CLASS 9 FOREST SOCIETY AND COLONIALISM (HISTORY 4)

FOREST SOCIETY AND COLONIALISM

Advantages of Forest

It plays a major role in improving the quality of environment, modify the local climate, controls soil erosion, regulate stream flow, support a variety of industries, provide livelihood for many communities and after opportunities for recreation.

Forest adds to the floor large quantities of leaves, twigs and branches which after decomposition forms humus.

It provided industrial wood, timber, fuel wood, fodder and several other minor products of great economic value.

They also provide natural environment for wild life, play an important role in maintaining the life support system.

It supports a large variety of flora and fauna such as in Amazon forests or in the Western Ghats.

Changes in the Forest cover

A lot of diversity from forest is rapidly disappearing.

Between 1700 and 1995, the period of industrialization, 13.9 million sq.km of forest or 9.3% of world’s total area was cleared for industrial uses, cultivation, pastures and fuel wood.

1. Why Deforestation?

The disappearance of forest is referred to as deforestation. It is not a recent problem. The process began many centuries ago, but under colonial rule it became more systematic and extensive.

Causes of deforestation in India

A) Land to be Improved:

i) In 1600, approximately one-sixth of India’s landmass was under cultivation. As population increased over the centuries and the demand for food went up, peasants extended the boundaries of cultivation, clearing forests and breaking new land.

ii) In the colonial period, the British directly encouraged production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton. The demand of these crops increased in 19^th century to feed the growing urban population and raw materials were required for industrial production in Europe.

iii) In the early 19^th century, the colonial state thought that forests were unproductive and wilderness, so they had brought to be under cultivation, so that land could yield agricultural products and revenue and enhance the income of the state. So between 1880 and 1920, cultivated areas rose by 6.7 million hectares.

B) Sleepers on the Tracks:

i) By early 19^th century, oak forests in England were disappearing. This created a problem of timber supply fort the Royal Navy which required it for building ships. To get the supply of oak for the ship industry, British started exploring Indian forests by 1820s on a massive scale.

ii) The spread of railways from 1850s created a new demand for colonial trade and imperial troops. To run locomotives, wood was needed as fuel and to lay railway lines, sleepers were essential to hold the tracks together.

iii) Each mile of railway track required between 1760 and 2000 sleepers. From 1860s, railway network expanded rapidly. Up to 1946, the length of the tracks had increased to over 7,65,000 km. As the railway tracks spread through India, a larger number of trees were felled on massive scale. Forests around the railway tracks started disappearing.

C) Plantations:

i) Large areas of natural forests were cleared to make way for plantation of tea, coffee and rubber to meet Europe’s growing need for these commodities.

ii)  The colonial government took over the forests and gave vast areas to European planters at cheap rates which were then enclosed and cleared of forests and planted with tea or coffee.

2.The Rise of Commercial Forestry

i) British needed forests to build ships and railways. They were worried that the use of forests by local people and reckless felling of trees would destroy forests. So they decided to invite a German Expert, Dietrich Brandis for advice, and appointed as the First Inspector General of Forests in India.

ii) Brandis realized that a proper system had to be introduced for management of forests and training of people. It requires a legal sanction. Restriction had to be put on felling of trees and grazing so that forests could be preserved for timber production.

iii) He set up initiatives:

·         Indian Forest Service was set up in 1864.

·         Indian Forest Act was enacted in 1865.

·         Imperial Forest Research institute in Dehradun in 1906. (Scientific forestry was taught here)

Scientific Forestry: A system of cutting trees controlled by the forests department, in which old trees are cut and new ones are planted.

iv) Forest Act was enacted in 1865 and amended twice in 1878 and 1927. The 1878 Act divided the forests into 3 categories: reserved, protected and village forests. The best forests were called ‘reserved forests’. Villagers are not allowed to take anything from these forests. However for house building and fuel, they could take wood from protected or village forests.
A) How were the lives of people affected?

i) According to the Forest Act, all everyday practices of villages like cutting of wood for their houses, grazing their cattle, collecting fruits and hunting and fishing became illegal.

ii) People were forced to steal wood from the forests and if caught, they were at the mercy of the forest guards who would take bribes from them.

iii) Women who collected fuel wood were especially worried. It was also common for police constables and forest guards to harass people by demanding free food from them.

B) How did Forest Rules Affect Cultivation?

i) One of the major impact of European colonialism was on the practice of shifting cultivation or swidden agriculture in parts of Asia, Africa and South America.

ii) In shifting cultivation, parts of the forest are cut and burnt in rotation, seeds are sown in the ashes after the first monsoon rains, crop is harvested by October-November.

iii) These plots are cultivated for couple of years and left fallow for 12 to 18 years for the forest to grow back.

iv) In India, it is known by different names such as dhya, panda, bewar, novad, jhum, podu, khandad and kumri.

v) European foresters regarded this practice as harmful for the forest. They felt that land which was used for cultivation every few years could not grow trees for railway timber. When a forest was burnt, it added danger of flames spreading and burning valuable timber.

vi) This cultivation also made harder for government to calculate taxes. As a result, shifting cultivation was banned. Many communities were displaced from their homes in the forests.

C) Who could Hunt?

i) The new forest laws changed the lives of forest dwellers changed in other way. Their customary practice of hunting deer, partridges and other small animals was prohibited by the forest laws. Under colonial rule, the scale of hunting increased to such as extent that some species got extinct.

ii) The British saw large animals as signs of wild, primitive and savage society. They believe that by killing dangerous animals, India would be civilized. They gave rewards for killing of tigers, wolves and other large animals on grounds that they posed a threat to cultivators. Over 80000 tigers, 150000 leopards and 200000 wolves were killed for reward in the period of 1875-1925.

D) New Traders, New Employments and New Services

i) Forest department took control over the forests by which some people were benefited from the new opportunities that had opened up in trade. Many communities left their traditional occupation and started trading in forest products.

ii) In India, with coming of British, trade was completely regulated by government. British government gave large European trading firms the sole right to trade in forest products. Grazing and hunting by local people was restricted.

iii) Due to this, many pastoralists and nomadic communities of Madras presidency lost their livelihoods. Some of them were called “criminal tribes” and were forced to work in factories, mines and plantations.

iv) However, the new opportunities of work did not mean improved well-being for people. Their wages were low and conditions of work were bad. They could not return home easily from where they had been recruited (tea plantations).

3.Rebellion in the Forest

In many parts of India and across the world, forest communities rebelled against the changes that were being imposed them.

A. Bastar Rebellion in 1910

Bastar is located in the southernmost part of Chattishgarh and borders of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Maharashtra.

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

They speak different languages but share common customs and beliefs. They believe 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.

In addition to Earth, they show respect to the spirits of the river, the forest and the mountain. Each village knows its boundaries; the local people look after all the natural resources within it. Some villages also protect their forests by engaging watchmen and each household contributes some grain to pay them. Every year there is a big hunt where the headmen of villages in pargana(cluster of villages) meet and discuss issues of concern including forests.

A. The Fears of the People

i) People of Bastar become worried when the colonial government proposed to reserve 2/3 of forest in 1905 and stopped shifting cultivation, hunting and collection of forest produce. Some villages were allowed to live in reserved forest on the condition if they work free for the forest department in cutting and transporting trees and protecting forest from fires.

ii) Villagers had suffered from increased land rents and frequent demand for free labour and goods by colonial officials. Reservations were imposed after terrible famines in 1899-1900 and 1907-1908.

iii) In 1910, mango boughs(branches), a lump(large piece of coal) of earth, chilies and arrows were circulated inviting villagers to rebel against British. Bazaars were looted, the house of officials, traders, schools and police stations were burnt and robbed. People who were attacked were associated with colonial state and its oppressive laws.

iv) British sent troops to suppress the rebellion. People who take part in rebellion were punished. It took 3 months (February to May) to regain control. Even after independence, the same practice of keeping people out of the forests and reserving them for industrial use continued.

4. Forest Transformations in Java

Java is a famous rice producing island in Indonesia. It was a Dutch colony and has similarities in laws forest control in Indonesia and India. It was a place where the Dutch started new forest management policy. Like British, they wanted timber from Java to build ships. There were many villages in the fertile plains, but there were also many communities living in the mountains and practicing shifting cultivation.

A. The Woodcutters of Java

The Kalangs of Java were a community of skilled forest cutters of shifting cultivators. Without expertise, it was difficult to harvest teak and for kings to build their palaces. When Dutch began to gain control over them in 18^th century, Kalangs resisted by attacking a Dutch fort in 1770 but their rebellion was suppressed.

B. Dutch Scientific Forestry

i) In the 19^th century, Dutch introduced new forest laws and restricted villagers’ access to forests. Wood could only be used for specific purpose like making river boats or constructing houses, only from specific forests under close supervision.

ii) Villagers were punished for grazing their cattle in young stands, transporting wood withouiit permission or travelling on forest roads with horse carts or cattle. The need to manage shipbuilding and railways led to the introduction of forest services.

iii) In 1882, 280000 sleepers were to be exported to Java which requires labour to cut the trees, transport logs and prepare sleepers. The Dutch imposed rents on land being cultivated and then exempted some villages on condition to provide free labour and buffaloes. This was known as Blandongdiensten system. Later, instead of rent exemption, forest villagers were given small wages, but their right to cultivate forest land was restricted.

C. Samin’s Challenge

i) In 1890, Surontiko Samin of Randublatung village, a teak forest village, questioned on state ownership of forest. He argued that state had not created the wind, water, earth and wood so it could not own it.

ii) In 1907, around 3000 families followed his ideas. Soon a widespread movement developed. Some of the Saminists protested by laying down on their land when the Dutch came to survey it, while others refused to pay taxes or fines or perform labour.

D. War and Deforestation

i) The first and second world war had a major impact on forests. In India, working plans were abandoned and forest department cut trees freely to meet British war needs.

ii) In Java, just before the Japanese occupied region, Dutch followed a scorched earth policy in Java and destroyed sawmills and burnt huge piles (lot) of giant teak logs so that would not fall into Japanese hands.

iii) The Japanese then exploited the forests recklessly for their own war industries, forcing forest villagers to cut down trees. Many villagers used this opportunity to expand cultivation in the forest.

iv) As in India, people’s need for agricultural land has brought then into conflict with forest department’s desire to control the land and exclude people from it.

E. New Developments in Forestry

i) Since the 1980s, government across Asia and Africa have begun to see that scientific forestry and policy of keeping forest communities away from forests has resulted in many conflicts.

ii) Conservation of forest has become important than to collect timber. The government realized that if forests are to survive, the local community needs to be involved. Villagers have helped forest to survive as they protected them in sacred groves. Local forest communities and environmentalists today are thinking of different forms of forest management.

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