Key Points

Deforestation, the disappearance of forests, is not a recent problem, but it became more systematic and extensive under colonial rule to meet the demands of industrialization in Europe.

The British colonial state viewed forests as unproductive wilderness. They encouraged clearing forests for cultivation of commercial crops like jute and cotton to generate revenue and supply raw materials to industries in Europe.

The spread of railways from the 1850s created a huge demand for timber. Wood was needed as fuel for locomotives and for 'sleepers', which were wooden planks required to hold the tracks together.

By the early nineteenth century, the depletion of oak forests in England forced the British to turn to India's forests for a regular supply of durable timber to build ships for the Royal Navy.

Large areas of natural forests were cleared to make way for tea, coffee, and rubber plantations. The colonial government gave vast forest areas to European planters at cheap rates.

Dietrich Brandis, a German expert, was made the first Inspector General of Forests in India. He introduced 'scientific forestry', a system where natural forests were cut down and replaced by one type of tree planted in straight rows, called a plantation.

This act, amended in 1878 and 1927, gave the British control over forests. The 1878 Act divided forests into three categories: reserved, protected, and village forests, severely restricting access for local people.

New forest laws made everyday practices like cutting wood, grazing cattle, collecting forest produce, and hunting illegal. This caused immense hardship for villagers who depended on forests for their survival.

The colonial government banned shifting cultivation (or swidden agriculture), as they believed it was harmful for timber production and made tax collection difficult. This led to the displacement of many communities.

While customary hunting by local people was prohibited, the hunting of big game like tigers became a sport for British officials and Indian royalty, leading to a drastic decline in the population of many species.

In 1910, people in the kingdom of Bastar (in modern Chhattisgarh) rebelled against forest reservation, famines, and demands for free labor by colonial officials. The movement was led by figures like Gunda Dhur.

In Java (Indonesia), the Dutch colonial rulers implemented forest laws similar to those in India. They wanted teak wood from Java's forests to build ships and for railway sleepers.

The Kalangs were a community of skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators in Java. In 1770, they resisted Dutch attempts to make them work under their control, but the uprising was suppressed.

Around 1890, Surontiko Samin of Randublatung village started a movement questioning state ownership of forests. He argued that the state had not created wind, water, earth, and wood, so it could not own them.

The First and Second World Wars had a major impact on forests. The British in India and the Japanese in Indonesia cut forests recklessly to meet their war needs for timber and other resources.

Since the 1980s, governments have begun to see that a policy of excluding communities from forests leads to conflict. The focus has shifted from timber collection to conservation, with the involvement of local people.