Forest Society And Colonialism - Class 9 History - Extra Questions

The similarities between colonial management of the forests in Bastar and Java were :

• Forest laws were enacted in Java and Bastar.
• These laws restricted villagers’ access to forests.
• Timber could be cut from only specified forests and under close supervision.
• Villagers were punished for entering forests and collecting forest products without a permit.
• Permits were issued to the villagers for entry into forests and collection of forest products.
• Both had a forest service.
• Both followed a system of forestry which was known as scientific forestry.
• In both places, Forest Acts meant severe hardship for villagers. Their everyday practices — cutting wood for their houses, grazing their cattle, collecting fruits and roots, hunting and fishing became illegal.
• Constables and forests guards began to harass people.

When the colonial government proposed to reserve two-thirds of the forest in 1905, and stop shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce, the people of Bastar were very worried. 

Some villages were allowed to stay on in the reserved forests on the condition that they worked free for the forest department in cutting and transporting trees, and protecting the forest from fires. Subsequently, these came to be known as 'forest villages'.

In scientific forestry, natural forests which had lots of different types of trees were cut down. In their place, one type of tree was planted in straight rows. This is called a plantation. Forest officials surveyed the forests, estimated the area under different types of trees, and made working plans for forest management. They planned how much of the  plantation area to cut every year. The area  cut was then to be replanted so that it was ready to be cut again in some years. 

The expansion of the railways became a necessity as trade and transport increased. Wood was needed as fuel to run the steam locomotives. Wood was also needed to lay railway line sleepers, which held the railway tracks together. So, forests were destroyed to provide the wood needed for the expansion of railways. The British government needed huge ships for its Royal Navy. Ships are built of strong, durable timber. When the oak forests in England began to disappear, the British attacked the forest resources in India. Vast quantities of timber were exported to England from India, for ship building, thus depleting forests in India.

Sleepers are wooden planks laid across railway tracks. They hold the tracks in position.

A number of different communities live in Bastar such as Maria and Muria Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras and Halbas.

They think that each village was given its land by the earth, and in return, they look after the earth by making some offerings at each agricultural festival.

He set up the Indian Forest Service in 1864 and helped formulate the Indian Forest Act in 1865.

The Dutch started forest management in Java.

It was a policy followed by the Dutch during the First World War. Under the policy, the Dutch destroyed sawmills and burnt huge poles of giant teak logs so that they would not fall into Japanese hands.

Java is famous for bumper rice production.

(i) European foresters needed forests for timber production. They felt that land which was used for shifting cultivation every few years could not grow trees for railway timber.
(ii) When a forest was burnt, there was the added danger of the flames spreading and burning valuable timber.
(iii) Shifting cultivation also made it difficult for the government to calculate taxes. Therefore, the government decided to ban shifting cultivation. As a result, many communities were forcibly displaced from their homes in the forests.

The British needed forests in order to build ships and railways. They were worried about the use of forests by local people and the reckless felling of trees by traders would destroy forests. So, they invited a German expert, Dietrich Brandis for advice and made him the first Inspector General of Forests in India.
(ii) Brandis realised that a proper system had to be introduced to manage the forests and people had to be trained in the science of conservation. Hence, he set up the Indian Forest Service in $$1864$$ and helped formulate the Indian Forest Act of $$1865$$.
(iii) Soon after the enactment of this Act, felling of trees and grazing began to be restricted in order to preserve the forests for timber production. It was made punishable to cut trees without following the system.

in the early nineteenth century, the colonial state thought that forests were unproductive. They were considered to be wilderness that had to be brought under cultivation so that the land could yield agricultural products and revenue, and enhance the income of the state.