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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL FROM THE HON. MINISTER OF FORESTS TO THE RIGHT HON. THE PRIME MINISTER The Right Hon. the Prime Minister. Sir, — I have the honour to transmit a report by the New Zealand delegation which attended the third World Forestry Congress from the 10th to the 20th July, 1949, at Helsinki, Finland. The delegation comprised— Mr. T. T. C. Birch, Inspector in Charge of Training and Research, New Zealand Forest Service, Chief Delegate. Mr. K. C. A. Carter, Vice-President, Dominion Federated Sawmillers' Association, Delegate. Mr. J. Freeman, Vice-President, New Zealand Timber Workers' Union, Delegate. Both prior and subsequent to the Congress the delegates made separate and independent investigations into numerous matters of public interest. The chief delegate, Mr. T. T. C. Birch, concentrated his investigations on the two subjects of higher forestry education and forestry research. Mr. K. C. A. Carter not only investigated modern logging and milling developments in North America with a view to their possible adaptation to the exploitation of indigenous forests, but also studied milling and merchandising practices in the Scandinavian countries with a view to improving the production and marketing of exotic softwoods for export to Australia. Mr. J. Freeman concentrated his studies upon the working and living conditions of forest and sawmill workers both in Great Britain and in the Scandinavian countries. The results of these independent studies are embodied in separate reports which are attached as appendices to the main report of the delegation. The purpose of the Congress itself was to review the progress of world forestry since 1936, to provide the opportunity for exchanges of technical views by personal contacts between delegates, and to make recommendations which would convey to individual Governments some idea of united world forestry opinion on all matters of crucial importance. Necessarily of a general nature, the recommendations are applicable more to those countries which have neglected forestry legislation and activities than those which have already evolved a long-term forest policy. The message of most significance to New Zealand is the importance which the Congress attaches to forestry research. Some forestry research has been carried out ever since the inauguration of the New Zealand Forest Service in 1921, but, due to the shortage of trained personnel, the work was concentrated only on matters of immediate importance. Some long-term projects were initiated just before the commencement of World War 11, but not until the post-war period when additional trained staff became available was it possible to make any progress commensurate with the importance of

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