Question

Why did the colonialist consider forest as wilderness and unproductive give one reason

Answer 1

The forests did not solely have trees which gave good quality wood. This was not useful for the imperialists as they required wood for construction of railways and ships, which was supposed to be of good quality, from trees such as Sal and Teak, which only occurred in some parts of the jungle. Hence, forests were considered wilderness and unproductive by European colonialists.