Ecological Zones of the Forests of the Sudan.

The Natural vegetation: Andrews (1948 ) classified the vegetation of the Sudan,

recognizing seven principal types in a consecutive series from north to south. Ten

years later, Harrison and Jackson (1958 ) produced an ecological classification of the

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vegetation recognizing five major divisions (zones) based on floristic composition,

rainfall and soil type. The divisions were further elaborated into subdivisions (belts).

The classification was presented in 1958, two years after independence is an

assessment of the forest resources situation at that time and can be regarded as a

handing over document between the outgoing colonial system and the newly

established Sudanese regime. Harrison and Jackson (ibid ) delineated the various

vegetation types on a vegetation map of the Sudan. The boundaries of the divisions

and subdivisions agree very well with vehicle odometer readings till late in the 1960s.

With the exception of the bare desert and semi desert those divisions were almost

fully stocked with trees and shrubs