Chapter 4 Forest Society And Colonialism

Why Deforestation?

Forests provide us with a wide array of resources that we use in our daily lives, from common items like paper, furniture, and building materials (doors, windows, wood for fuel) to lesser-known products like dyes, spices, gums, honey, coffee, tea, rubber, oil (from sal seeds), tannin for leather, and medicinal herbs/roots. Forest ecosystems can be incredibly diverse; for instance, a single patch of forest in the Amazon or Western Ghats might contain hundreds of different plant species.

However, this rich biodiversity has been rapidly disappearing. Between 1700 and 1995, coinciding with the period of industrialisation, a vast area of forest equivalent to 13.9 million square kilometres (9.3% of the world's total area) was cleared for industrial purposes, agriculture, pastures, and fuel.

The removal or destruction of forests is known as deforestation. While deforestation has been occurring for centuries, it became significantly more systematic and widespread under colonial rule.

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Land To Be Improved

In 1600, approximately one-sixth of India's landmass was under cultivation. By the colonial period, this figure had dramatically increased to about half. Several factors contributed to the rapid expansion of cultivation during this time:

• Population Growth and Food Demand: As India's population grew over centuries, the demand for food increased, prompting peasants to clear forests and cultivate new land.
• Colonial Encouragement of Commercial Crops: The British actively promoted the cultivation of profitable commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat, and cotton. These crops were in high demand in 19th-century Europe to feed growing urban populations and supply raw materials for industries.
• Colonial View of Forests: In the early 19th century, the colonial state considered natural forests to be 'unproductive wilderness'. They believed this land needed to be brought under cultivation to generate agricultural products and, more importantly, revenue for the state.

Consequently, between 1880 and 1920 alone, the cultivated area in India increased by 6.7 million hectares. While expanding cultivation is often seen as progress, it inherently requires clearing forests to make land available for the plough.

*(The painting of Native Americans and bison highlights a different perspective on land use, contrasting with the European colonial view that unsettled land was unproductive and needed 'improvement' through cultivation, a justification often used for conquest.)*

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Sleepers On The Tracks

Another major driver of deforestation under colonial rule was the increasing demand for timber, initially for shipbuilding and later, more significantly, for railways.

By the early 19th century, oak forests in England were being depleted, causing a shortage of timber for the Royal Navy. Maintaining a strong navy was essential for protecting and expanding the British Empire, necessitating a reliable supply of durable timber. Search parties were dispatched to explore India's forest resources by the 1820s, leading to massive tree felling and large-scale timber exports from India.

From the 1850s, the expansion of railways created an even greater demand for wood. Railways were crucial for facilitating colonial trade and enabling the rapid movement of imperial troops and goods. Railways required wood for locomotive fuel and, critically, for sleepers – the wooden planks laid across the track to hold them in place.

Laying one mile of railway track required between 1,760 and 2,000 sleepers. The railway network expanded rapidly from the 1860s, reaching about 25,500 km by 1890 and over 765,000 km by 1946. This massive expansion necessitated the felling of enormous numbers of trees.

As early as the 1850s, 35,000 trees were being cut annually just for sleepers in the Madras Presidency. To meet these demands, the government granted contracts to individuals, who often cut trees indiscriminately, causing forests near railway tracks to disappear quickly.

*(The scale of demand for sleepers meant that thousands of trees were cut for every few hundred miles of track. For a broad gauge track, if one tree yields 3-5 sleepers, laying one mile would require approximately 400-667 trees. The expansion across India consumed millions of trees.)*

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Plantations

Large swathes of natural forests were also cleared to establish plantations for specific crops demanded by European markets, such as tea, coffee, and rubber.

The colonial government facilitated this by taking control of forests and granting vast areas of land to European planters at very low prices. These areas were then fenced off, cleared of existing forests, and replanted with the desired cash crops.

The Rise Of Commercial Forestry

Recognising the increasing demand for timber and concerned that uncontrolled felling by local people and traders would deplete forests, the British decided they needed a system to manage forest resources. They invited a German expert, Dietrich Brandis, for advice and appointed him the first Inspector General of Forests in India in 1864.

Brandis believed that proper forest management required a systematic approach, training, and legal enforcement. He advocated for rules to regulate the use of forest resources, restrict tree felling and grazing, and ensure forests could be preserved for timber production.

He established the Indian Forest Service in 1864 and helped draft the Indian Forest Act of 1865. The Imperial Forest Research Institute was founded at Dehradun in 1906 to train forest officials in this new system, which was termed 'scientific forestry'. However, many people, including ecologists today, argue that this approach was far from genuinely scientific in an ecological sense.

Under 'scientific forestry', diverse natural forests were cleared and replaced by monoculture plantations of a single type of tree, planted in straight rows. Forest officials surveyed areas, estimated timber yields, and developed working plans specifying how much plantation area to cut annually and replant for future harvests.

The Indian Forest Act was amended in 1878 and 1927. The 1878 Act classified forests into three categories:

• Reserved forests: The highest quality forests. Villagers were strictly prohibited from taking anything from these forests, even for personal use.
• Protected forests: Villagers could take wood for housing or fuel from these forests under certain conditions.
• Village forests: Similar, usually smaller areas with some access for local communities.

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How Were The Lives Of People Affected?

The implementation of forest laws and 'scientific forestry' led to starkly different views on what constituted a 'good forest' between foresters and local villagers.

Villagers relied on forests with a variety of tree species to meet their diverse needs, such as fuelwood, animal fodder, and leaves. Foresters, however, preferred forests dominated by specific species like teak and sal, which provided hard, tall, and straight timber suitable for shipbuilding and railways. Consequently, commercially valuable species were promoted while others were cut down.

For communities living in or near forests, forest products were essential for survival and everyday life. They used roots, leaves, fruits, and tubers for food (especially during monsoons), herbs for medicine, wood for tools (yokes, ploughs), bamboo for fences, baskets, and umbrellas, dried gourds as water containers, leaves for disposable plates, creepers for ropes, and tree bark for grating vegetables. Oil was extracted from fruits like those of the mahua tree for cooking and lighting.

The Forest Act caused significant hardship for villagers. Their traditional practices, like cutting wood for homes, grazing cattle, collecting forest produce, hunting, and fishing, became illegal. People were forced to illegally collect wood and were subject to harassment and bribery demands from forest guards and police. Women collecting fuelwood were particularly vulnerable. Officials often demanded free food and supplies.

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How Did Forest Rules Affect Cultivation?

One major impact of colonial forest management was on the traditional practice of shifting cultivation (also known as swidden agriculture). This method was widely practiced in various parts of Asia, Africa, and South America, with numerous local names (e.g., lading, milpa, chitemene, tavy, chena, dhya, penda, bewar, nevad, jhum, podu, khandad, kumri).

In shifting cultivation, patches of forest are periodically cut and burned. Seeds are then sown in the ashes after the first monsoon rains, and crops are harvested later in the year. These plots are cultivated for a couple of years before being left fallow for an extended period (12-18 years) to allow the forest to regenerate. A variety of crops are typically grown together on these plots.

European foresters considered shifting cultivation detrimental to forests for several reasons:

• They believed land used for cultivation every few years could not grow the tall, straight trees needed for railway timber.
• Burning created a risk of fires spreading uncontrollably and damaging valuable timber stands.
• It made it difficult for the government to survey land, determine boundaries, and calculate taxes accurately.

Therefore, the colonial government decided to ban shifting cultivation. This resulted in the forcible displacement of many communities from their traditional homes in the forests. Some were forced to adopt new occupations, while others resisted through various forms of rebellion.

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Who Could Hunt?

New forest laws also drastically altered hunting practices. Previously, many forest dwellers relied on hunting small animals like deer and partridges for subsistence. This customary right was prohibited by the forest laws, and those caught hunting faced punishment for poaching.

Paradoxically, while local hunting was banned, the hunting of big game was promoted as a sport. Hunting tigers and other large animals had long been a tradition among the Indian nobility. However, under colonial rule, the scale of hunting by the British and Indian elites increased so dramatically that many species faced near extinction.

The British often viewed large, dangerous animals as symbols of a 'wild, primitive, and savage' India that needed to be 'civilised'. They offered rewards for killing tigers, wolves, and other large predators, arguing that they posed a threat to cultivation. Between 1875 and 1925, over 80,000 tigers, 150,000 leopards, and 200,000 wolves were killed for rewards.

Gradually, the tiger evolved from a threat to be eliminated to a prized sporting trophy. Individuals like the Maharaja of Sarguja reportedly shot over a thousand tigers, and a British administrator, George Yule, killed 400. Initially, certain forest areas were set aside exclusively for hunting by the elite. It was much later that environmentalists and conservationists began to advocate for the protection of these animal species instead of their extermination.

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New Trades, New Employments And New Services

While many forest communities suffered losses and hardships under the new forest laws, some individuals and groups benefited from new economic opportunities, particularly in the trade of forest products.

As traditional occupations were disrupted, some communities shifted towards trading in forest produce, a change seen not only in India but globally. For example, the Mundurucu people in the Brazilian Amazon, who traditionally cultivated manioc, began collecting latex from wild rubber trees to sell to traders due to the growing global demand for rubber. This shift led to increased dependence on traders.

In India, trade in forest products had existed before the British, with adivasi communities trading goods like elephants, hides, spices, fibres, gums, and resins, often through nomadic groups like the Banjaras. However, the British colonial government completely regulated this trade.

Large European trading firms were granted monopolies, receiving exclusive rights to trade forest products from specific areas. Restrictions on local hunting and grazing severely impacted the livelihoods of many pastoralist and nomadic communities in regions like the Madras Presidency (e.g., Korava, Karacha, and Yerukula).

Some of these communities were unjustly labeled as 'criminal tribes' and were forced into supervised labour in factories, mines, and plantations to survive.

Even when new employment opportunities arose, they did not always lead to improved well-being. Men and women from forest communities, such as Santhals and Oraons from Jharkhand or Gonds from Chhattisgarh, were recruited to work on tea plantations in Assam. They faced low wages, harsh working conditions, and were often unable to return to their home villages due to the distances and restrictive systems.

Rebellion In The Forest

Across India and worldwide, forest communities responded to the imposed changes and new forest laws by rebelling against colonial authorities. Leaders of these movements in India, like Siddhu and Kanu (Santhal Parganas), Birsa Munda (Chhotanagpur), and Alluri Sitarama Raju (Andhra Pradesh), are still remembered today through songs and stories.

A significant example of such resistance is the rebellion that occurred in the kingdom of Bastar in 1910.

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The People Of Bastar

Bastar is located in the southern part of present-day Chhattisgarh, sharing borders with Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, and Maharashtra. The central area of Bastar is a plateau, with the Chhattisgarh plain to the north and the Godavari plain to the south. The Indrawati River flows through Bastar from east to west.

Bastar is home to various communities, including the Maria and Muria Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras, and Halbas. Despite speaking different languages, they share common customs and beliefs, particularly regarding their relationship with the land and forests.

The people of Bastar traditionally believe that their village land was granted by the Earth, and in return, they have a responsibility to care for the Earth through offerings during agricultural festivals. They also show respect to the spirits of the river, forest, and mountains.

Each village clearly understands its territorial boundaries and manages the natural resources within its area. If people from one village need resources like wood from another village's forest, they pay a small fee (locally called devsari, dand, or man). Some villages maintain forest watchmen, with each household contributing grain for their payment. Annual large hunts involve headmen from clusters of villages (parganas) meeting to discuss community concerns, including forest matters.

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The Fears Of The People

In 1905, the colonial government's proposal to reserve two-thirds of the forests in Bastar caused widespread worry among the local population. The plan would severely restrict their traditional practices of shifting cultivation, hunting, and collecting forest produce.

Some villages were allowed to remain within the proposed reserved forests, but only on the condition that they perform free labour for the Forest Department (cutting/transporting trees, protecting from fires). These became known as 'forest villages'. People in other villages faced displacement without any notice or compensation.

These new restrictions compounded existing grievances. Villagers had already been suffering from increased land rents and frequent demands for free labour and goods by colonial officials. The situation was worsened by terrible famines in 1899-1900 and 1907-1908. The forest reservation proposals proved to be the final catalyst for rebellion.

People began organising and discussing these issues in village councils, markets (bazaars), and festivals. The Dhurwas of the Kanger forest, the area first targeted for reservation, took the lead in initiating the movement. While the rebellion had no single, unified leader, Gunda Dhur from village Nethanar is remembered as an important figure.

In 1910, symbolic messages – mango boughs, a lump of earth, chillies, and arrows – were circulated between villages, acting as invitations to rebel against the British. Every village contributed resources towards the rebellion's expenses.

The rebels engaged in direct actions: bazaars were looted, and the houses of officials, traders, schools, and police stations (symbols of colonial authority and associated groups) were burned and robbed. Collected grain was redistributed among the people. Those targeted were generally individuals associated with the colonial state or its oppressive policies.

The British responded by sending troops to suppress the rebellion. Although adivasi leaders attempted negotiations, the British military surrounded their camps and opened fire. Following this, troops marched through villages, flogging and punishing those suspected of participation. Many villages were abandoned as people fled into the jungles.

It took the British three months (February to May 1910) to regain control of Bastar. Notably, Gunda Dhur was never captured.

The rebellion, despite its suppression, achieved a partial victory for the rebels: work on forest reservation was temporarily halted, and the area ultimately reserved was reduced to roughly half of the initial plan.

However, the struggle for forest rights in Bastar continued after India's independence. Practices of excluding people from forests and reserving them for industrial use persisted. In the 1970s, a World Bank project proposed replacing natural sal forests with tropical pine for the paper industry, sparking protests from local environmentalists that eventually stopped the project.

Forest Transformations In Java

Java, now a major rice-producing island in Indonesia, was historically covered by extensive forests. Indonesia was a colony of the Dutch, and their forest control policies in Java shared many similarities with British policies in India. Java was where the Dutch first implemented systematic forest management, driven by the need for timber to build ships.

In 1600, Java had an estimated population of 3.4 million, with villages in fertile plains and communities practicing shifting cultivation in the mountains.

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The Woodcutters Of Java

The Kalangs were a community in Java known for their skill in forest cutting and shifting cultivation. Their expertise was so valuable that when the Mataram kingdom split in 1755, the 6,000 Kalang families were divided equally between the two resulting kingdoms. Without the Kalangs, harvesting teak and building royal palaces would have been challenging.

When the Dutch began expanding their control over Java's forests in the 18th century, they attempted to compel the Kalangs to work for them. The Kalangs resisted this in 1770 by attacking a Dutch fort at Joana, but their uprising was suppressed.

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Dutch Scientific Forestry

In the 19th century, as the Dutch prioritised controlling territory rather than just people, they enacted forest laws in Java that restricted villagers' access to forests. Under these laws, cutting wood was only permitted for specific purposes, such as building river boats or houses, and only from designated forests under strict supervision. Villagers faced punishment for activities like grazing cattle in young tree stands, transporting wood without permits, or using forest roads with horse carts or cattle.

Similar to the British in India, the Dutch need for timber for shipbuilding and railways led to the establishment of a forest service and the introduction of 'scientific forestry' in Java. In 1882 alone, 280,000 sleepers were exported from Java.

This intensive timber extraction required a large labour force for cutting, transporting logs, and preparing sleepers. The Dutch initially imposed rents on land cultivated within forest areas but later exempted some villages from these rents if they collectively provided free labour and buffaloes for timber work. This system was known as blandongdiensten. Over time, rent exemptions were replaced by small wages, but villagers' rights to cultivate forest land became increasingly restricted.

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Samin’s Challenge

Around 1890, Surontiko Samin from Randublatung, a teak forest village, initiated a challenge to the Dutch state's ownership of forests. His fundamental argument was that the state could not own natural elements like wind, water, earth, or wood, as it had not created them.

Samin's ideas gained traction, leading to a widespread movement organised partly by his sons-in-law. By 1907, approximately 3,000 families were following Samin's principles. Saminists adopted various forms of protest, including passively lying down on their land when Dutch officials arrived to survey it, and refusing to pay taxes, fines, or perform forced labour (blandongdiensten).

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War And Deforestation

The First World War and the Second World War significantly impacted forests globally. In India, wartime demands led the forest department to abandon their established working plans and cut trees extensively to supply British war needs.

In Java, as the Japanese prepared to occupy the region during World War II, the Dutch implemented a 'scorched earth' policy. They deliberately destroyed sawmills and burned vast piles of valuable teak logs to prevent them from falling into Japanese hands. Following the occupation, the Japanese themselves exploited Java's forests recklessly for their war industries, forcing local villagers to cut down trees.

Many villagers used the disruption caused by the war and occupation as an opportunity to expand their cultivation into forest areas. After the war, the Indonesian forest service faced difficulties in reclaiming this land. This situation mirrored conflicts in India, where the people's need for agricultural land clashed with the forest department's desire to control forests and exclude communities.

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New Developments In Forestry

Since the 1980s, governments in Asia and Africa have begun to acknowledge that the traditional approach of 'scientific forestry' and excluding forest communities has resulted in numerous conflicts and has not always been effective for conservation.

There has been a shift in focus, with conservation of forests gaining prominence as a goal over merely timber extraction. It is now increasingly recognised that involving local people is essential for successful conservation efforts.

In many parts of India, for instance, from Mizoram to Kerala, dense forests have survived primarily because local communities traditionally protected them as sacred groves (known by various names like sarnas, devarakudu, kan, rai). Some villages have taken the initiative to patrol their own forests, with households taking turns, rather than relying solely on official forest guards.

Local forest communities and environmentalists are actively exploring and implementing different models of forest management that integrate the needs and knowledge of the people living closely with the forests.