History of Forests and Forestry Science in 

India

The forests of India are ancient in nature and composition. They are rich in variety of flora and a wide  range  of  fauna,  avi-fauna  and  insects.  India possesses a distinct identity, not only because of its geography,  history  and  culture  but  also  because  of the great diversity of its natural ecosystems.

History

History  of  forests  in  India,  as  all  else  is related to history of civilization. The civilizations of Mohanjodaro,  Harappa  and  Channudaro   in  India date back to between 4000 and 5000 B.C. Evidence of wood samples and other materials gathered from the  Indus  Valley  civilization  reveal  dependence  of people in that period  on wood  as well as their  love for  trees.  The  history  of  Indian  forestry  is  detailed below.

Gupta Period

Historical   annals   render    an    account   of forestry  from  the  time  of  Chandra  Gupta  Maurya. Reliable  historical  documents  are  accounts  of  the Greek   Ambassador   Megasthenes   (321-247   B.C.) and   the   famous   Arthashstra   of   Kautilya   which depicts   various   aspects   of   forest   and   wildlife management.  At  that  time,  there  was  a  separate deparment    of    forest    products    headed    by    “ Kupyadhyaksha”

Kautilya’s  Arthashastra  dealt  in  detail  with the  classification  of  forests  and  duties  of  forest officers,   various   rules   and   regulations   regarding preservation  and  exploitation  of  forests,  etc.,  After the   regine   of   Chandragupta   Maurya,   Emperor Ashoka   adopted   and   improved   these   practices. Plantation  of  fruit  bearing  and  shade  trees  for  the benefit of travelers and common people  was started in right earnest. Ashoka was follower of the creed of non-  violence  and  he  was  the  founder  creator  of

‘Abhayaranya’   which   are   presently   termed   as

National Parks and Sanctuaries.

During   Gupta   period   forest   management practice  improved  and  flourished.    A  well  known work of that time ‘Shukraniti’ throws light on these improvements.  Notable  among which were  making of forests roads, plantation of fruit bearing trees and medicinal  plants   in  the   villages,  appointment   of

‘Gaulmikas’    for    collection    of    forest    revenue. Various other literary works including ‘Neetisara of Kamandaka’ indicate that forests were in abundance and contained multiplicity of fauna as well as flora. 

Mughal period

Subsequently,    however,    destruction    and mismanagement of forests started with the invasion of    India    by    foreign    powers.    The    tempo    of deforestation    and    destruction,    which    increased during the Mughal period, reached  its peak   during the British regime. During the Mughal period  large chunks  of  forests  were  cleared  but  only redeeming feature  was  that  some  forests  were  reserved  for game-  hunting,  gardens and  recreation.  Canal  bank plantations  were  also  started  in  some  areas.  In  the Sunnad  of  Emperor  Akbar  it  was  directed  that  on both sides of the canal down of Hissar.

Early British Period

The  forests  deteriorated  considerably  with the advent of the British who were not familiar with systematic  forestry.   Forestry was  confined  to  only exploitation without any regard for replanting. Large quantities of teak and other valuable timber were cut down from areas easily approachable for  the use of British Amdiralty’s Fleet.  Scented  sandalwood  was also   felled   and   exported   to   various   European countries. A  commission  was  appointed  in  the  year 1800 to enquire into the availability of teak wood in Malabar  forests.  Ironically  Captain  Watson  of  the police   department   was   appointed    as   the    first conservator of Forest in 1806.   He was assigned the duties  of  procuring  maximum  possible  quantity  of Indian  timber   for  ship  building  in  Britain.  This resulted   in   plunder   rather   than   conservation   of forests,  particularly  in  Tranvancore  and  Malabar. Royalty rights were declared over teak in South and its unauthorized felling was prohibited. In 1823, this post of Conservator was abolished.

To  meet  the  demand  for  large  sized  timber, apart  from  teak,  sal  and  deodar  were also  felled  in an   unrestricted   manner.   Although   officials   were mindful of the  necessity of replacing the forests  on areas  cut  over,  the  knowledge  of  how  to  carry  out that desire was absent.

The first positive step towards improvement of  forests  came  from  South  India  in  1842  when Conolly,   the   Collector   of   Malabar   and   Chathu Menon as Assistant Sub-Conservator, raised pioneer teak plantations at Nilambur. These plantations were highly successful and  over  the  years became world famous.

Charter of the Indian Forests

In   1855,   Lord   Dalhousie,   the   Governor General, promulgated for the first time an outline for forest  conservancy  for  the  whole  country  by  the issue of a Memorandum of the Government of India dated 3.8.1855.

In  1856  rules  for  conservancy  of  trees  and brushwood  in  Rawalpindi  districts  were  published followed  by  forests  conservancy rules  in  Hazara  in 1857. This marked the commencement of the much needed protection for the forest areas of Punjab As  a  result  of  Indian  Mutiny  of  1857,  the Royal     Proclamation     in     1858     declared     the Sovereignty   of   Queen   Victoria   as   ‘Empress   of India’.  The  country  began  to  be  opened  up  by  a network  of  railway  lines  ad  roads.  To  satisfy  this growing  demand  sound  principle  of  conservation were all but abandoned  and  forest destruction went unabated.

At  about  the  same  time  (1858  –  64)  exotic acacias  and  eucalyptus  species  were  introduced  in Nilgiris.     Plantation     activity    thus     became     a recognized  part  of  forest  conservancy.   Publication of  a book ‘Forests and  Gardens of south  India’  by Cleghorn,    Conservator    of    Madras    Presidency catalyzed the forest conservancy works.

Awakening of Organized Forest Management

In  the  year  1864  the  Government   of  India took  the  important  decision  of  treating  forests  as State   property.   The   systematic   management   of forests   began   with   the   appointment   of   Dietrich Brandis,   a   trained   German  forester,   as  the   first Inspector General of Forests in 1864. The objective of  management  of  forests  changed  from  obtaining supplies of timber for various purposes to protecting and   improving     forests   and   treating   them   as   a biological growing entity.

The  first  Indian   Forest  Act  was  enacted  in 1865  to  be   superceded  by new  Acts  in   1878  and 1927.        Reserve    and    protected    forests    were categorized.  In  the  reserve  forests  everything  was prohibited  unless  specifically  permitted  and  in  a protected  forest   everything  was  permitted  unless specifically prohibited. In 1894 the first forest policy of the country was formulated. This policy had two major  enunciations:  first,  the  claims  of  cultivation were  given  priority  over  forests  preservation,  and secondly,  the  public  benefit  was  the  sole  object  of forest administration.

Regular   forestry  education  was  started   in

1881 first  for  the rangers and  later  for  the officers. The management plans ( known as Working Plans in the parlance of forests) were prepared to ensure that annual  cut  did  not  exceed  the  annual  increment  in forests.

In  the   year  1891  Provinical  Forest  Service was   inaugurated  to  recruit  forest  officers  in  India itself.  The  Imperial  Forest  Research   Institute  was established in the year 1906 to organize research on various aspects of forestry.

As a result of the move for the Indian Home Rule in 1916 and the Non – cooperation Movement that  followed,  there  was a  general defiance  against forest  laws  and   damage  to  forests  was  caused  by fires   and   unnecessary   fellings   in   Bengal,   Uttar Pradesh,  Orissa  and  Andhra  Pradesh  as  a  protest against the British Rule.  In the political changes of

1921, forests came to vest in the  government  of the provinces  concerned.

World Wars

The  World  wars  not  only  interrupted,  but also  reversed  the  march  of  the  country  towards scientific  forestry.  During  this  period  timber,  fire wood, charcoal, hay and other forest produces were needed  in  large  quantities  and  at  short  notices  for meeting various war needs.

It was in between a period of about 20  years that  separated  the  two  world  wars  that  significant headway towards scientific working of forests could be  made.  This  included  a  preparation  of  working plans  for  nearly  all  the  areas  declared  as  reserved forests,     development     of     natural     regeneration techniques  for  deodar  in  Himalayas,  sal  in  various parts  of  the  country  and  artificial  regeneration  of teak  in  south  India.    During    this  period  various techniques of soil and water conservation  as well as reclamation of ravines and other eroded areas   were perfected  which  had  the   far  reaching repercussion on problematic ‘Chos’ of various areas of Punjab. Forestry in Independent India

Systematic  management  was  introduced  in forest  areas  including  those  which  formed  parts  of the ex-princely States. States like Bhopal and States in  Central  and  Eastern  India  trained  foresters  from neighbouring states. Forest areas, which were vested as   a   result   of   Zamindari   Abolition   Acts,   were surveyed,    demarcated,    rights    and    concessions determined and the legal status was made clear.   A major duty of the forest services in the early 1950’s became    the    control    of    the    organization    and management of forests. An important feature of the post  Independence  period  was  rapid  extension  of agriculture at the cost of forest. The net area   under agriculture which was 118 million hectare in 1980- 51 rose to 143m ha in 1973-79. It was estimated that this increase was due to the diversion of 2.2 million hectare of forest area and 22 million hectare of area being   categorized   as   cultural   waste,   tree   crops, groves  and  pastures.  This  had  a  harmful  effect  on the  overall  environment  and  gave  rise  to  several problems  of  floods,  droughts,  soil  erosion  etc.,  In 1952 the old forest policy was revised.

The  forest  policy stipulated that 1/3rd  of  the total land  area of the country should be maintained under    forest,    the    proportion    being    60%    in mountainous   regions   which   are   more   prone   to erosion.

During the  year  1950 –  52  new  efforts  viz.,

(1)  to  adopt  a  National  Festival  of  Tree  Planting (Van Mahotsav), (2) to devise measures for wild life conservation   and   (3)   to   place   soil   and   water conservation on an all – India footing were begun. A new  feature  of  this  period  was  the  development  of international  interest  in  Indian  forestry  under  the auspices  of  Forestry  Division  of  F.A.O.  (Food  & Agricultural Organization) of the United Nations.

During   the   first   two   plans   (1951   –   61) survey,  demarcation  and  rehabilitation  of  degraded areas,  prevention  of  soil  erosion  and  halting  the extension    of    Rajasthan    desert    received    major priority.  Plantations  of  quick  growing  species  like eucalyptus, poplars to meet industrial supplies were also undertaken during this period.

During the 3rd  and 4th  plans special emphasis was   laid    on   enhancement    of    productivity   by artificial  regeneration  plantations  of  fast  growing species particularly for pulp and paper. An event of major importance was the constitution of the Indian Forest Service in 1966.

Another  importance  event  affecting  forestr y was the appointment of the National Commission on Agriculture in 1970. Its report, which was presented in  1976,  constituted  a  full  volume  (  Vol.  IX)  on forestry.

Social forestry schemes were formulated and implemented  through  foreign  aid  agencies  like  the World  Bank,  Swedish  International  Development, Agency  United  States  Agency     for  International Development,      Agency,      Danish      International Development             Authority,       and       Overseas Development Agency of U.K. etc. A significant step taken   in   social   forestry   was   the   inclusion   of afforestation   and   social   forestry   including   farm forestry   in  the  20-point   economic  programme  of the Prime Minister, as item No.12.

With the beginning of the 1980’s ecological perceptions  and  social  security  received  priority. Development without degradation became the theme of   the   6th     plan.   A   very   important   legislative development     was     the     enactment     of     Forest Conservation   Act,   1980   which      prohibited   de- reservation   of  forests  and   diversion  of  forestland to non- forest use without prior   concurrence of the Central   Government.   As   a   result   of   this      Act diversion  of  forestland  was  drastically  reduced.  A separate  Ministry  of  Environment  and  forests  was constituted in 1984.

The 7th  plan had “Forest for Survival’ as its theme. It  aimed  at  preserving biological,  increasing the  vegetal  cover  by     massive  afforestation  and developing    forestry    as    a    people’s    movement, enhancing   productivity   of   existing   forests   and meeting  basic  needs  of  the  people    e.g.  firewood, fodder, small  timber, minor forest produce  etc. The creation of National Wasteland  development Board in 1985  has been an important step  in the direction of reclaiming wastelands and greening the continent. The  government  of  India  revised  its  forest

policy of 1952 in December 1988 .Pointing out   the inadequacy  of   protection   measures,   diversion   of forest  land  to  non  forest  uses     without  ensuring compensatory        afforestation        and        essential environmental  safeguards  and  tendency     to  look upon  forest  as  revenue  earning  resource;    a  new strategy  of    forest  conservation  has  been  evolved. Conservation   includes   preservation,   maintenance, sustainable utilization,  restoration and enhancement of  the  natural  environment.    The  basic  objectives include   efficient   utilization   of    forest    produce, maximizing  substitution  of  wood,  conservation  of national  heritage  (flora  and  fauna),  increasing  tree over  in  the  country  through  the  massive  people’s movement with involvement of women.