Trees & Forests Of Tropical Africa

No account of the plants of a country would be complete unless something is said about its trees and forests. Without trees life would be without many of its joys and comforts. Forests are a valuable form of natural wealth in a country. Many other forms of wealth such as coal, iron, and other minerals when they are used up cannot be replaced. Forests can, however, be preserved, and where trees are cut down, others can be planted.Trees supply firewood for cooking food, timber for building houses, bridges and boats. From trees also many useful things are obtained, such as dyes, oils, gums, pulp from which paper is made, agid tannin which is used in preparing leather. Forests, however, are valuable in other ways. Where there are forests there is always an abundant rainfall. In those parts of the world where men have cut down and destroyed the forests, the climate has changed and become dry where before it was moist. Where this has happened sandy deserts have taken the place of land where in the past men were able to grow corn and other crops. The reason for this is twofold, for where the trees have been destroyed not only does less rain fall, but also when rain does fall the water runs quickly away, carrying with it the surface soil, which is valuable to farmers. Muddy streams form which carry the soil away into the rivers, and so into the sea. In a treeless country these streams are only formed when rain falls, and when there is no rain they dry up. Where there are trees, not only does more rain fall, but also it soaks into the ground, which is spongy because of the roots of the trees and the fallen leaves. In a country where there are forests the water finds its way into streams much more slowly and does not carry away the valuable soil. Also the streams do not dry up as they do in a treeless country, and everyone knows how important it is for men to have near their villages streams which are lasting. Not only do trees prevent good soil being washed away but they also constantly enrich it by the leaves which fail from them. Dead leaves form leaf mould, which is known as "humus", and this added to the soil makes it rich, so that good crops can be grown upon it. Civilized man has now learnt the importance to a country of trees and forests, and the necessity for preventing their destruction. In West Africa the forests towards the coast are denser than elsewhere and produce the larger and more valuable trees, such as the mahoganies, cedar wood, walnut and cam wood, all of which are famous and form an important item of trade. Farther inland, where the rainfall is not so great, the most valuable forest trees are iroko and apa (Afzelia), while rosewood, maple and cottonwoods are common. Still farther inland the vast savannah forests are reached which cover great areas and search right across Africa . In these savannah: the commonest trees, which as a rule are small and rugged in appearance, are the shea butter, locust bean, acacia, baobab and tamarind.