FORESTRY: SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION

FORESTRY: SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION

FOREST RULES

PART I
PRELIMINARY

G.N. 28/2001
49/2003
8/2006
23/2010
41/2024

1.    Citation

    These Rules may be cited as the Forest Rules.

2.    Interpretation

    In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires—

    “council” has the meaning assigned thereto in the Local Government Act;

    “firewood” means all straight parts of a tree which do not exceed two metres in length and includes all crooked and unsound parts of any size;

    “log” means all sound, straight parts of a tree which are more than two metres long and more than twenty centimetres mean diameter;

    “pole” means all sound, straight parts of a tree which are more than two metres long but not more than twenty centimetres mean diameter;

    “protected trees” means the trees specified in the First Schedule;

    “public road” has the meaning assigned thereto in the Public Roads Act; and

    “stacked cubic metre” means a stack of firewood one metre in length, in width and in height.

PART II
PROHIBITION AND OFFENCES AND FIRE PROTECTION IN FOREST RESERVES

3.    Acts prohibited without a licence

    No person shall, without a licence in that behalf issued under these Rules, do or cause to be done in a forest reserve any of the following acts—

    (a)    fell, cut, take, work, burn, injure or remove any tree or forest produce;

    (b)    squat, reside, erect any building, hut or cattle enclosure:

    Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall require the issue of a licence in any case where a person resides in a forest reserve under the terms of a lease granted by the Minister responsible for land;

    (c)    graze or pasture livestock or permit livestock to trespass;

    (d)    clear, cultivate or break up land for the construction of any road, for cultivation, or for any other purpose whatsoever;

    (e)    pursue, kill or capture animals or birds;

    (f)    alter or remove any beacon, boundary mark or fence;

    (g)    camp in any forest reserve, without observing the rules from time to time affecting such camping; and

    (h)    keep bees or collect honey or beeswax.

4.    Precautions by those contiguous with a reserve

    The Director of Forestry may require the owner or occupier of any land contiguous to a forest reserve to take such reasonable precautions to prevent a fire spreading from such land into a forest reserve as the Director of Forestry may specify, in writing, from time to time.

5.    Director of Forestry shall have boundaries indicated

    The Director of Forestry shall cause the boundaries of every forest reserve to be indicated in as clear a manner as he considers reasonable in all the circumstances.

PART III
VILLAGE FOREST AREAS

6.    Acts prohibited without Village Natural Resources Management Committee permission

    No person shall, without the permission in writing of the Village Natural Resources Management Committee in whose name a village forest area has been registered—

    (a)    squat or reside or erect any building, hut or cattle enclosure;

    (b)    graze or pasture livestock or permit livestock to trespass;

    (c)    clear, cultivate or break up land for cultivation or otherwise;

    (d)    alter or remove any beacon, boundary mark or fence;

    (e)    fell, cut, take, work, burn, injure or remove any tree or forest produce;

    (f)    set fire to any grass or undergrowth; or

    (g)    keep bees or collect honey or beeswax, in the village forest area.

7.    

    No person shall, for any purpose whatever, kindle any fire within a village forest area without taking all reasonable and proper precautions to prevent damage to any forest produce within such village forest area.

PART IV
LICENCES

8.    Special conditions on licences

    (1) There may be endorsed on any licence issued under the Act special conditions.

    (2) Special conditions referred to in subrule (1), may relate to one or more of the following—

    (a)    the provision by the licensee of a deposit, guarantee, surety, security, liquidated damages or sum of money to be drawn upon or confiscated for non-fulfilment or breach of the conditions of the licence;

    (b)    the information which may be required to be given to a forestry officer by the licensee, concerning his operations and concerning the transport, manufacture production, output, sale, use, export or import of the forest produce taken under his licence, the records to be kept by him and the returns to be submitted to a forestry officer;

    (c)    the liability of the licensee for damage to trees or other forest produce due to his negligence or to the negligence of his officers, agents or servants;

    (d)    the methods by which and the order in which operations of exploitation, fire protection and fire fighting should be carried out;

    (e)    the measuring or computing or recording of forest produce by methods other than…