16th International Conference of Historical Geographers London, 5-10 July 2015 The most magnificent spectacle in the Colony: forestry capitalism and space production in the former Spanish continental Guinea I. Spain's presence in the Gulf of Guinea and the model of colonial occupation 5. Una economía forestal III. The concession space II. The evolution of the concessions system IV. Characteristics of a forestry economy Outline Photographs: Manuel Hernández Sanjuán Collection - Hermic Films D A A C B E D 1 2 3 Concession boundary Area reserved for indigenous settlements B E 1 3 C 2 Habitational and services area The concession's production operations COLONIAL FORESTRY TIMELINE land ownership forestry capitals 1900 1920 1968 1905 1910 1915 1925 1930 1940 1935 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 indigenous forestry okume forestry varied timber forestry first regulatory body improving concessions system autarchic and national rereading concessions system first forestry capitalism second forestry capitalism The 1777 Treaty of San Ildefonso allowed the Spanish Crown to obtain a group of territories in the Gulf of Guinea (the island of Fernando Poo - now Bioko -, Anno- bón, Corisco and both Elobeyes, as well as part of the Niger and Ogooué rivers). The 1884 Berlin Conference and the 1900 Treaty of Paris consolidated Spain's presence in this area, although continentally it was limited to the coastal sec- tion between the Campo River and the Muni estuary, until decolonisation in 1968. The different origins and capabilities of insular Guinea mean that a production system revolving around, above all, cocoa plantation farming was built on Fernando Poo's volcanic soil. In contrast, extraction of timber - mainly okume, which was highly sought after by the European plywood industry - was the protagonist of the economic fabric of continental Guinea from the 1920s. Par- ticipation in the attractive okume trade was facilitated by the progressive development of a regulatory body that expelled non-Spanish capital from the colony. In 1904, the founda- tions for a land ownership system were laid with the self-as- signment of all land not belonging to individuals as the pri- vate property of the State, and the initial regulation of the concessions system. This was developed throughout the 1920s and redrafted in the 1940s pursuant to the needs of the autarchic dictatorship that emerged after the end of the Spanish Civil War. The former Spanish continental Guinea's timber exporter profile was developed by means of a tool that made it possible to channel capital, direct the occupation of space and control the farming of the forest: the forestry concession. There were two main stages in its development. There was an initial stage, which was short in duration but intense in terms of its effects, lasting from 1927 to 1935. This was when the majo- rity of the institutional, administrative and corporate framework bases were establi- shed that governed timber production until decolonisation. In the second stage, which was a more extensive period from 1949 to 1967, the area farmed increased and the export profile of continental Guinea's economy was strengthened. Amongst the forestry companies established, The Compañía Nacional de Colonización Africana (ALENA) was noteworthy. Through agreements with other companies and the crea- tion of ad hoc companies, ALENA acquired a dominant position in the control of the colony's forest resources which was reflected in both the area it farmed and the role it performed as a qualified representative for the protection of colonial timber interests. The area of land marked out by the forestry concession was organi- sed pursuant to the logic of a production space, where technical capital for extractive forestry was progressively accumulated: (A) Surveying of trees and pruning into logs; (B) Transportation by floating and dragging to the mouth of the rivers; (C) Use of the forestry railway as an alternative to river transport; (D) Sawmill for timber pruning, squaring and, occasionally, peeling; (E) Side loading at sea. The concession space also had buildings to accom- modate: (1) Settlements of dwellings for farm workers; (2) Central house for company management and buildings for the European staff; (3) Infirmary, tropical chemist, school and factories for the colonists. During the 20s and 30s, timber was the colony's most important export given that it represented over 70 percent of the value of tradable products. Given the increa- sed growth in demand for okume, forestry producers directed their interests towards the European, and principally German, market where the strong plywood board industry absorbed an increasingly higher volume of this type of wood. The 40s opened a new phase in the sales policy of colonial timber. In the autarchic stra- tegy of Francoism, the colonial territories of Guinea fulfilled the duty of contribu- ting to autonomy in the supply of products to the metropolitan market. The cycle of colonial timber harvesting was completely controlled by the State, from the organisation of forestry production to the final distribution of supplies amongst the factories in the metropolis. From 1927, the trade of colonial timber led to the development of a small transformational fabric in the metropolis composed, over time, of around 30 companies located around the port areas that recei- ved and distributed the timber coming from conti- nental Guinea. The most important were the ports in Valencia and Barcelona where the sector's highest production volume was focused, as well as those of Bilbao and Pasajes, the port of Santander and, of a much smaller magnitude, the port of Ferrol. The origin of many of these companies was associated with the industrial tradition of the area, but also with the interests of continental Guinea's forestry producers. In fact, the scenario in which this indus- try developed reflected the permanent strains be- tween manufacturers and the forestry industry. Despite the structural limitations of this industrial fabric, domestic consumption of tropical timber increased from 62,000 tonnes in 1947 to 360,400 in 1966. Although most of the production was geared towards covering domestic demand, when the colony became independent, almost 10 percent of the manufacturing volume went abroad, mainly to the British, Venezuelan and Cuban markets. Continental Guinea flight (1949) Airforce Aerial Photography and Cartographic Centre Despite the fact that almost fifty years have passed since decolonisation, knowledge about the Spanish colonial experience in the Gulf of Guinea, from a cri- tical perspective, is still scarce and partial. The research forming the framework for this poster aims to unravel the crucial points that turned the former Spanish continental Guinea, and other European co- lonies located in the extensive Basin of Gabon, into an area organised around timber production. Most of the sources used came from the General Ad- ministration Archive, which holds the documentation created by the Spanish colonial administration, and from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria's historical archives, which have been useful for reassembling the business relations of some of the main Spanish fores- try companies that operated in the colony from the 1920s until 1968 when the Republic of Equatorial Guinea was formed. Juan-Carlos Guerra & Henar Pascual June 2015 University of Valladolid (Spain) Military Map of The Spanish Guinea (1953) Surface granted by corporate groups ALENA IZAGUIRRE AGGOR VASAFRI JUAN JOVER RESTO 47% 17% 14% 7% 5% 7% 1927-1935 period ALENA VASAFRI JUAN JOVER SOCOGUI AGGOR P. MADERERA IZAGUIRRE ARAOZ ABRIL URRUTIA RESTO 26% 18% 15% 8% 8% 6% 6% 3% 3% 3% 3,3% 1949-1967 period The "okume and other timber quota system", in force since 1948 until the end of the colonial period, aimed to fully harvest the forest by obliga- ting the extraction not only of okume but of other timbers too. From 1946, timber from the colony was distributed by means of a system of quotas in order to ensure a supply for the national market. The possibility to sell the timber that was unloaded beyond the minimum quota was the factor that stimulated the intensification of the colony's forestry production and the increase in the flow of commerce with the metropolis. Destinations of timber production (1927-1968) 1940-1968 period 1927-1939 period 587,602 tons 393,693 tons 193,909 tons 2,799,253 tons 133,988 tons 2,665,265 tons The surface distribution by land uses and forms of exploitation Continental Guinea surface area: 2,260,000 Ha Unfarmed forestry area: 1,492,486 Ha Other surface areas: 440,000 Ha Forestry concessions: 327,514 Ha ALENA Group VASAFRI AGGOR JUAN JOVER SOCOGUI IZAGUIRRE Corporate groups and concessionary companies Otros concesionarios Timber production (1930-1964) Timber production Okume Another timbers 1962 1951 1946 1940 1935 1930 Tons 300.000 225.000 150.000 75.000 0 1930 1935 1940 1946 1951 1962 1968 0 25 50 75 100 % Transformation capacity and timber real consumption in the Spanish ports Ferrol Santander Bilbao Pasajes Valencia Barcelona Capacity Real consumption Location of factories and forest concessions Development of the forest concessions system towards 1935 Forestry capitalism and concessions system (1927-1968) Development of the forest concessions system towards 1967 Indigenous forestry and system of foreign factors (1900-1927) German factors French factors English factors Spanish factors Unknow nationality Factories towards 1900 Bata Bata Bata Juan-Carlos Guerra* Associate Professor Department of Geography University of Valladolid Spain * guerra@geo.uva.es ** pascual@fyl.uva.es Henar Pascual** Associate Professor