§ MR. REES (Montgomery Boroughs)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Government has under consideration the propriety of restricting the wholesale felling of forests in order to facilitate the shifting and temporary cultivation practised by the natives in British Central Africa, whereby, in part, at any rate, the drying up of Lake Nyassa and the Shire River have resulted to the detriment of trade, cultivation, and navigation, and whether he will arrange that privileges accorded to the original inhabitants in respect of clearing forest land shall not be given to immigrants from neighbouring Portuguese territory.
§ MR. CHURCHILLThe question of forest conservation in British Central Africa is engaging the attention of the local authorities and the Secretary of State with a view of preserving the forests from improvident treatment by settlers of whatever nationality.