Forest society and colonialism

• Forest Society and Colonialism focuses on the study of livelihoods and economies, particularly how the lives of forest dwellers and pastoralists changed in the modern world and how they shaped these changes
• Forest dwellers and pastoralists are often overlooked in the study of the emergence of the modern world, but they are an integral part of contemporary societies
• Chapter IV discusses the variety of ways forests were used by communities living within them, especially in the nineteenth century with the growth of industries and urban centers creating new demands on forest products
• Colonial control was established over forests, leading to new rules of forest use and impacting the lives of local communities who relied on forest resources
• Deforestation began centuries ago but became more systematic and extensive under colonial rule, with causes including the need for land improvement and the expansion of cultivation
• The British needed forests for building ships and railways, leading to the systematic felling of trees and the establishment of scientific forestry practices
• Large areas of natural forests were cleared to make way for plantations like tea, coffee, and rubber to meet European demands
• Forest officials surveyed the forests, estimated the area under different types of trees, and made working plans for forest management
• The Forest Act was enacted in 1865 and was amended twice, once in 1878 and then in 1927
• The 1878 Forest Act divided forests into three categories: reserved, protected and village forests
• Reserved forests were the best forests where villagers could not take anything, while protected and village forests allowed limited use for wood
• Villagers faced severe hardship after the Forest Act as their everyday practices like cutting wood, grazing cattle, and collecting fruits became illegal
• Shifting cultivation, a traditional practice, was banned by the government due to difficulties in calculating taxes and concerns about forest damage
• European foresters viewed shifting cultivation as harmful for forests and a hindrance to growing trees for railway timber
• The forest laws prohibited hunting by forest dwellers, leading to punishments for poaching and the promotion of hunting big game as a sport
• Under colonial rule, hunting of tigers and other animals increased to such an extent that many species became almost extinct
• Some forest communities benefited from trading forest products, while others lost their livelihoods due to government regulations and restrictions on grazing and hunting
• Forest communities rebelled against the changes imposed on them, with leaders like Siddhu, Kanu, Birsa Munda, and Alluri Sitarama Raju leading movements against the British
• One such rebellion took place in the kingdom of Bastar in 1910, where different communities like Maria and Muria Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras, and Halbas lived
• The people of Bastar believed that each village was given its land by the Earth, and in return, they looked after it
• The 1910 rebellion in Bastar started in the Kanger forest area and soon spread to other parts of the state
• The colonial government proposed to reserve two-thirds of the forest in 1905 in Bastar, which caused worries among the people
• Some villages in Bastar were allowed to stay in reserved forests on the condition that they worked for the forest department for free
• Villagers in Bastar suffered from increased land rents, demands for free labour and goods by colonial officials, and famines in 1899-1900 and 1907-1908
• The rebellion in Bastar in 1910 involved looting bazaars, burning houses of officials and traders, schools, police stations, and redistributing grain
• The British sent troops to suppress the rebellion in Bastar, leading to villages being deserted as people fled into the jungles
• After the rebellion, work on forest reservation in Bastar was temporarily suspended, and the reserved area was reduced to roughly half of the planned size before 1910
• After Independence, the practice of keeping people out of forests and reserving them for industrial use continued in Bastar
• In Java, the Dutch started forest management in the 18th century to obtain timber for shipbuilding
• The Kalangs of Java were skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators who resisted Dutch control in 1770
• Dutch forest laws in Java restricted villagers' access to forests and imposed punishments for unauthorized activities like grazing cattle and transporting wood
• The Dutch introduced the blandongdiensten system in Java, where forest villagers provided free labour and buffaloes for cutting and transporting timber
• Surontiko Samin of Randublatung village in Java challenged state ownership of forests in the late 19th century, leading to a widespread movement
• During the First and Second World Wars, forests in India and Java were heavily exploited to meet war needs, impacting forest cover
• Since the 1980s, governments in Asia and Africa have shifted towards forest conservation and involving local communities in forest management
• Local forest communities in India have protected forests in sacred groves known as sarnas, devarakudu, kan, rai, etc.