FACTS THAT MATTER | Extra Documents & Tests for Class 9 PDF Download

• In India, deforestation started many centuries ago, but under colonial rule it became more systematic and extensive.
• 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.
• 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. Felling of trees and grazing had to be restricted so that forests could be preserved for timber production.
• Brandis set up the Indian Forest Service in 1864 and helped formulate the Indian Forest Act of 1865. He introduced scientific forestry in which natural forests were cut down, and in their place, one type of tree was planted.
• The Forest Act of 1865 was amended twice, once in 1878 and then in 1927. The 1878 Act divided forests into three categories – reserved, protected and village forests. The best forests were called ‘reserved forests’. The villagers were not allowed to enter these forests. They could take wood from protected or village forests.
• The Forest Act made the life of the villagers across the country very tough. After the Act was enforced, all their routine activities, such as grazing, hunting, etc., became illegal. People were now forced to steal wood from the forests, and if they were caught, they had given bribes to the forest guards.
• Shifting cultivation was a traditional agricultural practice in many parts of Asia including India. But European foresters did not like this practice. They felt that land which was used for cultivation every few years could not grow trees for railway timber. When a forest was burnt, there was the added danger of the flames spreading and burning valuable timber. Therefore, the government banned shifting cultivation. As a result, many communities were displaced from their homes in the forests.
• The forest laws also deprived people of their customary rights to hunt animals like deer, partridges, etc. But at the same time hunting of big game became a sport. The British saw large animals such as tigers, leopards, etc. as signs of a wild, primitive and savage society. They believed that by killing those dangerous animals the British would civilise India. Hence, they gave rewards for killing such animals.
• Forest communities of India and of the world rebelled against the changes that were being imposed on them. One such rebellion which took place in the kingdom of Bastar in 1910 is worth-mentioning. The people of Bastar were worried when the colonial government proposed to reserve two-thirds of the forest in 1905 and stop shifting cultivation etc. They, however, tolerated for a few years, but ultimately rebelled in 1910 against the British. Bazaars were looted, the houses of officials and traders, schools and police stations were burnt and robbed. The British sent troops to suppress the rebellion and it took three months for them to regain control. However, work on reservation was temporarily suspended.
• The story of Indonesia was the same where the colonial power were the Dutch. Java in Indonesia is where the Dutch started forest management. Like the British, they wanted timber from Java to build ships.
• In Java, there were many communities which lived in mountains and practised shifting cultivation. The Kalangs were a community of skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators. They were so valuable that, without their expertise, the Dutch could not harvest teak. Hence, they tried to make the Kalangs work under them. The Kalangs resisted but finally they were suppressed.
• The Dutch also enacted forest laws in Java, restricting villagers’ access to forests. Villagers were punished for grazing cattle in young stands, transporting wood without a permit, or travelling on forest roads with horse carts or cattle.
• This enraged them. They became ready to protest under the leadership of Surontiko Samin of Randublating village, a teak forest village. Samin began questioning state ownership of the forest. He argued that the state had not created the wind, water, earth and wood, so it could not own it. Soon a widespread movement developed. The Saminists protested by lying down on their land when the Dutch came to survey it.
• The two world wars had a major impact on forests. In India, working plans were abandoned at this time, and the forest department cut trees to meet British war needs. In Java, the Dutch destroyed saw-mills, burnt huge piles of giant teak logs. Soon afterwards, the Japanese began to exploit the forests recklessly for their own war industries, forcing forest villagers to cut down forests.
• Conservation of forests has now become an important goal for governments across Asia and Africa. It has been recognised that, in order to meet this goal, the people who live near the forests must be involved. They should not be kept away from forests.

Words that Matter

• Sleepers: Wooden planks laid across railway tracks.
• Scientific forestry: A system of cutting trees controlled by the forest department, in which old trees are cut and new ones planted.
• Deforestation: Disappearance of forests or cutting down of trees.
• Shifting cultivation: It is a type of cultivation in which parts of the forests are cleared. After the trees have been cut, they are burnt to provide ashes. The seeds are then scattered in the area and left to be irrigated by the rain.
• Criminal tribes: Pastoralist and nomadic communities were labelled as criminal tribes because they stole wood from the forests.                    

Dateline

• 1850s  –    The spread of Railway was started.
• 1856    –    Dietrich Brandis introduced scientific forestry in India.
• 1864    –    The Indian Forest Service was set up.
• 1865    –    The Indian Forest Act was enacted.
• 1890    –    Surontiko Samin of Randublating village questioned state ownership of the forest.
• 1906    –    The Imperial Forest Research Institute was set up.