NCERT 9th Class (CBSE) Social Science: Forest Society and Colonialism

Question: Mention any four ideas of Dietrich Brandeis for the management of forests in India during the British period.

Answer:

1. Brandeis realized that a proper system had to be introduced to manage the forests and people had to be trained in the science of conservation. This system would need legal sanction.
2. Rules about the use of forest resources had to be framed. Felling of trees and grazing had to be restricted so that- forests could be preserved for timber production. Anybody who cut trees without following the system had to be punished.
3. Brandeis introduced scientific forestry under which natural frosts which had lots of different types of trees were cut down and in their place,one type of trees were planted in straight rows.
4. He set up Indian Forest Services in 1864.

Question: “While people lost out in many ways after the forest department took control of the forests, some people benefited from the new opportunities that had opened up.” Explain by giving examples.

Answer:

1. New occupations: Many communities left their traditional occupations and started trading in forest products.
2. Employment: Before the arrival of the Europeans, the locals were dependent on nature for their livelihood, but now they started getting regular jobs. Many of them joined the forest department as workers and watchmen.
3. Forest products: After the arrival of Europeans, the waste products of the forests also got the market value.
   Locals started selling latex to the traders.
4. New class of people: With the development of industry and plantation and other economic activities, a new class of people was created which was not dependent on nature for their livelihood.

Question: ‘Most of the environmentalists are of the opinion that the people who live near the forests must be involved in protecting the forests.’ Do you agree? Explain.
Or
Describe the new developments in forestry since the 1980’s.

Answer:

1. The scientific and the policy of keeping forest communities away from forests has resulted in many conflicts.
2. Conservation of forest rather than collecting timber has become a more important goal.
3. The government of various countries have recognized that in order to meet this goal, the people who live near the forests must be involved. In many cases, across India, from Mizoram to Kerala, dense forests have survived only because villages protected them in sacred groves known as sarnas, devarakudu, kan, rai, etc.
4. Some villages have been patrolling their own forests, with each household taking it in turns, instead of leaving it to the forest guards.

Question: Write the feature of the 1878 Act.

Answer: Its features are:

1. The 1878 Act was enacted in 1865, it was amended twice, once in 1878 and then etc 1927.
2. The 1878 Act divided forests into three categories, reserved, protected and village forests.
3. The est forests were called “reserved forests”.
4. Villagers could not take anything from these forests, even for their own use.
5. For house building or fuel, they could take wood from protected or village forests.