Essay on colonial forest policies in india What were the main objectives of the Forest policy of the British in India?
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Forest policy and management has been a subject of considerable debate and conflict ever since the British established a Forest Department and enacted legislations related to forestry in the century.
The imperial needs dictated the British interests in the Indian forest resources, which resulted in the establishment of control over forest resources. In the process, at least two crucial aspects of forest management were ignored.
First, the well-established traditional systems of conservation and sustainable use, and second, the critical ecological and social role that forests played. The colonial system of forest management was continued even after with little modifications, emphasising revenue generation and commercial exploitation, while its policing orientation excluded villagers who had the most longstanding claim on forest resources.
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The tribals especially were confronted with the vagaries of forest management that continuously eroded their life-styles and simultaneously the assertion of State primacy over natural resources deprived them of an important means of subsistence. Forests play a vital role in sustaining the life supporting systems of a country’s environment and the quality of its people.
The livelihood activities of tribals centre on the forests in which they live. The tribals get food from the forests by shifting cultivation, apart from picking varieties of edible and herbal roots, tubers, creepers, fruits, leaves. Besides this, tribals collect varieties of minor forest produce (MFP), which includes fodder and grasses, raw materials like bamboo, canes and leaves, gums, waxes, dyes and resins and several forms of food including nuts, wild fruits, and honey.
National Commission on has MFP as (i) fibres and flosses, (ii) grasses (other than oil producing), bamboo, reeds, and canes, (iii) oil seeds, (iv) tams and dyes, (v) gums, resins and oleo-resins, and (vi) leaves. These often play a critical part in the livelihood of the tribal.
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Most of the MFP come from forests although some trees yielding MFP are found on private fields and also provide valuable assets, and subsistence and cash. Seventy per cent of the MFP are collected from the five states – Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, where 65 per cent of the tribal population.
On a rough estimation it has been revealed that between per cent of income of an average tribal family is obtained from the collection of MFP. The tribals collect MFP in the seasons when these were ready. For instance, leaves are collected during April-May, seeds fall with the pre-monsoon showers and collected from under the tree and pine trees are trapped for resin during warm and hot weather. Thus, the activities concerning MFP are carried out almost all the year around.
Thus, tribals have a certain specific relationship with forests. They always interact for their sustenance and try to recreate the forests with their traditional conservation systems. But the progressive assertion of State monopoly rights over large areas of forests turning them into ‘reserves’, has resulted in large-scale eviction and uprooting of traditional tribal villages.
The relationship that existed between tribal social organisation and the forest was completely upset as a result of these policies. The reservation of tracts, which denied the tribals access to forest produce on which they had depended for many of their necessities for centuries, cut them off from their life-support system.
The imperial needs dictated the British interests in the Indian forest resources, which resulted in the establishment of control over forest resources. In the process, at least two crucial aspects of forest management were ignored.
First, the well-established traditional systems of conservation and sustainable use, and second, the critical ecological and social role that forests played. The colonial system of forest management was continued even after with little modifications, emphasising revenue generation and commercial exploitation, while its policing orientation excluded villagers who had the most longstanding claim on forest resources.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The tribals especially were confronted with the vagaries of forest management that continuously eroded their life-styles and simultaneously the assertion of State primacy over natural resources deprived them of an important means of subsistence. Forests play a vital role in sustaining the life supporting systems of a country’s environment and the quality of its people.
The livelihood activities of tribals centre on the forests in which they live. The tribals get food from the forests by shifting cultivation, apart from picking varieties of edible and herbal roots, tubers, creepers, fruits, leaves. Besides this, tribals collect varieties of minor forest produce (MFP), which includes fodder and grasses, raw materials like bamboo, canes and leaves, gums, waxes, dyes and resins and several forms of food including nuts, wild fruits, and honey.
National Commission on has MFP as (i) fibres and flosses, (ii) grasses (other than oil producing), bamboo, reeds, and canes, (iii) oil seeds, (iv) tams and dyes, (v) gums, resins and oleo-resins, and (vi) leaves. These often play a critical part in the livelihood of the tribal.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Most of the MFP come from forests although some trees yielding MFP are found on private fields and also provide valuable assets, and subsistence and cash. Seventy per cent of the MFP are collected from the five states – Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, where 65 per cent of the tribal population.
On a rough estimation it has been revealed that between per cent of income of an average tribal family is obtained from the collection of MFP. The tribals collect MFP in the seasons when these were ready. For instance, leaves are collected during April-May, seeds fall with the pre-monsoon showers and collected from under the tree and pine trees are trapped for resin during warm and hot weather. Thus, the activities concerning MFP are carried out almost all the year around.
Thus, tribals have a certain specific relationship with forests. They always interact for their sustenance and try to recreate the forests with their traditional conservation systems. But the progressive assertion of State monopoly rights over large areas of forests turning them into ‘reserves’, has resulted in large-scale eviction and uprooting of traditional tribal villages.
The relationship that existed between tribal social organisation and the forest was completely upset as a result of these policies. The reservation of tracts, which denied the tribals access to forest produce on which they had depended for many of their necessities for centuries, cut them off from their life-support system.
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