Green Colonialism in Zimbabwe, 1890-1980 By Vimbai Kwashirai

the fire danger because of biotic factors like tree felling, clearance for farming, mining, grazing, and hunting. The value of the timber to be obtained was realised during the First Chimurenga (war) against colonisation in 1896–1897. Exploitation by concessionaires and private landowners began in 1898.

Licensed concessionaires, such as the Rhodesia Native Timber Concessionaires (RNTC) exploited gusu that was government land and was gradually designated into eight demarcated forest reserves. History shows that after a completely uncontrolled start, this exploitation of state land gradually became more regulated, and protection and control were governed by agreements developed and improved over the years. As a result of lack of supervision on the spot, the first concessions were unsatisfactory from all points of view. The problem was made worse by the method arranged for payment for the timber, with payments being made on the sawn output that was actually sold; this practice led to waste at all stages. Logs were left in the forest and were dropped and left while in transit to the mills. The conversion process itself was unsatisfactory and wasteful.

It was not until 1925, when the first forest officer was sent to the area, that improvements began. Regulations were gradually introduced regarding fire protection, minimum stump heights, and minimum sizes of trees to be felled or fixed diameter at breast height limit. But it was not until 1940 that the arrangement for payment on sawn sold output was amended. Quarterly payments on round, sound timber were arranged at that time, and the equally important step of introducing controlled cutting rates was also achieved. The principle adopted by the government was sustained yield management seeking to balance out timber taken out with that being replaced by the growth of younger trees. The Forest Act of 1949 enabled the payment for timber to be based on a log measurement, the effect of which could be seen during the 1950s. In comparison with exploitation on government land, cutting on private land was almost without control throughout this time. In the ninety years (1890–1980) covered by this book, 1,057,000 acres were exploited and 900,000 acres were conserved for future purposes.