Given that it is largely rooted in the past, the title of this book might be a bit misleading to those expecting a review of current forest conservation concerns in India and how to tackle them. Nevertheless, it is an important addition to the existing literature on forests and forestry practices.
At the outset, the authors, S. Shyam Sunder and S. Parameswarappa, retired senior forest officials from Karnataka, are at pains to set the record straight on the popular notion that Indian forests were reverentially nurtured by local people until the British came along and laid waste to them. Delving into old records, they instead depict an India in which, despite a much lower population density in times past, slash and burn cultivation by local people was so rampant that it led to widespread forest destruction, especially in the hill regions of the country. It was also a time when potentates, from kings to local satraps, did their utmost to push back forests by any and all means, for reasons including expansion of settled agriculture, eliminating refuges of robbers and tax evaders, and protecting the path of their armies from ambushes.
The book documents how the destruction of forests worsened with the arrival of the British East India Company. The clearing of more forest for growing cash crops like sugarcane, cotton, indigo, tea and coffee took a vast toll, as did the insatiable demand for timber for public works like bridges, offices, schools, hospitals, military barracks and the laying of a vast railway network. This was apart from the public requirements for firewood, and wood to fuel railway engines and steamers. Thankfully, a handful of ecological visionaries of the Raj, such as Cleghorn, Griffith, Wallich, Royle, Roxburgh, and Beddomi, among others, brought enough pressure to bear on the authorities of the times to ensure the preservation of at least some of the best forests.
In chapter 3 the authors explain how the foundations of organised forestry were laid in 1856 when Lord Dalhousie appointed a German forester, Dr. Dietrich Brandis, as Superintendent of Forests, Burma. Brandis went on to become the Inspector General of Forests of India in 1864, bringing with him a rigorous knowledge of tried and tested forestry practices perfected in Germany. The German methods were adapted to suit Indian conditions, paving the way for systematically managed tree plantations for timber and other uses, in place of arbitrary and indiscriminate felling. The authors argue that instead of vilifying these pioneering foresters as the destroyers of India’s natural forests, we must commend their vision, foresight and hard work.
In fact, they aver, it is thanks to the collective efforts of these concerned and hardworking men that the Indian Forest Act, which was to become the basis of all forest acts of the different states of India, was enacted in 1868.
Chapter 5 describes in detail the ‘free for all’ that ensued after India’s independence, and the widespread encroachment of public lands, especially forests. This prompted the government to come out with a new National Forest Policy in 1952, which called for restraint in the release of reserve forests, and recommended that the country should aspire for a forest cover of 33% of its land area. The plight of the forest commons is also dealt with in this chapter. Today, when many human demands are being made on the last remaining forests, the authors remind us that twice the amount of land as was declared reserve forests was set aside for grazing and meeting the biomass needs of the populace. Sadly, this vast area of ‘commons’ has completely disappeared, leaving the reserve forests to bear the brunt of human need and greed.
Chapter 6 chronicles the reconstitution of the Indian Forest Service, the enactment of conservation legislations and the setting up of various institutions such as national forestry institutes, the Forest Survey of India, the Indian Institute of Forest Management and the Wildlife Institute of India.
In chapter 7, the authors rebut prominent academics including Madhav Gadgil, Ramachandra Guha and Vandana Shiva, whose various writings on forests and forestry, they feel, have portrayed a distorted picture that has come to be accepted as the truth. Using case studies, and citing specific examples and passages from their writings, they attempt to ‘set the record straight’ on a host of issues such as the true intent behind reserving forests, the factoring in of the needs of local people, and the plantation efforts of British foresters.
Forest Conservation Concerns in India is no easy read, given the esoteric nature of the subject, and could have benefited from some incisive editing. However, its value lies in the fact that it presents a perspective that has been missing up to now. Undoubtedly, it will prove to be an important source of reference for all those who wish to acquire a more balanced view of the history of Indian forestry.
