HISTORY PROJECT

Over the centuries, as the population grew and the demand for food went up, peasants started clearing forests and
breaking new land. British encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton. In the
19th century, the demand for these crops increased. The colonial state thought that forests were unproductive in the
early 19th century. So between 1880 and 1920, cultivated areas and the expansion of cultivation showed a sign of
progress.

In England, by the early nineteenth century, oak forests were disappearing. Search parties were sent to India to explore
the forest resources. Railways spread from the 1850s. Railways were essential for colonial trade and for the movement
of imperial troops. From the 1860s, the railway network expanded rapidly. Trees started falling as the railway tracks
spread through India. The government gave out contracts to individuals to supply the required quantities. Forests
around the railway tracks started disappearing.

Large areas of natural forests were cleared to make way for tea, coffee and rubber plantations to meet Europe’s
growing need for these commodities. The forests were taken over by the colonial government, which gave vast areas
to European planters at cheap rates to plant tea or coffee.

The Rise of Commercial Forestry

British were worried that the reckless use of trees by traders and the use of forests by local people would destroy
forests. Dietrich Brandis, a German expert, became the first Inspector General of Forests in India. He realised that a
proper system had to be introduced to manage the forests, and people needed to be trained in the science of
conservation. But it needed legal sanction. In 1864, the Indian Forest Service was set up in Dehradun in 1906. In
scientific forestry, natural forests, which had lots of different types of trees, were cut down. 1906 the Forest Act was
enacted, which was amended twice, once in 1878 and then in 1927. The Act of 1878 divided forests into three
categories: reserved, protected and village forests. The best forests were called ‘reserved forests’.

How Did Forest Rules Affect Cultivation?

The practice of shifting cultivation or swidden cultivation was introduced during European colonialism or swidden
agriculture. It is a traditional agricultural practice in many parts of Asia, Africa and South America. In shifting
cultivation, parts of the forest are cut and burnt in rotation. After the first monsoon rains, seeds are sown in the ashes,
and October-November harvests the crop. For a couple of years, such plots are cultivated and then left for 12 to 18
years. On these plots, a mixture of crops is grown. According to European foresters, this practice is harmful to the
forests. This type of cultivation also made it difficult for the government to calculate taxes. So, the government
decided to ban shifting cultivation.

New Trades, New Employment and New Services

, trade was completely regulated by the government, which gave many large European trading firms the sole right to
trade in the forest products of particular areas. New work opportunities did not improve the well-being of the people.

Rebellion in the Forest

In 1905, the colonial government proposed to reserve two-thirds of the forest and stop shifting cultivation, hunting and
collection of forest produce. Some people used to stay in forests by working for free for the forest department, and
these are called forest villagers. Villagers, in the long run, suffered from increased land rents and frequent demands
for labour and goods. People started discussing these issues in their village councils, bazaars, and festivals. Dhurwas
of the Kanger Forest took the initiative where reservation first took place. Bazaars were looted, the houses of officials
and traders, schools and police stations were burnt and robbed, and grain was redistributed. British troops were sent to
suppress the rebellion. After Independence, the same practice of keeping people out of the forests and reserving them
for industrial use continued.

Forest Transformations in Java

Java is famous as a rice-producing island in Indonesia. But, there was a time when it was covered mostly with forests.
In Java, the Dutch started forest management. Villages existed in the fertile plains, and there were also many
communities living in the mountains and practising shifting cultivation.

The Kalangs of Java were skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators. They are experts in harvesting teak and for the
kings to build their palaces. When the Dutch began to gain control over the forests in the eighteenth century, they tried
to make the Kalangs work under them. In 1770, the Kalangs resisted by attacking a Dutch fort at Joana, but the
uprising was suppressed.

In the nineteenth century, the Dutch enacted forest laws in Java, restricting villagers’ access to forests. Wood could
only be cut for making riverboats or constructing houses. Villagers were punished for grazing cattle, transporting
wood without a permit, or travelling on forest roads with horse carts or cattle. Firstly, the Dutch imposed rents on land
being cultivated in the forest and then exempted some villages from these rents if they worked collectively to provide
free labour and buffaloes for cutting and transporting timber. This was known as the blandongdiensten system.

Samin’s Challenge

Surontiko Samin of Randublatung village, a teak forest village, questioned the state ownership of the forest and
argued that the state had not created the wind, water, earth and wood, so it could not own it. Soon a widespread
movement developed. Some of the Saminists protested by lying down on their land when the Dutch came to survey it,
while others refused to pay taxes or fines or perform labour.

War and Deforestation

The First World War and the Second World War had a major impact on forests. In Java, the Dutch followed a
scorched Earth policy, destroying sawmills and burning huge piles of giant teak logs. After the war, it was difficult for
the Indonesian Forest Service to get this land back.

New Developments in Forestry