FORESTRY
(HONG KONG
1270
On 7th March I had a short discussion with Mr. B. R. Wood, Assistant Forestry Adviser, and a long discussion with Mr. J. P. Tamworth who, prior to the war, was Assistant Superintendent of the Botanical and Forestry Department, Hong Kong, in charge of Forestry.
In order to clarify the position in respect to the new set-up and development envisaged, I submit this brief memorandum:
2. During my internment in Stanley Camp, I prepared a memorandum on a possible Afforestation Department, which I showed to Mr. R. A. C. North at Stanley and in November 1945 submitted to Mr. S. Caine at the Colonial Office. This memo, having been prepared from memory, may not be entirely accurate or complete in its review of the situation. It was prepared not as a criticism of the past but as a basis for a working plan for the future. There are certain points which I wish first to clarify and expand.
3. The separation of Gardens and Forestry can be regarded as an inevitable evolutionary step. It is only because the Colony of Hong Kong is small that it has been so long delayed, and now that development is contemplated divorce should be made absolute. The consequences of this are several.
4.
The heads of Gardens and Forestry will be independent of one another and such coordination as is necessary will be through the Secretariat for Development.
5.
Whereas the Gardens Sub-Department will retain its offices at the Botanic Gardens, the Forestry Dub-Department must have new headquarters. These undoubtedly should be built away from the city area in the New Territories and preferably in or near the Tai Po Kau valley where there have long been established nurseries and experimental areas.
At the se headquarters it will be necessary to have offices, library, herbarium, museum, laboratory and workshop, a lecture room and staff quarters.
6.
The head of this Sub-Department should be up to date in his knowledge and progressive in his outlook. He should be given a title in keeping with his responsibilities, ? Assistant Conservator of Forests.
Hong Kong should be within the unified Colonial Forestry Service; at present it is outside.
8.
9.
In discussion with Mr. Wood I suggested that it might be a good plan if Mr. Tamworth took a course under Professor Champion at Oxford, made himself up to date with modern affores- tation technique and with the literature. Mr. Tamworth has a B.Sc. degree in Forestry, Oxford. Later in the same day Mr. Tamworth told me that he had been working since January 1946 under Professor Champion at Oxford, devoting 2 days a week to Entomology (Crystal), 2 days to Mycology (Wilkins) and 2 days
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