Green Colonialism in Zimbabwe, 1890-1980 By Vimbai Kwashirai

Chapter 1

Background

Exploitation and Conservation
in African Woodland and forest

This study examines the history of the Zambezi teak woodland, or Baikiaea, forests of northwestern Matabeleland in colonial Zimbabwe from 1890 to 1960. The Ndebele people call these forests gusu. These were the largest commercial and most important indigenous hardwood forests in the country, and they covered other parts of southern Africa. The book examines the problematic relationship between exploitation and conservation within the framework of colonial rule.

Trees, woodland, and forests in Africa have been discussed across a range of disciplines, in the natural and social sciences and in a growing body of historical research. This book draws on economic history approaches in exploring the exploitation of forests and on environmental history approaches in discussing the history of woodland conservation. The investigation focuses mainly on tree felling and utilisation, technology, management, law, and conservation. Environmental and ecological