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Forest society and colonialism Satwik Bansal IX- C

Forest Society and Colonialism

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Page 1: Forest Society and Colonialism

Forest society and colonialism

Satwik Bansal IX- C

Page 2: Forest Society and Colonialism

Forests • Forests are natural ecosystems having trees of different species and vegetation of

different kinds and providing habitat to different species of animals.

Forests are very useful for us-

1. They maintain the fertility of the soil.2. · They provide us with paper; wood for desks, tables and other furniture; dies, spices, gum, honey, coffee, oil, medicinal herbsrubber, timber.3 They provide bamboo wood for fuel, grass, charcoal, packaging, fruits, flowers .4· They provide shelter and habitat for animals.

Page 3: Forest Society and Colonialism

Deforestation

• Deforestation is the disappearance of forests due to cutting down of trees on an extensive scale. It is not a recent problem. The process began many centuries ago; but under colonial rule it become more systematic and extensive.

Page 4: Forest Society and Colonialism

Deforestation under british• The British needed to clear the forests because of the following reasons:

• · They needed food grains to feed the growing European population. • They cut forests and encouraged production of commercial crops – jute, sugar, wheat, cotton.• · They needed area to cultivate raw materials- cotton for industrial production.• · They thought that forests were unproductive, just wildernesswhich had to be brought under cultivation to yield agricultural products.

Page 5: Forest Society and Colonialism

• · By the early 19thcentury, oak forests in England were disappearing creating a problem for timber supply used for the English ships of the Royal Navy. For this Indian forests were felled and the timber was exported.

• · The Railways also spread from 1950s creating a new demand for wood – to be used as fuel and timber – to lay railways line and sleepers essential to hold the tracks together.• · Forests were also cleared to make way for tea, coffee and rubber plantations to meet Europe’s growing need for these commodities. • The colonial government gave vast forest areas to European planters at

cheap rates to clear forest and plant tea or coffee.• In ‘scientific forestry’ forests were cut and one type of trees were

planted in straight rows

Page 6: Forest Society and Colonialism

Commercial forestry

• Commercial forestry is the use of forest products for commercial purposes. It led to deterioration of forests due to over usage

Page 7: Forest Society and Colonialism

Brandis

• Dietrich Brandis was a German expert called by the British for advice. The British were worried that local people are destroying forests. Dietrich Brandis was made the First Inspector General of Forests in India.

• Brandis realized that a proper system had to be introduced to manage forests and people had to be trained in the science of conservation.

· This system would need legal sanctions· Rules about the use of forest resources had to be framed.· Felling of trees and grazing had to be restricted to preserve forests for timber production.· Anybody cutting trees without

following the system had to be punished.

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· Brandis set up the Indian Forest Service in 1864 and helped formulate the Indian Forest Act of 1865.

· The Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up at Dehradun in 1906 where ‘Scientific forestery’ was taught.

· The Forest At was ammended twice in 1878 and 1927.· The 1878 Act divided forests into reserved, protected and

village forests.

Page 9: Forest Society and Colonialism

Scientific forestry

• In Scientific Forestry, natural forests having lots of different types of trees were cut down. Instead, one type of tree was planted in straight rows – plantations. Forest officials surveyed the forests, estimated the area under different types of trees and made working plans for forest management. They planned how much area to cut every year. The cut area was then to be replanted so that it was ready to be cut again in some years.

Page 10: Forest Society and Colonialism

Indian forest Act• The Indian Forest Act was formulated by Dietrich Brands in 1865.• · It encouraged scientific forestry – A system of cutting trees

controlled by the forest department in which old trees are cut and new ones planted.

• · The act was ammended twice, once in 1878 and then in 1927.• · The 1878 Act divided forests into three categories – reserved,

protected and village forests.· ‘Reserved forests’ were the best forests from where villages could not takes anything, even for their own use.

• In protected forests some villagers could enter as the rules were not so strict there.

• The ‘village forests’ were for the villagers’ use from where they could take wood for house building or fuels. But actually these forests were of no use, they just had thorns and scrubs.

Page 11: Forest Society and Colonialism

Impact of changes• It had drastic changes on lifestyle of people-• Shifting Cultivators: After the government decided to ban shifting cultivation, many

communities were forcibly displaced from their homes in forests. Some had to change occupations while some resisted through large and small rebellions.

• · Nomadic and pastoralist communities – The British restricted grazing and hunting by local people. In the

process, many pastoralist and nomadic communities like Korava, Karacha and yerukala of the Madras presidency lost their livelihoods. They were forced to work instead in factories, mines and plantations under government supervision

Page 12: Forest Society and Colonialism

• .· Firms trading in timber / forest product – With the coming of the British ,however ,trade was completely regulated by the

government. The British government gave many large European trading firms the sole right to trade in forest products ofparticular areas. Now they had huge profits.

• · Plantation owners: The colonial government took over forests, gave vast areas to European planters

at cheap rates. The owners now had greater profits because of vast areas of lands. They exploited the Indian workers greatly who worked with very low wages and very bad work conditions.

• · Kings / British officials engaged in Shikar- While the forest laws deprived people of their customary rights to hunt, hunting

of big game became a sport. The scale of hunting increased rapidly. The Maharja of Sarguja alone shot 1, 157 tigers and 2000 leopards up to 1957. A British administrator- George Yule, killed 400 tigers.

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Rebellion of Bastar• Bastar is located in the southern most part of Chhattisgarh and

borders Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Maharashra. A number of different communities live there such as Marias and Muria Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras and Halbas.

• Problems faced by the people:· When the colonial government proposed to reserve 2/3 of its

forests, stop shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce, the people were very worried. People were displaced without any notice or compensation. For long, villagers had been suffering from increased land rents and frequent demand for free labour.· Then came the terrible famines in 1899 – 1980 and again in 1907-08.

Page 14: Forest Society and Colonialism

• · Revolt by the people:· These issues were widely discussed to start revolting against the

colonial government.· Gunda Dhur, from the village Nethaner emerged as ‘an important

leader.· Bazaars were looted, the houses of officials and traders, schools and police stations were burnt and robbed.

· To all this, the British sent troops to suppress the rebellion. Theadivasi leaders tried to negotiate, out the British surrounded their camps and fired.

• · Result:· In a major victory for the rebels, work on reservation was temporarily

suspended, and the area to be reserved was reduced to roughly half of that planned before 1910.

Page 15: Forest Society and Colonialism

Java • In the 19thcentury, when it became important to control territory and not just

people, the colonial government of Java i.e. the Dutch enacted forest laws restricting villagers access to villagers.

• Problems faced by the people:Now wood could only be cut for specified purposes and only from specific forests

under close supervision.· Villagers were punished for grazing called in young stands, transporting wood in travelling on forest roads with horse carts or cattle.

• · Revolt:· Around 1890, Surantiko Samin of Randublatung village, a teak forest village, began

questioning state ownership of forest.He argued that the state hadn’t created wind, water, earth, and wood. It could not own it.

Soon a widespread movement developmed. Samin’s sons –inlaw helped it organize. By 1907, 3000 families were following his ideas.They protested by lying down on their land when the dutch came to survey it, while the others refused to pay taxes or fines or perform labour.

Page 16: Forest Society and Colonialism

Forest and War

• To win a war, each country wants its Navy to be the strongest (especially the European). Ships are built on a large scale which requires a lot of timber which is strong and durable. So, forest trees are cut indiscriminately. Also scientific forestry is practiced which again destroys forests.

• · The countries losing the war who have to retreat back destroy all their resources preventing them from getting into enemy’s hands (as in the case of java), the Japanese burnt huge piles of giant teak logs and the forest resources were all wasted

Page 17: Forest Society and Colonialism

Thank you