History of forestry in india Forestry in India

1 history of forestry in india

1.1 forestry in colonial system
1.2 forestry in india 1947 1990
1.3 post 1990 forestry in india

history of forestry in india
forestry in colonial system

in 1840, british colonial administration promulgated ordinance called crown land (encroachment) ordinance. ordinance targeted forests in britain s asian colonies, , vested forests, wastes, unoccupied , uncultivated lands crown. imperial forest department established in india in 1864. british state monopoly on indian forests first asserted through indian forest act of 1865. law established government’s claims on forests. british colonial administration enacted further far-reaching forest act of 1878, thereby acquiring sovereignty of wastelands in definition included forests. act enabled administration demarcate reserved , protected forests. in former, local rights abolished while in latter existing rights accepted privilege offered british government local people can taken away if necessary. these colonial laws brought forests under centralised sovereignty of state. sir dietrich brandis, inspector general of forests in india 1864 1883, regarded father not of modern scientific forestry in india, father of tropical forestry.

an fao report claims believed in colonial times forest national resource should utilised interests of government. coal , gold mines, believed forests belonged state exploitation. forest areas became source of revenue. example, teak extensively exploited british colonial government ship construction, sal , pine in india railway sleepers , on. forest contracts, such of biri pata (leaves of diospyros melanoxylon), earned revenue used people involved in business leverage political power. these contracts created forest zamindars (government recognised forest landowners). additionally, in africa, forests in india earmarked government officials , rulers sole purpose of using them hunting , sport royalty , colonial officials.

forestry in india 1947 1990

in 1952, government nationalised forests earlier zamindars. india nationalised of forest wood industry , non-wood forest products industry. on years, many rules , regulations introduced india. in 1980, conservation act passed, stipulated central permission required practice sustainable agro-forestry in forest area. violations or lack of permits made criminal offense. these nationalisation wave , laws intended limit deforestation, conserve biodiversity, , save wildlife. however, intent of these regulations not matched reality followed. neither investment aimed @ sustainable forestry nor knowledge transfer followed once india had nationalised , heavily regulated forestry. deforestation increased, biodiversity diminished , wildlife dwindled. india s rural population , impoverished families continued ignore laws passed in delhi, , use forests near them sustenance.

india launched national forest policy in 1988. led programme named joint forest management, proposed specific villages in association forest department manage specific forest blocks. in particular, protection of forests responsibility of people. 1992, seventeen states of india participated in joint forest management, bringing 2 million hectares of forests under protection. effect of initiative has been claimed positive. growth rates have been slow through these years.

post 1990 forestry in india

forests in himachal pradesh

since 1991, india has reversed deforestation trend. specialists of united nations report india s forest woodland cover has increased. 2010 study food , agriculture organisation ranks india amongst 10 countries largest forest area coverage in world (the other 9 being russian federation, brazil, canada, united states of america, china, democratic republic of congo, australia, indonesia , sudan). india 1 of top 10 countries largest primary forest coverage in world, according study.

from 1990 2000, fao finds india fifth largest gainer in forest coverage in world; while 2000 2010, fao considers india third largest gainer in forest coverage.

some 500,000 square kilometres, 17% of india s land area, regarded forest area in 1990s. in fy 1987, however, actual forest cover 640,000 square kilometres. claim, because more 50% of land barren or bushland, area under productive forest less 350,000 square kilometres, or approximately 10% of country s land area.

india s 0.6% average annual rate of deforestation agricultural , non-lumbering land uses in decade beginning in 1981 1 of lowest in world , on par brazil.