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Preface
Literature on Zimbabwe's modern history has been influenced by one particular perspective concerning the historical roots of inequitable land distribution that occurred during the British colonial era beginning in 1890. This dominant theme is based on the imperative of redressing a historical injustice: the exploitation of prime land taken by British people from, among others, the indigenous Shona, Ndebele, and Tonga. The key element in this perspective has been the science of land management, particularly the protection of wooded areas, soil, and wildlife. The discourse of ecological calamity stresses the damaging outcomes of unregulated timber logging, agriculture, mining, and hunting; the threats of degradation; and the need to control the ways humans exploit natural resources. This study examines the debates on and processes of woodland exploitation in Zimbabwe during the colonial era of 1890–1980 and explores the social, economic, and political contexts of perceptions of woodland distribution and management. Much of the period was characterised by both local and global debates about environmental problems, and these debates generated in their wake politically charged and