Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language) are listed (the Annual Plan of Operations is described in Volume II,
files. The program is DOS-based, using a mouse pointer and pull- p.266) and the chapter is concluded by a detailed practical guide to
down menus in a style which became common in later DOS appli- boundary demarcation and surveying. There are a few unclear or
cations. Those raised on Microsoft Windows should not expect the conflicting statements, e.g. the relationship of compartment to block
same intuitive use, not least because the purposes and uses of (pp. 156/157) and rotation to felling cycle, with particular reference
FROGGIE are far removed from those of a word-processor or to polycyclic systems (pp. 149/1 57). On p. 172 Diagram II does not
general purpose database. A number of additional programmmes agree with the corresponding figures in the text.
are provided for editing maps, entering new data and extracting data Chapter 3 starts with a section on choice of species for planting.
from the system, but these are not all easy to use. If you use Species include both indigenous and exotic, listed under five climatic
FROGGIE to prepare maps it is probably easier to export a basic planting zones: 1 . Moist tropical lowland and lower montane, 2. Wet
.HPG file to a familiar vector-graphics application such as CorelDraw montane, 3. Dry montane, 4. Dry plateau, 5. Dry lowland. Altitudinal
to do the editing. and rainfall parameters are given for each zone, and species are also
The manual itself is nicely presented with an explanation of the subdivided by end use (timber, poles, fuel, shelter, pulp, soil con-
data and detailed descriptions of the various programme functions. servation, amenity). Later sections follow a logical sequence from

This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Tue, 28 Jun 2016 05:27:17 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
 Book Reviews 181

seed, through nurseries, site preparation, planting, beating up and ficient local experience, describe techniques from elsewhere, e.g. man-
weeding, to pruning and thinning. There are brief sections on grove management in Asia. In this connection, a summary of high
fuelwood coppice regeneration and on natural regeneration of indig- forest management techniques from other countries such as Uganda
enous species. Notes on the silviculture and management of impor- would have been a welcome addition. Mensuration and inventory
tant indigenous (and two exotic) species follow, together with a table receive only the barest mention (Vol.1, p. 164), for the excellent rea-
of seed weights. It is surprising to find (p.263) teak next to Podocarpus son that readers are referred to M.S. Philip's 1983 Measuring trees
among the montane species, on the strength of a small atypical planting and forests published in Tanzania.
on the shores of Lake Malawi. It should have been described among The book is well printed in attractive paperback format. There
species for the Coastal Lowland, the zone where it grows best and is no index but a very full list of contents. There are a number of minor
where its major plantations are sited. printing errors, not surprising when there are so many Latin names.
Chapter 4 has sections on fungal disease, insect pests and fire pro- The text is enhanced by numerous line drawings, notably in the sec-
tection, and contains 60 pages of tabulated lists of diseases and pests, tions on surveying, felling and logging, sawmilling, roads and build-
with their host species and recommended treatments. Detailed ings. There are valuable coloured maps of climate, but the correspond-
prescriptions are given for fire control, together with a glossary of ing geological map loses much of its value because photoreduction
fire terminology. Chapter 5 contains sections on habitat protection has rendered the legend illegible. There are 33 pages of excellent
and on limiting forest damage by animals. There are detailed pre- botanical drawings supplied by Kew from the Flora of Tropical East
scriptions for wire and electric fencing. Chapter 6 starts with a short Africa, but some species are of botanical rather than forestry inter-
section on pitsawing, followed by detailed illustrated instructions on est. The description of forest types would have benefited from some
felling, delimbing and cross cutting, stacking, loading, extraction, good photographs. The title, perhaps from an attempt at political cor-
road transport and road design. They include specific guidance on rectness, is somewhat of a misnomer. There is a good deal of
logging in miombo. information on general forest administration, sections such as those
Chapter 7 starts with definitions of a number of S.I. units in on nurseries and thinning are more applicable to plantations than
engineering and formulae for calculating areas and volumes. Much natural forests, while room is found for two exotic plantation
of the following information is presented in the form of clear, use- species, teak and Eucalyptus saligna. This is not so much a criticism
ful tables. of an excellent book as a plea for Volume III on plantation forestry
Volume II contains chapters on: 1. Forest Legislation, 2. in Tanzania.
Forest Policy, 3. Forest Projects, 4. Forest Utilisation. Chapter 1 runs R.L. Willan
to 215 pages, of which 63 consist of tabulated information, by dis-
tricts, on all forest reserves in Tanzania mainland (regional and
national totals appear in Appendix 1 to chapter 2, p. 245). The
legislation quoted, dating from 1931 to 1989, includes not only the
K. A. Longman Preparing to plant tropical trees. Illustrated
national Forest Ordinance and Forest Rules but also legislation by R.H.F. Wilson. 1995. Commonwealth Science Council,
related indirectly to forestry and local forest byelaws applicable to London. 239pp. A4 spiral bound pbk. Price £30.00. ISBN 0-
specific districts. Chapter 2 starts with some generalities on forest 85092-4 T 8-9.
policy, based on an FAO study of 1958. There follows a brief
account of forest history and policy in Tanzania since the First World This book is one of a planned series of five within an over-all title:
War, with verbatim quotation of the 1 953 Government statement of Tropical trees: propagation and planting manuals.' The first of the
Forest Policy and of the 1 986 'draft revised Forest Policy' . In com- series was also funded by the Commonwealth Science Council; it
parison with the 1953 Forest Policy, it lays more emphasis on covered rooting cuttings and was published in 1993. The manuals
fuelwood production, community forestry, rural employment and are being translated into Bahasa Malaysia and the author hopes for
cooperation with other sectors of national development. One translations into other languages also.
proposed measure is to restore a direct link between the Director of The volume is a weighty one, over 1 7 mm thick, well printed on
Forestry and Beekeeping and regional officers in those disciplines, heavy paper by the Commonwealth Secretariat. The author
a link which was discontinued in 1972, with detrimental results. describes his target readership as: 'farmers, foresters, local inhabit-
Chapter 3, although entitled 'Forest Projects' , is largely concerned ants, overseas workers, large scale growers and community groups' .
with Government administrative routines, which would be equally With such a diffuse group the book inevitably loses focus; it is
applicable in any Government office. More specific forestry items written in discursive, chatty style, much of it in question and
include the issue of felling answer format (an example: 'What are the key thoughts about
licences, the Annual Plan of (Forest) Operations and the format for multipurpose trees?').
Compartment, Seed and Nursery Registers. The final section on The contents of the book include: principles of tree survival,
Upkeep of Stations includes detailed and well illustrated guidance types of planting site, which species for what purpose, deciding on
on the design and construction of buildings and the supply of water. the growing system, preparing the ground, and sources of further
Chapter 4 comprises sections on timber species listed according information. The spiral binding was chosen to make photocopying
to end-use characteristics, sawmilling, seasoning, preservation (with for use in the field easier, yet the mixture of unsupported views with
species graded for real expertise makes it difficult to judge just who - in the tropical
(a) permeability and (b) natural durability) and timber grading. There world - will use the book. The author himself says it is less of a
is a useful table of basic data on the wood properties of important manual than the others planned for the series, yet neither is it a
hardwood species and a final section on other forest produce (beeswax, reference nor a text book.
fuelwood, medicines, etc.). The author has succeeded in compiling It is, however, interesting to read and could be of some guidance
a great deal of valuable information. The book is aimed at the prac- to undergraduates in tropical forestry, particularly if they have little
tising forester, hence much of the content is for reference rather than field experience or come from an urban background. There could
consecutive reading and is presented in clear tabular form. Some dis- be a tendency to mislead the uninformed, however. The section on
tinction must be made between sections based on Tanzanian trees in soil conservation, for example, is superficial and omits
experience, e.g. nursery techniques, and those which, due to insuf- some important technologies (though the key ICRAF text by Young

This content downloaded from 128.122.230.148 on Tue, 28 Jun 2016 05:27:17 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms