Forest Management in India

In pre-British India, forests were managed by native villagers or forest dwellers. Their control on forests ensured a free of cost supply of local fruits, vegetables, oils, nuts, meat, fish, animal products, fuel wood, fodder grass, medicinal herbs. In other words, they got everything they needed to sustain a comfortable living standard by managing the forests themselves. When British began to colonise India, they reserved large tracts of land for their personal use and for the overriding requirements of the British Empire. While doing so, they monopolised forests and made sure that the natives had no role in their management. Force was used to strip the locals of their traditional rights to use forest resources. It began with the reservation of Malabar Teak for the Royal Navy in 1806. Malabar Teak was assessed as the most durable material for making ships. Later on, forests were cleared for constructing roads, laying of railway sleepers, building bridges and so on. India was a major source of timber supply during the Second World War. Finally, forests were cleared to enhance revenue-earning land. In fact, the basic purpose behind creating the Department of Forest as well as the Forest Research Institute was not to manage forests but to expand revenue from exploiting forest resources.

These objectives could not be met unless the British government asserted its power over forests to the exclusion of traditional users. In other words, the State had to monopolise forest resources and curtail traditional rights. This was achieved through the various Indian Forest Acts. The first of these was passed in 1865 enabling the British to acquire, demarcate and reserve forest area specifically for use in the railways. This Act contained Section 8 that empowered the government to arrest without warrant anyone who encroached upon forest land demarcated for the purpose mentioned above. This Act was replaced by a new Act in 1878, which enabled the British to exercise absolute control over tracts demarcated as valuable. The British Government now argued that the rights enjoyed by villagers over forests were not rights. Rather they were privileges. Privileges may only be enjoyed at the mercy of the ruler. Since the British were now De Facto rulers of India, traditional privileges over forests could only be enjoyed at their mercy.

The 1878 forest act was modified from time to time until a comprehensive Indian forest Act was passed in 1927. This Act categorised forests into different classes. Each class implied a different level of State control over forests. The government could simply issue a notification acquiring a particular piece of land and designate it as a reserved or protected forest. This meant that all traditional rights over such land were automatically extinguished. Reserved forests could be converted into village forests. This implied that the lion had finished its feast and the remaining tit bits of meat were being thrown to the scavenger animals. Therefore, the villagers could now take what was left. Finally, the Government could prohibit animal grazing, mining and charcoal burning, stone quarrying practised by locals as means of livelihood by the villagers for ages.

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