Indian forests and their need for preservation

 Indian forests and their need for preservation

Forests are considered as an essential part of nature they serve as a pivotal resource to our nation

as they provide all the raw materials to the industry such as wood timber fuel and fodder they

also act as a habitat for the wildlife of our country.

Sadly as the time is passing these forests have been disappearing at an alarming rate due to their

continuous exploitation the ideal landmass for the forests in India should be 33% of the total

area but in reality it only covers 21.67% of the land area.

There are numerous reasons which have caused this devastation of forests and their exploitation

at a mass scale the contributors such as increasing population, industrialization , urbanization and

increasing demand of wood fodder fuel have decreased the population of forests at an alarming

rate. Therefore it is mandatory to have legislations governing the usage of forests and vegetation

of our nation in order to protect and preserve them.

Historical background

There was a time India was densely populated with forests and evidence for the same is also

given in the ancient texts which represented forests and trees as sacred.

In Agni Purana which is said to be 4000 years old ancient texts it specifically states that men

should protect forests in order to attain religious salvation.

The Mughals were also known to have showed keen interest in forests as they were known to

have beautiful gardens with beautiful plants and trees. Akbar had even ordered to plant more and

more trees in his kingdom.

As soon as the British exercised control over these forests in the British colonial period, they

were used solely for revenue extraction. They did not consider forests as a means of natural

resources but only a way to extract revenue and make profit. Many forests all over India were

destroyed in the name of agrarian activities and need for more land for cultivation.

Indian legislation on forests

In 1865 a forest act was passed during the British era under which a forest department was set

up to control over the forests and make it a permanent supply for the railways in 1878 another act

was passed which gave absolute powers to the British over the forests, This act aimed to

improve the existing provisions of Forest Act 1865 and recognize the rights of the nomads and

tribal people living in the forests and categorize forests into three categories which are reserved

forests, protected forests and village forests in 1927 new forest act was passed which repealed

all the existing forest laws The new act consisted of 13 chapters and 86 sections. The Act aimed

to

 To consolidate the laws pertaining to forests.

 Regulation of transit of forest produce.

 To levy duty on timber and other forest produce.

 To define the procedure to be followed in relation to reserved, protected and village

forests.

 To define acts prohibited inside reserved forests.

 To define offences pertaining to forests and to conserve forests.

 To maintain the quality of lakes, ponds and rivers in forests.

 To improve the effective management of forests by appointing skilled professionals.

 To improve technology in relation to forests.

 To spread awareness regarding the importance and critical need to conserve forests.

 To balance the impact of agrarian activities and other forest activities

Conclusion

We have observed exploitation of our forests on a massive scale in the colonial rule era to the

extent that they had to introduce Forest Act in 1865 followed by another Forest Act in 1878 to

improve the provisions of the 1865 Act, conserve the forests by classifying them into three

categories and recognizing the rights of the nomads.