613. Forest science, technical practice, wood policy and colonial context in Equato‑ rial Guinea (1929-1968)

Abstract

From the mid 1920’s, wood production in the forest of Equatorial Guinea undergoes an intense transformation. It ceases to being controlled by certain European commercial companies and turns into a colonial practice supported by the influx of important Spanish financial resources/funds. Taking as an initial point of reference 1921, when the Forestry Commission of the Spanish Territories in the Gulf of Guinea was created, the present study deals with a double development: the forest administration in the colony and the forest knowledge and how it is transferred or produced within the colony. The first one shows the actual role of the Commission. The second one allows to grasp how the four key concepts of scientific forestry (i.e. measure, renewal, profit and regulation) adopt a new nuance as per the practice that Spanish colonialism displays in the Gulf of Guinea.