Impact of colonisation on forests - class-IX

Edward Percy Stebbing was a pioneering British forester and forest entomologist in India. He was among the first to warn of desertification and desiccation and wrote on "The Forests of India". In 1923, he wrote of the "desert whose power is incalculable and whose silent and almost invisible approach must be difficult to estimate."

Sleepers are wooden planks laid across railway tracks; they hold the tracks in position.

In scientific forestry, natural forests which had lots of different types of trees were cut down. In their place, one type of tree was planted in straight rows. 

The impact of the First and Second World War on forests was tremendous. In India, the forest department cut trees freely to meet British War needs. The British needed to strengthen their Navy and timber was needed to build warships.

Since the 1980s, governments across Asia and Africa have begun to see that scientific forestry and the policy of keeping forest communities away from forests has resulted in many conflicts. Conservation of forests rather than collecting timber has become a more important goal.

Historically, Teak and Sal were the most sought-after woods for colonial railway sleepers and shipbuilding due to their durability, resistance to rot, and strength.

Britain's major contribution to India's economic development throughout the era of crown rule was the railroad network that spread so swiftly across the subcontinent after 1858, when there were barely 200 miles (320 km) of track in all of India. By 1869 more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of steel track had been completed by British railroad companies, and by 1900 there were some 25,000 miles (40,000 km) of rail laid.

By the early 19th century, oak forests in England were disappearing. This created a problem of timber supply from the Royal Navy. English ships could not be built without a regular supply of strong and durable timber. Imperial power could not be protected without ships. Therefore by the 1820's, search parties were sent to explore the forest resources of India.

A reserve forest or a reserved forest is a specific term for designating forests and other natural areas, which enjoy judicial or constitutional protection under the legal systems of many countries.

India was one of the first countries in the world to introduce scientific forest management. In 1864, the British Raj established the Imperial Forest Department. In 1864 Dr Dietrich Brandis, a German forest officer, was appointed Inspector General of Forests.

As the railway tracks spread through India, a larger and larger number of trees were felled. The government gave out contracts to individuals to supply the required quantities. These contractors began cutting trees indiscriminately. Forests around the railway tracks fast started disappearing.

A protected forest is a forest with some amount of legal or constitutional protection, or where the habitat and resident species are legally accorded protection from further depletion. Protected forests of India were introduced in the Indian Forest Act, 1927 in British India and were retained after Indian independence.

Adivasis and farmers traditionally cut wood to build their homes and to create agricultural or domestic implements, making both A and C correct.

The railway network started expanding rapidly during the second half of the 19th century. By 1890, the length of the railway track was about 25,500 km. It touched the figure of 7,65,000 km in 1946.

Adivasis and villagers sold forest produce to buy salt, iron, medicines, cloth and tabacco.

The wood for sleepers was cut from the forests in Himalayan and Terai regions.

Forests having trees suitable for building ships and railways were preferred by the Forest Department. The wood for these sleepers was cut from the forests in the Himalayan and Terai regions. Wood was also cut and sold in huge quantities for buildings, mines and ships. This work was done by workers hired by timber traders and forest contractors.

Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned and allowed to revert to their natural vegetation while the cultivator moves on to another plot.

With the growing demand for rubber in the mid-nineteenth  century, the Mundurucu peoples of the Brazilian Amazon who lived in villages on high ground and cultivated manioc, began to collect latex from wild rubber trees for supplying  to traders. Gradually, they descended to live in trading posts and became completely dependent on traders.

 In many cases, across India, from Mizoram to Kerala, dense forests have survived only because villages protected them in sacred groves known as sarnas, devarakudu, kan, rai, etc. 

Diversity in forests has been disappearing very quickly. Disappearance of forests is called deforestation. The process of deforestation began many centuries ago, but became more systematic and extensive during the colonial period.

Shifting cultivation is a traditional practice of agriculture prevalent in various parts of Asia, Africa and South-America. It is known as ladang in south-east Asia, milpa in Central America, Chitemene or tavy in Africa and Chena in Sri Lanka. In India it has different local names like dhya, penda, bewar, nevad, Jhum, podu.