Part B, Working Papers, February 1974 - Special Collections - US ...

Vietnam's forests have suffered from this process. Today theselands contribute little to the nation's economy - they couldcontribute much. The forest was further reduced and degradedby an improvident colonial administration. World War II tookan additional toll. It is said that 50,000 hectares weredevastated by the Japanese occupation. Twenty years of civilstrife and war since then has continued to drain off the forestwealth. For example, the settlement of refugees from the Northrequired additional clearing of land for emergency homes and foodproduction.It Is estimated that slightly more than one-third of the currentforest land (about 2 million hectares) supports commercial operabletimber — that Is, trees of sufficient size, quality, and volumeto sustain forest industry. Much of this land supports fine, highquality timber. Under good management, It is capable of supportinga substantial forest industry. But even now, the accessible partsof this land are being high-graded by cutting of the highest qualityt rees.Gartner and Beuschel (1963) the directors of the FAO forest inventory project forthe northeast region of Thailand state:The forests of the North are known to have been exploitedfor a long period. As the average growing stock in theNortheast is nearly equal to that of Northern forests, itcan be assumed that these forests have also been exploited.The statements of the Northeast Development Plan, that"forests are still plentiful" and that regarding theforests under conservation and protection ^'a large part ofsaid forests has been illegally destroyed" correctly describethe general situation.Williams (1965) describes the prior use and subsequent status of the forests ofIndo-china as follows:The primary cause for the presence of a plant associationmay depend on factors which are active now or have beenoperative In the past. This is well illustrated in Thailand,as elsewhere in Southeast Asia, where changes have takenplace in the distribution of plant life. The destruction ofthe original growth over large areas, as a result of man'sactivities during a period of many centuries, has resulted inthe modification of the original plant associations, and thedevelopment of bamboo brakes and other secondary growth...The forests of South Vietnam have been devastated for manycenturies. Despite ample rainfall and other favorableconditions for growth, the forests were unable to re-establishthemselves after prolonged periods of destruction. As a result,much of the so-called forest of what was formerly Cochin-China,now forming South Vietnam, consists in the main of clearedbrush land... The forests of the west coast like those ofthe east, have been intensively exploited from time immemorial,owing to continued and growing demand for fuelwood...11-5