The evolution of vegetation survey and rural planning in British Honduras
Prior to the initiation of forestry in 1920, the interior of British Honduras was virtually unknown except to a small section of the inhabitants engaged in the collection of forest produce. Throughout the colony's history economic circunstances had favoured forest exploitation to the neglect of agricultural development and, as such exploitation had been selective and exhaustive in character, the need for a broader productive economy was beginning to make itself felt. The article traces the progress made since that time in acuumulating data on vegetation, soil, topography and latterly climate, and describes the evolution in survey methods from the first rapid reconnaissances to the more elaborate ecological surveys now carried out with topo Abney and trailer tape. The mestizos of the North, who are "natural ecologists" with a vegetation-type terminology of their own, have become highly proficient in such work. The objective at the outset was the investigation of forestry possibilities, but the knowledge accumulated has proved of much wider usefulness in relation to the general problems of rural development, and the value of vegetation types as indicators of soil quality has grown steadily more apparent. Vegetation survey has enabled better control shifting cultivation, so that valuable forest is sacrificed to a less extent to this activity, and has shown where and how permanent agriculture can best be planned to open up the more fertile lands, the location of which was previously unknown, and causes of erosion can be traced. Close co-operation has been maintained throughout with the agricultural and other departments concerned, and the forest staff have come to regard themselves as members of an organization engaged on the general problem of rural development, forestry being only one facet of its activities
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| Format: | biblioteca |
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1938
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| Subjects: | ANALISIS DEL HABITAT, UTILIZACION FORESTAL, USO DE LA TIERRA, BELICE, |
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