HC Deb 24 July 1950 vol 478 cc205-14

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this House do now adjourn."—[Mr. Royle.]

12.35 a.m.

Mr. Peter Smithers (Winchester)

The House has listened for some hours before the Adjournment to closely-reasoned and complicated arguments, and I rise now to divert its attention to what at first sight may seem to be a simple matter of men and trees. I believe that the Minister will agree, however, that the problem of the training of colonial students in forestry is by no means a simple matter and that the position at present is far from satisfactory.

I should like to begin by saying a brief introductory word or two about the importance of the supervision of forests in the Colonial Empire. It must be clearly apparent to everybody that at present the lack of personnel to supervise the forests is resulting in the total loss of a certain amount of virgin forest, and that in this present day and age the loss of the virgin forest is a very serious matter. It means not merely the loss of valuable timber; it means, perhaps, the total loss of certain species of trees and plants which can never be replaced once the virgin forest is destroyed.

Lack of proper supervision also means a failure to make full use of the existing secondary timbers which we require very badly, and which we need to press into service if we are to fulfil the demands of industry. Furthermore, the lack of proper supervision of the colonial forests must mean a loss of productive acreage. There is quite a large acreage in some of our forest Colonies which is intrinsically of poor quality, and unless the existing forests can be maintained the land certainly will not grow or produce anything else, so that the matter, therefore, assumes considerable importance.

There is evidence that the shortage of trained forest staff is a severe one. It is a little difficult to find up-to-date material, because forest reports come out, generally, a year or two in arrear, but I should like to quote from the latest report available for British Guiana, that for 1948. The first paragraph reads: I regret to have to report that during the whole of 1948 the work of the Department has been paralysed owing to failure to fill staff vacancies. … At such a critical period in the development of our forest resources, this state of affairs has been doubly unfortunate. Perhaps I may bring the matter a little nearer to the present time by quoting from the news bulletin of the Empire Forest Departments for 1949. In this bulletin we are listening, as it were, to the chief conservators of various Colonies talking intimately to one another about their problems, and in turning over the pages we find, in Colony after Colony, the disastrous results of shortage of staff. Let me quote, for example, from the Gold Coast, which is a great forest Colony: There was no further improvement in the shortage of technical staff. At the end of the year there were six vacancies. We go on to read that— Progress under the 10-year plan was satisfactory, although necessarily limited in some respects by the staff shortage. Again: Owing to the shortage of staff no utilisation officer could be appointed and only maintenance work could be undertaken in the research field. I might go on and multiply instances from other Colonies, which I think would convince everybody that throughout the Colonial Empire serious damage is being done to the interests not only of the colonial peoples but also of the world at large as a result of this lack of personnel trained to administer the forests.

I should like to make clear that in asking for more attention to be given to courses in forestry for colonial students, I am not asking that any sort of pressure should be brought on the students to study something they do not want to study. At the same time I think it is reasonable to point out that large sums of taxpayers' money are being spent in colonial development and welfare grants and it is only reasonable and logical that this advantage should be given to students who wish to take up studies which will conduce to the development and welfare of the Colonial Empire.

The Secretary of State was good enough to give me, in reply to a Question, a table of the figures showing the studies in which these students are at present engaged. It appears that out of the total of nearly 4,000 students, 1,484 hold scholarships financed by Colonial Development and Welfare Funds or by Colonial Government funds, and 2,489 are private students. From the figures it is evident that the Government are already using the means at their disposal to influence the choice of studies which colonial students take up. I think they are right to do so. For example, whereas among private students there are 544 studying law, only 55 hold scholarships for the same purpose. So that it is evident that the studies of colonial students are weighted against the law.

If we turn to forestry students, we see that out of the total of nearly 4,000, only 12 are studying forestry. Surely that must be an extremely unsatisfactory and disturbing figure. The existing facilities for studying forestry by colonial students would appear to be fairly widespread and fairly satisfactory, but I hope the Minister will be able to outline to us, in a logical and concise form, what these facilities consist of in the different degrees of forestry study. We know that there is the Imperial Forestry Institute at Oxford for highest studies. In ancillary studies there is the Timber Research Station at Princess Risborough. In the Colonial Empire, we have the Ibadan Forest School in Nigeria and a rangers training school at Suyani in the Gold Coast. Students from Fiji and the Pacific generally go to Rotorua Forest School in New Zealand; and we have facilities in South Africa to which we can send students from the African Colonies. New developments are taking place in other Colonies. In Southern Rhodesia a new training scheme is in progress. There thus seems to be considerable facilities for training.

There is one specific question I would like to ask: Why are there no forestry courses at the School of Tropical Agriculture at Trinidad? Trinidad is conveniently placed for taking students from two of our most important forestry Colonies—British Honduras and British Guiana, but I understand that no facilities are available. I hope the Minister will be able to deal with that point.

I submit that from the evidence available to us that there is no doubt whatever about the need for more trained forest personnel to attend to administering the forest laws. Examples of excellent forest codes all round the world are numerous; the examples of these various forest codes being well enforced are not nearly so numerous. It also appears that there are considerable facilities for training. Why is it, therefore, that we have on our records only 12 students studying forestry in this country and a limited number in the lower degrees of forestry in the Empire?

I am told by those who study these matters in the West Indies that there is a general belief amongst West Indian students that if they take up forestry they will not afterwards be able to get a job. If that is true, it must be a very important deterrent factor. I hope the Minister will be able to give the House an assurance that jobs are available in the Colonial service for colonial students who are willing to qualify themselves.

There is no doubt that another deterrent to the study of forestry is the rival attractions of the law and of medicine and what we might call other white collar occupations. It must be apparent to all of us who approach the problem of the Colonial Empire in a practical spirit today that for the Colonies themselves no study can be more important than that of forestry. People living in the tropics depend, above all, on forest products and a regular water supply, and without proper administration of their forests they cannot have either of those things. So I raise this subject at this late hour in order to ask the Government whether they cannot do something more to encourage the colonial peoples to train themselves to maintain the great heritage of our Empire forests.

12.47 a.m.

The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. Cook)

I am sure that the House is grateful to the hon. Member for Winchester (Mr. Peter Smithers), in spite of the lateness of the hour, for raising this very important subject. I wish to reply fairly quickly, because the hon. Member has raised a number of points to which I desire to give a full answer. For nearly 30 years there has been an unsurpassed scheme of training for higher appointments in the Colonial Forestry Service. The Imperial Forestry Institute in Oxford was founded in 1924 as a result of a resolution of the Empire Forestry Conference in the previous year, and is now merged with the University Department of Forestry. The Colonial Office and Colonial Governments make substantial contributions towards its finances and the Institute is a centre, not only of training, but of research and is housed in the same building as the Commonwealth Forestry Bureau.

There are two classes of entrants into the Colonial Forest Service. The first comprises men with a degree in forestry who are eligible for appointment as probationary assistant conservators of forests. After about two years in a Colony, they return to this country for a year's advanced forestry training at the Institute. For men who have a degree, preferably in natural science, but not in forestry, there is a scheme whereby they can take a year's course at the Institute before going to a Colony and return after one tour for a year of advanced study. Seven such probationers have taken the first year's course at Oxford since 1946 and, in all, 50 officers returned to Oxford in the four academic years, 1946 to 1949. The total number recruited for the Forest Service from 1945 to 1950 was 108.

The position in regard to recruitment in this country is satisfactory and no difficulty is foreseen in filling the 25 expected vacancies next year. The higher training in the United Kingdom is open to candidates from the Colonies. Some progress has been made in the appointment of qualified local officers to the higher ranks in the Service. There are now locally domiciled assistant conservators of forests, for example, in Cyprus, Malaya, Jamaica, Nigeria, and North Borneo. The number who can be appointed to these higher grades depends upon the supply of local candidates qualified to embark upon post-graduate training. There are scholarships provided by both Colonial Governments themselves, and by funds made available under the Colonial Development and Welfare Acts. Ample facilities exist in the United Kingdom for taking degrees in forestry. There are courses at Aberdeen, Bangor, Edinburgh, and Oxford. Unfortunately, the response is not great. I think this is rather tragic, and I would like more colonial people to come forward and take these courses, which are extremely important for the development of the timber resources of the Colonies.

Out of 407 scholarships awarded between 1945 and 1949 to natives of the Gold Coast for higher education in the United Kingdom, only two were for forestry. Many more would have been granted had suitable candidates presented themselves. In addition, one scholarship in forestry was awarded in 1949 by the Ashanti Confederacy Council. In the academic years 1946 to 1949, the following scholarships for degree courses in forestry were awarded to a number of colonial territories—Aberdeen, two; Oxford, four; Bangor, one, making a total of seven. There are, in addition, two private students, one from British Guiana and one from British Honduras, and it is expected three new scholarship holders will start courses in 1950. One Malayan officer is to undertake training in Australia.

The following are a few examples of scholarships awarded by Colonial Governments. In Nigeria, forest assistants of special ability are selected for training at University College, Ibadan, which qualifies them for appointment as assistant conservators on probation. Alternatively, forest assistants of long service who are considered too old for a full degree course are sent for a special course of 12 months at the Imperial Forestry Institute. This course also qualifies for appointment as assistant conservators. In Trinidad, it is proposed to offer three scholarships over the next five years to enable young men to take a degree in forestry leading to appointment as assistant conservators of forests. In the Gold Coast, Government scholarships are available to the University College of the Gold Coast for a degree in botany followed by specialist training in the United Kingdom.

Two new senior service posts of forest assistant have been recently created in the Gold Coast, and a further eight such posts are envisaged in the 10-year development plan. These are expected to attract candidates to forestry as a career. Although it has been shown that adequate facilities exist for training candidates for appointment to senior posts, and that there is generous provision in the way of scholarships, it is unfortunately true that a career in forestry does not make the same appeal to colonial students as a career in other fields, such as medicine or the law.

The nature of a forestry officer's work takes him away from the amenities of town life, and, obviously, he rather resents being taken away from the material advantages of civilisation, if one can use that phrase. The same problem is present, though to a lesser degree, in recruitment to the agricultural service. Generally speaking, conditions of service in the Forest Departments, and the scholarship facilities available, are adequate and attractive. Salary scales and prospects of promotion do not compare unfavourably with other branches of the public service. It is, however, unlikely that there will be a flow of candidates to forestry until such time as there is greater competition for more congenial employment.

On the question of the training of subordinate staff, it will be realised that the senior staff can only do their work adequately and effectively if they are assisted by a sufficient number of trained subordinate staff. In certain cases, European foresters—sub-professional, as they are known—have reinforced the Forest Departments, and from 1946 to this year, some 28 foresters, trained by the Forestry Commission, have been recruited. In South Africa and Southern Rhodesia, Europeans born in East Africa have received training as foresters. In general, there are two grades of subordinate staff required. There is, first, the junior grade with only elementary education, trained to perform a limited range of duties; and, second, there is what is known as the assistant grade, who have had a secondary school education, are English speaking, and who have a much longer and more thorough training. The training for these groups can be provided on a territorial basis.

In some Colonies, training is given by forestry departments, while in others special schools are provided. We have schools in operation in Uganda, where the forest department conducts a training school for forest rangers. The course lasts two years, and is essentially practical. Theoretical instruction is, however, also given. There are at present 25 learners undergoing training; 18 in their first year, and seven in their second year. The school was closed, for very obvious reasons, between 1940 and 1947, but in the years 1933 to 1939, 69 students successfully passed their course, and in the 1948–1949 session, 11 passed.

In the Gold Coast, there are annual courses for 20 students, of one year's duration, and these are run by departmental schools. The course trains candidates for appointment as forest rangers, and 116 have qualified in this manner, of whom 91 are still in the service of the Forestry Department. There is a school in Northern Rhodesia which, besides providing a training centre for that territory, has taken five African students from Nyasaland and a further five will be taken this year. In Tanganyika, forest rangers' courses are temporarily in abeyance pending the transfer of the rangers' school to the Natural Resources School at Tengeru, but 33 rangers and probationers have been trained in the past. A new school is being set up at Dedza, in Nyasaland, and this will provide facilities for training Africans of forester grade.

Forestry schools capable of training to a higher level exist at Ibadan in Nigeria, and at Kepong in Malaya. In Nigeria, Africans with Senior Cambridge or equivalent qualifications are selected for one year's training at Ibadan Forestry School on forest assistants' pay. They pass out as forest assistants and the best are chosen for field work. Later, they receive a further year at the forestry school to qualify for forestry assistant, grade 1. There is a heavy training wastage; 50 per cent. is not unknown, as many of the applicants do not fully realise the implications of the forester's life; but the average output of successful students in the last four years is 17.

The Ibadan school has also trained Africans from Sierra Leone; there are no trainees from Sierra Leone at present, but in the past, three have qualified at Ibadan, and are serving as forest supervisors. Of these, one will proceed shortly to Edinburgh University for a forestry degree course, while the other two will return next year to Ibadan for further training. In Malaya, the school trains Malayan officers and also forest guards from North Borneo, a number of whom are sent annually to Kepong. Expenses since the war have been paid from Colonial Development and Welfare funds, and six post-war students have completed their courses; there have been five passes, and one failure. In addition, one forest ranger took the advanced course at Kepong in 1949, and passed with credit.

A school will be in operation next year at Prodromos in Cyprus. Two courses will be run, each lasting a year—one for forest guards, junior, and one for foresters, senior. Pending the establishment of this school, persons wishing to take up forestry are employed in the Forestry Department temporarily, and after receiving practical training for some years and passing an examination are appointed as forest guards. Promising forest guards or foresters are sent from time to time to the United Kingdom for training at forestry schools and obtain the woodman certificate and forester's diploma or comparable qualification. Eleven officers have been so trained in the past, including one trained forest engineer; two are still in training, and two more are to be sent this autumn. On return to the Colony, these officers will receive promotion in due course as forest rangers or to higher rank. It will be seen that we have a fairly sound and adequate provision for scholarships and training. All we lack are bodies willing to come forward and take the necessary degree courses.

Mr. P. Smithers

The Minister has given the House what I might call a complete "Cook's tour" of the facilities available in the Colonial Empire. Can he say what he will do to publicise the information he has given? I am sure it would be of great interest to the students concerned.

Mr. Cook

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that have tried to give him as complete a picture as possible of what is being done. We think it is a first-rate story, which ought to be told. My Department are anxious to obtain as many students as we can to take the forestry degree courses. We do whatever we can to publicise the facilities available.

Question put, and agreed to.

Adjourned accordingly at Two Minutes past One o'clock a.m.