Environmental Conservation and Deforestation in British India 1855–1947: A Reinterpretation

Abstract

The history of forestry in British India has evoked a wide range of responses from environmental historians. Debates often centre in particular on the ethic of the bureaucratic organisation responsible for managing the government-controlled forests of India: the Indian Forest Service. Born on the subcontinent and rooted in the European scientific tradition, the Indian Forest Service model, or “empire forestry” as it came to be called from the 1920s onward, has been described as a first step in the world-wide environmental movement or, alternately, as the culprit responsible for widespread deforestation of the subcontinent. This article will address a key aspect of the debate over the Indian Forest Service (hereafter referred to as the IFS) that has profound implications for our understanding of the relationship -between imperialism and forestry conservation. By examining the tension between conservation-minded foresters who battled against timber companies and economically focused imperial bureaucrats, we answer the following question: did the IFS develop a legacy of deforestation throughout the subcontinent between 1855 and 1947? We conclude that the IFS did not develop a dominant ethic of resource exploitation, nor did the IFS rapidly accelerate the rates of deforestation during the colonial period. Rather, the IFS provided a powerful and persuasive counterweight to gentleman capitalists and economically oriented administrators who strenuously battled for more extensive exploitation of forest resources.

The Rise and Demise of South Africa's First School of Forestry

“…Recent studies of settler colonies and crown colonies show that local politics, environments and cultures strongly affected the type of regime and effectiveness of forestry policies in different regions. 111 'Empire forestry' was a real common intellectual ideal that stretched Environment and History 19.1 in networks across the British Empire, but on the ground foresters diverged in their practices and policies. This new research also disagrees with the interpretation that colonial foresters directly applied European forestry science onto foreign environments.…”

Perfumed the axe that laid it low: The endangerment of sandalwood in southern India

“…The Indian Economic and Social History Review, 51, 1 (2014): 41-70 19001933196519701980198720082011Year 19001933196519701980198720082011 Sources: Rai their land, some would even feed it as fodder to their livestock. 65 There is also documentation of sandalwood theft occurring from government supplies at least as early as the 1870s.…”

Recent Themes in the Environmental History of the British Empire

“…Focusing on webs has helped to reveal exchange of conservation ideas, demonstrating the importance of India, as well as France and Germany, as models for forest conservation in Empire. 14 In examining exchanges, environmental historians also need to investigate how local political structures, environmental differences and cultural viewpoints modified introduced environmental ideas. In this respect, David Lambert and Alan Lester's notion of 'imperial careering' is extremely helpful because so many individuals travelled around Empire introducing ideas from one place to another.…”