(i) Railways: In nineteenth century the growth of industries and railways, a new demand for timber and other forest products was created. Railways were essential for colonial trade and for the movement of imperial troops. To run locomotives, wood was needed as fuel, and to lay railway lines sleepers were essential to hold the tracks together. From 1860s, the railways’ network expanded rapidly. As the railway tracks spread throughout India, a larger and larger number of trees were felled. Forests around the railway tracks fast started disappearing.

(ii) Ship-building: By the early nineteenth century, oak forests in England were disappearing. This created a problem of timber supply to the Royal Navy. Hence, search parties were sent to explore the forest resources of India. Within a decade, trees were being felled on a massive scale and vast quantities of timber were being exported from India.

(iii) Agricultural Expansion: In colonial period, cultivation expanded rapidly for a variety of reasons. First, the British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops. Second, in the early nineteenth century, the colonial state thought that forests were unproductive. They were considered to be wilderness that had to be brought under cultivation, so that the land could yield agricultural products and revenue, and enhance the income of the state. So between 1880 and 1920, cultivated area rose by 6.7 million hectares.

(iv) Commercial Farming: The British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton. The demand for these crops increased in the nineteenth century Europe where food grains were needed to feed the growing urban population and raw materials were required for industrial productions.

(v) Tea/Coffee Plantations: Large areas of natural forests were cleared to make way for tea, coffee, and rubber plantations to meet Europe’s growing need for these commodities. The colonial government took over the forests, and gave vast areas to European planters at cheap rates. These areas were enclosed and cleared of forests, and planted with tea or coffee.

(vi) Adivasis and other peasant-users: Adivasis were hired by the forest department to cut trees, and make smooth planks which would serve as sleepers for the railways. At the same time, they were not allowed to cut trees to make their own houses.