Solution of Chapter 4. Forest Society and Colonialism (India and the Contemporary World-I Book)

Discuss the changes in forest management in the colonial period affected the following groups of people:

(i) Shifting cultivators.

(ii) Nomadic and pastoralist communities,

(iii) Firms trading in timber/forest produce.

(iv) Plantation owners.

(v) Kings/British officials engaged in Shikar.

What are the similarities between colonial management of the forests in Bastar and in Java?

Between 1880 and 1920, forest cover in the Indian sub-continent declined by 9.7 million hectares, from 108.6 million, hectares to 98.9 million hectares. Discuss the role of following factors in this decline:

(i) Railways

(ii) Ship-buildings

(iii) Agricultural Expansion

(iv) Commercial Farming

(v) Tea /Coffee plantations

(vi) Adivasis and other peasant users.

Why are forests affected by wars?