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ONE HUNDRED YEARS
OF INDIAN FORESTRY
VOLUME ONE: SOUVENIR
i
]!)) YEARS
INDIAN FORESTRY
|
9
6
1
Volume One : SOUVENIR
FRL 116. 1.
3,300
PRINTED IN INDIA BY THE MANAGER GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. PRESS
SIMLA FOR THE MANAGER OF PUBLICATIONS CIVIL LINES DELHI
FOREWORD
The basic problem of Forestry is one of Policy Often theie is considerable delay in the
general recognition of the need, in a country, for maintaining large areas under forests in
order to provide raw materials for manifold uses, to prevent detenor.ition and wasting away
of soils, to temper the climate and to regulate stream-flow The clear enunciation of
puncjpJcs and the declaration of objectives is the next big step The last and most difficult
part of the task is the implementation of the policies which impose local checks in the larger
interests of the nation.
It would not be wrong to say tha-t,.m a way. even in ancient Umes there had been a dim
conception of the important role of forests in a nation's economy We have references m the
Ramayana to the occurrence of severe droughts, and to the worship of the forest-born
Srmga, the bnnger of rains Kautilya's political writings of the 4th century B C refer to
ccitam anangements foi the protection of woodlands, for the appointment of officers for
supervision of forest operations, and the collection of revenue from produce removed from
the forests In the same century we find Plato drawing attention to the damage caused to
Grecian orchards through soil erosion consequent on deforestation of hill slopes But such
ideas did not appear to have gained wide currency, and the relationship between forests,
floods, landslides, droughts, soil losses, lowering of water tables, etc , remained un-understood
for many subsequent centuries Large blocks of* forests survived only in extremely inaccessible
legions, 01 where kings and nobles maintained them as hunting reserves
Eailier in human history entire civilizations in Central and South America, in Africa
and the Middle East were destroyed by the adverse conditions brought about by the
rapacious use of natural resources Large sections of Asia still suffer from the effects of
continued misuse of woodlands through shifting cultivation, overgrazing by cattle, burning,
and unregulated i em oval of forest material
It is only during the last few centuries thai there Ins been a realisation of the great
importance of forests as a valuable and perpetually renewable natural resource, under good
use The forest policies of the progressive countries of Europe took concrete shape mostly
in the 18lh and 19th centuries The British ot the period wcie unacquainted with the
principles of forestry science The economy of then pooily wooded counliy had a strongly
industrial bias, and there were, in any case, laige sylvan iesouic.es, within their tar-flung
empire, including the foiests of India which were then icgardcd as inexhaustible It was
therefoie that the settled conditions which followed the Bntish occupation of India witnessed
no check, but rather an increased tempo of the dcstiuction ol the great tunbci forests ot the
country tor the expansion of agriculture, setting up of new villages and towns, running of
arterial loads constiuction of railway lines, and tor the obtaining of laigc quantities ot
timber tor the Navy and other Defence requirements
Some idea ot the need toi controlling the pace of dcstiuction of foiests m India and of
setting apait some timbered regions foi careful management to meet the giow.ng demands
for timbci and fuel began to take shape in the 1840s Some attempts at systematic foicst
opciations were made in Madias and Bombay Picsidcncics, MI the Punjab aiiJ what was
then known as Upper India, between 1840 and I860 It was dining tins time, too that
Conolly, the farsighted Collector of Malabai, assisted by the devoted Chathu Menon (two
names M conjuie with m Indian toiestry) staitcd the Nilambur leak pi mlal'ons which aie
now world-famous But it was not till caily in the seventh decade of the 19th ecntuiy that
the urgency of forest conseivation was keenly feit It was a s id commentaiy on the lack ot
appicciation of the timber position of the country at the time ih.it it was lecoidcd even in
1860 "It is st'll necessary to impott lailway sleepeis fiom Noivviy because the available
supply of suitable tmibei from indigenous sources is too costly and loo small" 1
From then onwards however definite steps wcie taken oi the methodical inspection
and conservation of large forests, Biandis a noted Get nun Foiest Ollicci was invited from
Bmmi to help in drawing up plans tor the conservat'on and t "n pel management of the
vast and unexploied toicsts of Assam and Bengal Fiom 1861 loo, iorest tonsei valion took
a piactical shape in the "gicat mass of loiest-covcred hills occupvmg Cenlial India" till then
unknown to Bntish officials as also to the local population of the suiioundni" plains This
gre it work began under the wise direction or Richard Temple, the fn^l C 1m f Commissioner
of the newly created Cential Provinces and G F Peaison, the (ust Consci valor foi the
region
Since then we have had a centuiy of steady extension ot scientific foicstiy thioughout
India The hrst thiec decades were mainly spent in demnicition ot boundaiics and the
constitution of Reserved and Protected foiests often in the teeth ot cc nsidciable opposit'on
The next thice decades witnessed experimentation on a laige scale with systems of manage-
ment applicable to various types of foiests. planting techniques tit nuricious species of
tiees, and the util'sation of timbers and other multifai ions raw matcuals rf the foiests The
two World Wars and the interregnum between them served to cmphas/c the ctcat depend-
ence of the country on its timber resources during periods of wai as well as of peace Since
the 1930s there has been much world-wide awakening to the gieat lole of forests as protec-
tive agents mainly as a result of expencnccs in the USA A-hoie determined efforts have
since been made to reclothc deforested lands, ichabihlate spaiselv-covcred watersheds and
contiol floods and soil erosion
Recent years of Independence have witnessed a greatly increased tempo of forest acti-
vities and a big development of forest-based mdustties in our country With using standards
of lvmj increase in population, and brisk industrialisation we find that our once "incx-
haii'stible"' forests are no longer adequate to meet even our cm rent demands, their output is
certainly far short of projected icquirements We are also keenly conscious of the rapid
diminution in the numbers and variety of our wild animals and birds as a result of greatly
increased human interference.
In 1952 a clear-cut National Forest Policy was first enunciated, di awing the attention
of the people to the need for maintaining the existing forests in a pioductive stage, rccloth-
ing ban en lands and hill slopes, and mci easing the foiest aiea of the counliy to a third of
the larul sin face so as to serve effectively the two-fold roles of piolection and production
On the other hand, special competition by the moie spectacular development plans, such as
r'ver valley projects, mining, power installations, new mdustnal units, the grow-more-food
campaign the rehabilitation of refugees, and the caie foi tribal population have been taking
a heavjcr and more iap'd toll of forest land than ever before We thus come back to the
crux of the matter, namely, the implementation of a sound polity as the basic pioblem of
foicstry All other foiestry development can be built only on that Him foundation
Set down in the pages that follow ate the efforts of the great pioneeis at the introduction
of scientific foiestry into this country, and the various pit cesses by which the magnificent
edifice of forestry in all its aspects -consolidation, protection, establishment of communica-
tions, exploitation, regeneration, utilisation research education and training has been built
up during the last one hundred years Also has been noted the gieat contribution of Indian
foiests to the n lional economy, inclusive of aspects whose value in terms of money is not
oulinanly estimated or t iken into consideiation It is hoped that this publication will help
the peop 1 - of CAU country to realise how immensely important aie foiesls to the well-being
of a nat on-promoting industry, providing billions of gallons of legulatcd water, sustaining
agiiculluie. sheltering wild life of great variety and charm, healing the tired bodies and
spirits oi men women and childien. and providing recreation and inspiration
How far oui foiests v/ill continue to serve these purposes in the centuries to follow wHI
leponJ on how effectively it will be possible to implement fai -sighted policies
Meliota speiamu\
Ni w Druu,
July, 1961
V S RAO
Govenwcnt of India
But the glory of trees is more than their gifts,
'Tis a beautiful wonder of line that lifts,
From a wrinkled seed in an earthbound clod,
A column, an arch in the temple of God,
A pillar of power, a dome of delight,
A shrine of song, and a joy of sight;
Their roots are nurses of rivers in birth,
Their leaves are alive with the breath of the earth,
They Shelter the dwellings of man, and they bend,
O'er his grave with the look of a loving friericl"
Henry Van Dyke
PREFACE
"An age builds up cities; an hour destroys them
In a moment the ashes aie made, but a forest is
a long time growing "
-Seneca, from Latin
This Souvenir is a brief survey of the growth ol Indian Forest Administration from a
small beginning and gives a general picture of its outstanding achievements in various fields
during the last 100 years
The period between 1856 and 1864 was one of intense activity in the organisation of
Forest Department, and the year 1961 has therefore been selected as a representative year
tor celebrating the Centenary of Forest Administration
We owe a deep debt of gratitude to Sir Dietrich Brandis and other pioneers, who, by
their foresight and initiative, laid the foundation for the sound management of the forests of
India by enunciating the basic principles of forest conservancy
Forests are a natural asset of inestimable value to the people, inasmuch as they preserve
the physical features, prevent floods, check the flow of sub soil water and thus help to
maintain the pioductivity of cultivated land Forests also supply a variety of much needed
torest pioducts, such as timber, firewood, industrial raw materials for making paper and
minor lorest products like honey, wax, soap-nut, horns, medieval plants, etc
Forests are the abode of wild life and add to the scenic beauty of the landscape The
ameliorative role of well-managed forests is generally taken for granted The need for them
is realised only when destruction of forests brings about distiess due to shortage of essential
forest products, by causing floods, and damage to agricultural lands which adversely affects
the economy of the people It is to ward off such calamity thU the forester, against heavy
odds and adverse public opinion, advises Government to impose reasonable restrictions to
counteiact the instinctive urge of man to use forests for his immediate benefit, unmindful
cl the well-being of posterity He also endeavours to make the people forest-minded to enlist
their willing cooperation for their protection As the prosperity of a country does not depend
only on the present generation but on the well-being of successive generations, he advises
Government to lay down a far-sighted forest policy and to implement it, so that the forests
may be kept perpetually productive and useful.
But even so, inroads on forests have continued Forests have been depleted by
hapha/ard cuttings, overgrazing and incendiary lues by the shoit-sightcd peasant! y and of
late by wholesale excisions of large areas for submersion under iivei valley piojects lor
extending cultivation While certain forests which have been scientifically conseived have
dchnitely improved, by and large, our toicsts do not yield even a tenth ot the increment they
can give on a sustained basis Indeed, large aieas have got so depleted that their lehabilitation
may prove to be economically inteasible
It is but meet theiefore that on an occasion like this, when oui Foiest Administration is
one hundred years old, we take a bird's eye-view ot the ptctuic and see its lights and shades
and then suggest how it could be letouched and made moie atti active We have many
achievements to our ciedit such as laying down a sound foicst policy piepaiation cf
management plans on scientific lines and creation of plantat ons ot valuable species like
teak, Eucalyptus and other industnal woods We have also done creditable research on the
regeneration and utilization of foiests and established many foiest industnes, notably manu-
facture of paper and plywood production of lac. turpentine etc But we cannot rest on out
lauiels. turning the blind eye to our shortcomings and failures We have allowed the accesst
ble forests to be destroyed, yielding to populai clamoui. and given little attention to mimmis
mg waste, paiticularly of fuelwood, the consumption of which could be tedmeci by using
improved hearths, much of it could also be diverted for use as timber, tfter prcseivative
treatment if necessary The depletion of forests is hampering our progress We are parti-
cularly short of cellulosic raw mater ral foi making enough newspnnt and paper, which is so
necessary tor increasing literacy and which we cannot afTc.rd to import
At this juncture, when the countiy is passing through a phase of rapid industrialization,
a number of forest-based industries are being set up Even the existing factories are finding it
difficult to get raw materials on a sustained basis It is equally necessary to rehabilitate the
depleted forests, particularly the panchayat forests Augmenting our resources by rc-affore-
station of depleted forests, particularly denuded village forests, and creation of large-scale
plantations of fast-growing species is cleaily the way out In this connection plant introduc-
tion research has assumed great importance
The Forest Department as the custodian of a very valuable and easily vulneiable asset
has a heavy responsibility to fulhl In a long term venture like forestry, the ill effects of un-
skilful management often do not become apparent for a considerable length of time, and
may in the long mn. prove highly detrimental to the interests of the people as a whole
Many an excellent forest estate has been ruined through inefficient management This even-
tuality must, therefore, be ca-efully guarded against India is foituiate in having had a
number of foresters of a very high cahbie and sense of duty who through their unremitting
effoits and foresight succeeded in laying the foundation of sound forest management well and
truly A stable superstructure has now to be built If this is assuied by carefully selecting the
personnel and givms it the requisite facilities, it may with confidence be predicted that in her
forests India has an asset of immense potential value which holds out a bright promise for
the fuluie
K P SAGREIYA
DEHRA DUN: President
July, 1961 Forest Reseat ch Institute and Colleges
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Wo aie grateful to the distinguished persons and retired foresters in Indra and abroad
who ha* o kindly sent mspiimg messages and contubutions v\hich will serve as a source
of encouragement ior generat'ons oi Indian foresteis to come
Oui thanks are due to the Heads of Forest Departments of the States in the countiv
and then olliceis for pioviding the basic material ior this compilation
Our thanks aie particularly duo to the following for contributing the various
chapters
Shri C R Ranganathan
Shi i V S Rao
Shu CAR Bhadian
Shri T N Siivastava
Shi i P Ve ikataiama "\
The task of compiling this Souvcnn devolved on the staff of the Forest Reseaich
Institute and, paiticularly, on the Ofhcei-m-Chargc of the Editorial Board, who has serv-
ed as the Secretary of the Centenary Publications Committee and has taken great pains
to piepaie the manuscupt for the press
NEW DELHI;
llth August 1961
V S RAO
K P SAGREIYA
CAR BHADRAN
P VENKATARAMANY
Editorial Committee for
Forest Centenary Publications
"I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree
A tree whose hungry mouth is picst
Against the earth's sweet, flowing
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray,
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair,
Upon wbobe bosom snow has lain,
Who intimately lives with lain
Poems are made b/ fools like me,
But only God can make a tree "
Joyce Kilmei 'Trees*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MESSAGES
PAGK
India
Dr. Rajendra Piasad, President of India . . . . . . . . 3
Dr S Radhakrish nan, Vice-President of India .... . 5
Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, Prm e Minister of India . .... 7
Shri S K. Patil, Minister foi Food and Agriculture, Government of tndht 9
Dr P. S Deshmukh, Minister for Agiiculture, Government of India , . II
States
Andhra Pradesh
Shri D, Sanjivayya, Chief Minister ., .. .. .. .. 12
Assam
Shri Harcswar Das, Minister of Forests . . . . . . . 12
Bihar
Shri Bhola Paswau Shastn, Minister of Forests, Welfare and Excise 13
Gujarat
Shu Hitendra Desai, Minister for Education, Agriculture and Law . . . H
Jammu and Kashmir
Shri G N Warn Soganu, Minister for Forests and Fisheries .. . . . 15
Kerala
Shri E P. Poulose, Minister for Food and Agriculture . . . . , . 15
Madhya Pradesh
Shu Sham bhunath Shiikla, Minister for Forests .. .. .. .. 16
Madras
Shri M Bhaktavatoalam, Minister for Home and Forests . . . . . . 17
Maharashtra
Shu B G Ghade, Minister for Eural Development and Forests .. . 18
Mysore
Shri K F Patil, Minister for Forests and Tiansport .. .. .. 18
Punjab
Shri Giani Kartar Singh, Agriculture and Forest Minister . . . . . . 19
Raiasthan
Shri Sampat Ram, Minister for Forests . . . . . . . . . . 20
West Bengal
Shri Tarun JCanti Ghosh, Mimster-uvCharge of Forests , . f . , . 20
Uttar Pradesh
Shn Algu Km Shastn, Van Mantri
Union Temtones
Himachal Pradesh
Slni Bajaiang Bahadiu Singh Blmdn, Lieutenant Governor 22
Argentine Republic .... . 23
Australia 23
Canada ...... . . . . 24
Czechoslovakia . 24
Food and Agriculture Organisation 25
Ghana . . ...... 26
Indonesia . ..... 20
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Commission
on Ecology, Brussels 27
Iran 27
Italy 28
Malaya 28
New Zealand 29
Norway . 29
Pakistan 30
Philippines 30
Poland 30
Rumania 31
Southern Rhodesia 31
Spain 32
Sweden 32
United States of America ':<
Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics 34
West Germany 34
Reminiscences . 35
Uttar Pradesh 1903 -1937 (By F Canning) 37
Wild Life m the Indian Forests (By F W Champion) 40
Recollect ions and Reflections (By M D Chatmvedi) 45
Reminiscences of Service m Madhya Pradesh Forests (By R N Datta) 47
Water, The Great Fertilizer (By A P F Hamilton) 19
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (By C E Hewetson) f>l
PAGE
Reminiscences (By Sn Heibtrt Tlowaid) 53
Reminiscences (By SIT Lawience Mason) 56
In Retrospect (By J N Sen Gupta) 59
The Uttar Piadesh Forests Fifty Yeais Ago (By E A S uyiliios) 61
My Memories of the Fomsts of India (By 0. Wilson) . 04
Brandis . . . .67
Chapter I -History The Forests of India
Jntiocluctoiy ... .. 71
Forests in ancient India . 71
Forests in Muslim peiiod . 72
Forests in early British period ... . . 72
The first stops towauls iorest ronfoivancy .... 72
The establishment of the Fore.st Depit under the Goveinmont of India 76
The beiiinning^ oi foiest organisation 77
Organisation of forests under legnlar irana^en ent 78
Process oi forestiy under the British m the present century 79
Forestiy in Independent India 84
Chapter II The Forests 87
Chapter III- Forests and the Community 98
Chapter IV Wild Life through the Ages
Introductory . . . . 101
Historical account . . 101
Vcdic age . . . . . . . . 101
Hindu period 102
Moghul peiiod 103
British period . . 103
Second World War and after . . 103
Conclusion . . 104
Chapter V -Forestry Education History and Development
Introduction .. .. .. .. . . .. .. 105
Tianunjr m U K at Coopei.s' Hill (18851905) . . . . 107
Training at Bntish Universities of Oxfoid, Cambridge and Edinburgh (19051927) 1<>7
Training in India at Dehra Dun (1926 19.T2) . 109
The Superior Forest Seivice Cour.se, 1938 onwards . . 109
The Provincial Service Course ...... 109
Training for the Subordinate Executive Service . Ill
Training of the lower Subordinate Executive Staff . . 1]2
The present pattern of Forestry Education in India .. . , 1J2
PAOE
Chapter VI The Forest Services
Higher administrative services . . .113
Executive staff .. .. .. .. 115
The Inspector-General of Forests .. . 1H>
Chief Conservator of FoiesH ... 117
Conseivator of Foiests .... 117
Deputy Conservator of Forests . . 1 IH
Duties of Assistant Con^eivator of Forests 1 ],S
f \ he Indian Forest Service 1 1'j
The Indian Forest Engmeeiing So L vice . T20
The Indian Forest Service and the Forest Reseat ch Institute and Col 'egos 120
So ue outstanding men of the past . 120
The Provincial and State Forest Services . . . . 124
The Subordinate Services Forest Rangers and other forest personrieJ 12(5
Chapter Vn Special Forest Development since 1947
Status of Foievts m 1947 . . . . 1'X)
Peiiod puor to India's First Five- Year Plan 1^9
First Five-Year Plan pciiod
Now Foiest Policy .. . 130
Land Manage rent .. 130
Forest Schemes in the First Plan 130
Improved Forest Management 131
Industrial plantations 131
First Timber Trend Suivoy 131
Colonisation .... . .131
Wild Life Consei vat ion . 131
Forestry Education . 131
Forest Research . 132
Soil Conservation . ..... 132
First Plan Developii ent expenditure in various States and in Centrally
administered areas . . . 133
Second Five- Year PLin
Second Plan develop - ent expenditure in various States and m (Vntrallv
administered areas 134
Forest consolidation . . . . . . . . . 135
Extension forestiy . . . . . . . 135
Commercial plantations . . . . . . . . 135
Improved exploitation . . . . . 136
Forest statistu-s , , . . . , . . . , . . , 1 33
Conservation of wild life . 136
Foiost research 130
Forest education 130
Soil conseivadon 130
Thud Five- Yeat Plan-
Farm foiest t y 137
Economic plantations 137
Forest r esoim es sm veys J3 V
Improvements to foiest nia/sin:/ and past me 138
Wild life consei vation 138
Mnioi Forest Products l,iS
Im])ioved foiest utili/atmn 138
Forest i esoaK h 1 3S
Amenities loi forest workers 138
Chapter Vin Descriptive and Statistical
Area under ioiests 110
GlafJBincation. of forests by ownership I'lO
Classification of foiests hy le<^al .status 1 tl
C'ldHSiticalion of foiests by iornposil urn 141
Cldbsiucatioii of foiest.s by funefioiis 142
Out-tuin of Home Giov*n Wood . 142
Out-tuiri of MIIIOL Foiest I^oduets 112
Glazing 111 forests 113
Working Plans 144
Revenue and Kxpenditute 144:
National Income fiom Foiestiy S<>ctoi 145
Foici^n Tiade in Foiest Pioducts 116
rinjunt and E\poit ot Wood Pioduets 140
Import and Export ot Mmoi Korost Piodutls 140
Abstract of Foreign Trade in l 4 ^') 140
Tlegeiier.it ion and Affoieslation 147
Oigamsatioii of Foiest Admmistiation 147
Glossary 149
Appendix Succession list of Heads of Forest Departments m States and Union Tenitones 150
Inspectors-General of Foiests 150
Presidents of tlie Forest Research Institute and Colleges 150
XVll
PAGE
Heads of Forest Departments of States
Andhra Pradesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . mt 151
Assam . . . . . . . . . . ]51
Bihar . . . . . . . . . . 151
Gujarat . . . . . . . . . . 152
Januuu and Kaslmm . .... 152
Kerala . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Madhya Pradesh .. .. .. 152
Mdharashtifi . . . . . % 153
Madias . . 153
Mysore . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Onssa .. .. . 153
Punjab . ...... 153
Kajasthan . ..... 153
Uttar Pradesh . . . 153
We,st Bengal . 154
Heads of Forest Departments in Union Territories
Andaman and Nicohai Islands . . ... 154
Himnchal Pradesh . . . . 154
Man i pur 154
Tripum . . . . 154
What do we plant \vhen we plant the tiee?
We plant the ship that will cross the sea,
We plant the mast to carry the sails
Wo plant the planks to withstand the gales
The keel and keelson, and keain and knee
We plant the ship when we plant 1he tree
Henry Abbey
MESSAGES
I BlIAXAN,
Nr \v
February 3, 1961
Magh 14, 1882(Saka).
It was a happy idea to have brought out a
publication on Indian Forestry at the time of the
Centenary of Forest Departments in India. The
decision to compile descriptive and informative
details about our forest wealth in popular language
has' to be particularly welcomed. I wonder sometimes
if there is any other natural source which gives us
so much and of which we know so little as the
forests. There is, therefore, a good case for
producing readable literature to enlighten the common
people about India's forest wealth. The proposed
reference book on Indian Forestry, which is going to
be the second volume of this series, and the present
volume should go a long way in dispelling people's
Ignorance of their benefactor, the forests.
Vici- PRESIDENT
INDIA
N F W D t I H I
September 23, I960.
I am glad to know that you are bringing out
a publication on Indian Forestry at the tune of the
Centenary of Forest Departments in India in 1961.
I cannot say that we have been preserving our
forests with great care. Forest wealth is of use to us
in many different ways and it is essential that we should
increase that wealth and not cut down trees recklessly.
Many people have to be educated w3 th regard to the proper
treatment of forests.
With best wishes,
(S, Radhta
PRIME MINISTER'S HOUSE
NEW DELHI
MESSAGE
The Centenary of the Forest Departments
in India is an event which deserves celebration.
Even though these Departments have existed for a
hundred years, forestry has perhaps not had as
much attention paid to it as is its due. In the
economy of Nature, forests are of the utmost
importance. But with the spread of industrial
civilization and the rapid growth of populations,
unhappily forests tend to disappear. IVe are apt
to forget that in so far as this happens, we are
upsetting that economy of Nature and doing injury
to man. I am pained when I see a noble tree,
which has taken long to grow and spread out in
all its majesty, cut down by careless hands.
There should bo a strong feeling among our people
to prevent this vandalism. If such cutting down
becomes unavoidable, we should develop a convention
that it should be replaced immediately by planting
two trees.
I hope that the vital importance of
forests will be fully realised.
New Delhi,
April 19, I960,
MESSAGE FROM SHRI S. K. PATIL, MINISTER FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE,
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, DATED 9TH AUGUST, 1961
I am very happy to know that the Centenary of the initiation of Scientific Forestry in
India is being celebrated this year
Forests', as natural resources, yield a variety of products which are essential for our
basic needs They provide stability and fertility to our soils, stop erosion, prevent Moods and
make available perennial and abundant supplies of pure water which are so necessary for
the development of our agricultural economy
In the struggle for existence or in competition with nature, we are apt to follow the
path of least resistance and lay our hands on these rich resources without any forethought of
their replacement and expansion for future requirements The history of the denudation of
our forest lesourccs is replete with instances of cruel exploitation of this valuable national
wealth with the result that today we have barely 23 per cent of our total land area under
forest cover Planned exploitation of our forest resources based on the principle of preserva-
tion and replacement is therefore a matter of vital necessity Our national forest policy has
rightly stressed the need for ensuring that a minimum of one-third of our land area is main-
tained under forests
It is the responsibility of our Forest Departments to jealously guard this national asset
with care and prudence so that its resources are steadily enriched and made available for our
national development in a never-ending stream We should therefore regard this Centenary
celebration as a pledge of our devotion to the cause of scientific and planned development of
pur valuable forest wealth.
MESSAGE FROM DR. P. S. DESHMUKH, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE,
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, DATED 3RD AUGUST, 1961
There have been many departments of Government working in various countries ever
since man took to living in well-organised communities looking after communications, tovui
planning, industry, minerals, agriculture, irrigation, defence, etc But a governmental organi-
sation devoted to the proper management of forests is of comparatively recent origin in any
country This is so because, in spite of the large contributions which forests always made to
the economy of a country, they were for long considered to be of little consequence In any
case, ioicsts were seen to exist for centimes and people remained under the impression that
they were inexhaustible and lequired no legular management
In many parts of the world, forests would still have continued to survive though
slowly diminishing in extent The industrial revolution, however, transformed the tempo of
living, made possible the establishment ot extensive and pcimnnent communications, aided
quick transport, opened up hitherto inaccessible hilly terrain and jungle fastnesses, and
provided easy ways of over-powering wild animals They also fought the maladies arising
from marshy lands and other hazards of living in forests This very revolution also brought
about a radical change in the habits and living conditions of men on a veiy large scale
Many new articles of human comfort and enjoyment came to be manufactured with
machines from wood, minerals and agricultural products which were till then unknown in
such varieties and fashions With much smaller populations and vast jungles the world was
slow to icalise the importance of forests as a great and perpetually renewable natural
resouicc that can provide not only timber and firewood for uses ot immemorial custom but
also ior many new purposes such as for making paper, rayon, plywood, chipboards and
compressed, laminated and treated timbers of great strength and durability Apart from
this the world has also learnt how important woodlands are for prevention of floods, saving
the soil, tempering the climate and safeguarding water supplies Gradually too has it recog-
nised the tolly of waging a war of extermination on the wild life of the forests instead of
managing it in such a manner as to ensure the continued survival of the manifold beautiful
and interesting wealth of wild animals and birds
It is, therefore, a matter for much gratification that the Foiest Centenary is being
celebrated in India during 1961 An impressive volume of work has been done by forest
officers in the matter of demarcation, reservation, establishment of communications, study
of the needs of various species of trees, raising large plantations of valuable timbers, conduct-
ing research into the uses of woods and numerous other products of the forests, supplying
large quantities of raw material for the use of industries, and round and fashioned timber for
various puublic bodies and organizations of the State and Central Governments During the
nine years of my office as Union Minister for Agriculture, I have been anxiously following
the fortunes of the forests I congratulate the forest officers of the country for the impressive
work they have done and I trust that the country can look forward to a second century of
good record greatly surpassing that of the first.
11
MESSAGE FROM SIIRI D. SANJIVAYYA, CHIEF MINISTER, ANDHRA PRADESH,
HYDERABAD, DATED 28TH APRIL, 1961
The importance of preservation, regeneration
and extension of forests to ensure proper economic
development by providing necessary raw material
for industrial progress and ci eating optimum,
seasonal conditions for good agricultural produc-
tion in the country cannot be over-emphasised
and the part the Forest Administration has to play
in achieving the above objectives has to be con-
stantly borne in mind
I am glad to learn that you are bringing out a
Souvenir on the occasion of Centenary of Forest
Administration in India and wish all those engag-
ed in the important nation building activity, un-
qualified success
MESSAGE FROM SHRI HARESHWAR DAS, MINISTER FOR FORESTS, ASSAM,
DATED JULY 1961
I have great pleasure in sending my cordial
greetings to all those who are serving the
country in the sphere of forestry, on the occasion
of the celebration of the Centenary of the Forest
Departments in India
From very small beginnings a century ago,
as a result of the diligent and intelligent efforts
of a band of woikers comprised of technically
qualified personnel and those who have not been
so equipped but yet concerned with the formula-
tion of forestry policy and administration, a valu-
able asset in the form of well-conserved and
managed forests has been built up in our country,
of which we can be justly proud and which has
evoked the admiration of foresters all over the
world
It is but proper that during this celebration
we remember those forebters who have passed
away, who during their life time had been asso-
ciated with the building of this magnificent edi-
fice
In the beginning of the life of the Depart-
ments, the mam work was constitution of areas to
be permanently dedicated to Forestry and exploi-
tation of excess growing-stock m such areas The
work then developed to a stage when the main-
tenance of the sustained output of the different
articles of forest produce, which the country's
overwhelmingly rural population needed for the
daily avocations, was their main duty As a broad
national policy, till the attainment of indepen-
dence by the country, forestry was considered the
hand-maid of agriculture Her function \vas consi-
dered primarily to assist agriculture by preserv-
ing soil and moisture and by tree-growth, and
provision of materials for rural housing, rural
implements, firewood, grazing, etc , i e , services
associated with a rural economy The contribution
that Forestry made to maintenance and extension
of railway and river transport and the develop-
ment of industries was not then high-lighted
It was principally after attainment of In-
dependence that the significant role that scientifi-
cally managed forests have to play in the develop-
ment of industries and in the sphere of mainten-
ance and expansion of transport and in the
defence of the country was realised and enunciat-
ed in the statement of national forest policy The
13
role of scientific forestry m the sphere of provid-
ing sustained employment in the forests them-
selves and in forest industries is only now being
increasingly appreciated
However, owing to the increasing pressure on
land for agricultural use, the need of maintaining
adequate areas dedicated for scientific forestry is
tending to be overlooked, a danger which all of
us associated with forestiy have to guard against
and combat by adequately publicising the essential
r&le that Forestry has to play in ever> civilised
society It is in the fitness of things, therefore,
from this point of view also, that this celebration
>f ours should take place
Forestry in my State of Assam, like her sister
States has followed the general pattern of deve-
lopment in India, with this significant difTcience
that a great deal of her forest resoiuces have, till
recently, remained inadequately exploited and
utilised, because of her geographical position vis-
a-?ns the densely populated .and already more
industrialised areas of GUI country However with
the increasing shortages of forest produce both
for ordinary and industrial uses m these densely
populated areas, larger and larger demands arc
being placed on the forest resources of my State
and more and more industries are being establish
ed or proposed to be established, utilising fores
produce as raw materials With a well-establishei
tea industry m the State, the tea-chest plywooi
industry in Assam has become .strong under th
fostering care of the State Government In respec
of other foiest industries also, Assam looks foi
ward with confidence to play, in the near futurt
an increasingly important role, particularly in th
paper and rayon manufactuimg fields, thu
contributing to the general economic piogiess c
the country
The luxuriance of the vegetation in th
foiesls of my State arid the variety of species tha
they contain are well known and their more eff
nent utilisation is only awaiting the develop
ment of power and transport, the investment (
capital and the conduct of research in a Kegiom
Research Station
From this north-east corner of India, wit
its forests having a rich and varied fauna an
flora I once again send you my cordial greeting
on this important occasion and wish continue
success to all foresters in their endeavour to con
tribute more and more to the progress of th
country
MESSAGE FROM SHRI BIIOLA PASWAN SHASTRI, MINISTER OF FORESTS
WELFARE AND EXCISE, GOVERNMENT OF BIHAR, RANCHI,
DATED 25TII JUNE, 1960
I am glad that the hundredth year of Forest
Administration in India is being celebrated under
the auspices of the Government ot India The
vital role of forests in the life of the people and
in the development of a nation has been univer-
sally acknowledged In our country, however,
people in general still teel that forest.* tre the
gift of God, which will take care of themselves
It is of utmost importance that this incorrect
appreciation about the foiests is removed from
the mind of the people I feel this Centenary
Celebration of Forest Administration in India
will Help in making our people more forest-
conscious
Bihar is the home of minerals and of big
industries This State is often called the "Ruhi"
of India The forests here have not only to cater
to the needs of the vast agricultural population
but have also to meet the ever-increasing demand
of the developing industries With this impact of
heavy demand the necessity of admmistei ing the
forests in a scientific manner is doubly important,
to ensure the maximum production per acre en
a sustained basis
The first attempt at forest conservation in Bihar
dates back to 1870 when the first block of foiests
in the District of Palamau was reserved The
process of leservation ot commeicially valuable
blocks ot Government-owned forests continued
until about 1918 This, however, took care of only
2,000 sq miles of forests out of a total of about
15,000 sq miles All attempts at legislation for
the control and management of piivate foiests
failed until in 1946, the Bihar Private Forest Act
was passed During this long period, which saw
the two world wars, about one-third of the pri-
vate forests had to make way for other land uses
Under the Bihar Private Forest Act, Government
took ovei control and management of all the
private forests in the State, the ownership how-
ever tested with landlords Later in l l )50 the
Land Reforms Act was enacted and the owner-
ship of the torests also vested in Government.
Nearly 13,000 sq miles of States' land area is
now under scientific forestry management
Most of these private forests are burdened
with rights and are not necessarily a commei-
cially profitable proposition a consideration
which guided the reset vation of forests in the
early days It is now well recognised that all
forests, big or small, influence dnectly or indirect-
ly the social and economic life of the community,
trie welfare of which is now the pumary concern
of the State
Forest Administration in the past has general-
ly functioned more or less in isolation away
fiom the people This was understandable in the
days when the few sq miles of right-free reserv-
ed foiests, tugged away m the mtenor, had to be
managed In the changed situation of the present
day, however, forest departments have to manage
the right-burdened forests with the good-will of
the people inhabiting the forests The people's
point of view has, therefore, to be understood by
forest officers and orthodox forestry dove-tailed
with the people's needs, consistent with the para-
mount objective of foiest conservation The
concept ot forest administration in the country
has, therefore, to be re-oriented
I join all others in expressing my gratitude to
the past generation of foresters in the country
on the pioneering work they have done in laying
a sound foundation of scientific forestry in the
country To the practising foresters of the
present, I extend my hearty congratulations on
their untiring devotion to the cause of forestry
and on the manner in which they have shoulder-
ed their new responsibilities I am sure their
love of the foiest, the great cause of servrce tc
the people and the weliare of the posterity wrll
continue to guide them in their future pro
gramme.
I wish the Centenary Celebrations all success
MESvSAGE FROM SHRI HITENDRA DESAI, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, AGRICULTURE
AND LAW, SACHIVALAYA, GUJARAT AHMEDABAD, DATED 12TH APRIL, 1961
I am happy to learn that laudable attempt i
made to publish a comprehensive book relating t<
various aspects of the practice of forestry am
utilisation of forest products There appears t
be no publication at present in this fiold whicl
would present m a popular fashion such mforma
tion The publication would almost s^nchronis
with the commencement of the Thrrd Five- Yea
Plan when vigorous attempts are being made t
improve the existing forests as also 1o creat
forests wherever possible In this task of forestr
development, the co-operation of the people i
most essential This publication would bring th
common man nearer to the development of th
work of forest It will be better if copies of th
publication are also printed m the regions
languages so that common people can also under
stand about forests.
16
MESSAGE FROM SHRI G. N. WANI SOGAMI, MINISTER OF STATE FOR FORESTS,
FISHERIES, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, DATED 28TH APRIL, 1960
With the attainment of Independence we, in
India, have awakened not only to the problems of
freedom but also to the natural wealth that is
available to us for the purpose of our economic
reconstruction Among the natural resources of
.our country, forests occupy a paramount place. On
the basis of experience gamed in our State where
forests have been worked under bcientific
methods since a long time now, we come to the
conclusion that systematic and efficient exploita-
tion of forest resources on modern lines under
scientific systems of management will go a long
way to augment the industrial potential of India
Side by side with the exploitation of forests, silvi-
culture, regeneration-cum-afforestation and soil
conservation have got to be given a place of
pnoiity Soil conservation particularly Jias
assumed country-wide importance owing to
natural calamities that have become a common
feature now. due to unimaginative and ruthless
action of man, necessitating protection of water
regime in our part of the country,
I am glad that on the occasion of the Cente-
naiy of the Forest Department in India, the
Cential Boaid of Forestry is bringing out an
Indian Forestry Book to make available compre-
hensive and up-to-date information regarding
forestry I am sure this book will be a compen-
dium of relevant data of the forests in India
I wish the Board all success in this venture.
MESSAGE FROM SHRI E. P. POULOSE, MINISTER FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE,
KERALA STATE, TRIVANDRUM, DATED 21ST APRIL, 1960
I am happy to learn that the Central Board of
Forestry is publishing a book on Indian Forestry
The need for authentic and accurate information
regarding forests in India, which abound in
natural resources, had been long-felt, more so in
this age of planting 1 am confident that the book
will be a valuable asset to the Forest Department
and a befitting commemoration of its Centenary
I wish the venture success
L/S5FRIDDun-3
MESSAGE FROM SHRI SHAMBHUNATH SHUKLA, MINISTER FOR FORESTS,
MADHYA PRADESH, BHOPAL, DATED 22ND JUNE, 1960
To prevent furthei destruction of forests which
was adversely affecting the life of the people,
cutting of trees was declared a sm, and the plant-
ing of trees an act ot piety, in the Tuianas'
Several useful species of trees were thus saved
from being destroyed such as banyan, tulsi, neem,
bel, etc , but even so, some have disappeared
from our forests, tor instance, ashoka and
kadamba By the time of Ashoka. accessible
forests had been heavily felled and their absence
was beginning to be felt Therefore, this fai-
sighted monarch ordered that useful trees be
planted along the roads and in camping places.
We read in his inscriptions that he even en-
couraged the cultivation of medicinal plants In
Kautilya's time, protection of forests, planting of
new species and the preservation of Wild Life
were considered very important works and a spe-
cial officer was appointed for the purpose
Coming nearer home Sher Shah Sun planted
avenues along with high-way from Patna to
Delhi The Gonds and Maiathas also planted
mangoes and other useful trees on open spaces
During the penod of anarchv, followmg the
decline of the Moghul Empire, forests v ere being
destroyed indiscriminately It was primarily to
put a stop to such wanton destruction and thus
save the forest wealth of India, that the Govern-
ment of India cieated a Forest Department in
the 'sixties' of last century The main work it did
in the beginning was to delimit all valuable
forests, and later, after passing the Indian Forest
Act, declaring them as reserved forests, under
which all adverse rights were extinguished so
that the department was free to develop them to
realise the particular object of management A
typical example of this is the Boon Forest of
Madhya Pradesh, which was the first forest in
India to be fire-protected trom 1874 It has been
successfully protected ever since Today m the
mature stands of this forest the growing stock
pei acre is worth over a lakh of rupees, which
incidentally shows the potentialities of these
forests under scientific management, provided it
is free from adverse rights This is a pointer to
intensive development of the best areas as com-
mercial forests Forests also mitigate floods, pre-
vent soil erosion, regulate sub-soil water
regime and thus maintain the productivity of
lands For this purpose hilly regions and banks
of streams should be maintained as protection
forests In a predominantly agncultural country
where the cultivators depend on neighbouring
India celebrates the Centenary of the Forest
Department started in the year 1860 At this
juncture one might peep into the past to see that
role the forests have played in the life of the
people since the first embers of civilisation were
lit several centuries ago in this ancient land of
ours
When the Aryans came to India, there is evi-
dence to show that a Dravidian civilisation of a
high order flourished in the country, which ap-
parently lived in consonance with the thick
forests that abounded The Aryans were pri-
marily a pastoral people To provide shelter foi
themselves and to the animals they had domesti-
cated, they cleaied the forests wherever thev
went But even so, being worshippers of Nature,
they preferred for their abode and even for their
educational centres, sylvan surroundings and
inspiring landscape It is here that the Vedas and
the Upamshads were composed, which sing the
glory of the Creator and lay down precepts of
conduct for Man to live righteously Forests were
still plentiful.
When the first great epic 'Ramayana' was
written there were dense forests in Chitrakut,
Dandakaranya and Panchvati which abounded in
wild life At the time when the 'Mahabharat' was
written onslaughts were being made on the
forests and we read of the burning of 'Khandava
Vana'
17
forests for their essential requirements of small
timber and other forest products, it is very
necessary to have forests dotted all over the
intensively cultivated tracts to meet the bonafide
demands amicably Hence the need for Nistar
forests
Lastly, the small tree-clad places and open
spaces in villages will be best utilised for the
.production of fuel, fodder, fencing material, etc,
and to graze the agricultural stock as Village
forests
In so far as Madhya Pradesh is concerned, its
extensive forests are not vet fully developed and
there is a continuous demand for deforestation
for expanding cultivation The best arrangement
would be to ensure balanced and rational distri-
bution of land for agriculture and forestry and
to convince the people that conservation of
forests is absolutely essential in their own
interests In fact, wanton destruction of forests is
a crime against posterity and as trustees of the
forests, it is the duty of the present generation to
perpetuate them.
MESSAGE FROM SHRI M. BHAKTAVATSALAM, MINISTER FOR HOME AND
FORESTS, MADRAS, DATED 18TH AUGUST, 1960
own treatment based on prolonged studies and
observations in order that it may seive us best
And it is heaitenmg to recollect that such atten-
tion has been given to a satisfactory extent to all
these areas m these first hundred years
While for India as a whole, regular forest
management is taken to have commenced with
the appointment of the first Inspector-General of
Forests with the Government cf India, actually
quite a few States had started organising their
forests undei technically qualified Conservators
of Forests even earlier I may recall heie that
the Madras State completed the first hundred
years of regular forestry m 1956 and formally
observed the first Centenary m April 1958 What
these celebrations high-lighted will, I am sure, be
even more significantly brought to light m this
all-India Centenary, viz , (a) that, in a long term
venture like forestry, a hundred years can scarce-
ly be more than the first landmark in our efforts
towards establishing forests truly productive in
perpetuity, (b) that the foundations of good
forestry have been well and truly laid m our
land, where forestry has so vital a part to play
towards better agriculture and lural prosperity;
(c) that our forestry is dynamic and capable of
those adjustments and changes which are called
lor in a rapidly progressing economy, but within
the four corners of sound forestry, viz, silvicul-
ture, management, protection and forest utilisa-
tion, (d) that there is vast scope for further deve-
lopment of the forests of ihe country mspite of
regular management for many decades, and (e)
that our technical forestry staff is well-organis-
ed, devoted to its special cause and poised for
still greater effort
On the occasion of this fiist Centenary of
Forestry in India, I send mv greetings to all
forest workers in the country and I do hope that
through their continued efforts our forestry will
progress from strength to strength.
I consider it a rare privilege to associate my-
self with the Centenary o Foicstiy in India As
the Mjnister-m-charge of the Forests of Madras
State, I have had occasion to gam an insight into
the vital role that forests play in the \\elfaie of
the people I have also, as a membei of the
Central Board of Forestry, had occasion to see
forests and forestry in most other parts of the
country
India includes a great variety of climates and
as a result many types of foiests the dense ever-
green forests of Assam and the West Coast, the
beautiful coniferous forests oi the Western Hima-
layas, the valuable teak forests of the Western
Ghats and Central India, the rich sal forests of
the sub-montane Himalayas, and the humble yet
useful scrub forests of the arid zone of the
Deccan and Rajasthan Each type requires its
18
MESSAGE FROM SHRI B. G. GHADE, MINISTER FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT
AND FORESTS, MAHARASHTRA, BOMBAY, DATED 19TH MAY, 1960
attract rainfall and thus maintain the balance
'n nature which is vitally rcquned for the pros-
perity of a country Agriculture and forestry are
complementai y to each other A balanced deve-
lopment of both is essential for the prosperity of
agriculturists
Oui country has suffered a great deal by irres-
ponsible felling of trees and the denudation of
forests with the result that the rainfall has been
scanty and irregular and crops have suffered
either due to scarcity of ram or due to excessive
or untimely rains All this, can be mitigated if
forests are maintained and developed on screntr-
fic lines
I am glad to know that the Central Board of
Forestry is bringing out an Indian Forestry Book
containing comprehensive and up-to-date rnfor-
mation regarding forestry, on the occasion of the
Centenary of the Forest Department in India due
to be celebrated in 1961 This will be a very use-
ful addition to the literature on forests and
forestry
I wrsh every success to this publication.
In an agricultural economy like ours, forests
play a vital role The role of forests and trees is
not confined only to the pioduction cf material
for human use, their protective role rs even
greater, as they prevent floods, reduce the rnten-
sity of dust-storms, arrest the spread of deserts,
MESSAGE FROM SHRI K. F. PAUL, MINISTER FOR FORESTS AND TRANSPORT,
MYSORE, BANGALORE, DATED 29TH APRIL, 1960
I am happy to note that the Forest Research
Institute at the instance of Central Board of
Forestry is bringing out a Souvenir (Indian
Forestry Book) to commemorate the Centenary
of the Forest Departments in India On this occa-
sion it is worthwhile taking stock of the prob-
lems faced by the Departments and their
achievements during the course of one century
of their existence and plso to address ourselves
to the tasks facing us
Forests are the result of silent v.ork of nature
over ages As long as the wants of man \vere
limited and the nature's bounty in forest
resources was plentiful, it mattered not how the
forests were treated But with the growing popu-
lation all over the world nd with the ever-
mcreasing want, this happy situation could not
continue for long With this realisation, the need
for organised forestry for the purposes of con-
serving and development of forest icsources was
felt The achievements of the Forest Depart-
ments are many. Though much has been done,
much more remains to be done This is an occa-
sion to remember the lessons of history which
have taught humanity that neglect to preserve
this wealth may ultimately lead to disappearance
of great civilisations as rn Mesopotamia and other
regions where forest preceded man and desert
followed him
The National Forest Policy enunciated rn 1952
has clearly indicated the obligations of this gene-
ration to poster rty rn that "though the needs of
the local population must be met to a reasonable
extent, national interests should not be sacrificed
because they are not directly drscermble, rior
should the rights and interests of future genera-
tions be subordinated to the improvidence of the
present generation" It is, therefore, worth
remembering that under the popular clamour for
increased land for cultivation, forests cannot be
axed in view of the necessity for maintaining the
minimum forest area lard down, more so because
the country is facing acute shortage of timber
and firewood In this context, it may be reiterat-
ed that the salvatron of India lies in rntensive
19
cultivation for growing more food for our ever-
increasing population r.xthei than in extensive
cultivation at the saciifice of forests
The Forest Department of Mysore has nearly
doubled its afforestation programme in the course
of the last three years and today we are aftorest-
mg an area of nearly 30,000 acres per year and
it has set before it a target of afforesting 2,76,000
.acres during the III Five-Year Plan in the fulfil-
ment of which not only firewood species, but
species of economic importance arid the industrial
woods would be planted In th's manner, the
challenge of the future will be met and I have
ro doubt that the sister departments in the other
States will do like-wise
If humanity is to survive, it is essential that
forests in certain decent percentage shall have to
survive too Plant life, animal life and human
life are directly and indirectly co-related to each
other and inter-dependent on each other to such
an extent that if plant lite is eliminated from the
earth, human life is also bound to collapse If this
haid truth is not realised early and destruction of
forest is allowed to go unchecked on the scale
that is going on so long and ]f it is not reimburs-
ed on a large scale, the present generation will
have to be held liable for accusation of self-
destruction
MESSAGE FRAM GIANI KARTAR SINGH, AGRICULTURE AND FOREST
MINISTER, PUNJAB, CHANDIGARH, DATED 17TH JUNE, 1961
I am very glad the Centenary of the Forest
Departments in India is being celebrated During
these hundred years, we have come a long way
from the primitive idea that forests are merely
stoie-houses of wood, on which we could dra\\
whenever the need arises, or that they are an in-
sufferable nuisance, which must be lemoved to
make way for cultivation and grazing We have
come to realise the abundance of benefits which
their presence bestows on the lands where they
grow and on the human beings who live near
them We are now becoming aware of the balance
which should be maintained between their exis-
tence and the innumerable demands of various
kinds made on them We have attained some
success through the institution of Van Mahotsav
festivals and Soil Condensation Centies in re-
establishing among our people the respect in
which the trees were held in the days of our
ancestors This occasion provides us with the
opportunity not only to look back how far we
have progressed but to look forward to see how
far we have still to go, and so not to rest on oui
ploughs but to be on our way more zealously
until we attain perfect harmony between the
benefactor and the beneficiary
We take this opportunity of paying homage
to all those, no matter of what nationality, who
devoted their lives as members of Forest Depart-
ments to nurse and guard zealously these forests,
and who with their observations arid research
contributed to the knowledge so essential for the
well-being of the forests as well as to attain full
benefits from them without haimmg them We
also pay tribute to tho&e who are engaged in this
gigantic work and in whose hands we have
entrusted the task of welfare of these forests with
the confidence and hope that with their haid,
honest and intelligent work they will bring us
nearer to the goal we have set for ourselves *n
our National Policy abiut forests May they be
a source of inspiration, Jike those who have gone
before them in this Department, for those who
come after them
20
MESSAGE FROM SHRI SAMPAT RAM, MINISTER FOR FORESTS, RAJASTHAN,
JAIPUR, DATED 19TH MAY, 1960
I am very glad to know that an Indian Forestry
Book containing general description of the forests
and the practice of forestry m India as also des-
criptive and up-to-date statistical data compiled
by the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun, is
being brought out in two volumes at the time of
the Centenary of the Forest Departments in
India The compilation of such an exhaustive
work has been a long-left need This publication
will, therefore, be a very useful reference book
on Indian Forestry I congratulate the Central
Board of Forestry for the commendable idea and
for taking pains in implementing the same
MESSAGE FROM SHRI TARUN KANTI GHOSH, MINISTER-IN-CHARGE OF
FORESTS, WEST BENGAL, CALCUTTA, DATED 7TH JUNE, 1961
forests had been piesci wd and managed scientifi-
cally in the past and that steps have been taken
to increase the acreage of torests and to acquire
privately owned foiests for better management,
I teel that we have still to go a long way before
we can look back in jetrospect with satisfaction
and complacency
During the short period of my tenure as the
Mm'bter-m-charge of Forests, a feeling has grown
in my mind that the peopla of oar country are
not yet fully conscious of the importance of pre-
serving the forest wealth both for the supply
of timber, fuel, etc , as well as for improving the
climatic conditions All our efforts for the protec-
tion of forests will go in vain if we cannot educate
the people about the beneficial role of forests
Two Five-Yeai Plans have been completed and
we are now on the threshold of a much bigger
Plan which envisages a balanced development of
all the resources of the country The schemes in
the Foiestry Sector are long-term ones and their
implementation will yield fruits in the distant
future It is for this reason that the need for
creating consciousness about the future possibili-
ties of this National Wealth is greater than ever.
The Centenary of Forest Admmistiation in our
country will be celebrated this year in a befitting
manner. While it is true that a large area of
I am given to understand thai the Onlenary
celebrations will include mas^ Forestry-education
through distribution of brochures containing m-
foimation on forestry and ioiest administration
It is a happy augury for the nation that such a
great need for publicity has synchronised with
the countiy-wide celebrations
Technical staff that are directly in chaige of
management of the forests will, no doubt, take
this oppoitunity of making an appraisal oi the
results of the steps taken by their d'stant pie-
decessors in the course of the last hundred yeais
I appeal to them to give due regard to 1he course
of action indicated by at leabt those works of the
past which are found to oe in harmony \vith the
needs and requirements of the picscntday
world
A great deal remains yet to be done foi bring-
ing our forestry on a par \vith that of the moie
advanced nations of the woild Determination,
diligence ard perseverance are required to
continue this extremely beneficial task There
may be frustrations and obstructions Hut these
snould be considered incidental in the crusade
ior any good cause
Let the foresters all over India march forward
into the second century ot scientific management
of the forests of our country with courage in
then hearts, faith in their mission and hope for
a bright future.
MESSAGE FROM SHRI ALGU RAI SHASTRI, VAN MANTR1, VTTAR PRADESH,
DATED 22ND JULY, 1961
It is a matter of great satisfaction to note that
the Forest Administration in India has completed
100 years of its existence 100 yeais in the life of
the forest is not a very long period In fact a
single generation of trees often takes more than
a century to grow to maturity The development
of foiests is, therefore, a process of centuries Yet
the strides taken by the Forest Administration
during its first 100 years have no doubt been
spectacular Effective control of the evil practices
of wanton destruction of trees, introduction of
scientific management of iorests which envisages
the forest stock to continue in perpetuity, fire
conservancy, survey, initiation of rationalised
uses of forest pioducts, seasoning and prophylac-
tic treatment of wood, uses of diverse indigenous
products in place of those imported from foreign
countries, etc , have proved extremely beneficial
to our national economy
I am happy at the role played by the Uttar
Pradesh in stimulating forestry development of
the country The first forestry school in India
with an inter-State beanng was established at
Dehra Dun in 1878 by the Government of the
then North-West Province The admmrstratron
of this school was taken o\er by the Cential
Government m 1885 This institution has a proud
record of not only having trained large number
of Forest Rangers and Officers from various
States of India and neighbouring countries, but
also of having since giown into a renowned
international centre of forest training and
research under the name of the Foiest Research
Tnst.tute and Colleges The varied forest types of
Uttar Pradesh and a vast variety of its products
have had a vital part to play m the development
of scientific forestry in India They have lent
ideal conditions of field education to many gene-
rations of students of foiestiy and a vast field for
the activities of the research workers
A great deal, however, has yet to be achieved
by way of further development of our forests
Along with the planting of more trees, we have
to adopt means of intensification of production
with the object of selt-suJheiency in timber, fuel
and other raw materials Along with other
measures with this end in view, a scheme of Farm
Forestry has also been initiated m the State
Third Five-Year Plan This schemes aims at mak-
ing the villagers self sufficient in their require-
ment of fuel and timber for domestic use and
will also enable them to divert the cow dung to
the fields as manure instead of burning it in their
hearths For the little tune I have been at the
helm of the forest administration in Uttai Pra-
desh, I have had occasion to see some of the
develooment and other activities of the Depart-
ment and I am confident that the Department
will continue to live up to its past traditions and
serve the people m an ever mcreasmg measure
On this occasion I extend my most warm
greetings to all ranks of forest personnel in Indict
and appeal to them to make all efforts for the
improvement of forests and forestry.
22
MESSAGE FROM SHRI BAJRANG BAHADUR SINGH BHADRI, LIEUTENANT
GOVERNOR, HIMACHAL PRADESH, RAJ NIWAS, SIMLA-*, DATED 4TH JULY, 1961
I am glad to learn that a book on Indian
Forestry containing comprehensive and up-to-
date information about forests in our country is
being brought out on the occasion of the Cente-
nary of the Forest Departments A\hich will be
held in 1961
Forests, besides providing employment for
about a million of our countrymen also help in
conditioning the weather, in preventing soil ero-
sion and maintaining the physical conditions of
the country Indian forests contain various types
of forest vegetation according to the climate,
soil, its level and other local conditions Forests
are also a source of consideiable wealth to the
country as they yield valuable timber, fuel,
medicinal herbs, etc.
It has become essencial now to preserve the
forests, specially those forests which form water-
shed areas of majc
country and it is a
direction have already been taken by the respec-
tive State Governments
According to the National Forest Policy, 60 per
cent area of the land m hills and 20 per cent in
the plains must be maintained under forest
growth Attention, almost thioughout the
country, has been paid towards re-conditioning
forests so as to check the mobilisation of deserts,
encroachment of sea-sands on coastal tracts and
soil erosion in general
I hope this publication will stimulate greater
interest for the preservation of foiests and the
data which will be supplied by this book will
serve as a valuable guide to those who are asso-
ciated with Indian Forestry and its future plans
23
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC
NATIONAL EXECUTIVE POWER, STATE SECRETARIAT OF AGRICULTURE AND
LIVESTOCK, NATIONAL FORESTRY ADMINISTRATION
On the occasion of the celebration of the First
Centenary of the Indian Forestry Admmistra-
t tion, the NATIONAL FORESTRY ADMINIS-
' TRATION transmits to the same, its warm greet-
ings, on such a happy event
One must recognize that during this century,
an important forestry action has been carried
out, which tianscends the boundaries of that
country
The forestry works, the improvement of the
techniques and all that which constitutes the
progress of the forestry activity, has been due,
undoubtedly, to the efforts made by the forestry
technicians of India and to the tenacity shown
on more than one occasion
The similarity of ideals, the daily fight to place
our forestry services at the height of the best in
the world, the constant research and the field life
m the virginal forest to reach a better forest
development make us feel brothers to the forest-
ers of India
The NATIONAL FORESTS ADMINISTRA-
TION. National Forestry Service of the Argen
tine Republic, wishes lo join on this opportunity
to the reioicmg of the Indian colleagues and
wishes them, as up to the present, the best of
successes in their tasks
ELIAS DABAS
Agronomical Engineer
Administrator General of Forests
BUENOS AIRES,
October 1960
AUSTRALIA
FORESTRY AND TIMBER BUREAU
This Bureau is most interested m the comple-
tion of a century of creditable forest work in
India, and I would like to suggest the following
as a congratulatory message
"The Indian Forests Service was the first of
the Great Forest Services of the British Common-
wealth of Nations and the initials "I F S ' listed
in connection with a name or publication com-
mand well-earned respect throughout the World
The Founders and early leaders of the Service
not only started significant scientific forestry in
tropical or near-tropical areas, but they also
commenced training schemes at professional and
sub-professional level, which have had a pro-
found influence wherever forestry is practised
The magnificent Forest Research Institute at
Dehra Dun has done splendid research work and
trained a fine Service Its publications are re
nowned While Dehra Dun may be the symbol of
Indian forestry, it would not be so significant
were it not for the devoted foresters who manage 1
the woodlands of the States of India and main-
tain the series of experimental areas that are
the basis of so much of Indian forest practice
The foresters of Australia congratulate the
Indian Forest Service for a century of splendid
achievement and wish them well m the years
that lie ahead "
CANBERRA,
May 27, 1960
M R JACOB
Acting Director Geneial
CANADA
DIRECTOR, FORESTRY BRANCH, DEPARTMENT OF NORTHERN AFFAIRS AND
NATIONAL RESOURCES
It is a great pleasure to offer to the Indian
Forest Service the sinceie congratulations of the
Forestry Branch of the Depaitment of Northern
Affairs and National Rcsoiuces of Canada, on ts
magnificent accomplishments during the past one
hundred years
Since its foundations were well and tiuly laid
by such men as Sir Dietrich Brandis and Sir
William Schlich, the Indian Foiest Service has
built up a record of progress and of service lo
the nation in the truest sense of the word, which
is unsui passed The steady evolution of a forest
policy, which pays due regard to local as well as
to national needs, has attracted world-wide
interest Forest research and forestry education
have grown steadily m response to the demands
of the forest admmistiators for additional know
ledge and for an adequate Fupply of v\el -trained
men to use it
Canadian foresters recall with pleasure the
visit of Messrs Chatuivech, Ranganathan and
Banerjr to this country in 1952, on the occasion
of the S xth British Commonwealth Forestry
Conference I am sure that all members of the
forestry profession in Canada wil 1 w r i c h to join
with me in extending lo the Inspector-General of
Forests and his colleagues the best of good wishes
for still greater progress in tho yeais to come
OTTAWA,
June 20, 1960
J. D B HARRISON
Director
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
EXCERPTS FROM A MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM THE DIRECTOR OF ADMINIS-
TRATION OF FORESTS, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, GOVERNMENT OF
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Please accept cordial greetings from Czecho-
slovak foresters and all the Czechoslovak people
together with their sincere congratulations on the
occasion of the celebrations marking the cente-
nary of systematic scientific administration of
your forests
The people of our People's Democratic Re-
public follow with joy and deep understanding
the economic development of your country,
which reflects itself in the whole national
economy including the production of timber
Czechoslovak foresters follow your develop-
ment for yet another reason they too strive for
the improvement of forest administration In our
country, forests are consider r>d not only an im-
portant source of raw materials, but also an
integral part of our countryside and, therefore,
deserving full protection In our socialist State,
forests do not only provide timber, but are an
important factor of maior influence from the
point of view of clim.it e and nydmlogy of
Central Europe Forests in Czechoslovakia are ol
great importance, especially as regards the equa-
bility of outflow of water, because our country is
a region containing Uie sources of many Euro
pean rivers Our Republic produces annually
more than 10 million cubic metres of timber on
Hie area of over 4 million hectares, meeting fully
the requirements of our wood industry and the
programme of construction By inci easing the
industr al production and by the large-scale cons-
truction programme of our Slate, ic, the indus-
trial and housing construction programme, the
arm of whrch is to raise the living standard of
the people, the demand ior trmber rs rising Tne
State sees to it that wood is used economrcally
aid, wherever possrble, that rt is replaced by
plastics which are supplied rn an ever-increasing
variety by our advanced chemical industry
This enables, desprte the growrng industrial
production and the construction programme, to
cut down timber production every year in order
to save woods in Czechoslovakia and enable them
to fulfil properly other important functions in
the creation of pleasant environment for
man, climate, protection of the soil against ero-
sion, fulfil their hydrological furtct'on and retain
their importance in the defence of the country
There is no citizen in our country who would
rot be aware of the importance of foiests Syste-
matic propagation and annual celebrations under
the slogan "Apnl the Month of Forests" help in
cheating the correct attitude ot citizens towards
forests, so that they consider them as rational
property and feel it their duty to protect tnem
The fact that there are no forests in our country
in the hands of big land-owneis is a factor con-
ducive to the creation of such an attitude Ex-
cluding a negligible pait of small foiests owned
by farmer-members of co-opeiative-i, all iorests
are under the State Forest Admmistiation Bui
also small forests owned by farmeis ,-re under
expert supervision of the State Forest Adminis-
tration m order to ensuie that they are properly
taken care of, and to secure the production and
purchase of timber by the State
Foiestry has made great stndes forward in
technique and mechanization In timber produc-
tion, which previously depended solely on hand-
saws motor-saws have been introduced, and for
transport of timber, trucks and tractors of home
production have been used almost without excep-
tion By a suitable transport notwoik and divi-
sion of forests into sectors the Czechoslovak
forest administration also tries to riechamze the
transport of timber from the place wheie trees
are cut down to the place whera they are picked
up by trucks The forest admmistiation has also
successfully tackled the problem of clearings
and thin wood areas, partly caused by natural
disasters which occurred over the past 20 years
Our Republic tackles also the big tasks of pro-
tection of nature and forests A special govern-
mental committee has been set up to improve the
agricultural, hydrologic and forest administration
and to prevent any devastation of the country
which may occur in connexion \viih production
in these fields, as well as any harmful effects of
exhalations, waste waters, dust and ashes of the
speedily developing industrial production
We wish you, dear Indian friends, that your
country be a flowering garden with happy people
and children who will enjoy and profit from your
forests
We aie convinced that you have every pre-
requisite for it a beautiful and rich countiy and
diligent and hardworking people to whom we
wish to extend once again our congratulations on
the occasion of such an important anniversary of
Indian forestry
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANISATION, UNITED NATIONS
The occasion of the Certenaiy of Forest Ad-
mmistiation in India is, indeed, a milestone not
only in the history of India but in that of inter-
national forestry The giowth and development
of forestry in India has been the ob]ecl of
interest and admiration not only in the counties
of the East, but in very many other parts of the
world, ths is particularly so in the case of the
Forestry and Forest Products Division of F A O
India has been faced by many diverse and often
acute problems in the field of forestry These
problems have been tackled by the Forestry Ad-
ministration with skill and foresight In this con-
text, I cannot let pass the opportunity to mention
the Forest Research Institute at Dehra Dun, to
whose past and present staff this success has
been so laigely attributable
I would like to convey to the Forest Adminis-
tration the warmest wishes on my own behalf
and on that of the membeis cf the staff of the
Foiestry and Forest Products Division of FAO
for the celebration of the Centenary of the Forest
Administration and for the continuation of its
great work in the future
EGON GLESINGER
Director
Forestry and Forest Products Division
ROME,
June 24, 1960
26
GHANA
CHIEF CONSERVATOR OF FORESTS
The influence of forestry in India during the
past hundred years has not been confined within
her borders, great though the eilects within them
have been India was the iirst of the then British
Dependencies in which the importance of scienti-
fic forestry was realised and the appointment of
Sir Dietrich Brandis as first Inspector-General of
Forests was one of those ordinary decisions
which were in fact epoch-making
It was natural that when the importance of
forestry to the public well-being was realised by
the Administration of other dependencies, it was
from the established and growing Indian Forest
Service that advisers and personnel weie sought
The majority of the old Bntish Colonial Forest
Services, including that the Gold Coast, new
Ghana, were established upon reports by distin-
guished members of the Indian Forest Service,
and their forest policy, administration and tenta-
tive silviculture were based on those already
found suitable and fruitful in India So that India
may fairly claim to have mothered the Forest
Services of a great majority of the members of
A ,he British Commonwealth
Its influence did not end there, however When
,he United Kingdom veiy belatedly realised the
need for University Faculties of Foiestry, it was
again to the Indian Forest Service that resort
was made for Professors and Lecturers, so that
for fifty years Forestry undei graduates of the
Commonwealth have sat at the feet of teacheis
whose practical experience was gained in India
and who diew most of their examples from there
The tenets of Indian forestry may well be said to
have permeated the development of forestry
thioughout the Common wealth, though many of
the practitioners never had the opportunity of
seeing in person the magnificently managed
forests of India
It is only in the last decade that things have
changed and Ghana, for instance, is developing
silvicultural techniques particularly suited to her
forests, but they still rest on the basis which was
so thoroughly pioneered in India
One hundred years in forestry is only m many
cases a crop rotation, so that the final fruition of
action initiated in 1861 has only now been attain-
ed, but it is a continuing process and India can
look forward to the coming century with the
knowledge that her foiests are bemg continually
developed and their pioductivity is steadily in-
creasing
ALISTAIR FOGGIE
Chief Conservator of Forests
Ghana
ACCRA,
July 9, 1960
INDONESIA
REPUBLIK INDONESIA, KEMENTERIAN PERTANIAN, KANTOR PUSAT
It is a great pleasure for me to forward my
sincere congratulations to the Forest Service of
India on the occasion of the Centenary of its
Forest Administration. Although in terms of
forestiy one hundred years is not something
extraordinary, but concerning the development
of a forest administration it can mean something
important This is the case with Indian Forest
Administration, which can proudly look back
upon its history of development and advance It
has indeed contributed a great deal to the
treasure of experience and knowledge on tropical
forestry I am sure the Indian Forest Service will
continue to play its significant role in the
advancement of tropical forestry, in particular in
the Asian and Pacific region
IR SOESILO H PRAKOSO
Director General
Directorate of Forestry and Land Utilization
Indonesia
DJAKARTA,
July 9, 1960
27
INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE AND NATURAL
RESOURCES COMMISSION ON ECOLOGY
India, with its contrasts of climate and soil,
possesses a unique variety of forest tjpes ranging
from tropical evergreen foiests in the Western
Ghats to the coniferous foiests of the high
Western Himalayas The forests of India are
justifiably world-famed for the richness of their
wild-life, particularly for the larger mammals,
such as tiger, panther, elephant, bison, lion and
rhinoceros, but then- impoitance as sanctuaries
must not be under-estimated Although large
areas of forests have been cleared for cultivation,
particularly on the plains, end some forests aie
still subject to shifting cultivation, much timber-
covered land remains and several forest sanct-
uaries have been established Forest sanctuaries
with their scenic beauty and attractive wild-life
must provide relaxation and recreation for the
Indian people The effective conservation
measutes taken by the Indian Government to
protect the Great Indian Rhinoceros, Rhinoceros
unicornis, provide a good example of its interest
in safeguarding the indigenous fauna and flora
and of its acceptance of the international res-
ponsibilities for wild-life pieservation
Traditionally, besides providing timber and
food, forests also protect the soil and water re-
sources which are so essential to the welfare of a
country Past exploitation of the hill forests has
resulted in the loss for human use of valuable
land by flooding and erosion, but the dangers of
unwise use of forest land are now well recog-
nised Reafforestation schemes are already im-
proving devastated areas and preventing further
destruction of human settlement by wind or water-
carried sediments, for the protective influence of
the forest go fai beyond forest boundaries
The Commission on Ecology of the International
Union foi Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources fully recognises the importance of the
past contribution made to conservation practices
by Indian forests and foresters and, in this cente-
nary year of forest administration in India, looks
forward to their future role and impact upon
world wide conservation
BRUSSELS, 4
November 28, 1960
The 1U C N Commission on
Ecology
IRAN
FOREST ORGANISATION
I consider it a great pleasure to convey, on my
own behalf and on behalf of the employees of the
Iranian Forest Organisation, hearty congratula-
tions to the forest officers of our friendly country,
India, for their valuable efforts during this one
century in the preservation of this great national
asset and for effecting great improvements in the
technique and methods for the utilisation of the
forests, and further to mention that happily
during the recent years our cultural links have
extended to the field forestry and to the old
School of Forestry, Dehra Dun, as well It is
hoped that by sending students on scholarships
to this Institute these links become closer and
will be beneficial to the preservation of forests
I request you to convey my own and that of the
engineers and other employees of the Iranian
Forest Organisation sincere and warm greetings
to the Pnncipal, School of Forestry, Dehra Dun
I pray to the Almighty to grant you ard all other
enployees of the Indian Forest Organisation
success in the discharge of their great responsibi-
lity
BRIG ALI KHAWAJA NOORI
Head of the Iran Forest Organisation
TEHRAN,
September 7, 1960
ITALY
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTS, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF
MOUNTAINS (ECONOMY) AND FORESTS
For the celebration of one of the Arbor Days in
Italy, the first after the War, an Indian represen-
tative from FAO, during a ceremony in Rome,
made a speech so suggestive and so deep that all
those who had the opportunity of listening to him
were so much impressed that they will remember
it for ever The foresters in particular were very
much attracted towards their Indian colleagues,
who love trees so deeply and appreciate their
precious function in the natural processes and in
the evolution of civilizations
In international meetings, I have often received
confirmation of this spirit and I have kept a happy
lemembiance of our colleagues and friends of
the Indian Nation
I am, therefore, extremely pleased to express to
all thj members of the Forest Administration of
India, on the happy occasion of its Centenary, the
warmest sympathy of all the members of the
Italian Forest Administration, as well as our
smcerest wishes that its activity be constantly
fruitful and successful
The work of us, foresters, is undoubtedly a type
of work which unites all of us in the whole
world, as it serves the same purpose, raises the
same problems ancl leads everywhere (by the
glorification of nature through trees, which are
her most complete expression) towards peace and
prosperity among mankind, by offering conti-
nuously an indication and a suggestive symbol of
that oider and equilibrium which is the harmony
of the Universe and which stands as a foundation
of every true civilization
Accompanied by this feeling, which I know is so
deep and alive among Indians, the wishes of the?
Italian foresters to their colleagues are a sign of
solidarity and an encouragement for a close co-
operation, meant to be an act of faith in brother-
hood of peoples towards civilization
ALBERTO CAMAITI
ROME, Director General of Forestry
June, 1960 Italy
MALAYA
FOREST DEPARTMENT, FEDERATION OF MALAYA
I am glad to learn that the time has come for
the Forest Department of India to celebrate the
centenary of its establishment Its progress has
proved so successful that I greatly appreciate the
privilege extended to me in the way of letting
the department have a congratulatory message
for this memorable occasion It has already
established its reputation and I am suie it will
enhance further
The work which was started by the first Forest
Officer in the last century leavened the expan-
sion that India can now enjoy the fruits of his
work At the same time I take the opportunity to
congratulate every member of the department at
this propitious moment for their continuous co-
operation which contributed to the progress and
development so far achieved.
It is interesting to look back and see what the
early foresters had in their mind They believed,
as we do now, that their first duty was to main-
tain enough land under forest to prevent erosion,
to maintain water supplies and to preserve cli-
matic conditions, especially rainfall, and their
second duty was to ensure for the people an ade-
quate and permanent supply of cheap timber
firewood and other forest produce
Although the close touch between Indian and
Malayan forestry was established as far back as
1898 with the Calcutta Herbarium, the visit of
Mr H C Hill, I F S , who toured Malaya, did not
take place until 1900 Mr Hill submitted a report
on the system of forest administration then exist-
ing and offered some suggestions by recommend-
ing, among other things, the future management
of the Malayan forests and the formation of a
separate department of forestry As a result, Mr
A M Burn-Murdock was appointed as the first
head of the Malayan Forest Department in 1902
29
The link was further strengthened with the ap-
pointment of Mr G E S Cubitt, also of Indian
Forest Service, as head of the Malayan Forest
Department during 191529 During the tenure of
office of Mr Cubitt the foundation of modern
forest research, both in this field of silviculture
and forest products, was laid in Malaya.
In conclusion, may I express that, when India's
lesiuiees are taken into account her record to
date in various branches of the department's work
is a good one
MOHD ALWY BIN HAJI SULEIMAN
KUALA LUMPUR, Chief Conservator of Forests
May 28, 1960 Federation of Malaya
NEW ZEALAND
DIRECTOR GENERAL OF FORESTS
It is with pleasure that I offer good wishes from
the New Zealand Forest Service as you celebrate
100 years of forest administration in India We
have heaid, at international meetings and through
visits to yoar land, of the tremendous pressure on
your foiest resources and on the- men of the
foiest administration, who have been called to do
a forestiy job on a really grand scale We have
heard how short dry fuel is in India,* that
your wonderful wild-life is vanishing as there is
gi eater hunan ingress in lural forests, that forest
] and has had to give away its tiees in places
where only the forest cover held back soil erosion
and aridity, and that new timber plantations must
often be giown on inhospitable sites yet with
fairly refractory species
But we have heard, too, of the deep respect
among many dignitaries and oflicials for forests,
and the lively devotion of forest officers towards
planting and husbanding extensive new planta-
tions This tespect and devotion, and the dynamic
forestry ideas already existing in your five-year
plans, will ultimately cieate a great amount of
wealth and abundance from forests, such ideas
are in a way synbolised in your national flag by
the Dharma Chakra and the green band, which
have been said to be a sign of dynamic force and
the people's i elation to the plant life on which
all other life depends
Rather than being one science, the calling of
forestry is moie an art involving many sciences
and philosophies, varying as these do from one
part of the world to another, visits to different
forestry countries aie often helpful in evolving
the soundest policy and development, the New
Zealand Forest Service will always look forward
to forestry visitors from your country who wish
to be shown forestiy practices, training and ad-
ministration in New Zealand
WELLINGTON,
December 16, i960
ALEX R ENTRICAN
Director-General of Forests
New Zealand Forest Service
NORWAY
DET KONGELIGE LANDBRUKS DEPARTMENT, SKOGDIREKTORATET
DIRECTOR OF FORESTRY
I have been informed that the Forest Adminis-
tration of India in 1961 has been in force one
hundred yeais I will take this opportunity to
congratulate the Forest Administration of India on
the lesults which it has achieved, results which I
believe have been of the greatest advantage for
the forestry m your country
The Forest Administration has also contributed
to promote the development of forestry on a
world-wide scale through international co-opera-
tion in this field
At the same time I want to send my best
wishes for further success in the coming years
OSLO,
June 9, 1960
A LANGSAETER
Director of Forestry
Norway
30
PAKISTAN
INSPECTOR GENERAL OF FORESTS
I find myself in a privileged position to send
this message, as for eighteen long years, I had
the honour of being a member of the Indian
Forest Service, whose contribution to the ad-
vancement of forestry would form a substantial
part of the celebrations at the Centenary
Starting from scratch, this Service covered the
vast Indian Forests with Policy, legislation, lite-
rature and management which have given India
the high position it occupies in the forest world
The manner in which the new generation of
foresters has maintained standards is most
heartening, and I am confident that the challenge
to the Indian forests posed by the demands of an
every-expanding population, industry and deve-
lopment would be met effectively, For myself
and on behalf of my colleagues in Pakistan, I
wish Indian Forestry a bright future
KARACHI,
June 23, 1960
TASDIQUE HUSSAIN
Inspector General of Forests
Pakistan
PHILIPPINES
REPUBLIC OF PHILIPPINES, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL
RESOURCES, BUREAU OF FORESTRY
The Philippine Bureau of Forestry salutes the
people of India and India's Ministry of Food and
Agriculture on the occasion of the Centenary of
forest administration in their country
The importance of forests to every man is one
fact on which all temporal ideologies seem to
agree Wherever forests are, they faithfully play
their beneficial role, even without any treaty
with the peoples they serve
We, in the Philippines, have noted with in-
terest the progress of forest administration m
India The feat of the one hundred years of
Indian Forestry must have been accomplished
with the same indomitable spirit which has
gloriously sustained the country in its monu-
mental struggle for a place of dignity in the con-
cert of tree nations
We are sure that Indian forestry, like the
Indian nation, will be able to anchor securely
to unyielding progress The Philippine Forestry
wishes Indian Forestry eternal good luck
MANILA,
June 14, 1960
TIBURCIO S SEREVO
Acting Director of Forestry
Renubhc of the Philippines
POLAND
DIRECTOR, HEAD OFFICE OF STATE FORESTS
On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary
of the existence of the Forest Administration
in India, I have the honour to send you my
hearty congratulations on the splendid achieve-
ments in the organisation of Forest Administra-
tion and Forest Economy in India Forestry in
India functions in conditions so different from
those in Europe, that it frequently requires
gigantic pioneer and inventive effort
From short and pleasant observations made by
the Polish Delegation during the Fourth Inter-
national Forestry Congress in Dehra Dun we have
preserved and we have conveyed to the Polish
public our ineffaceable impressions of the impos-
ing development and high achievements of the
science of forestry in liberated India,
On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary
Forestry and Foresters in India, I am sending
in the name of the Polish foresters friendly
greetings for all Indian foresters and aRo wish
that the forests in India may develop and last
for the use of your liberated Fatherland
Knowing the unbreakable desire of the Indian
nation for peaceful coexistence, I close with the
motto
Long live peace among nations
WARSAW,
June 24, 1960
Director
Head O#ice of State Forests
Poland
31
RUMANIA
EXCERPIS FROM A MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THBJ FOREST
RESEARCH INSTITUTE, RUMANIAN PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC
The celebration oi the centenary of the first
attempt towards a systematic and scientific
management ot India's forests represents a hom-
age paid to the ftist Indian foresters who laid
the basis of conseivation, tending and turning
to account of the foiests in your country This
action is m accordance with the traditions of the
Indian people, who lespact and admire the legen-
dary cedar and teak trees, which sn'adow the soil
)f your countiy and had witnessed the multi-
seculary historical struggles of the Indian people
The Rumanian people and the Rumanian
ioiestci understand v^ry well the present prob-
lems or the Indian toiest economy and follow with
an ever -increasing interest and satisfaction in its
achievements
During Indian Five-Year Plans much valuable
airorestat'on and eiosion contiol work has been
Accomplished, consolidating thus the part played
by the forests rn the national economy, and the
function of the iorests as a protection means At
the same time, similar work was accomplished on
a large scale in the Rumanian People's Republic,
too
We are acquainted with the pi ogress realized
by Indian foiest science, especially in forest
botany, chemical seasoning of weed, icsins and
other minor forest prrducts
The Rumanian people fully appreciate the fact
that India spends a great share of the national
income for the development of agriculture and
silvicultuie improving thus the standard of life
ot the Indian people On this occasion we want to
express our friendship towards the Indian people
We hope that in the future the friendly relations
between our countrres will develop more and
more m the spint of peaceful collaboration and
the struggle for preserving and consolidating
peace
In honour of the Centenary of Forest Adminis-
tration m India, the Rumanian foresters send a
hearty greeting to the Indian foresters and wish
them more success in the great work of forma-
tion tending and tuinmg to account of the forests,
so that Indian foresters should contribute more
and more to the development of Indian national
economy and to the welfare of the Indian people
D IVANESCU
Director of the Forest Research
BUCHAREST, Institute in the Rumanian People's
September 5, 1960 Republic Bucharest
SOUTHERN RHODESIA
FORESTRY COMMISSION
1961 is a historic year in Indian forestiy for it
marks the Centenaiy of systematic, scientific
foiest managemen 1 In retrospect, it is amazing
\vhat has been achieved in the hundred years
India's influence in forestry in the Empire falls
under six mam heads First and foremost must
be the fact that many hundreds of forest officers
m the Empire, and probably over 75 per cent rn
the dependent Colonies have been trained by
men who served in the Indian Forest Service
and. from 1895 to the present day consisted of
Brandis Schlich, Stebbmg, Troup and Champion
These men laid down the basic principles of
systematic forestry and all Commonwealth
countries are deeply indebted to them
India pioneered the framing of Rangers and
Foresters when m 1878 she established the Central
T /!Mi'T}frm,m A.
Forest School for Rangers at Dehra Dun.
While it is true that, for centuries in the
United Kingdom, there were proclamations
which aimed at preserving the forests and, to
come nearer home, the Dutch East India Com-
pany issued "placaats" from the 17th Century
onwards which aimed at preserving forests m the
Cape of Good Hope, true forest legislation pro-
bably emanated m India Your Forest Law of
1805 was followed by the Foiest Act of 1878
which, with amendments, remains in force today
Most Commonwealth Forest Services have based
their legislation on yours.
Most services today have botanists and ecolo-
gists on their staffs but here again India led the
field with such outstanding forest botanists as
Brandis, Gamble, Beddome, Kanjilal and Troup
32
The first systematic working plans were done
in India They probably commenced with Con-
nolly's work m establishing teak plantations at
Nilambur and there must be few sylvics who do
not know of the Nilambui Working Plan The
standard set in India has been followed by most
countries
Last but not least is your research work This
came into its own in 1906 at Dehra Dun and has
proceeded apace since then India's pioneering
work in silviculture, forest entomology, wood
technology, timber testing and seasoning, wood
pieseivation, pulp and paper and minor forest
produce has been followed by all Commonwealth
forest services
You have had one hundred years of great
success and if the second century period produces
similar achievements your country's forestal re-
cord will be lemarkable
The congratulations and best wishes of all
membeis of the Southern Rhodesia Foiest
Service are cordially sent to the Inspector-Gene-
ral of Forests and all of his staff
SALISBURY, G M McGREGOR
June 30, 1960 Director of Forcs>tnj
Southern Rhodesia Forestry Commission
SPAIN
DIRECTOR GENERAL OF FORESTS, GAME AND RIVER FISH
On the occasion of the centenary of the Forest
Administration of India, I, on my own behalf
and on behalt of the General Directorate of
Forests, Game, and River Fish as well as
Spanish forest departments, send our fncndly
felicitations and best wishes for the future of
the Forest Administration of India and its tech-
nicians Spam, which has been making great
efforts to conseive and impiove its forest herit-
age and which has affoies'ed neaily fifteen lac
hectares m the past twenty years appieciates
the meritorious efforts of the Indian Forest Ad-
ministration in its hundred yeais' work m de-
ience of the lorcst wealth of youi gieat countiy,
a weal f h which constitutes without any doubt
one of the greatest foiest reseives in the woild
SALVADOR SANCHEZ-HERRERAY CALLE
MADRID, Director General o/ Forests
September. 1950
Game and River Fish
SWEDEN
DIRECTOR GENERAL, SWEDISH BOARD OF CROWN FOREST AND LANDS
The Fouith World Forestry Congress held in
Dehra Dun m 1954 gave the foresters of the West
a welcome and practical opportunity to make a
closer study of toiestiy in India I personally
was unfortunately unable to attend, but dele-
gates from Scandinavia have on various occa-
sions spoken both of the respect of the progress
of Indian forestiy and of the many pleasant
memories which resulted from the Congress The
contact provided by the Congress in Dehra Dun
was most interesting, particulaily to the dele-
gates from the North, working as they do under
such dissimilar biological, climatic, geological and
social conditions
In this connexion, allow me to mention a few
figures from my own country 53 per cent of
Sweden's land area is covered in forest The
productivity of the forest land is relatively low
because of the northerly situation, but since 97
per cent of the total timber stock is made up of
only three tree species its utilization is simpli-
fied most considerably Figures supplied at the
195^ n World Congress told us that India's forest
ardjprepresents 23 per cent of the total land area,
and that the pioductivity of the enormous ram
and monsoon foicsts is cxtiemely high compared
with Sweden, wheie the average ictation foi
the Norway spi uce and Scots pine forests is 100
yeais Swedish loiests have for more than a
centuiy been highly industrialized an absolute
condition foi prosperous forestry The marketing
of timber has bjen improved little/ by little
during this period In India, which has had more
difficult technical problems to contend with, it
appears that the task of utilizing the great forest
and bamboo resources is on the way to being
solved^ It is with pleasure that we in Sweden
watch the way in which the forest industry in
India is growing into a mighty factor in the sup-
poit of your country
When, in conjunction with the 100th anniver-
sary of the administration of India's forests, I
am enabled to send gieetings from Sweden, I can
do so as the head of a State forest institution
the Swedish Forest Service whose term of
administration is but one or two years
longer than India's We in Sweden still take
pleasure m the visit which was paid by
33
the Indian head of FAO, Director-General
B R Sen, m conjunction with our 100th
anniversary On that occasion he was kind
enough to utter woids of acknowledgement for the
advice, concerning both forestry and the forest
manuf actui ing industry, which, particularly
since World War II in the spirit which character-
izes the endeavours of the United Nations Or-
ganization, Sweden was able to supply to among
others Indian foresters It is a source of satisfac-
tion to us in Sweden that we have perhaps in
this way made a contribution albeit small to
the improvement oi democratic co-existence
The Swedish Foiest Service was created in 1859
to administer the State forests Today, the Forest
Service administers on behalf of the State 10 per
cent of Sweden's current forest wealth However,
forestry is more laborious in the northerly parts
of Sweden, where almost 90 per cent of the State
forests are situated, for which reason the Forest
Service bears the responsibility foi an appreciably
greater share of the work provided by the Swedish
forests We consider it one of the State's mam
tasks to b e able, through the Forest Service and
on a nation-wide scale, to pursue effective experi-
mentation and instruct others how forest manage-
ment is earned out by the mo*t longlived of forest
owners, and simultaneously to contribute to the
development of forestry from within in extreme-
ly close co-operation with othei forest owners As
far as aiea is conceined, 50 per cent of the forest
owners consisL of farmers and other piivate per-
sons, 24 per cent of forest companies, 20 pei cent
of the State through the Forest Service and 6
per cent ot other forest owners
For the last fiity years of the moie than 100
during which tha Forest Service has adminis-
tered the State forests, work has been concentra-
ted more and more on the task of running the
State forests on a commercial basis without
jeopardizing stability and endurance It is hoped
that in the long-term, as has been the rule in the
last few decades, the forests will be able to give
a good yield Another major aim is that the
Swedish Forest Service will be able to provide
the Swedish forest industry with a reasonably
smooth supply of timber, and a considerable pro-
portion of these engaged in forestry with a good
and reliable livelihood
However, these intentions cannot be realized
to best advantage unless we look beyond our
national boundaries Despite the often radical
differences which characterize the various races of
the world, we have grown very close to one an-
other in latter years We also know that no race
can live and develop entirely on its own, we must
all be aware of our common responsibility regard-
ing assistance and welfare, and cultural and
technical progress Foresters the world over have
in this respect and advantage over many other
groups, our common problems are not of a con-
troversial nature, but prompt us instead to seek
the answers to our questions in co-operation with
each other, well aware that this method is most
advantageous to us all
It is in this spirit that, on the occasion of this
jubilee, I convey the greetings of the 1,700 officials
and 12,000 permanently employed forest workers
of the Swedish State forest industry, m the fond
hope that the Indian forest industry and its
many employees of various categories will enjoy
a happy and successful future
ERIK W HOJER
Director General, The Swedish
Board of Ciown Forests and Lands
STOCKHOLM,
October 17, 1960
UNITED STATES
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF
I congratulate you on the notable progress made
in Indian forestry during the past century India
pioneered in tropical forestry, and its influence
spread to other parts of the world, including the
American and African tropics Many foresters
from many countries have profited from your
experience In the early years of forestry in the
United States, Indian experience m forest
administration was drawn upon by Gifford
Pmchot and other leaders m developing
American forestry institutions In fact, Mr
Pmchot once said that the Indian forestry
terms "forest conservancy" and "forest con-
servator" suggested American use of the term
OF AMERICA
AGRICULTURE, FOREST SERVICE
"conservation" in connection with what became
the conservation movement in this country
Indian forestry over the past century has contri-
buted much, not only to the welfare of India and
Southern Asia, but to the world at large
I send best wishes to the Indian Forest Seivice
for its success during the coming century and a
continuing record of accomplishment
WASHINGTON, DC
May 24, 1960
RICHARD E Me ARDLE
Chief, Forest Service
34
UNION OF THE SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
MESSAGE OF GREETINGS OF THE FORESTERS OF SOVIET UNION TO THE
FORESTERS OF INDIA ON THE OCCASION OF THE CENTENARY OF FOREST
ADMINISTRATION IN INDIA
The Forestry and Agro-Foresters Section of
VASKHMIL send their hearty greetings to the
forestry specialists and workers of India on the
occasion of the Centenary of the Forest Adminis-
tration of India
The traditionally friendly relations between
the peoples of the Soviet Union and India trace
back to centuries These relations have always
served to strengthen the cultural and economic
unity of the peoples of our countries Favourable
conditions foi the development of friendly rela-
tions and contacts between the USSR and India
were created only after the proclamation of India
as an Independent Nation on 15th August 1947
and particularly after India became a Sovereign
Republic on 26th January 1950
It is well known to Soviet foresters that the
forester's of India have carried out titanic work
foi the liquidation of traces of proprietorship in
the forest land left by the colonialists Indian
foresters are taking great care to pieserve and in-
crease the forest wealth of India We Soviet
foresters are in full agreement with the slogan of
Indian foresters "Tree means water, water means
bread and bread means life" We deeply appre-
ciate the efforts of the foresters of India to renew
useless teak forests, to make the most effective
possible use of forest land, to control soil erosion,
to effect the afforestation of treeless areas and the
protection of the forest-economy of the country
Science plays an important role in the proper
running of a forest economy Indian forest re-
search workers who in the last 50 years have pub-
lished more than 1000 interesting papers have
rightly merited world-wide recognition
On the occasion of this great anniversary we,
Soviet foresters, will be watching the development
of scientific and practical forestry of India due
to the persistent efforts of Indian foresteis with
the greatest interest and sympathy We sincerely
wish the workers and scientists of Indian forestry
all success in the noble task of raising the condi-
tion of Indian forests to the highest possible level
WEST GERMANY
DIRECTOR OF FORESTRY AND TIMBER ECONOMY, FEDERAL MINISTRY OF
FOOD, AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY
On behalf of German Forestry I wish to convey
my warmest felicitations on the Centenary of
Forest Administration in India German Forestry
considers it a great success that Indian foresters
and scientists have managed by their untiring and
methodical work to develop the present flourish-
ing Indian Forestry from the first few seeds
sown in India by German foresters at their time
When I visited India in 1956 on the occasion of
the IV World Forestry Congress I saw with my
own eyes the high state of forestry and forest
research in your beautiful country I am firmly
convinced that Indian Forestry has adopted the
proper course in solving the particularly difficult
forestry problems of India and for this work I
wish you every success in the future
'I- 1
W. MANN
Director of Forestry and
Timber Economy
BONN, Federal Ministry of Food,
May 25, 1960 Agriculture and Forestry
Rem/n/scences
Woodman, spare that tree'
Touch not a single bough 1
In youth it shekel ed me,
And I '11 protect it now
George Pope Morris
UTTAR PRADESH 19031937
(BY F CANNING)*
There are not many left of this period, so per-
haps some personal reminiscences may be of
interest to those who have followed What a privi-
lege it was to have served in the Indian Forest
Service duimg these years and what a wonder-
ful life'
Recruitment was through the Secretary of State
for India and for the entrance examination vacan-
cies were adveitised in the English papeis as for
the "Woods and Forests" There were nine vacan-
cies in our year and about thirty candidates at the
examination We were trained for three years at
Coopers Hill under the celcbiated Dr Sir
William Schhch A tour, conducted by him
thiough the German forests towaids the end of
our course, was a lifelong example of what a tour
should be It made one realise that the science of
foiestiy as recorded in text books was based on
long years of practical experience and the forests
piovided living illustrations of what we had
hitherto considered rather as theoretical proposi-
tions
Postings to Provinces in India followed in prac-
tice the order attained in the training course Our
UP Province was a favourite, considered more
advanced in Forestry than others and healthier
and so it attracted the higher placed students
This almost certainly had some effect on the rate
of progress rn the UP forests The honours ob-
tained by U P forest officers were also noteworthy
Four of the Conservators, Mason, Glover, Coward
and Champion, of the time when I was Chief,
were subsequently knighted and two of them were
Inspectors-General of Forests But perhaps the
honour giving the greatest pleasure was that the
first Indian Inspector-General of Forests, Shn
M D Chaturvedi, was chosen from the U P
To present officers, the pace of promotion early
in the century must be a surprise In my own
case a year and a half as Assistant, thirteen years
in Divisional charges, eleven in Conservator's
posts eight as Chief and six months officiating
as Inspector-General of Forests Admittedly my
case was considered abnormal and unlikely to
recur
Good luck iavomed me at the start with my
P"stir^ HS A<-stt in Khen, then one of the best
Divisions in Northern India under Clutterbuck
(later Sir Peter C ), an absolutely outstanding
forester of this period
But with only fifteen months service it was
very early to get one's lust Divisional charge for
a year in Bahrarch Compilation of a Working
Plan for the Division was also thrown m There
were then no Working Plan Conseivators and
owing to illness in that year no one inspected in
my forests
My first Circle charge was in my eleventh year
of service m the newly formed Circle of Kumaon
where I spent so much of my time Though one
was not called a Conservator, the post carried all
the usual powers of one, including direct contact
with Government, as by then Chief Conservators
had not come into existence From five years later
in my sixteenth year, I became practically conti-
nuously Conservator, gaming experience in all
circles except Working Plans
Eleven years as Conservator and then in my
twenty-sixth year I started a period of over eight
years as Chief including a short six months offi-
ciating as Inspector -General of Forests
F Canning w>s a member of the Indian Forest Service, hT^sThe~ChieF Conservator oi I "Forests,
Uttar Piadcsh, 19291937,
37
Eahraich was a wonderful expenence A veiy
fine old Forest Ranger, approaching retirement,
was my guide and mentor and a tremendous help
to me, particularly as I had not had the expenence
of holding charge of a Range Shooting was very
good and I put in on this any spare time I could
make out in the forests Game was plentiful and
tiger came in fiom the adjoining Nepal forests
as soon as there was room for them in oui forests
Six tigers in the twelve months and six panthers
and I could have had more but my programme foi
the field work of the Working Plan plotted out
day by day for the whole season, carried on up
to the rams and even a half day taken off made
it that amount later
Back m Khen then all one Division my per-
manent chaige started with the drought of 1907
and 1908 The famine of those years maiked an
epoch in provincial history The suffering was
very great, one in ten in our district were on the
roll of relief But the famine arrangements were
rather wonderful, works were arranged all over
the affected areas and everyone went at it all out
and red tape disappeared
The chief thing the Forest Department did was
in addition to the hitherto usual throwing open
ot areas for forest grazing, the first supply of
forest fodder grass, sent by rail to distant dis-
tricts A special train load went off every day and
during the moonlight periods the continuous
clank of the grass hand presses day and night is
something one still remembers This forest hay
supply developed enormously in more recent
times and Channer in the first World War and
Symthies in a later famine were responsible for
much of this.
The sal forests suffered terribly. 10,000 acres
were killed and 55,000 acres very seriously affect-
ed in the Khen Trans-Sarda forests, where the
average fall in the subsoil water level was 10 ft
and the maximum registered was a fall of 26 ft
From being a model forest to which eveiy year
classes of Dehra Dun students were taken to see
coupes round Mar ha, this tract was taken out of
regular working for some twenty years
With all these dead trees about, fires became a
very senous danger One's first big fire must al-
ways be a thing remembered My first was in the
Trans-Sarda and extended twenty miles from the
starjfjlipar the Nepal border in the north-west to
the 'finish on the railway line to Chandan Chouki
There a counterfire, chiefly by a tramload of
passengers, was jusi in time on the second day to
head off the fire on the clearing specially widened
that year owing to the greatly increased fire
hazard This and other fires in the Trans-Sarda
area (e g , 10,000 acres in one June night not far
irom Belraien) also necessitated revision of the
Working Plan and reduction of the Annual Yield
One other result of these bad fires was to stait
consideration of introducing forest telephones to
expedite control and incidentally all forest busi-
ness A complete system was later developed by
Carrington-Turner in the Tians-Sdidd
It was a basic principle of the exploitation of our
forests to consider the m'eiests of the purchasers
of our lorest produce and to see that they made
good profits After the famine year when oar con-
tractors had large unsold stocks Government re-
funded in Kherr about Rs H lakhs of purchase
money already paid, a lot of money in those days
Most of this was used by contractors to finance
the next year's working' and the good-will
established was very valuable
After eight years m sal forests it was a great
change to be posted to the pine forests ot Kumaon
It was about this time that the Forest Depart-
ment was, directed by Government, taking over
the administration of the Kumaon forests Denu-
dd 4 ion in the more accessible areds wds progres-
sing at d rate dangerous to irrigation in the pldms
dnd harmful to agriculture m the hills Mean-
while in the more remote dieas vast numbers of
large pine trees were mature, dying and rotting
away unutilised In Almora, Bhowdnr Datt Pdnt
did most of the prehmrnary rnvestigatron and
assessment of the exploitable areas and the
earlier felling schemes were based on his work.
The introduction of control and systematic ad-
ministration, so long delayed, was almost in-
evitably bound to give trouble If we'd had more
experience in the early days, some of the trouble
that occurred would have been avoided The
Forest Settlement laid down the legal position,
but its application had to be modified and progress
limited to what public opinion would support The
formation of the Kumaon Forest Advisory Com-
mrttee of non-officials with the Commissioner and
the Conservator ds the only officral members was
perhaps the greatest step which led towards pub-
lic appreciation of the value of these forests both
to Kumaon and the Province Village Communal
Forests managed by Panchayats were started and
included many plantations whose value was
mainly local Those near Almora were an out-
standing example being taken over by the Muni-
cipality Towards the end of the period under
description requests wer^ being received for pro-
gress faster than was considered feasible.
39
Meanwhile, exploitation of the forests was pro-
ceeding rapidly The great increase in pine timber
resulted in large departmental open-tank creosot-
ing installations designed to treat over a million
railway sleepers in three years The first world
war m'enupted this, but when, twenty years
later, I was taken as Inspector General of Forests
by the Railway Authorities on a tour of inspec-
tion of treated sleepers, these first early supplies
weie shown and consideied some of the best re-
ceived After the war the treating work was taken
up by the Railways and the market for our pine
timbei confnmed
ResiQ tapping had been for some years in pro-
gress m the old reserves near Bhowali and Naini
Tal In 1911, tapping was staited in the Almoia
District foiests giving 800 mds By the end of the
fiist war, the outturn from Almora had risen to
80,000 Mds Perhaps the chief benefit from the
work was the amount of money it brought into
Kumaon as wages for tapping and carriage work
Extension of roads and bridle paths preceded or
followed naturally on these developments The
study of "twisted fibre" in pines including the
first recording of "right handed twist" in old
trees and the introduction of controlled burning
as a lire conservancy measures were important
items of the period
Thioughout the Province the watchword in
forest matters was progress The introduction of
the new rank of Chref Conservator met a distinct
need in Uttar Pradesh I remember when I had
my first Circle charge, there were three of us, all
dealing direct with Government and all at the
time "officiating" Clutterbuck was our first Chief
Conservator and from him came so many of the
new ideas
Working Plans with Silviculture and Afforesta-
tion formed one new Circle and Utilisation an-
other, my connection was mainly with this Trevor
(afterwards Sir Gerald T ) and Smythies were
responsible for very much of the Working Plan
Circle development Canal bank plantations were
taken over by the Forest Department and a
special Division dealt with eroded ravine country
along the large rivers
In the Utilisation Circle, the Resin Distillery
was moved from Bhowali in the hills to a new
forest settlement near Bareilly which was named
Clutterbuckgani There also was built a large
Sawmill and Bobbin Factory with Broad and
Metre Gauge access Later, the factories at
Clutterbuckganj were turned into public compa-
nies In settling the terms of their promotion our
aim was to establish the industries on a sound
basis The Resin Distillery was an accepted suc-
cess, little capital was required and the return
aimed at was a 10 per cent dividend on this capi-
tal The terms were more or less fixed by Govern-
ment and the results have been gocd, this divi-
dend having been steadily maintained
The Sawmill and m particular the Bobbin part
of the undertaking was by no means an establish-
ed undertaking and we had to take what we could
for it and then give support from time to time
Good bobbins could be and were made but the
quality of the available timbei was not good
enough and excessrve wastage prevented financral
success In the first World War, India was largely
supplied with Japanese bobbins though these
were of unreliable quality I undei stand in the
second Woild War, the Clutterbuckganj factoiy
did meet a very great need m the countiy
For a time the Utilisation Cncle took over the
Carpentry School at Bareilly, developed it very
much and carried out much experimental woik
in the use of our timbers Later, this was made
ovei to the Industries Depaitment I fought hard
to keep it, but the loss was for me softened very
much by the kind woids used by Mr Chintamam,
the veiy able Minister for Industries, when, after
we had been m detail round the school, I was
handing over to him A couple of months latei,
when the Director of Industries was unable to
take the Chair at a meeting of the School's Ad-
visoiy Committee, I was asked to take the Chair
This school led to other schools including one in
Naini Tal, where I helped in framing the sylla-
bus
Various works were undertaken in the forests,
narrow-gauge tramways in Haldwam and Gorakh-
pur, a large timber boom at Barmdeo on the
Sarda and fair weather motor roads wherever
possible The commencement of Game Preserves
was another interesting development
Reservation and protection of forests must
generally, and particularly in the early stages, in-
volve some limitation of the amenities enjoyed
by the people living near them Politically the
Forest Department was liable to be and often
was a target for attack In Kumaon, the bieaking
of forest laws including the burning of forests
was the way resentment was shown on the spot,
while voting reductions of the Departmental
Budget occurred in the Legislative Council The
consideration by the Kumaon Forest Advisory
Committee of their part of the Budget before it
was presented m Council was possibly the greatest
factor in stopping these votes for reductions
40
At one stage, for a considerable number of
years, the Chief Conservator sat periodically as a
Nominated Member of the Legislative Council
Answers to all questions went through his hands
to the Member who had to make them in Council
After introduction of the Forest Budget by the
Member, the Chief was expected to speak to all
motions for reductions and he also generally spoke
when special Forest Resolutions were under dis-
cussion The contacts thus made were most valu-
able In the ten years' period that I had connec-
tion with the Legislative Council the progress
that occurred was most noticeable There was
plenty of criticism but it was friendly and con-
structive Long before I leit it was possible to
say without any reservation that ''Forests" would
be favourably and safely treated whatever powers
over them were granted to any new form of Gov-
ernment Actually, the progress that has since
been made is vast and moie than we even hosed
for in those days
My period as officiating Inspector-General of
Forests was hardly long enough to do more than
realise the possibilities of the post I tried to help
on the Utilisation Branch as that was what 1
knew most about Ascu preservative was then
new and under considerable criticism I still have
some plywood boxes that were treated with Ascu
over twenty years ago It did appear to me that
the combination of the posts of Inspector-General
of Forests and President of the Forest Research
Institute was not satisfactory One had to give
about one-third ot one's time keeping in touch
with the Government of India and other Depart-
ments at Delhi and Simla, a further third in tour-
ing by invitation various provincial forests, advis-
ing on problems This leit quite inadequate time
tor residence at Dchra Dun and the direction of
Forest Research
I have said how good fortune favoured me at
the start in serving under Clut^erbuck, it favour-
ed me also by giving me my last months directly
under the Premier of the Uttar Pradesh Wear her
days, though I think our aims were always simr-
idr, we had not always been on the same side
But as time went on, we got closer together, the
Kumaon Forest Advisory Committee helped this
very much I always remember his being chosen
as the best man to represent Government in an
arbitration case whrch concerned Kumaon and
domo it with outstanding ability, with full access
to all our records One of the things I telt very
much in leaving India at the end of 1937 was
severing connection with him At the commence-
ment ot the period 19031937 one could be sard to
have started as a Government official, by the
end one was a Public Servant
WILD LIFE IN THE INDIAN FORESTS
(By F W CHAMPION)*
I have been requested by the President of the
Forest Reseaich Institute and Colleges to write
an artic'e on my reminiscences of life in the
forests of India and it is with great pleasure that
I do so, as some of the happiest moments of my
life have been spent in those wonderful forests
Although living, as my wife and I now do, in a
beautiful part of Scotland, which should satisfy
most peop'e, we both at times are overcome by
an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia, for the
glorious foothill forests of the Himalayas where
we spent so many happy days among the wild
animals inhabiting those fascinating areas
There are many foresters more competent than
I to write about the scientific side of forestry in
India, so I will say little about that, the most im-
portant aspect of a forester's work, except to note
that subsequent experience of forestry in East
Africa and in Britain confirms my original idea
that otttkfore&ts in India were managed well
enoi%FF;fp compare favourably with management
in many other parts of the world And now, after
a century of scientific management the forests of
Indra have become a prrceless asset that must be
the envy of many less fortunate countries
With these few introductory remarks I will now
turn to the other aspect of the management of
India's forests, and that is the provision of big
game hunting, properly controlled and consistent
with the preservation for all time of the splendid
fauna that share the forests with us, foresters
Some hold that game and wild life preservation
should be in the hands of specialists in that line,
but I think that the foresters of India can justly
claim that they have looked after and cared for
the wild life of the forests almost, if not quite
as well as they have the forests themselves In-
deed, there is much to be said for having chosen
forest officers in charge of the wild life in their
forests because the forest officer, sympathetic to
the wild creatures that live in the forests with
him, can fairly balance the needs of his forests
against the inevitable damage done by some wild
animals A few forest officers, desperately keen
*F W Champion Was a member of the Indian Forest Service in Uttar Pradesh He was a renowned
photographer of wild life
^ cf
fa
Tiger country in Garhwal District
Copyright Photo. F W Champion
on natural regeneration, may feel at times that
certain wild animals do too much damage to the
forests On the other hand, the average game
officer has no conception of the needs of the
forests, which to him aie meiely the environment
in which his charges live, wheieas the conscien-
tious forestei feels that he is responsible for both
the trees and the wild cieatures in his charge
and gives a Ian deal to both
To most people the foiests of India conjuie up
visions of "Tiger, Tiger, Buinmg Bright" and
truly the tiger at home is one of the most magni-
ncent sigh's in the whole animal creation I have
often wandered why the lion has been called the
"king of beasts" After I lett India, I served lor
six years' in East Allied where I had a good deal
of experience of lions and all I can say is that,
in my eyes at least, the lion takes a much lower
place in beauty, magnificence and physical fitness
than the striped king of the Indian jungles As
an animal pho'ogiaphei, I found the lion in East
Africa almost too easy to photograph, whereas it
took me many yeais to obtain colour films of
tigers and how wonderful the colours of the
tigers are in the beautiful Indian jungles compar-
ed with the drab colouring of the lions in the
rather uninteresting plains of Africa' May the
day be long distant when the tiger joins the all-
too-long list of animals exterminated by man
One of the greatest pleasures offered by the
Indian jungles is the chance to wander about on
a well-trained tame elephant, especially in areas
where wild elephants occur, because in such areas
wild animals are not afraid of tame elephants
provided they are properly handled Indeed, it is
astonishing how a tame elephant can approach
right up to within a few feet of a normally shy
and alert animal like a sambar without the
sambar becoming aware that there are hated
human beings quietly sitting on the elephant's
back Hunting, photographing or just watching
from the back of a tame elephant in this way is
quite an art in itself and teaches one much jungle
craft, particularly when following up the alarm
cries of deer, monkeys, peafowl and other birds
These calls indicate the whereabouts of tigers and
leopards and it is fascinating trying, with the help
of these cries, to approach close up to the feline
whose presence is causing them Sometimes, the
tigers and leopards themselves roar m the jungles
and it is possible to follow them about from their
own calls Indeed, the only tiger that I ever shot
and I could have shot many had I so desired
was shot in this way I had spent perhaps two
hours following a roaring tiger in the foothill
forests without ever seeing it In the end I lost
touch, so the Mahout, took my elephant up a
small hill to have a look round for the tiger The
latter must have had the same idea because, just
as we reached the crest, we came face to face with
the tiger coming up the other side He crouched,
gazing at us in an interested way, and one could
imagine him thinking "Fancy you also coming
up this hill like me to have a look lound " I lifted
my rifle and fired and he fell dead instantly a
glorious living cieature that had kept me thrilled
for hourb turned into a bloody carcass This was
such an anti-climax to a wonderful experience
that I lost all desire to kill tigers from that
moment of climax to a successful hunt
Many of my fuends, both Indian and Euro-
pean, have found it difficult to understand that
from that moment, 35 years ago or more, I have
lost all desire to kill wild animals Not that this
has proved any loss to me because I have found
that big game and wild life photography provides
all the thrills and excitements of hunting with-
out having to shed any blood at all Not only that
but one can shoot any particular tiger, for
example, once only, but one could, if clever and
lucky enough, take one hundred photographs over
a series of years of this particular beast and yet
the hundred and first photograph might prove to
be far better than all the previous effoits
Ab an example- of the thrills that are possible
for the animal photographer I will describe an
experience that I had a good many years ago in
Garhwal District of Uttar Pradesh a district
that runfc from the lowest foot-hills up and up
through the Himalayan mountains to the eternal
snows, containing a wondeiful and extremely
varied fauna and flora and producing a splendid
race of hill-men whose military prowess is such
that they earned several V C's, Britain's greatest
honour, in the course of the two World
Wars The dense forests clothing trie foot-hills of
this district are one of the finest natural habitats
for tigeis to be found anywhere in India and I
have always counted myself very fortunate in-
deed to have spent about 15 years of my working
life in India in this chosen area, which I must
have got to know as well as almost anybody
The experience I am going to describe took
place m a somewhat remote valley that was not
much disturbed by sportsmen and that was en-
tirely uninhabited during the monsoon from June
to October when the Forest Department remov-
ed its staff The result of these favourable circum-
stances was that the valley nearly always con-
tained tigers and these tigers, being rarely hunt-
ed, were not as shy and cunning as most We
therefore tried to visit this valley every year as
44
early as possible and before the forest contractors
had brought in then labour to carry out tree and
bamboo ieilmgs On one such visit we found on
arrival that a tiger had gone up the valley the
night before and as we knew from past experience
he was likely to come down again within the next
two or three days, we set flashlight traps in the
hope of taking his photograph on his return. The
first two nights we drew blanks but the third
morning, on going to see what luck we had had, we
were disappointed to find tiger tracks coming
straight down the road below the spot chosen foi
the flashlight trap wire This probably meant that
the flashlight had failed or that the tiger had seen
the wire and stepped ovei it When we reached
the camera, however, we tound that he had taken
his own photograph, jumped into a stream-bed
which he followed for a short distance and then
retuined to the toad tigers prefer to walk on
loads 01 paths as though nothing had happened
Later we found that he had continued down the
load and had subsequently killed a buffalo bait
tied up for him about two miles below He had
taken his kill up a steep stieam-bed, rather diffi-
cult to negotiate on a tame elephant, but we
decided to tiy to stalk him with a cameia in the
heat of the day. We set off early in the afternoon
and we had with us a visiting Forest Officer from
Bui ma who subsequently became head of the
Forest Department in that country and who has,
alas, now left this world I had my reflex camera
ready and my guest loaded a rifle in case of
trouble We went slowly up the stream bed which
was so rough that, good though our elephant was,
we made so much noise that theie seemed little
hope of evei seeing the tiger Suddenly, however,
the elephant laised her trunk indicating that she
could smell something, and shortly afterwards we
got a brief glimpse of the tiger, about 25 yards
ahead, walking slowly up the torrent bed, having
just left a small pool of water in which he had
been lying and enjoying himself during the heat
of the day There was no chance to take a photo-
graph and just at that moment our elephant trod
on a dry branch which broke with such a noise
that we felt that there was no hope of seeing the
tiger again, particularly as the country was too
steep and rough for the elephant to be ab'e to fol-
low where he had gone The elephant stood still
and we discussed in low voices what to do next
for sipme little time While we were doing this, my
wife saw a slight movement in the thick bushes
above us and this proved to be the tiger directly
above us and about 20 feet away. He was gazing
down on the four of us seated on ttfe elephant's
back He was sitting on his haunches peering at
us hard and opening and shutting his mouth from
the heat After a while he got up, apparently
satisfied that we were harmless and disappeared
again up the steep stream-bed. Once more we
thought that was the last we should see of him,
but we were to receive a very pleasant surprise,
for after a short interval we again saw him com-
ing slowly down the stream-bed towards us,
stopping occasionally to look at us He was hot
and evidently wanted to return to the small pool
in which he was lying when we first saw him and
within a few yards of which our elephant was
standing After a certain amount of hesitation he
finally decided to do this, and coming uglft up to
the side of the pool sat down with a heavy flop,
obviously delighted to return to his cool and com-
fortable retreat There he lay, 12 yards away
from us with his mouth open, his sides heaving,
yawning heavily until his eyes began gradually
to close with sleep Every now and then he open-
ed his eyes to look dreamily at us but always
came to the conclusion that we were boring if
harmless intruders who were disturbing his after-
noon nap
The lighting conditions were not good but dur-
ing the next few minutes we exposed all the
plates we had and still the tiger was lying there
I personally had given up shooting tigers long
ago but I was in a quandary as legards my guest
1 hated the idea of destroying this magnificent
animal that had given us all so much pleasure and
excitement It seemed pure murder but I knew
that Dennis Atkinson had never shot a tiger and
was keen to do so, so I forced myself to whisper
to him that he could shoot it if he so desiied He
must have been badly tempted but to his extreme
credit (and to my great relief) he managed to
fight down the temptation and we finally decided
to leave that tiger to live his life in peace so
far as we were concerned
This experience shows what an advantage
shooting with a camera has for those who are
interested in the lives of wild animals Had we
been out to kill, that tiger would have been shot
when we first saw it and we should have missed
all the thrills of a wonderful and unique ex-
perience such as few have witnessed. So fai as I
am concerned, it is very unlikely that I shall ever
see the beautiful forests of India again, but I still
have the photographs and memories which will
remain with me as long as I live to console me
when I realise, sometimes only too vividly, that
my tiger-photographing days are gone and that
I am now not so young as I once was.
ABSTRACT FROM "RECOLLECTIONS AND REFLECTIONS
(BY M D CHATURVEDI)*
How I wish I had remembered half the things I have forgotten, and forgotten half the things
I have remembered Asquith
Centenaries are endowed with a mystic quali-
ty by the magic of numbers The lomance oi the
hundred casts a spell on people to revel Unlike
jubilees that provide a reason ior rejoicing, cen-
tenaries give us a cause for a pause to ponder,
and an occasion for circumspection
The foundations of the forest management in
India go back to the turn of the nineteenth cen-
tuiy wken the Malabai teak and the Bengal
tiger attracted the attention of the British Foi
long years, both were considered inexhaustible
The myth of sufficiency naturally engendered a
sense of complacency
Taking a cue from their predecessors, the East
India Company contended itself by declaring
some valuable species like sal and sisham, teak
and sandalwood as 'royal trees' trees that le-
quired a permit to fell Otherwise everyone was
at liberty to fell what he liked and where he
liked The forest was regarded as an inexhausti-
ble reserve for the extension of cultivation It
was a planter's paradise, a hunter's dream, and
a logger's monopoly The notion widely held about
the inexhaustibility of the forest took the best
part of fitty years to dispel
My own association with the Forest Adminis-
tration in India goes way back to October 1919
when I joined the Bombay Provincial Forest
Service The Indian Forest Service was then
considered a British sanctum which none of us
could profane In April 1920, I joined the Forest
College at Dehra Dun which was then housed in
the premises of the Doon School' at Chandbagh
I had hardly completed the first term when the
Montford Act prised open the Indian Forest
Service to Indians I found myself as one of the
4 least unsuitable candidates selected for train-
ing abroad In England our arrival caused un-
savoury comments At the High Commissioner's
Office, I saw the spectre of Cassandra foreboding
the doom of the Indian forests because of us
Professor Stebbing of Edinburgh availed himself
of the hospitality of the London Times to expa-
tiate upon the tragic consequences of Indianiz-
mg the Indian Forest Service
It was against this background that we four lost
souls landed at Oxford, that home of all lost
causes The Director of Forest Studies, Major
A M Caccia, treated us kindly and made us his
specia 1 concern The Piolessoi of Forestry, Sir
William Schhch, a retired Inspector-General of
Forests of India, evinced particular interest in
our welfare, R S Troup who succeeded Sir Wil-
liam thought no erd of us Dr Farnel, the Rector
of my college, Exeter, and the Vice-Chancellor
of the Umversrty, was proud to have me as hrs
ward He took an anthropological interest in my
Brammism and vegetarianism I made many
friends and met some of the world figures in the
field of forestry A Schwappach at Ebeiswalde,
Karl Philippe at Karlsruhe, Muller at Bienne
and Biollcy at Neu Chatel
Oxford belied the prophecy of Cassandra At
the end of our course only two got honours, both
Indians And luck favoured me to find my name
associated with the coveted Currie Scholarship
of the year I stayed on for another year to do
research work
Returning to India at the end of 1923, I joined
service in the U P How un-English did the
English appear in India Mr H G Bilson, the
* M. D Ohatm\edi was a ni<
Forests, Government ot India
t Servjro. Hefrcntd in llie Uttar
1, !
Chief Conservator of Forests, exhibited Pecksni-
ffian concern over my intrusion Being the spear-
head of Indianization of the Indian Forest Ser-
vice. I had a hard time fighting deep-rooted pre-
judices, and found petty pin-pricks exasperating
With the passage ot time, as more of us joined
the service, people reconciled to the inevitable
and we learned to live and let live
But for the brief interlude when I strayed into
the Rural Development Depaitment as its Chief,
I spent the best years of my life in the U P
Teak and taungyas weie the rage of the day, the
regeneration of sal was a burning topic, and the
challenge of the Jamuna lavmes was looming
large on the horizon The Turpentine and Bob-
bin factories at Bareilly were under transfer to
the private sector, and a katha factory was
just coming into being at Izatnagar
Among my contemporaries, I owe a debt of
gratitude to Mr E A Smythies who gave me
inspiration and direction It was his imagination
that brought forestry out of its sylvan homes to
the village lands, resulting in the creation of the
Land Management Circle Other colleagues that
stand out in my memory are Sir Gerald Trevor
who is still affectionately remembered in the
Kulu valley, Sir Herbert Howard who organized
forest research with a flamboyant flourish and
found his way into the pockets of forest officers
with his famous pocket book, Uncle Arthur (A
E Osmaston) who was so strict and fair that
once he ticked himself off, H G Champion who
covered the service with glory by his achieve-
ments at Oxford, his brother F W whose "Sun-
light and Shadows" popularized shooting with a
camera Henry Ford-Robertson whose brains
threatened to go to his head, E C Mobbs who
strove hard to catch up with his conscience, R N
Singh whose gentle ways earned him the title of
Gautam, Brahmawar who generally forgot to cash
his pay cheques, saintly Sewal who had not
heard of the word 'No', little Sen who achieved
much and said little, Debi Lai Sah who knew all
the answers, Jai Raj Singh who worked silently
and generally thought twice before saying nothing
and Negi who delivered the goods with infectious
enthusiasm, I also recall a bloke called Chatur-
vedr who blundered through, with the courage
of ignorance '
With the dawn of Independence, I took over
the U P Forests as its first Indian Chief Conser-
vator The British personnel left en bloc with the
exception of Messrs Hopkins and, Stephens who
stood by us in the hour of our need Democracy
was yet in its infancy It had found power, but
no feet, it had vision, but no perspective, it lack-
ed tradition and direction Strains were set up
that loosened service discipline and disrupted
esprit de corps My chief headaches arose from
the resistance to the demands made on forest
land, from refusal to allow unlimited grazing
used as a vote catching device, and over postings
and transfers
In 1949, I took over as the Inspector-General
of Forests from Mr Hamilton During the 5
years I was in office, I had the benefit oi advice
of C R Ranganathan who was throughout the
President of the Forest Research Institute at
Dehra Dun In the schemes I sponsord and the
projects I pursued I had his unstinted cp-opera-
tion During that formative period, my mam task
was to impart a democratic orientation to the
various bodies set up by the Government ot
India Thus, the Board of Forestry, the Board ot
Forest Utilization and Research were reconsti-
tuted with an emphasis on the association of the
leaders of public opinion Non-Official support
was particularly sought in the setting up of the
Indian Board of Wildlife Thanks to the inspira-
tion of Shrr K M Munshi, research was initiat-
ed to meet the challenge of the Rajasthan desert
Again, it was his vision that galvanized the tree-
planting day into a national festival, the Van
Mahotsava An outstanding achievement of the
period was the re-enunciation of the Forest
Policy of India It reflects the considered opinions
of the Heads of various State Forest Depart-
ments, the handiwork of Ranganathan, and above
all the brilliant advocacy of Shri Munshi
My last task was the organization of the 4th
World Forestry Congress in December 1954 m
which 45 nat i ons took part The event is still
so fresh in public mind that it does not merit a
detailed description
No appreciation of the century that forestry
has just scored m India would be cjmplctc
without acknowledgement of the deep debt of
gratitude it owes to Lord Dalhousie To Dr
Dietrich Brandis we are beholden for his genius
in giving forestry shape and direction
I would also like to associate myself with the
eloquent tribute that the forests of India pay
to the generations of foresters who nursed them
with unflinching devotion
Our thanks are particularly due to the British
foresters, specially to those early pioneers, who
served in malaria-ridden tracts, and braved dis-
comfort, disease and loneliness without modern
medicine and means of communications Their
dedication to the cause of forestry in India pro-
vides both an inspiration and an example for
Indian foresters for all time.
47
REMINISCENCES OF SERVICE IN MADHYA PRADESH FORESTS
(BY R N DATTA)*
My first posting in the Forest Department was
in Mandla District in the former Province of
C P & Beiar (now M P ) In 1927, there was a
l war' on against the sal heart-wood borer and,
like several other Officers, I found myself in-
volved in it immediately after joining service
'An epidemic was i aging in a very large area
oC sal forests in Mandla and the adjoining dis-
tricts, which had already caused immense loss
Borer Damaged tiees were being felled every-
where and utilisable timber promptly convert-
ed into sleepers and extracted The remnants
were stacked and burnt during the cold season
Bonfires were to be seen everywhere in the
f 01 ests
Communications were poor then, and touring
had to be done on foot Camels carried the tents
and kit In those days it was usual to tour in the
ioiests almost continuously from about the
middle of October to the latter half of June
except for short breaks for Christmas and Eas-
ter
It fell to my lot to work mainly in the Ban-
jar and Motmala ranges which aie famous for
the abundance of all kinds of game It was not
unusual to come across three to four hundred
barasinga at a time on Sarvantal maidan and,
with some luck, to spot a tiger stalking cheetal
or barasinga for a kill
Camping in the forest neai Kanha I had the
privilege of a visit from Mr Dunbar Brander
who, after retirement, had come to India with
a friend on a shikar trip in this paradise of big
game This forest is now the famous Kanha
National Park in Madhya Pradesh
The trap-tree method of destruction of the sal
borer beetle in large* number which had been
worked out earlier in the adjoining district
with the help of the Forest Entomologist was
also adopted in Mandla I was asked by the
Divisional Forest Officer to proceed to the
forests in the latter part of June to start this
work The trap-tree work and this tour were
most interesting and exciting It was a novel
experience to see, a short time after felling and
logging a tree, hundreds of beetles flying to the
logs and settling on the freshly cut ends from
which one could easily catch and destroy them
On a very rainy evening the men carrying my
kit failed to reach the camp (Motmala F. R H )
The night was spent in a damp 'duree' On a
similar night in another Rest-House (Khudrahi)
a bear took shelter in the verandah For tome
unknown reason the bear started walking from
pnd to end with his side rubbing against the wall
and bumping on the doors (bolted fiom inside
and reinforced with furniture) at regular inter-
vals and kept me awake for pait of the night
The return journey was performed in frequent
heavy rain and through swollen nalas The saheh.
had to do it only in wet khaki shorts
From Mandla, good fortune took me to the
southern part of the Province to Chanda, an-
other district, well-known for forests (teak) and
big game The teak forests of Allapalli Sub-Divi-
sion are quite famous A modern working plan
had just then started functioning and it fell to
my lot to supervise clear-felling in the first
coupe of P.B I and to burn the slash to regene-
rate the area These forests had be-en under
strict fire protection for several decades The
Ranger was horrified at the idea of having to
* R N. Datta was a member of the Indian Forest Service, he served in Madhya Pradesh and retired as President, Forest Research
Institute and Colleges.
L/S5FRIDDun 6
set fire to the coupe and told me so I had, there-
fore, to start the fire myself Sowing of teak
'seed was done at the proper time as prescribed
Some seedlings came up but most of them were
smothered by bamboo regrowth. Soon it became
clear that regeneration had failed in the coupes
treated in this way Meanwhile, the technique
of raising teak plantation was being studied and
developed and the new technique of stump-
planting was adopted in the later coupes to re-
generate the entire annual area of P B.I Years
later the earlier failed areas have had to be
taken up again for regeneration one by one
The above working plan has had two revisions
already The experience gained indicated that
in moist teak forest natural reproduction cannot be
obtained to order within a short period and that it
progresses slowly for many years provided the
canopy conditions are periodically manipulated
suitably Only areas having sufficient advance
growth could be depended upon to regenerate
naturally. The remaining area of P B Z. must be
planted up
As interesting interlude in Chanda was pro-
vided by the job of getting a forest track of 29
miles in Sironcha range into sufficiently good
condition to enable the heavy car of a V I. P.
to run on it Time allowed was fourteen days
The area was then infested with man-eaters
The existing track had very wide strips, locally
known as 'tiger lines', clear-felled on both sides
for the safety of those using the track Work
was undertaken in fourteen sections simultane-
ously and in each section a member of the staft
was assigned the duty of collecting the workers
and escorting them, with loaded gun ready
for emergency, to the nearest camp, one hour
before sunset A fat Ranger was following one
such group in a bullock cart one afternoon and
a tiger was following the cart within a few yards
of it For some reason or other the Ranger hap-
pened to look behind Instantaneously the gun
went off. In the pandemonium the bullocks gal-
loped away, cart and Ranger paited company in
different directions, labourers scattered in con-
fusion and ran and the tiger also disappeared
An excellent opportunity to study sal forests
came my way in Bilaspur and Raipur districts
as DFO. The eight years spent in these forests
were very rewarding In both Divisions conver-
sion of irregular forests to even-aged crops had
commenced under modern working plans a few
years earlier. The wonderful results obtained
by Harlow after clear-felling* a compartment
having plenty of advance growth in South Rai-
pur Division in 1924 or thereabouts had encour-
aged the Working Plans Branch to adopt the
system As years passed, it was observed that
P.BL areas having little established reproduc-
tion or advance growth did not make much pro-
gress towards complete restocking and that
regenerating such areas naturally within one
prescribed period was not possible under the
method applied merely by carrying out regenera-
tion fellings periodically in P B I. The working
plans had, therefore, to be modified in the light
of this experience Only areas having sufficient
advance growth could be regenerated successful-
ly In the hill forests of Bilaspur frost hazaid
presented a complication which is practically
absent in Raipur forests The necessity of retain-
ing a frost shelterwood of sufficient density in the
regenerated area for a sufficiently long period
became apparent within a short time in Bilaspur
New ideas developed as a result of the expe-
rience of working the sal and teak forests under
conversion for about three decades As regene
ration of P B I frequently fell into arrears, the
revisions of the working plans took this into
account by moditymg allotments to working
circles, felling series and periodic blocks It has
been suggested that during revisions when the
stock-maps are also revised, all possible P B. /
areas should be carefully assessed foi estab-
lished reproduction and in the case of teak
forests, the annual planting capacity should also
be determined The idea has been put forward
that in sal forests the extent of P B. / should be
limited to the area having advance growth which
can be successfully regenerated during a period
and the area of the working circle should be a
multiple of the area of P. B I depending upon
the conversion period and the number of
periods The remaining sal forests should be
allotted to a separate working circle for selection
felling and improvement Teak can be very suc-
cessfully regenerated artificially now Therefore,
the planting capacity plus the area having ad-
vance growth should determine the extent of
P B. I and the area of the working circle under
conversion adiusted accordingly As in the case
of sal. the balance of irregular teak high forests
should be placed in a separate working circle
for selection felling and improvement It re-
mams to be seen how these ideas will actually
work in practice
Forestry in Madhya Pradesh owes a deep debt
to the aboriginal tribes inhabiting the remote
areas As one progresses in one's career in the
Forest Service, frequent contacts with them pro-
duces a desire to do something for their wel-
fare. In Bilaspur, yaws was rampant among the
49
Bhumias A tour was ai ranged with the Civil
Surgeon (Capt Richardson) and some patients
were collected in a camp (Chhaparwa) for treat-
ing them experimentally and taking blood for
culture and identification As soon as they saw
the blood in the test tubes the whole lot stam-
peded With some difficulty they were prevented
from scattering into the forest and were given
the injections. Within a few days the long
suffering patients improved appreciably and
news came to headquarters that there was de-
mand from many villages for treatment with the
magic needle A touring doctor was placed on
duty to go round the villages in due course
I recojlect with some satisfaction the work of
settling shifting cultivators of Raigarh and Sur-
guja Districts A number of them had been sent
to jail for unauthorised cutting of forests on
steep hill-sides The Minister of Forests met
th&m in jail and pardoned them on condition
that they lived in villages established on lands
to be allotted by the Forest Department Schemes
were drawn up for rehabilitating these men and
many others like them They were given land,
timber for houses and everything else required
for setting them up as cultivators free of charge
by Government and cash grants to feed them
until their crops were ready Thus started a
work far-reaching in its effect on forest conser-
vancy in remote areas and a new way of settled
life for the aboriginals of the tract used to pre-
ranous living destructive to forests on hill-
sides
I carry most happy memories of the many
officers and other members of Mie staff with
whom work and recreation were always unmix-
ed pleasure In the latter part of my career the
keenness of my two little sons for touring in
forests and the readiness of my wife to accom-
pany us did much to brighten up the tours,
If I chose the Forest Service as my career
over 35 years ago without knowing fully what
hardships and pleasures were in store for me,
with full knowledge of what I have had out of
it, I would choose the same career again if this
were possible
WATER, THE GREAT FERTILISER
(BY A P F HAMILTON)*
"What are now her mountains were lofty,
soil-clad hillb, her sandy pplains of the present
day were once full of rich soil and her moun-
tains were heavily forested a fact of which
there are still visible traces These mountains,
which can now support nothing but bees, were
clothed not so very long ago with fine trees
producing timber for roofing the largest build-
ings, the roofs hewn from the timber are still
in existence There were also many fine culti-
vated trees, while the country produced bound-
less pasture for cattle The annual supply of
rainfall was not lost then, as it is at present, by
being allowed to flow over the denuded surface
into the sea, but was received by the country,
in all its abundance, into her bosom where she
stored it in her potter's earth, and so was able to
discharge the drainage of the heights into the
hollows and rivers with abundant volume and
a country-wide distribution The shrines that
survive to the present day on the bites of extinct
water-supplies are evidence of the correctness
of my hypothesis"
* A. P. F. Hamilton was a member of the Indian Forest Service and retired aa the Inspector-General of Forests, Government of India,
60
What a graphic description 7 It might well
be descriptive of conditions as they are
to-day in a number of countries, it might
with a few alterations, be a picture of the
Shiwalik Hills in the Punjab not so very
long ago But it is none of these things it is a
description of the ancient kingdom of Attica
written by Plato some 2300 years ago So they
had their conservation problems as long ago as
that History does not record the cause of the
disaster, it could have been the result of the
"scorched earth" policy of some invader or of
the slow but insidious misuse of the land or its
natural covering Be that as it may, Plato was
quick enough to associate desiccation and erc-
sion with denudation of the hill sides, have
modern civilisations always been so quick to
understand 9 Or, having understood, have they
acted 9 Had Plato been asked how the piospe.ity
of the countiy side might be restored, he would,
assuredly have replied, "first bring back the forest
to hills and re-build the soil layer on the dopes,
for prospenty depends on the guarantee ol a
permanent supply of water "
For water is a great, in fact, the greatest ferti-
liser Chemical fertilisers are all very well, but
their application may be limited, because tl ey
cannot be taken up by plant as food unless a
ceitam minimum ot moisture is present in the
soil In the passage of time it will be tound that
countries who have best conserved then water
supplies will be able to maintain a highei degree
of agiicultural production than those who placed
reliance more on the use of chemical fertilisers
In a country where rainfall is inadequate 01 too
uncertain to main t am a desired standard of liv-
ing, water should be looked upon as a most
valuable pioduct of the soil, conserved and con-
trolled, as far as possible, at all stages, to be used
when most needed from storages such as reser-
voirs or, naturally, from wells, springs and the
sub-soil
In India, as in many other countries, the demand
for water is steadily increasing, and it will go on
increasing as long as the internal economy oi
the country continues to expand Already in the
U S. A , conservationists are making long-
term forecasts of the water requirements of
some regions of the country and the results
tend to show that present supplies are likely
to fall very short of what will be needed. It is
true that in India the existing supplies available
in the great rivers are not being fully utilibed,
but the time will surely come when they are,
and unless effective steps are taken now to en-
sure improvement of supplies in the future,
however distant that may be, such difficulties as
have already arisen in the Punjab may be en-
countered Then there is the question otf perma-
nency This implies not only the assurance that
the out-put of water for a given system will not
decrease, but also that its availability for use
may not be impaired For availability in the
case of reservoirs depends on storage capacity,
and the greater the silt load of a river the moie
rapidly is the storage capacity of the reservoirs
it supplies reduced Engineers may claim that the
e-ftective life of a dam may be anything from 50
to 100 years, but what is that in the life oi a
lapidly developing country 9 No one has yet de-
vised a means of clearing the millions of tons
of silt which will accumulate behind a large
dam, and the only course left is to take all
possible steps to prevent silt being carried into
reservoirs This means pioper conservation mea
sures in the catchment areas maintaining
existing forest and vegetation at its maximum
capacity by sound management and pastuiage
practice reforestation of denuded areas adop-
tion of agricultural techniques which will con-
serve both soil and moisture These measures
may often be difficult of application and expensive,
but the difficulties must be faced, for the lasting
prosperity of a great agricultural population
depends mainly on the perpetual availability of
a controlled water supply
51
LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN
(BY C E HEWETSON)*
I have always been interested in the ecolo-
gical approach to forestry and silviculture When
listing the factors of the locality, a heading is
usually given to the influence of Man This
usually means the tendencey of the local popu-
lation to start fires, to make illicit fellings, tres-
pass or shoot without a licence One rarely
takes into account the background and ideas of
the Civil Administrators and Forest Officers who
promulgate the Forest Laws and Policies Yet
these idas have shaped the structure of the
forests over the last one hundred years more
powerfully than any other single factor When
one contrasts the history of forests in Germany
and France with those of North America, it is
easy to see what a very different course events
would have taken in India if the first Forest
Officers had been recruited from the United
States and not from Germany
The factors which mould the thinking of Ad-
ministrators and Forest Officers are primarily
economic but sentiment and tradition also play
their part in determining what Policy will be
Adopted The Forest Policy for India was laid
down by the well known Resolution of 1894 It
is interesting to recall what were the mam
points which the senior officers of those days
emphasized When the Forest Department began
its work its chief duties were the preservation
and development of large timber forests Sir
Dietrich Brandis saw veiy early that not only
did the provision of timber and fuel to agricul-
turists come within the legitimate scope of the
forest administration in India but also the in-
crease in the supply of cattle fodder. The
forests were considered mainly m relation to the
local population in the Resolution of 1894,
and the mam concern was to see that' only such
lands were kept for timber production which
could produce valuable timber In every para-
graph the Government was at pains to advise
that the interest of agriculturists was paramount
Paragraph 2 'This regulation and restriction
(of rights) are justified only when the advantage
to be gamed by the public is great, and the car-
dinal principle to be observed is that the rights
and privileges of individuals must be limited,
otherwise than for their own benefit, only in
* C E Hewctson was a member of tho Indian Forest Sprv)Ce
such degree as is absolutely necessary to secure
that advantage '
Paragraph 5 'Even in tracts of which the
conditions are suited to the growth of large
timber it should be carefully considered in each
case whether it would not be better, both m the
mteiests of the people and of the revenue, to
work them with the object of supplying the re-
quirements of the general, and in particular of
the agricultural, population '
Paragraph 6 'It should also be remembered
that, subject to certain conditions to be refer-
red to presently, the claims of cultivation are
stronger than the claims of forest preservation.'
'Certain conditions' referred to above were dis-
cussed in paragraph 7 and the most important
was that 'cultivation must not be allowed so to
extend as to encroach upon the minimum area
of forest which is needed in order to supply the
general forest needs of the country, or the reason-
able foiest requirements, present and prospec-
tive, of the neighbourhood in which it is situat-
ed In many tracts cultivation is practically im-
possible without the assistance of forests, and
it must never be allowed to destroy that upon
which its existence depends '
The Administrators of those days can be seen
to be very sensitive to the rights of the indivi-
dual and to have no desire to coerce the public,
paragraph 11 says, 'The customs of generations
alter slowly in India, and though much may and
should be done to lead the people to their own
profit, yet it must be done gently and gradually
always remembering that their contentment is
no less important an object than is their mate-
rial advantage '
One may notice a very important omission
from the resolution in that there is no mention
of the private landowner and his forests In fact
Government had no policy up to the time that
most of the privately-owned forests had been
destroyed England to-day provides an excellent
example of how the attitude to forestry can be
changed completely by providing incentives to
private owners of woodlands Before 1920, forest-
ry in England was kept alive by the enthusiasm
of a small number of land owners, who loved
trees and were fired by a sentiment which had
little economic backing, to produce some fine
timber for posterity In the last 40 years the
position has changed completely and now up
and down the country there are scores of land-
owners who pride themselves on their wood-
lands large or small, and take great pains to
learn all they can about the most recent tech-
niques and use of new species The Royal Forest-
ry Society has a membership of over 4,000 from
England and Wales alone and there is an equal-
ly flourishing sister society in Scotland This
change has been brought about by administra-
tive and fiscal measures These have been devised
to give incentives to forest owners Income Tax
reliefs, Death duty concessions and grants for
replanting and correct management have chang-
ed the whole attitude of the private owner
Along with this the very friendly attitude of
the Forest Service means that the conscientious
owner can get good advice and sympathy in their
efforts to develop their woodlands In this
favourable climate a whole new profession of
private forestry consultants and firms which
specialise in carrying out forest works on con-
tract have established themselves to help the
smaller landowners who cannot maintain their
own labour force or afford the special equipment
for extraction of timber If only this attitude to
the private owner had existed in India for the
last 40 years what vast areas of private forest
might have been saved from destruction and
impoverishment
Turning from the general field of land use
we may consider shortly some of the basic ideas
which guided the early forest officers We may
all agree that the conception of fire protection
was one of the most creative and far-reaching
in its effects Not only was it essential to allow
the drier forests to regenerate but it was and is
the most powerful single weapon in soil con-
servation It was a tragedy that this idea of
complete fire protection was gradually 'eroded'
away by the urge for economies m expenditure,
from the earliest day the forest department was
to be a revenue paying one Dr Voelker m his
report said, The Forest Department is practi-
cally called upon to show a large revenue, and
is naturally proud of the profit it makes' This
pride in the annual surplus of a few lacs of
rupees seems pathetic now when surpluses are
counted m crores, and the main problem of the
forest departments is to spend the money which
is pressed upon them However m the last 100
years protection from fire has transformed 'many
forests and though it is now impossible to get
back to the ideal of complete protection, the
conception is still working powerfully in the
minds of all officers
Another important conception introduced by
the close connection of Indian Forest Officers
with Europe was that of the long rotation and
building up the forest capital of growing stock
In France and Germany this conception is still
active and one sees forests kept extremely dense
m many parts of Germany Whatever the pre-
sent day forest economists are writing and teach- "
mg about the most profitable way to grow
trees, this earlier conservative way of thought
was undoubtedly of great value m India and
produced conditions m which the growing stock
was on the whole increased Considering the
attitude of the Finance Department to expendi-
ture and the concern of so many forest officers
to financial results, any underlying concept less
conservative would have made heavier fellings
respectable and the shortage of large sized tim-
ber more pronounced than it is to-day
Another valuable heritage was the 'Woikmg
Plan ' Yet in how many countries are Working
Plans either not used or they contain no pres-
criptions foi control of the yield 9 Particularly
in countries where exploitation techniques have
, outrun silvicultural knowledge and where there
was no tradition of sustained yield, the forest*
have been destroyed to feed large industries
Quite apart from the advantages that spring to
mind, one of the important side effects has been
the discipline which the existence of a plan
exerts on forest officers The preparation of each
plan forces all ranks to think over the problems
of each forest, and the revision of the plan
draws attention to the results of the prescrip-
tions and to what extent the objects of manage-
ment have been attained
Perhaps only in the field of silviculture has
the influence of European methods led to some
mistakes The fault was not in the European sys-
tems but m the use of them m the tropics with-
out realising that the silvicultural systems
evolved in Europe to fit the requirements of the
main timber species there, were not going to suit
the tropical forests Though some magnificent
young forests have been obtained by natural
regeneration, on the whole it has not been
found possible to obtain natural regeneration as
and when prescribed in the working plan In
most States, I think, it is true to say that the
uniform system is being abandoned or is retain-
ed in name, but dropped in practice. In this
field the European tradition has impeded pro-
gress towards evolving silvicultural systems
suited to the conditions of tropical forests
I wish I had the scholarship to treat this his-
torical approach to ecology with the fullness
that it deserves, and I am only too conscious of
the inadequacy of this short article, but if it
turns anyone's thoughts to the great men who
were the founders of the service to which we
are all proud to have belonged t then il will have
been not in vain.
REMINISCENCES
(BY SIR HERBERT HOWARD)*
Fifty years ago men like Sir George Hart,
Mercer, Sir Peter Clutterbuck, Hobart-Hampden,
B B Osmaston, Caccia, to mention only a few,
themselves remembered how the remote and
semi-ruined jungles had been protected till they
werj full of healthy vigorous trees, how forest
settlements had been made, reserves demarcated,
roads laid out, bungalows and bridges built, fire-
pi otection introduced and generally how order
had been produced from chaos The first fifty
yeais was mostly spent in such basic organisa-
tion
But, from the point of view of the newly-join-
ed recruit trained in the forests of France and
Germany, forest management was only in its
very early stages In my own province, the
United Provinces, there were plenty of Working
Plans fifty years ago They were based on what
was called the selection or selection-cum-
improvement system but it was little more than
a rough area control with a fairly high girth limit,
with a long felling cycle of 30 years, plus im-
provement fellings There were no volume
tables worth the name, no out-turn tables, cer-
tainly no yield tables, (a statement was made at
one Board of Forestry meeting about 1919 that
there could be no yield tables for another 20
years), no real start towards any conversion to
uniform forest, no plantation work in the plains
and nothing really worth the name in the hills,
and, of course, such things as motor roads had
never been heard of We toured with camels,
carts or coolies and on our own flat feet or on
horses
But the immense progress from the beginning
of the Forest Department during the first fifty
years up to 1910 or 1911, so evident to our seniors,
was really continuous and the few years just be-
fore the fiist World War saw the beginnings of
further great changes
In the United Provinces, J V Collier, made
the first scientifically constructed volume table
foi sal about 1912 with me as his humble assist-
ant, and started conversion of the irregular sal
forest to regular high forest He also reduced
the girth limit to 5 feet and the felling cycle to
15 years though, if I remembei rightly, the even-
tual compromise was 5'-6" and 20 years I follow-
ed with the first conversion to regular high
forest in what was then the Ramnagar Division
next door
* Sir Herbert Howard w.ts a membtr of (be Tn<h in Forost Ser\i o , ho sen
Pehra Dun and retired as tfyo Inspector- Genera,! <>f Forest 1 *, Go\ernment ot [nduj
d in Utlar Piadesh and the Forest Research Institute,
The first World War saw a good deal of acti-
vity in foiest work The conversion fiom irre-
gular selection to a more regular high forest
rapidly spread to other foiests both in the hills
and the plains
Meanwhile, one or two adventurous spirits
were trying to drive motor cars about the jungle
I think the first regular motoring in the United
Provinces was done by Ohphant in the North
Kheri Division I was motoring in the Gorakh-
pur Division as far back as 1916 but it was a good
many years before motor roads reached even to
a Division like Dehra Dun It was not till about
1927 that any one managed to motor acioss the
Western Circle from Tanakpur to Hardwar and,
believe me, pretty rough going it was with chains
to get through the mud and rolls of wne netting
to put down on sandy bits and picked up behind
you after driving over.
It was about this time that the notorious dacoit,
Sultana, was making his home in the forests of
the Haldwam and Ramnagar Divisions Doubt-
less many of the stories about him are apocryphal
We often knew approximately where Sultana
and his gang were hidden and we could have
given him away to the police But we and our
wives were completely alone in those jungles
and, if we had given him away, we should very
soon all have had our throats cut There was,
therefoie, a sort of tacit understanding that
neither of us interfered with the other and we
moved about in dacoit infested jungles entirely
alone and with perfect safety
One of the neatest stories about him was when
V A Herbert's camp clerk reported that Sul-
tana's men had stolen his pony Herbert said
that no doubt if he wrote a letter to Sultana it
would reach him and the camp clerk replied
that no doubt by some means or other it would
reach him So Herbert wrote upbraiding Sul-
tana that he had seen fit to molest anyone con-
nected with the Forest Department So upset
was Sultana about this that he sent back a note
regretting the incident and returning the pony,
the point of the story being that he returned the
wrong pony
Another story about him was an occasion when
the Ranger in full uniform arrived among the
forest contractors, and said that that scoundrel
Sultana was about, that he was the new Ranger
and that the contractors had better hand over
all their money to him for safe custody in the
range sate This they did and Sultana, dressed
In Ranger's uniform, disappeared with the loot.
He had collared the Ranger in his Range quarters.
tied him up, taken his uniform and brought off
this somewhat neat dacoity When again com-
plained to about this, he pointed out that he had
not harmed the Ranger or any Forest Department
official and had even returned the Ranger's uni-
form All he had done was to take money off
the contractors
Do not waste too much sympathy on him He
had a side to his character which was admirable
and he did keep his word to Forest officials but
it should not be foi gotten that he was a cruel
murderer and that he led people a dance for
something like twenty years to my knowledge
He was eventually caught and hanged
Meanwhile, during the same period just over
fifty years ago, the Forest Research Institute
staited When I fiist remember it, the Forest
College consisted of the old buildings south of
the maidan in Dehra Dun and the President's
office was in a little triangle of land just to the
west of the College grounds Within the same
building was the Utilization Division, consisting
of one room if I remember rightly, with Sir
Ralph Pearson in charge (though he had been
pieceded by Troup) and the other Research Ofn-
ceis were scatteied about m vanous bungalows
round the maidan and up the Rajpur Road
The first move into a properly constituted
building, now the Doon School, was made about
1915 Kaunh Gaiden was the only experimental
ai ea and the move to the present magnificent site
at New Forest only took place about 1925 Befoie
that, the whole 1,100 acres area was bare culti-
vated fields
Silviculture had, naturally, always been of
basic importance and the fiist Silvicultural Con-
feience was convened in 1918
Anothei great improvement which took place
during those years was the setting up of a proper
Working Plans Circle m the United Provinces to
take charge of all Working Plans m the pro-
vince This was formed about 1919 and the first
Working Plans Conservator was Trevor who had
already achieved a great reputation with his
working plan for the Kulu forests and for his
natural regeneration work on spruce and silver
fir
Incidentally by 1919, Trevor had actually ob-
tained quite large areas of naturally regenerated
Spruce and silver fir and I saw no other areas of
those species regenerated naturally by anyone
except Trevor up to the time I left India in 1945
There was plenty of natural regeneration of
55
those species m the Chakrata Division and no
particular difficulty in relying on natural regene-
tation but Trevoi got it where he wanted it and
when he wanted it and that was something that
the rest of us could not do As Johnny White-
head said to me when I was making the Working
Plan of the Chakiata Forest Division about 1917
"the regeneration of spruce and the silver fir de-
pends more on the will of the Almighty than on
the efforts of the forest officer "
About 1920, silvicultural research began to be
decentralised and m the United Provinces the
first Provincial Silviculturist was appointed about
1919 From that stage onwaids the Central Silvi-
cultunst, Dehra Dun, dealt specifically with yield
tables, volume tables, out-turn tables and statis-
tics generally, while, on the exp>c?j i mental silvi-
cultural side, he dealt with the moie general as-
pects of silviculture applicable to tiees in general
lather than with the detailed silviculture of par-
ticular species
Yield tables began to appear fiom Dehia Dun
in 1924 (within five yeais of the meeting of the
Board of Forestry where 20 years had been ad-
vanced as the earliest possible date to expect
yield tables) and by about 1926, yield tables had
been published from Dchra Dun for sal (Shorea
robusta), sal coppice, chir pine (Firms longifolia)
deodar (Cedrus deodara}, and blue pine (Firms
excelsa), while volume tables had appeared for
Acacia catechu, Bombax malabancum, Cedrus
deodara, Holoptelia integrifoha, Pinus excelsa,
Finns longifoha, Shorea robusta and Trewia nudi-
flora, besides numerous other data on weights of
seed, artificial regeneration and so on
Round about 1920, in Bengal, the taungya sys-
tem of regeneration, which had been progressing
for teak in Burma from spasmodic plantations to
organised management, had reached the stage of
organised management m Siligun under Sheb-
beare Some of you may remember a photograph
of Shebbeare careering about on a plough behind
an elephant which, though possibly taken with
somebody's tongue m somebody's cheek, intrigu-
ed a number of people on the advancements in
Bengal
Almost immediately after Siligun, in 1922, the
first systematic taungya plantations, dealing with
artificial regeneration of sal, were begun in the
Gorakhpur Division of the United Provinces
Despite early difficulties and set-backs they were
eminently successful and, so far as I know, con-
tinue to be successful to this day
But artificial regeneration by the taungya sys-
tem, or for that matter any other form of artifi-
cial regeneration, was one thing in the Eastern
Circle with an all-the-year-round population and
often land hunger, but was quite another matter
m the fever stricken bhabar and tarai of the
Western Circle where, except for the aboriginal
tharus no one could live between about April
and October and the whole population, except
the unfortunate Forest Officer, migrated to the
hillb for approximately half the year Artificial
regeneration m that aiea was quite another pro-
blem
A few plantations of miscellaneous species m
the Haldwam Division had grown excellently for
the first year but had been completely wiped out
by deer in the second and third years
About 1927 a teak plantation of about 90 acres
was started m Lakhmanmandi artificially and
also plantations of khair and other miscellaneous
species near Lalkua, all m the Haldwam Division
These were all very successful and from then en
plantations were continued on a larger scale cer-
tainly for some years Meanwhile, these suc-
cesses led to extensions in other forest divisions
of the Western Circle
The story of the first successful 90 acres of teak
plantation m the bhabar of the Haldwam Divi-
sion is worth remembering The idea was to
plant the area with teak root and shoot cuttings
and sufficient had been laised in the nursery to
stock about 40 acres Oiders were issued to fell
40 acr es of forest but when the D F O returned
fiom a distant part of the Division he found, to
his hotror, that about 90 acres of sal had been
marked sold and felling started The difficulty
of teak germination is well-known, so he thought
at first of spreading plants for 40 acres over the
whole 90 acres However, as it was essential to
make a really successful plantation, he gave up
this solution There was a small earth canal,
little more than a trickle, at the top end of the
plantation and he decided that it would be safe
to fill the bottom end of the 40 acres with the
root and shoot cuttings in June and, with the
help of this irrigation, to sow the top 50 acres
with teak seed early m April Germination was
excellent but, unfortunately, the silt from the
canal swamped the seedlings and it looked like
certain failure Consideiing that success m this
plantation was so essential to convince many
doubters that successful plantations could be
made even in this area, the problem was solved,
believe it or not, by setting coolies on with buc-
kets of water and rags to sponge the silt from the
leaves of 50 acres of teak plantations What is
more it cost very little and the whole 90 acres
were eminently successful The teak must have
been 45 to 50 feet hieh before I left India.
56
There were many adventures with these plan-
tations They were game-proof fenced with here
and there home-made ladders to get over the
fence Unfortunately, a number of deer were en-
closed inside the fence and the local tigers realis-
ed that here was a ready-made and easy meat
supply They used to climb the ladders and feed
on the deer inside
Some of the most interesting items on the in-
troduction of artificial regeneration in these pro-
vinces occurred in the Dehra Dun and Saharan-
pur District I shall say no mora afoout those be-
cause I have no doubt whatever that my old
friend M D Chaturvedi will write them all up
because he was directly responsible for much of
the work Without his personality, the work
would never have been accomplished I feel sure
he will write something about it for this Cente-
nary number and I only hope he writes it as
amusingly as he toM the whole story to me on
tour in the two Divisions at the time it was
happening
Things had been moving pretty fast from the
time I went out nearly fifty years ago By the
late twenties the United Provinces had a system
of artificial regeneration for sal and other spe-
cies which solved many problems in the Eastern
Circle, motor roads to enable good and rapid ins-
pection, a whole organised Working Plan Circle
to revise plans at regular intervals based on
better and better data and everything ready for
a gieat advance during the last 25 years of the
centuty The whole of the United Provinces was
under good working plans by then, revised at
legular intervals Unfortunately, soon after tho
beginning of this last 25 years, War broke out
and the whole activities of the forest depart _
ment were turned to supplying various articles
of War These stones will, no doubt, be written
by others
Having been in chaige of the Working Plan
Circle myself for many years, and Irherefore
closely connected with possible yields, I prophe-
sied repeatedly about 1943 that after a century
of toiest management in India, the real results of
it bhould begin to show in yields and the United
Provinces should show a very large increase in
yield about 1960, despite the necessary over-
felling during the- War
I wonder whether that prophecy has been
realised and I hope someone will be kind enough
to wiite and tell me
REMINISCENCES
(BY SIR LAWRENCE MASON)*
It is just fifty years since I first landed in India
as an Assistant Conseivator, so that my service
dates from just half way through the centenary
now being celebrated
My initiation into India was hardly a propitious
one Although informed by the India Office that
I was posted to the Central Provinces, on my re-
porting at Nagpur, I was told that there was no
vacancy for me and nothing was known of my
having been posted to the Province
A complete stranger in the land, I had no op-
tion but to return to Bombay and await instruc-
tions, feeling rather an unwanted person and
somewhat deflated It was only after some ten
days in an hotel and watching the departure of
steamers for home with a strong feeling of nostal-
gia, that I received orders to report to the D F O ,
Hoshangabad The latter was in camp where I
eventually found him It was not for many
months that I was to see my first civil station I
was fortunately fairly well equipped, although
my DFO seemed sui prised that I had brought
no servant and no pony I spent the first three
weeks with him in camp and mainly occupied
myself m collecting a herbarium My only ac-
quaintance with Indian trees was pickled speci-
mens of leaves and fruits in the laboratories at
Oxford Having secured a pony of sorts, an assort-
ment of what proved to be very unreliable
servants and a 'Shuldan' to sleep in, I was then
sent off on my own to the Bon Forests below the
Pachmarhi Hills
The mam task allotted to me was to align and
construct roads to open up the forests Not know-
ing a word of the language and with no one with
, me who knew a word of English and given a 'Ghat
Tracer' for aligning the roads an instrument I
* Sir Lawrence M i son, I E , O B E , wr, s a merrier of the Indum Forogt Service Helmed m Ma<1hva Pradesh and Uttar
Pradesh nnd retired as Inkpot tor-General of Forests, Government of India.
57
had never seen before, I began to think that the
life of a Forest Officer was not one for me
At the last halt before reaching my final desti-
nation, I was to have my first experience of 'big
game' A numbei of excited villagers arrived at
my camp and were evidently greatly upset Un-
fortunately, I could not understand what it was
all about and I assumed that someone had been
hurt or was dangerously ill Seizing my medicine
chest, we set off together to their village This
turned out to be some six miles away and it was
beginning to get dark when I reached the village
There I was shown the 'body of a woman, who had
been killed by a panthei I had brought with me
a 475 H*V i ifle and a 12 bore D B shot gun I
had a machan quickly erected and not realising
that there would be no moon, I hopefully sat up
a tree, thinking I might be able to shoot the pan-
ther Being my first experience of sitting up in
the jungle, I must confess I became distinctly
nervous as darkness came on After some time, I
heard the panther below me and thinking I could
make out the white on his chest, I could not resist
having a shot with my rifle I heard the panther
dash off through the dry teak leaves and realised
what a stupid thing I had done in attempting to
use a rifle when I couldn't see the sights, How-
ever, I couldn't get down from the tree without
calling up the villagers and thereby endangering
their lives I had, therefore, to sit on, getting in
the meantime very cold as I was quite unpre-
pared for such a contingency However, I had
not to wait long before the panther was back
again Being much calmer after my first effort,
I took my shot gun with 'slug' cartridges and
waited until I was certain I could make the
panther out I then fired and felt sure I could
not have missed him I heard him dash off but
could hear he had not gone fai My problem
was then how to get down from the tree and to
get back to my camp six miles away Even-
tually, after an hour or so of waiting in the cold
and hearing no movement of the panther, I be-
came impatient, called up the villagers by a pre-
arranged signal with a whistle and went off
back to my camp Next morning we followed
up the tracks and found the panther lying dead
some 200 yards away From this experience I
learnt lessons which I was not to forget for the
rest of my service The villagers, of course,
were delighted and from then on we were on
the best of terms Their expressions of grati-
tude were most touching At first I had to carry
on by the 'use of signs but one soon picked up
enough everyday words to get along quite hap-
pily.
For food, I had largely to rely on my rifle and
gun, gieen pigeon and pea-fowl being plentiful,
while an occasional barking deer helped out
For othei supplies, I had to icly on the Army
and Navy Stoies in Bombay, the only shop I
knew of in India.
In those days, of course, the only form of
transport was the bullock cart and the journey
to the nearest railhead took four to five days
Sir Lawrence Mason
One had to be the doctor to these simple peo-
ple and each day one had a Sick Parade, some
coming from quite distant villages One did
one's best for them and was able to deal with
minoi complaints such as septic sores and so on
and of course castor oil and epsom salts
brought relief to many Quinine was also in great
demand
Looking back over the years, one realises that
perhaps it was a good training for the young
Forest Officer one simply had to learn the lan-
guage, to become self-sufficient and to get used
to living on one's own resources
With the interval of the monsoon months, as
Personal Assistant to the Conservator at Jubbul-
pore, I returned to Hoshangabad District, being
mainly engaged on the construction of forest
roads It is peihaps of interest to record that
my Conservator came to inspect the roads in a
motor car, being one of the first motor cars to
be driven over forest roads. It caused tremend-
ous excitement among the villagers and we had
constantly to stop and open the bonnet to let
the villagers see what was inside, making such
a strange noise
On my posting to the C P , I was given to
understand that I was going to a Province
famous for shikai, but very backwaid in fores-
try It was certainly tiue that there was plenty
of both big and small game, but as to its being
backward in its forestiy, there were compelling
reasons why the forests were not under any re-
gular system ol management They weie still
recovering fiom the effects of past unregulated
fellings, fires and uncontrolled grazing They
were, therefore, fit only tot silvicultural opera-
tions or what were termed improvement fell-
ings So successful was this treatment that
after a few more years they were brought undei
legular systems of management
I was on sick leave when War broke out in
1914 and it was not until aftei the end of the
War that I was able to retuin to India Soon
after my rejoining the C P , I was transferred to
Dehra Dun as House Tutor, wheie I was placed
in charge of the training of the students foi the
Provincial Forest Services The course, which
included both theoretical and practical training,
lasted two years, some twenty or more students
joining each year from all the Provinces, includ-
ing Burma
A high standard was obtained, comparable in
every way with that at Oxford in my opinion
Many of tfie students in due course obtained
promotion to the then Imperial Forest Service
One could not have asked for a better or happiei
lot of students and, to me, my time as House
Tutor was a most rewarding one
From Dehra Dun, I was posted to the Anda-
mans as Chief Forest Officer, an appointment
generally looked upon as a 'Plum' In fact the
six yeais I was to spend there were by far the
toughest and hardest in the whole of my service
Of the many problems we had to face, the most
intractable were those of the regeneration of
valuable mixed tropical forests and of the ex-
traction of logs from them at an economic cost
That both these problems have now been suc-
cessfully solved, admittedly after many years of
failure, constitute in my opinion, one of the out-
standing achievements of Indian Forestry
After serving as a Conservator, first in the
CP and then in the U P , I was transferred to
Dehra Dun as I G F and President of the FRI
Those were unfortunately days of retrenchment
and the two posts were combined, with the re-
sult that justice could not be done to eithei It
was, however, my good fortune to take part in
the establishment of the Indian Forest College
To begin with, much had to be improvised and
the best use made ot such accommodation as
could be made available from existing buildings
Fortunately, I was able to obtain the services of
Mr E C Mobbs as head of the College and
under his leadership, the College was soon suc-
cessfully established It is very largely to him
that the success of the College is due
The second World War brought my service as
a Forest Officer to an end when I was transfer-
red to the Department of Supply as Director ot
Timber Supplies
Times have changed greatly during the past
fifty years, but it can be safely claimed that the
reputation of the Indian Forest Service stands
as high to-day as it ever did
IN RETROSPECT
(BY J N SEN GUPTA)*
It is with much pleasure, and thanks, that I
-accept the kind invitation, which the President
of th<TTorest Research Institute and Colleges,
Dehra Dun, has been good enough to extend to
the retired gazetted foiest officers (besides the
serving ones) foi contnbuting articles ot rnter-
est to the proposed Centenaiy Publications on
Iidian Forestry, in 1961 Personal reminis-
cences being more on the subjective than on
the objective side, may have a tendency to the
irequerit use of the 'first person singular' m an
article o*n retrospection, for which one must
apologise* at the very outset
On completion ot my training for the then
Provincial sei vices at the Forest Research Ins-
titute, Dehra Dun, I joined the Forest Depart-
ment of Bengal eaily in 1923, and retaed trorn
the State of West Bengal early m 1954, after a
continuous service ot 31 years, of which 5 years
were spent at the F R I , New Forest (Dehra
Dun) on deputation to the Government OL India
The best part of my life was devoted to the ser-
vice of Forestry, in general, and to the branch
of Silviculture, in particular When we arrrved
at Chandbagh, the then site ot the F R I , Dehra
Dun, on the 'All Fools' Day', 1921, the atmos-
phere was already surcharged with a reign of
terror amongst oui seniors, whose suspense on
the eve of an impending decision for the reten-
tion of some and removal of others, naturally un-
nerved us considerably Luckily for them, as
well as for us, this object of terror was soon suc-
ceeded by a more pleasant tactful and sympa-
thetic Instructor in the person of Mr L Mason
(later known as Sir Lawrence Mason, Inspector-
General of Foiests), who managed to give a new
oiientation to our future outlook The moral of
this is that the ofliccr-in-charge of a training
course can make or mai the piospects of recruits
for any service, however, sound then mettle may
otherwise be in the opinion of the recruiting per-
sonnel The few excellent Prrncipal-cum-Insti uc-
tors I came rn closer touch wrth in later years
at Dehra Dun were Messrs Hall, Mobbs and Ran-
ganathan, whose names should be written in
'letters of gold' in the history of Indian Forest
Colleges
The writer had no regrets for having joined
the forest service, as it afforded him the best
possible opportunities for developing himself in
a calm and charming atmosphere, mostly in com-
munion with nature, unruffled by the growing
sophistication of a more civilized life outside the
foiest Walking rules after mrles over rugged
hills and dales wading through knee to breast-
deep waters, cycling or riding on ponies along
narrow roads or bridle paths, and later motoring
on better and wid3r loads over the plains and
hills, with occasional rides on elephants through
the torests or, while in river districts, moving
abjut in steam or motor launches, rewarded at
times by hunting and shooting wild game, and,
above all, the exceptional camp life either in tents
01 in rest houses, etc , had a peculiar fascination
ot their own Forest life had its risks with occa-
sional mischances overtaking us to be forgotten
and laughed out overnight Eerie experience
of having encountered wild elephants, perambu-
latmg solitarily or in herds in the Bengal Duars
and Chittagong Hill Tiacks, is still vivid in my
memory In the virgin forests of the latter on
the borders of Burma, I had once to sleep in an
impiovised resting hut erected in 3 hours, all
with bamboos and wild banana leaves (Decem-
ber, 1926), with a loaded rifle by my side in self-
defence, and to scare awny roaming elephants
and bison in particular If with better loads,
easier motor transport and more conveniently
placed icst houses, etc , have made touring and
camp life r more eay and comfortable now than
* J. N.
Dehra Dun.
!en Gupta wag a member of the West Bengal Sewo* Forest Service. He worked in Bengal and the Forest Reset roh Institute,
they were in, our time, witn the result that the
present generation of forest officers may not
have to encounter such hazards now-a-days, it is
no reflection on them, nor, do I envy them My
only regiet is that they know not what they are
missing '
My long and eventful career can be split up
into three penods, each having some bearing on
the progressive development of forestry m India
Firstly, I worked for 12 years in the best sal
forests of the Bengal duars and terai on the sub-
Himalayan zone, first in compiling the working
plans of two majoi Divisions, Buxa and Jalpai-
guri, for 4 years and then as their D F O for 8
years (with short acting periods of Conservator-
ship m that circle) Secondly, with 5 years as
Assistant Silviculturist in the tropical evergreen
forests of South Bengal and another 5 years as
Experimental Assistant Silviculturist at the
FRI (on deputation) and finally 4 years as the
State Silviculturist m West Bengal I could legiti-
mately claim to have devoted (with, perhaps, the
only other exception m Mi MS Raghavan of
Madras and Andhra) the maximum number of
years (14 years) to Indian Silviculture Lastly,
the remaining 5 years of my service were on
various special duties, including one year in
charge of the Bengal Forest School
The above periodic duties have left some in-
delible impressions in my mind, that may be re-
corded here for what they are worth to comrades
of my younger generation In our time, practi-
cally all working plans used to be scrutinised
and approved by the Inspector-General of Forests
a wholesome practice that has long been dis-
continued (since about 1940) Excess fellings
during the last War and post-War planning ope-
rations soon after were responsible for lack of
any effective control over these plans As an out-
standing example, the volume control exercised
on annual fellings m the past, especially m some
of the sal divisions, has been replaced by the
dubious area control, irrespective of volume-fluc-
tuations caused by severe occasional fire, cyclone,
or very poorly stocked clear-felling coupes The
area-control system sets at nought the fundamen-
tal principle of a 'sustained annual yield', which
forms the basis of forest management, and is,
therefore, a retrograde step after the volume-
control maintained in the past I am of the opi-
nion that the I G F 's control over working plans
must be restored If he has not the time for it,
provision should be made for creating the post
of a D I G of Forests, to which a very senior offi-
cer who has specialised m working plans, m par-
ticular, should be appointed Without an effec-
tive check on working plans, the implementation
of the National Foiest Policy of Inch? is out qf
the question
Intensive activities and developments in Indian
foiestry took place m the twenties and thirties
ol the present century, when the cadres of gazet-
ted services, depleted during the first War, were
filled up m quick succession with tresh reciuits
In Bengal, the taungya cultivation, as a method
of artificial regeneration, was given a new fillip
under the able leadership of Mr E O Shebbeare,
who was the head of the Forest Directorate for
more than 12 years His energy and* optimism
proved contagious to all his colleagues, with the
result that excellent plantations, certified to be the
best in India, of sal, teak, champ, and a number of
other important species sprang up, almost simul-
taneously, in most divisions
Silvicultural research was also properly orga-
nised m most of the States during this period
What with greater concentration on utilization
activities during the last World War, post-War
planning, reorganisation of States on the attain-
ment of Independence, depletion of requisite
personnel, etc , Silvicultural work was held
in suspended animation for about 10 years
(194150) both at the FRI as well as m the
States A great deal depends on the personality
and efficiency of the Central Silviculturist at the
F R I , so that the tradition built by the late Mr
Troup, Sir Herbert Howard, Sir Harry Cham-
pion, and a few others of lesser eminence, may
stimulate the present generation of Silvicultunsts
The partition of Bengal in 1947 deprived us of
about two-thirds of our forest areas including
the gurjan and other Tropical Evergreen forests,
the excellent plantations of teak and other spe-
cies, and the mangrove forests of the Sunderbans
m the estuaries of the Bay of Bengal. To us,
who had developed the natural and artificial re-
generation of these forests, this dismemberment
was a major disaster
I have a great regard for New Forest, where I
spent some of my best years and worked with a
few stalwarts in Indian Forestry, whom I had
the opportunity of meeting again even after my
retirement both at the Fourth World Forestry
Congress (1954) and on the occasion of the
Golden Jubilee of the FRI. (1956)
6l
THE UTTAR PRADESH FORESTS 50 YEARS AGO
(BY E A SMYTHIES)*
There have been amazing developments in the
Bi^4oejts, especially during the past dozen
years, to which Shu M D Chaturvedi contribut-
ed so much, and it may be of interest to recall
the small and comparatively primitive condi-
tions which existed half a century ago, from
which these great developments later evolved
! joined the U P Forest Depar tmenl m 1908, and
so can describe at first hand those early condi-
tions
Let us* look first at the over-all picture There
were onty two Crrcles Eastern and Western, to-
talling about 4,000 sq miles compared to the
six (or is it seven 9 ) Circles at the present time,
which cover over 13,000 sq miles The adminis-
tration was still very much under the control of
Simla, a relic of the times of Brandis, Schlich
and Ribbentrop and all senior appointments,
working plans, and proposals for major develop-
ments had to go to the Government of India for
sanction Conservators were shunted from one
Province to another by seniority, regardless of
the fact that in their new posts they were usual-
ly quite ignorant of local conditions, silviculture,
and even language
The tempo of life and touring was leisurely
Motor cars and motor roads were, of course, not
even dreamed of Even the journey from Kath-
godam to Nami Tal involved 12 mrles by two-
horse-tonga, followed by a 2000' rise by pony or
dandy The D F O started his touring m Octo-
ber, or in malarrous areas in November, and
would usually not see his head office again before
June In the Plains Divisions, he rode an ele-
phant or a horse and his camp was moved by
camels or carts In the two hill Divisions, Nami
Tal and Chakrata, the camping depended on
"Begar", a compulsoiy drain on local villagers
to supply coolies to carry everything on their
heads or backs from one camp to the next, a sys-
tem which was as unpopular as it was inefficient
Let us now consider the different forest zones,
starting with Kumaon Except for patches of
forest near the three stations of Nairn Tal, Ram-
khet and Almora, which had been originally re-
served primarily to supply those stations with
timber, firewood, charcoal etc , the extensive
forests of Kumaon and Garhwal were under the
Civil Authorities, without regular working plans
* E A Rmythics, I E , was a m< nil i <! tin huh m I ,M st ,^
Dehra Dun and retired as Chief Consen itoi <>f Fmcsts Ittat rnu'u
or regular management, more or less on a care-
taker basis, the principal object being to meet
and ensure the forest requirements of the local
villagers
The resin industry, which has developed into
such a dominant factor in the economy of the
U P Himalayan forests, was in its infancy Resin
tapping was practically confined to the fire-pro-
tectsd chir forests aiound Nami Tal and Rani-
khet, and was under the control of the D F O ,
Nairn Tal In 1909, the year before I was put in
chaige, the nett revenue had dropped to Rs 8,000
and there was some talk of scrapping the busi-
ness altogether The distillery was a very pri-
mitive business at Bhowali, with two or three
large copper stills heated by open fires, involving
a tremendous fire-risk The turpentine and rosin
produced weie both inferior in quality and diffi-
cult to sell A long series of experiments,
earned out with the advice and help of the young
Foiest Research Institute Dehra Dun, finally
pioved that both products could be improved to
first grade quality by steam distillation and redis-
tillation, so the Forest Research Institute was a
vital factor in saving an industry which now pro-
duces 3,00,000 maunds resin annually, Rs 50
lakhs gross revenue, and distributes Rs 20 lakhs
per annum amongst the hill villages of
Kumaon and Tehi i It was some years later that
the Rosin and Turpentine Co was started, and
the distillery transferred to Clutterbuckgunj I
MU lu \\ujked m Uttar Pr'lehh and the Forest Research Institute,
63
remember an occasion when my old friend Pan-
dit Pant successfully defended the Forest De-
partment, in the important legal case brought by
the I T & R Company, in order that Kumaon
- suffer.
The Eastern and Western Circles These in-
clude the great sal belt that runs from one end
of the Province to the other. Half a century ago
the problem of natural sal regeneration, which
has since exercised so many forest officers for so
long, had not even arisen, the successful intro-
duction of fire protection 30 and 40 years earlier
had stimulated extensive areas of established re-
production (as seen m the forests of Nepal to-
day) to develop into well stocked young pole
crops, which were not leady for regeneration,
and the activities of the Depar.ment were pre-
dominantly utilisation of the overwood, for
sleepers and the building trade, and fhe-protec-
tion
The demand foi miscellaneous species was very
small The finest khair trees, 3 to 6 feet girth,
sold for Rs 3 per tree Until the F R I had carri-
ed out then experiments with match timbers and
bobbins there was little demand for semul or
haldu and other species The regeneration of
those species was completely ignored, and the
present day extensive plantations, by taungya
and other means, were not even a dream A great
belt of these miscellaneous forests, in the terai
south of Lalkua, has now been converted into
miles of sugarcane, but the taungya and other
plantations elsewhere ensure an ever increasing
yield.
The Land Management Circle, which now
covers more than 1,000 sq miles, did not exist,
but the fiist faint glimmer of possible future
developments in this (now) important branch of
forest activity had recently appeared, with Sir
John Hewett's lesolution (inspired by Sir Peter
Clutterbuck) that "The Forests are called to come
down from the Hills", and start afforestation so
urgently needed in the Plains A decade later, a
number of experimental lavine plantations had
been taken up, which were utilised in Famine
Relief works in the 1919 Famine, probably the
first and the last time that the Uttar Pradesh
Forest Department was called on to administer
the Famine Code on a fairly extensive scale. The
latest Annual Report figures available indicate
that there are still very extensive areas of "Un-
classed" forests to be tackled, that this work is
continuing, and that the faint glimmer of a dream
started half a century ago will soon be a light
shining over most parts of the Province
The preservation of Wild Life, which started
in the Eastern and Western Circles with the con-
trol of poaching in the 1870's by the early years
of this century, had proved astonishingly success-
ful, so that the forests were supporting an exces-
sive stock of chital, gond, and other deer (except
when thinned out periodically by rinderpest), and
as a natural and inevitable result, a great in-
crease in tiger and other carnivora The U P
forests in this respect provided a striking con-
trast to the adjoining forest of Nepal, in which I
touied extensively later, and never failed to be
impressed with the comparative paucity of wild
life, except in the Chitawan rhino sanctuary,
where sorre attempt to protect the wild life was
made Fifty years ago the creation of game and
bird sanctuaries, like the modern extensive Na-
tional Parks and Sanctuaries, was never contem-
plated
Man-eaters in Kumaon were however preva-
lent, and I shot my first tiger in 1912 by the light
of a lantern, over half the body of an unfortunate
banta, who had been seized from a little shop on
the mam road between Bhowali and Khairna,
and earned Rs 500 reward It was about this
time that Jim Corbett started his long-sustained
war against the man-eaters of Kumaon, acting on
occasion as his own bait For instance, where a
tiger was known to follow gangs of grass-cutting
hill women and seize one that loitered behind,
Corbett would dress up as a woman and loiter
behind And that required some nerve
In this brief article I have attempted to give a
picture of conditions as I remember them 50 years
ago, and to indicate the humble origins of some
of the spectacular developments, which stand to
the credit of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Depart-
ment in recent years
L/S5FRIDDun 6
MY MEMORIES OF THE FORESTS OF INDIA
(BY C C WILSON)*
The forests of India
assets They are richer
hty than are those of
try Teak, perhaps the
world, is indigenous to
Deoar, Rosewood, Sal,
gam and many more
are one of its greatest
in timbers of high qua-
almost any other coun-
greatest timber in the
the country, as also are
Sisham, Ainee, Irumbo-
Apart from timber the forests produce a varie-
ty of useful and necessary commodities which
yield a handsome annual net revenue
But of even greater importance than the tim-
ber or the fuel or the minor products is the influ-
ence the forests have on the climate and the soil
of the country
Scientific foiest management staited in 1861,
just 100 years ago when the frightening shrinkage
in the forest cover was first appieciated Among
the names of the pioneers of forest management
in India that spring to our mind those of
Brandis, Schhch, Gamble, Troup and Richmond
are outstanding
There was an uphill task As it has been in all
countries in its incipient stages, forest conserva-
tion was unpopular And this is easy to under-
stand as the dwellers in the countless villages all
over the country had, from time immemorial, ob-
tained a great part of their daily needs from the
jungles First and foiemost was the question of
fuel with which to cook their food Without that
they could not live Then there were small tim-
bers for building wi'hout which thev would have
no shelter, ploughs without which they could not
cultivate the ground, grazing without which_ljiejj:
cattle would die, green-leal manure ici"" their
fields, tanning bark for their leather, bamboos
for a dozen different purposes And these were
vital to their well being, and always they had
taken them where they could find them And then
an authority come into being which denied them
what they had always looked upon as their
rights They fought most bitterly and, indeed un-
derstandably, against the new tyranny They had
neither the education nor the intelligence to rea-
lise that their little village forests were fast dis-
appearing and that, if the piocess continued, the
country would become uninhabitable
The villager did not understand that he was
not being denied these essentials but that their
extraction was being controlled and limited to
the amount of each year's increment But even
so the control spelled hardship, though far less
hardship than would have resulted if unlimited
use had been allowed, as it had been in the past,
for so the village forests would eventually have
ceased to exist
Indeed it was not only the villager that did
not understand At the end of my service when
I was Chief Conservator of Forests in Madras, a
very great man, Mr Rajagopalacharya, was the
Premier He sent for me and told me that his ad-
visers were pressing him to abolish the Forest
Deoartment as being oppressive, expensive and
useless
I explained the position to him and urged on
him the advisability of refraining from drastic
action till he had time to see for himself the
woi king of the department and the results we had
achieved in some of the foiest reserves Within
six months he was preaching Forest Conserva-
tion wherever he went.
I served in the Indian Forest Service for 32
vears and by the end of that time I saw a great
change in the outlook of the villager He realised
that what was being done was solely for his good,
he saw that his forests were no longer receding
but were, indeed, increasing in productivity, and
though he still took illicit toll of the produce
when he could do so with impunity, he had ceased
to look upon the forest department as his enemy
That was more than 20 years ago Now from
what my friends in India tell me the preservation
* C Wilson was a member of the Indian Forest Service, he served in Madras and retired as Chief Conservator of Forests.
65
and improvement of the village forests is recog-
nised as being of paramount importance, and the
extension of the big timber plantations is perse-
vered with wherever the climate and soil are
suitable ao they make a valuable financial return,
at the bme time supplying the trade wi*h all
the high class timbers it requires
India is particularly fortunate in possessing
such a variety of magmficient timbers growing
naturally in the forests In addition she has many
Ia6hs of rupees worth of minor forest products
that aie extracted every year
One of the most valuable of these is lac The
insect which produces it is introduced by villa-
gers into .certain species which serve as suitable
hosts Here it grows and multiplies and forms the
encrustation that yields the lac of commerce
Another is sandalwood, Santalum album, that
is found only m the forests of South India and
nowhere else in the World This wood is so valu-
able that it is sold by the pound instead of by the
ton And at one time it appeared that it was being
killed out by the "spike" disease Some of the
most useful work on this was done by Ranger
Rangaswamy lyengar He erected cages over
selected sandal trees, each with a wire mesh of
different gauge so as to exclude insects of vary-
ing sizes that were suspected of being vactors
From these experiments considerable knowledge
was gained though, at the time I left India, no
cure for the disease had yet been found
One of the most important contributions to the
success of forestry in India has been the intensive
research undertaken at the Forest Research In-
stitute at Dehra Dun With tireless industry, the
experts there have attacked the numerous prob-
lems that are continually arising and always
must arise, in connection with the vast industries
that depend on the produce of the forests
Great trees are long in growing,
but they are rooted up in a single hour
Curlius, from Latin
00
67
BRANDIS
Sir Dietrich Brandis, Ph.D., L.L.D, FRS, K.C.
I E , was born at Bonn on 1st April, 1824, son of
Dr Christian Brandis, Professor of Philosophy m
the University of Bonn He was educated at the
Universities of Copenhagen Gottmgen and Benn.
In 1849 he filled the post of a Lecturer in Botany
at Bonn It was as a Botanist that his attention was
drawn to questions connected with the manage-
ment of foiests.
In 1856, he was selected by Lord Dalhousie, the
then Governor-General of India, to take charge of
the teak forests of Pegu in Burma. He landed in
India in 1656, and a year later the entire forests of
Burma were placed under his charge. His herba-
rium and botanical library which he shipped
from Calcutta to Rangoon were lost as the boat
which carried them capsized He looked upon
this almost as a divine directive to his future
course of work While he never quite abandoned
botanical studies, thereafter he devoted most of
his energies to mastering the science and practice
of Forestry
Pnoi to 1856, there was no organised attempt
to extend and develop the foiests or to protect
them Biandis organised a scheme foi the mana-
gement of the forests of Burma, in the teeth of
fierce opposition from the timber contractors who
aigued that the supply of teak timber in the
forests was inexhaustible and State interference
was unnecessary He mtioduced for the first time
the method of what he called 'linear valuation sui-
veys' and framed, on the data obtained, what was
virtually the first working plan, with an estimate
of the growing stock and a calculation of the annu-
al sustained yield He thus saved the forests of
Burma, which today constitute one of the chief
sources of supply of teak timber to the world
In 1862, he was invited to advise Government
on forest matters, and in 1864, he was appointed
the first Inspector-General of Forests to the Gov-
ernment of India He inaugurated the manage-
ment of forests on scientific lines A Forest De-
partment was created, and a forest law enacted
which provided for the settlement, demarcation,
protection and management of forests. To him
and to his successors, Schlich and Ribbentrop, is
due primarily the credit for the creation and or-
ganisation of the Forest Department, and for the
introduction of methods of management, adapted
from the best European schools, to suit the di-
verse conditions of Indian forests.
In 1866, he initiated the system of training rec-
ruits in continental forest schools, partly m
France and partly m Germany Under this sys-
tem, which lasted till 1886, a number of distin-
guished forest officers were recruited to the
Indian Service
Brandis was created a Companion of the Indian
Empire m 1878 He practically relinquished the
post of Inspector-General of Forests m India in
1881, when he proceeded on special duty to Mad-
ras He finally ictired in 1883. On that , <$fcasion
the Government of India acknowledged' Tiis ser-
vices in most eulogistic terms, granting him not
only a special pension but a substantial gratuity
in recognition of his meritorious services He was
awarded a Knight Commandeiship in 1887 for
his services in India
The connection of Sir Dietrich with the world
of forestry continued even afier his retirement.
For eight yeais (1888-1893) he superintended the
practical education in forestry of s udents at Coo-
pers'" Hill From 1896 onwards he was engaged in
writing his monumental work, "Indian Trees",
which was published only a few months before
his death m 1007
During his association with Coopers' Hill and
.also afterwards, he guided the studies of a num-
ber of young Americans, who later organised the
Forest Department of the United States His in-
fluence in this respect had been so great that Pre-
sident Roosevelt, in 1896, sent his photograph to
him with the fo. lowing inscription "To Sir Diet-
rich Brand. s, in high appreciation oj his services
to forest-i/ in the United States. From Theodore
Roosevelt"
Brandis was not only a great administrator,
but also a scientist of high order During his
career in India he wrote an endless number of
reports and papers, and m 1872-74 he interrupted
his forest work by writing "The Forest Flora of
North-West and Central India", a work so hicrh-
ly thought of that he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society in 1875.
His valuable contribution to the field of Indian
forest botany is commemorated, by his collea-
gues, who named several plants after him These
include, among a host of others,
Calamus brandisn Becc ,
Beilschmiedia brandish Hkf.,
Dendrocalamus brandisn Kz.,
08
Diospyros brandisiana Kz ,
Ochlandra brandisii Gamble,
Macaranga brandisu King,
Millettia brandisiana Kz ,
Orophea brandisii Hk f & Th ,
Pediculans brandisii Benth ,
Quercus brandisiana Kz ,
Ardisia brandisiana Kz ,
lodes brandisii Kz
Ixora brandisiana Kz
Loranthus brandisanus Kz ,
The genus Brandisia Hk f. & Th. is also nam-
ed after him
Brandis was a Fellow of the Royal Society, the
Lmnean Society and the Society of American
Foresters He was a Doctor of Laws of the Univer-
sity of Edinburgh, and member of several other
learned societies
What, may be asked, were the personal quali-
ties of the man who was able, in the face of op-
position now hardly conceivable, to carry out the
work which he had set himself to do The answer
is, intense enthusiasm and immense physical en-
durance coupled with professional integrity s>nd
an insatiable thirst for knowledge He convinced
his superior officers and stimulated his subordi-
nates
Brandis was truly the founder of Indian Fores-
try On the occasion of the Centenary of Forestry
in India, we foresters salute him and pay our res-
pectful homage.
THE FORESTS OF INDIA
70
Where man lived the longest in organised societies there the
land is in -worst condition This is true of farm land, grass lands and
forest lands, though forest lands seem to be the first to be demag-ed
and misused
Lowdermilk
FORESTS OF INDIA
CHAPTER I
HISTORY
Introduction
As with any other nation, the history of the
tfrests of India is linked with its political history
and its demographic pressure Political changes
have led to new developments m the administra-
tion ottforests as well The two World Wan>
made enormous demands on forests and affected
the progress of forestry on scientific lines. Even
apart from the adverse effects of wars or politi-
cal changes, with the passage of time the prime-
val torest has had to give place to well-managed
forest estates 01 organised plantations. The de-
mographic pressure, which has mci eased almost
in geometric proportions, has made insidious in-
roads into forests The vast land with its varied
climatic and geological conditions, its different
types of forests and its enormous population
with its ever-increasing demands on the forests
have all contributed to make the history of
India's Forestry complicated and at the same
time mteiesting Nowhere in the East has
forestry developed so rapidly and to such a
degree as in India from almost the primitive
under-exploited stages, through uncontrolled and
excessive woiking, especially of accessible areas,
to systematic and organised management on
scientific lines under technically qualified pei-
sonnel A century of forest traditions lies be-
hind India's Forestry of to-day The achieve-
ments of the Forest Services of India during the
last century have led to India gaining a leading
place in tropical silviculture, in forest conser-
vation and in forest management It must be
mentioned, however, that in the fields of forest
exploitation and utilization progress has not
been so marked, particularly because of the econo-
mic feature of a large population always in need
of spare time employment
Very little is known of the features of forest
administration m the country prior to the initia-
tion of regular forest operations by the British
on their attainment of the supremacy in India.
Forestry in the British period up to 1925, is ex-
haustively covered in the valuable book, "The
Forests of India" by E P. Stebbmg which gives
a general account of the early history of India's
foiests besides a detailed account of the progress
of Indian Forestry from a hundred years ago
There are also two other earlier soui ces of infor-
mation, viz, Ribbentrop's "Forestry in British
India" (1900) and Cleghom's "Forests and Gar-
dens of South India" A detailed account of the
subsequent period since 1925 is yet to be brought
out The pi ogress of forestry m India has, how-
ever, been very rapid dining the last 40 years
and it is hoped that a minimum of information
regarding this period will be included in this
Centenary Publication.
In the very early stages when the population
was compaiatively small, the demands made on
the forests or the manner in which they were
exploited did not seriously affect the general
well-being of the forests But as population
pressure increased and cultivation spread in an
increasing measure, the forests began to be affect-
ed very adversely The land abandoned after
shifting cultivation reverted to forest growth,
but always of a very mfei lor type and even that
only m areas where the factors of the locality
were wholly favourable In all other areas,
where the rainfall was not heavy and the soil not
nch, rehabilitation of the area into useful forest
became a real problem, especially with the ad-
verse factor of grazing coming increasingly to
bear upon these sites
Forests in Ancient India
In the pre-Bntish periods, the successive waves
of invasion and immigration into India inevit-
ably had their effect on the forests Even as
long ago as 2000 BC there is evidence of a flou-
rishing Dravidian civilisation but it would appear
to have been in consonance with the forests
that were then m such abundance The
early Aryans were a pastoral people, interested
in the pursuant of agriculture, they cleared forests
only in the areas in which they actually settled
down and maintained all their big institutions
m the sylvan surroundings of the forest The
Mahabharata and the Ramayana give attractive
descriptions of forests like Dandakaranya,
72
Nandavan and Khandavavan The ancient cul-
tuie of Hindus had its origin in the Aranyas and
Ashrams Even the concept of wild life conser
vation finds support in the maxim "Ahnnsa
Paramo Dharmaha" There was great reverence
for Vans (forests) and groves near temples, even
if there was no effort on the part of the rulers or
the peoples of the land towards any regular
management of forests for their perpetuation
However, the records of Chinese pilgrims (600
BC) refer to dense Indian iorests Again, even
in the north-west region, iccords relating to
Alexander's invasion (327 B C ) mention dense
forests But the various parts of India were
under different local rulers and there was no
organized government over any considerable
tract until the reign of Chandra Gupta Maurya
(300 B C ) In his days, there was a Superinten-
dent of Forests, who was assisted by some staff
The protection of wild life in the forest aieas was
part of their duty There were punishments for
forest offences The Dumshment for unautho-
rised killing of elephants was death The forests
of those days, under Hindu rulers, were classi-
fied as (i) those set apart for the study of reli-
gion, (n) reserved forests for the supply of forest
produce, (in) forests set apart for the grazing of
the royal elephants, (iv) hunting ground of the
Royalty and (v) hunting grounds for the public
During the days of Ashoka, much importance
was laid to the planting of trees along the toads
and on camping sites Gi owing of medicinal
plants was also encouraged
Forests in the Muslim Period
With the Muslim invasion, the local people who
were uprooted sought refuge in the forests
which they cleaied for settling down The in-
vaders did not have any special interest in the
conservation of forests either, they cleared them
either for strategic leasons or even for other
purposes They were, however, interested in
forests for hunting and in the creation and main-
tenance of gardens besides planting of tiees
along the highways and canals The great
Moghul Empeior, Akbar, who evinced interest m
the planting of trees along canals, directed "that
on both sides of the canal down to Hissar, trees
of every description, both for shade and blossom,
be planted, so as to make it like the canal under
the tree in Paradise" With the fall of Moghul
Empire, the country was divided into a number
of small kingdoms that were frequently fighting
among themselves, as a result of which many
people abandoned cultivation in disturbed areas
and resorted to remote forest areas The in-
crease in population also led to the clearance of
moie forest areas for agriculture Shifting culti-
vation in the hills was also responsible for clear-
ance of foiest lands more than necessary There
was no organised interest in forest maintenance
Only specified species of timber value were pro-
claimed by local rulers as "Royal trees" and'
royalty was collected for the extraction of such
trees Otherwise, the forests were open to all
and the public obtained their requirements with-
out restriction
Forests in early British Period N
In the early years of their rule, the British also
made large indents on the timber wealth of the
country The newly established British Ad-
ministration in India was not alive to trie need
for careful husbanding of forest resources and
was even under the impression that the forest
wealth ot India was inexhaustible The British
themselves were new to ideas of systematic
forestry, as they had no developed forest organi-
zation then in Britain As supplies of fiist class
oak timber became short in England, large quan-
tities of teak from India were used for the Brrtish
Admrralty's fleet
At the close of the 18th century the position re-
garding forests in India was no better than before
the advent of the British Only certain species
which were acceptable for export purposes were
exploited and that also in an unregulated manner
Apart from timber, the sandalwood of South India
was exploited for its highly scented wood and it
found its way to different European markets In
fact, all the requirements needed for Governmental
activities were then easily procurable from the
forests The people also obtarned all their require-
ments without difTiculty Naturally, the state of
affairs could hardly be conducive to forest con-
servancy On the other hand, in many localities
forests were considered an obstruction for further
development of agriculture Hence, no serious at-
tempt was made to prevent destruction of forests
The general policy was to expand agriculture and
to obtain teak and other timber for the Navy
and for constructional purposes But even m
the early decades of the nineteenth century, the
rapid diminution of forests and their likely
failure to continue to yield the icquirements
(especially of selected species) in adequate quan-
tities began to be felt by the administration.
First Steps towards Forest Conservancy
The first step in Indian forestry began m the
South In the vear 1800, a Commission was ap-
pointed to enquire into the availability of teak in
the Malabar forests Regulations followed pro-
hibiting the felling of teak below 21 inches in
girth In 1805, a Forest Committee was consti-
tuted to enquire into the capacity of forests and
the status of proprietary rights in them The
Committee found that the more accessible forests
had been over-woiked and that more distant
areas could be tapped only after the construction
of roads at much cost. As a result of the Forest
Committee's report, a proclamation was made
declaring 'royalty' rights ever teak trees m the
South, and prohibiting unauthorised fellings of
teak On 10-11-1806, the Government of Madras
Appointed Captain Watson of the Police as Con-
servator of Forests, with a view to oiganise the
production of teak and other timber suitable for
the Navy for ship-building Watson was thus
the fiist person in India to be named a 'Conser-
vator of 'Forests' However, he established only
a timber monopoly thioughout Malabar and Tra-
vancore and arranged for plentiful supply ot
timber But his methods gave rise to discon-
tent, and in 1823 the post of Conservator was
abolished In 1842, Conolly, Collector of Mala-
bar, initiated action that resulted in the world-
famous teak plantations of Nilambur The first
work was consolidated by the tireless efforts of
his assistant, Sub-Conservator Chathu Menon
The Court of Directois of the East India Com-
pany thus lecogmsed the need to improve the
forests of Malabar by forming teak plantations
The necessity for scientific advice in the
management of forests was giadually realised by
the administrations, and m 1847 Gibson was ap-
pointed, in addition to other duties, as their Con-
servator of Forests by the Bombay Government
In 1856, Cleghorn was appointed as the first regu-
lar Conservator of Forests m Madras Presidency
With these appointments tegular steps at forest
conservancy began to be undertaken m the Bom-
bay and Madras Presidencies At that time the
vast forest tracts in Central Provinces, Bengal
and Assam had not even been explored to any
extent As regards the forests of Upper
(Northern) India, very little information is
available regarding their management during the
early years of British rule The accessible
portions were apparently subjected to heavy un-
regulated fellings In 1825, Wallich was deputed
to enquire into and report on the extensive
forests at the foot of the Himalayas His report
pointed to the need for conserving the forests of
sal and sissoo m Avadh and the Terar He recom-
mended that Government should interest itself
actively m their management. But the observa-
tions that large numbers of sal seedlings occur-
red every season near the big trees, led Falconer
to conclude that the forest wealth was inexhaus-
tible and that the exploitation of the forests
could continue unabated The difficulty of
establishing the young sal was not realised then
The belief that the forests were inexhaustible
was also dispelled as more exploitation took
place Further, the dense population in Avadh
and surrounding areas cleared forests for large-
scale extension of agriculture, till towards trie
end of 1850, when difficulty began to be ex-
perienced (particularly m the Punjab) in obtain-
ing the timber reeds of the Public Works De-
partment The unchecked exploitation of
accessible areas, the forest fires and grazing had
all caused gradual destruction of forests m the
plains It is interesting, however, to note that
plantations had been raised along the Western
and Eastern Jumna canals during the period
1820-1840 under the initiative of the Superin-
tendents of the Canal. The trees planted includ-
ed sissoo, too?i, sal and teak.
In 1855, Lord Dalhousie, the Governor -General
promulgated for the first time an outline for
forest conservancy for the whole country by the
issue of a Memorandum of the Government of
India dated 3-8-1855 This (according to Steb-
bing) might well be termed as the "Charter of
the Indian Forests" The Memorandum resulted
from the reports -submitted by McClelland, then
Superintendent of Forests in Burma (then part
of the Indian Empire) In the year 1856, Brandis
was appointed Superintendent of Forests in Pegu
(Burma) and later came to serve in India Brandis
was a fully qualified, scientifically trained fores-
ter He had received his training in Germany,
at that time the only line training ground in
forestry, besides Nancy in France Along with
this scientific training, he possessed all the attri-
butes which go to make a great scientific pioneer
His contributions as Inspector-General of Forests
of India laid the sure foundation on which India's
Forestry developed so satisfactorily in the last
hundred years and is what it is to-day
Captain Longden was deputed by Lord
Dalhousie to explore and report on the forests
of the Western Himalayan Range from Chamba
eastwards to the north of Simla. As a result of
his exploration of forests in the valleys of Sutlej.
Beas, Ravi and Chenab in 1852-53, a Timber
Agency was established, with a depot near Seal-
kote In 1854, a Superintendent was appointed
for the forests m Dehra Dun and Rohilkhand
In 1850, the British Association m Edmborough
formed a committee to consider the destruction
of tropical forests in India. This resulted from
the initiative of Cleghorn. The Committee found
that over a large portion of the Indian Empire,
there was an almost unconti oiled destruction o
the forests due to the careless habits of the popu-
lation, but that in the forests of Malabar (where
the British rulers exercised some supervision)
considerable improvement had already taken
place and that these improvements might be
extended by proper enforcement of forest regu-
lations to the forests over the rest of the country
Among other things, the need for lorming plan-
tations in depleted areas was pointed out as also
the urgency for prohibiting the cutting down of
immature growth and the importance of reserv-
ing and maintaining forests in high altitudes and
in areas of peculiar physical structure The
Committee also stated that indiscriminate clear-
ance of forests around localities wherefrom water
supplies were derived was greatly to be depre-
cated
Meanwhile, in South India, though Gibson and
Cleghorn commenced their work with limited
staff, they devoted special attention regarding
the laismg of plantations following Conolly's
example When alarming decrease in the sup-
plies of first class teak in Malabar forests was
noticed, attention was diverted to explore the
possibilities of obtaining timber from Anamalai
Forests of Coimbatore^ In 1854 Michael was ap-
pointed Superintendent of the Anamalai Forests,
after he had been trained in Moulmem, Burma,
to learn the methods of dealing in timber The
early working of Anamalai forests was also
mostly in the nature of exploitation, but efforts
were 'made by Michael to avoid wasteful methods
in his operations He recognized the advantage
of using the saw in the place of the axe Till
then all timber operations were carried out with
the axe only from first to last and the waste was
probably more than 50 per cent The statement
of Michael in his report, "it will however be my
endeavour to work as much as possible with the
saw, eventually (I trust) to the entire exclusion
of the axe", would point to the effoits he made
in this respect However, for many years to
follow, the Indian forests suffered at the hands
of the people and the timber contractors and
their wasteful methods of exploitation.
In 1856, rules for the conservancy of trees and
brushwood in Rawalpindi district were publish-
ed and in 1857 rules for forest conservancy in
Hazara were framed The publication of these
rules marked the commencement of much-needed
protection for the forest areas of the Punjab.
In the year 1857, the Indian Mutiny occurred.
The year 1858 saw the end of the East India Com-
pany and rule by the Court of Directors The
Royal Proclamation in 1958 declared the
sovereignty of Queen Victoria as Empress of India
The Mutiny brought out the want of facilities
for rapid communication, and the tremendous
impetus given to railway construction after the
Mutiny caused heavy demands on forests While
m the early period of British lule timber extrac-
tion was mainly towards supplying ihe needs of
the British Navy, the years following the Indiaci
Mutiny saw the exploitation of forests through-
out the country for supplying the enoimous
quantities of railway sleepers and other jiyaterial
requned for railway construction in different
parts of the country Fotest destruction again
went apace, generally.
In Madras, however, apart from continuing the
work of raising teak plantations in Malabar,
efforts also began for raising plantations m the
Nilgiris About 1858, exotic Acacias and Eucaly-
ptus species were introduced, and this resulted
subsequently in the large scale plantations of these
species in the Nilgais During the period
1858-64, importance was thus given to raising
plantations on an increasing scale and plantation
activity became a recognised part of forest con-
servancy It is interesting to note that in the
first stages of forest management, attention was
concentrated mainly on obtaining the lequired
timber Next came the urge to plant m order to
replace the loss Only later followed systematic
conservation of forests, by taking protective
steps against further depredation, and import-
ance was attached to forest protection and guard-
ing the forest against unregulated fellings
Scientifically trained staff was progressively
entrusted with the task of forest administration,
as the need for conservation and improvement
work was appreciated Later, regeneiation and
planting work became an integral part of forest
conservancy not only to compensate for the loss
caused by removals but also to augment forest
resources in order to meet the increasing de-
mands of the population
In 1861, Cleghorn published his book on
"Forests and Gardens of South India" It did
much to promote forest conservancy in India
Cleghorn laid the first foundation of an effective
system of forest conservancy in Madras at a
time when forestry was very little known in the
rest of India Apart from his services to Madras,
he also contributed to forestry in the Punjab,
where he was sent in 1861 to report on the forests
75
of Western Himalayas In 1864, he was associated
with Brandis, in organising Forest Administra-
tion under the Government of India In 1863,
the necessity for early demarcation of the
government and village forests in Madras was
pointed out by Brandis and Cleghorn In 1882,
the Madras Forest Act was passed
In Bombay, the efforts at foiest conservancy
which began with the appointment of Gibson as
Conservator of Forests, continued to make blow,
but steady progress Gibson directed his
energies to three main objects, viz , (i) prohibi-
tion of.^hifting cultivation, (n) institution of
thinnings in young teak areas and (in) foimation
of teak plantations Unfortunately, during this
early period, considerable opposition (to the
introduction ot forest conservancy by the Forest
Department) came from some of the District Col-
lectors They were strongly against the advent
of a new Department which would take over the
administration of the forest poitions of the dis-
tricts But, the growing scarcity of timber and
extensive demand for wood of various desc rip-
tions, led the Government of Bombay to recog-
nise that the foiests had to be strictly conserved
and that a specialist agency was necessary tor
the purpose The Government of Bombay, there-
fore, decided to place its Forest Department on
an efficient footing In 1860, Dalziel, who suc-
ceeded Gibson drew up a set of rules in consulta-
tion with Goldfinch, then Collector of Dharwai
It was decided that the foiest establishment in
each district would be under the control of the
Collector and that the duty of the Conservator
would consist in visiting the forests annually for
the purpose of advising the Collectors on forest
matters The Secretary of State (in Ins des-
patch in 1862) did not consider this distribution
of duties between two Departments desirable, in
view of the past experience of indifference of
some Collectors to the interests of forests, how-
ever, he allowed the arrangements to be adopted
for the time being as an experiment In 1862,
the Bombay Forest Department Vvas thus recog-
nized to provide for assistance to the Conserva-
tor in 7 places, but the other forest establish-
ments of the districts continued to be under the
Collectors Large quantities of timber were
supplied to the Navy, the Army and the Public
Works Department The forests cf the Dangs
were taken over on lease and the desirability of
taking on lease the jungles of Mehwashi Chiefs
was also considered. In his despatch dated 30th
March 1863, the Secretary of State wrote in re-
gard to the future management* of the Bombay
forests as follows' "You will enjoin upon the
Collectors the necessity for harmonious co-
operation wtih the Conservator and his officers
and impress upon them that the proper growth
and protection of the forests is as important to
the Government as the cultivation of any other
crop"
In the forests of the region of Central Pro-
vinces, large tracts remained unexplored for a
long time In 1861 Government constituted the
Central Provinces as a Cmef Commissionership
Temple, who was appointed the first Chief Com-
m ssioner, realised the great part that these
forests could play in the economy of the undeve-
loped province and began to pay special atten-
tion to them Captain Pearson was appointed as
Superintendent of Forests In his report on
the nature and working of these forests soon
after the gieat Indian Mutiny, Pearson has des-
cribed how these forests were thiown open to
timber contractors, with complete freedom to
fell to any extent and as they liked "It was
only necessary for a contractor whether Euro-
pean or native to obtain a parwana or order "from
the Civil authorities to cut timber, and then
he started work, and as every Gond eair'ed out
an axe, the forests were soon filled with fallen
logs" Only in the later years it was icalised
that lack of forest conservancy would end in
forest destruction The fust foiest areas that
Pearson dealt with wi f h a view to forest conser-
vancy were in the Saugor and Nerbuda temtories
He was assisted by Lt Forsyth and Lt Douglas,
Forsyth wrote his book on "The Highlands of
Central India", giving a very vivid account of
those forests as they were in those days As a
result of a joint inspection by Pearson and Brandis
in 1863, it was decided that further forest con-
servancy work in the Central Province should
concentrate on (i) demarcation of reserves, (n)
protection of forests fiom fire and (in) assess-
ment of resources from which forest revenue
might be raised Within a year rules were
drafted for the better management of the forests
and the attention of the Government was diawn
to the need for prohibition of Dhaya cultivation
at least in valuable forest aieas Though atten-
tion of Government was focussed on the forests
of the Central Province only after the Indian
Mutiny, the zeal and ability displayed by Pear-
son resulted in the organization of a regular
forest department by 1370, within the short
period of about three years
During the period 1858-64, the Western Hima-
layan forests were also subjected to heavy fell-
ings in order to meet the demands for sleepers
76
for new railway construction, which was being
pushed through at a rapid pace m Upper India In
1861, under the direction of the Governor-General,
Cleghorn of the Madras Forest Department pro-
ceeded to the Punjab for an nvestigation of
these forests Cleghorn thus laid the founda-
tions of the Forest Department in the Punjab
also. In 1863, Reid was appointed Superinten-
dent of the Chamba State Forests, which had
already suffered from heavy but haphazaid
working This is one of the rare cases in which
the local Rajahs, afraid of the serious consequence
of irregular exploitation, took steps to appoint
a Superintendent of Forests The forests in the
upper leaches of the different valleys in the Pun-
jab continued, however, to contribute a great
deal to the supply of sleepers, mostly of coni-
ferous species The forests in the plains were
exploited to meet the increasing needs of fuel as
well as of the boat-building industry on the
Indus
In the North-West Province and Avadh, no
attempts at forest protection were made till the
middle of the 19th century, when (as a first step to-
wards introducing some regulation regarding
forests) the Commissioners were appointed as
ex-o'ficio Conservators of Forests In 1860,
Ramsey who was the Commissioner of Kumaon
and Garhwal took energetic steps to prevent
devastation of the forests in the hill districts In
1862, Brandis (who was till then Superintendent
of Forests in Burma) was directed to go over to
the headquarters of Government of India to
advise them on the introduction of a general
policy for the administration of the forests of
India Brandis visited Bengal, Avadh, the
North-West Province and the Central Province
and gave advice regarding the steps to be taken
to organize forest conservancy Then followed
the appointment of Webber as a Forest Surveyor
in North-West Province His duties included
visiting the forest areas and drawing up of
statements regarding the position, area, contents,
accessibility of working, etc In 1868 a Forest
Department, with its own Conservators, was
inaugurated in North-West Province Webber's
book, "The Forests of Upper India", gives des-
criptive accounts of his marches and sporting
anecdotes
In the Lower Provinces of Bengal and Assam,
scant attention was paid to forest conservancy
prior to 1863 In 1862, Brandis visited a portion
of the Bengal forests (on his way to join the
Government of India) and made a note on
the future of the forests of this region,
In 1864, Anderson, who contributed valuable
data for the purpose, was appointed Conservator
of Forests of the Lower Provinces in addition to
his duties as Superintendent of the Botanical
Gardens in Calcutta Thus, forest conservancy
commenced in the 'Lower Provinces' much later 1
than in the rest of this country. In Bengal,
till 1863 nothing had been done in regard to the
establishment of a Forest Department, and as a
result of this neglect, railway sleepers were im-
ported from Norway as supply from indigenous
sources in the Lower Provinces was too costfy
due to lack of forest organization The Assam
forests were only just then proposed to be
explor ed in detail " '
The establishment of the Forest Department
under the Government of India
In his despatch dated 1st November 1864, the
Governor-General pointed out to the Secretary
of State, that the idea of allowing proprietary
right in forests to individuals should be aban
doned, as such rights were almost certain tc
lead to the destruction of the forests concerned
It was considered necessary that all Governmen'
forests should be strictly set apart and made m
alienable It was conceded that provision woulc
have to be made for the continued exercise of cer
tain private rights already existing, but it woulc
be a good policy to extinguish even those right:
on equitable terms wherever possible The des
patch also pointed out the need for (i) exercising
great care in the disposal of waste-lands con
taming forests, (11) demarcating and fixing thi
limits of forests to be preserved as such and (iii
enacting a comprehensive Indian Forest Act Ii
order to carry out an all-India Policy in respec
of forests, it was considered that an office
should be placed solely in charge of fores
matters As a result, an Inspector-General o
Forests, working directly under the orders of th
Government of India, was appointed His bus 1
ness was "to advise them on all questions cor
nected with forest administration, and generall
to introduce a thorough system of managemen
and conservation, throughout all the forests i
the territories under the Government of Indi(
He need not be invested with any power c
direct control over the forest management unde
the Local Governments to whom all instruction
on such matters will issue through the Goverr
ment of India " Her Majesty's Government af
proved the proposal to make a separate Fores
Department under the Government of India fc
dealing with all questions relating to the foresl
m the provinces^ The despatch from the Gove
nor-General to the Secretary of State on Is
77
November 1864 and the Secretaiy's reply there-
to inaugurated the birth of this separate Forest
Department under the Government of India and
its being placed in the firm and sure hands of
Brandis, who played a great part in shaping
me foidst organization of the country Under the
guidance of Brandis as India's First Inspector-
General of Forests, the Forest Service proceeded
to transform the working of India's forests from
the initial practice of exploiting them merely
for obtaining supplies of timber to one of treat-
ing them as a biological growing entity of much
value and handling them in accordance with
principles of scientific foiestry
*
The beginnings of Forest Organization
The period 1864-1900 would mark the next
stage in the progress of forestry in India As
soon as Brandis was appointed as Inspector-Gene-
ral of Forests, Cleghorn was deputed to assist
him They were responsible for the development
of a methodical system of forest management in
the early stages They realised the necessity for
a separate forest enactment, not only for afford-
ing protection to the forests, but for bringing
them under proper management, with adequate
authority vested in the officers of the Forest
Departments, for the purpose The Indian Forest
Act of 1865 came into being as the first attempt
at forest legislation by the British in India
Under this Act, the local Governments were em-
powered to draft local rules for enforcement in
their respective regions Steps were taken ac-
cordingly to prevent acts which caused injury
or destruction to the forests Though some of the
local Governments lagged behind in the appli-
cation of the Indian Forest Act to their territo-
iies, all the areas undei British rule had either
extended the Indian Forest Act to their terri-
tory or brought out special Ac 1 s by 1882.
Immediately after his appointment as Inspec-
tor-General of Forests, Brandis took steps to re-
cruit trained personnel for controlling the work
and the establishments of the Forest Depart-
ment In 1869 there was a reorganization of the
Forest Service and all the officers of the vari-
ous provinces and administrations under the
Government of India were placed in one gene-
ral list and were classified into Conservators,
Deputy Conservators and Assistant Conservators
Madras and Bombay Presidencies, however, had
their own separate lists Brandis also took steps
for affording Forest Probationers training in
forestry training centres in Europe. But he first
selected two gentlemen already trained in
forest management in Germany, for service in
India They were Schlich, who became a world-
renowned forestei and Ribbentrop, who suc-
ceeded Brandis as Inspector-General of Forests
Schlich and Ribbentrop arrived in India (Cal-
cutta 16-2-1867). Brandis's proposal in the
matter of technical education for forest officers
consisted (i) in providing facilities for officers
already in the forest department in India to
leceive fuither scientific tiaimng m forestry in
Europe, and (n) in selection of young men in
Europe for training in the continent before they
joined the Indian Forest Department Brandis
also outlined proposals for the appointment of
Forest Rangers
About 1863, Beddome, then Conservator in
Madras, collected systematically all information
relating to the working of the forests at that
time and produced the first "Manual of Forest
Operations" in Madras This could be considered
the first effort at management according to a
regularly drawn-up Working Plan During the
period 1865-70, the planting of Casuarma in
the coastal areas of Madras was initiated in
order to make good the large quantities of fuel
removed from the existing forests to meet the
considerable needs of the railways Forest tracts
were demarcated to provide for the supply of
fuel for the working of the railways In fact, at
that time, fuelwood supplies to the railways,
formed the major concern of the Forest Depart-
ment and continued to be so until coal began
to be used in India for railway engines The
Forest Administration had to devote their ener-
gies to maintaining a regular supply of fuel and
this resulted in cutting trees over large areas
of forests The fuel plantations that were formed
were small in extent when compared to the ex-
tent of forests that had been worked The Sec-
retary of State was particularly alarmed at the
absence of progress in the formation of fuel
plantations The large scale demand of fuel for
the railways, however, resulted in the Govern-
ment agreeing to large tracts of waste lands
being converted into fuel reserves and their be-
ing placed under th& Forest Department The
period 1865-70 also marked the first attempt
at fire protection as a measure of forest conser-
vancy in the Bon Reserve in Central Province
Stewart, Punjab's first regular Conservator
of Forests (1864), carried out detailed enauines
regarding fuel supplies required for the railways
in that region Sleepers also continued to be
supplied from the timber forests in the hills of
the Punjab As the first attempts at raising deo-
dar plantations were not successful, Stewart
examined the question in detail and considered
78
that it should be the duty of the Department
rather to conserve the existing resources than to
raise new plantations of deodar at that stage of
forest management m the Western Himalayas. He
considered that the best course would he in fel-
ling first class trees, not exceeding 1/3 of the
whole stock, in such a manner as to leave con-
venient space for the growth of the young trees
obtained by natural sowing from the rsmaming
fwo-thirds of mature trees It would thus be
seen that Stewart visualised the gradual intro-
duction of shelterwood systems, which were
later so successfully developed in the Punjab
In the North-Western Province, forest con-
servancy continued in the hands of Commis-
sioners until in 1868 Pearson, the first Conserva-
tor of Forests in the Central Province, was
tiansf erred as its first Conservator to the Noith-
Western Province Though forest conseivancy
received adequate attention at the hands of a few
Commissioners like Ramsey, it cannot be said
that all Commissioners evinced the same interest
According to Stebbmg, the forest report for
1866-67 furnished abundant evidence of how
backward the North-West Province was at that
time in all that i elated to true forest conser-
vancy The appointment of Pearson helped in
rectifying matters During the period 1865-70
large quantities of timber were made available
fiom the North-Western Province Pearson's
Annual Report of the Forest Department 1869-70,
however, gives ample evidence of the order
which he was introducing in the short period
in respect of conservancy of the forests of the
North-West Province In Avadh forests, which
were under the management of Reid, who was
appointed as Conservator of Forests, forest con-
servancy was introduced on systematic lines as
a result of a series of valuation surveys by
Brandis, and cultural operations were under-
taken m reserved forests Climber-cutting was
done over large tracts Survey and demarcation
also were in progress during the period
The general inspection of Assam forests be-
gan in 1868, when Mann examined the forests
of the districts of Lakhimpur and Sibsagar, Now-
gong, Naga Hills, Khasi and Jaintia Hills on the
south side of Brahmaputra In other words, the
rest of the forests of the country had already
come under some form of regular management,
before the forests of Assam were subjected to
any regular study
Organization of forests under regular manage-
ment
By 1870 the foundations of the Forest Depart-
ment may be said to have been well and truly
laid by Brandis A regular forestry service began
to exist and definite progress in forestry was
shown During the period 1871-1900 prepara-
tion of Working Plans commenced and these
were brought into operation in different parta
of the country Treatments of the forests were
prescribed on scientific considerations In the
early years of the Forest Service, the mam task
of the forest officers had been the exploration of
the forests under their charge Then came the
arduous task of demarcation of the forests These
tasks were obviously carried out by the early
forest officers under conditions of great hardship,
inadequate equipment and poor means of com-
munication The early members of the Forest
Services of India deserve great praise for the
remarkably thoiough and efficient manner in
which they brought into being a Forest Organi-
zation m the country, which holds a pride of
place to-day in tropical silviculture and mana-
gement
A revised Indian Forest Act (Act VII of
1878) was passed m the year 1878 and it extend-
ed to all Provinces of British India with the
exception of Madras, Coorg, Burma, Bihar, the
Hissar district of the Punjab, Ajmer and Balu-
chistan This Act aimed at improving on the in-
adequacies of the Indian Forest Act of 1865 The
Revised Act provided for the constitution of re-
served and protected forests The Indian Forest
Act of 1865 was not extended to Madias forests
mainly on account of the attitude of the Board
of Revenue, which held that the rights of the
villagers over jungles were of such a nature as
to prevent the establishment of an absolute State
forest property It was unfortunate that Madras
which held the lead in initiating forestry and
forest organization m India should have refused
to have the Indian Forest Act of 1865 extended
to Madras Presidency However, after a visit to
Madras by Brandis, who spent nearly a year in
making a report on the condition of its forests,
the Madras Government appreciated the need to
have a Forest Act for the scientific and effective
management of forests, and passed its own Forest
Act of 1882 During the last two decades of the
nineteenth century, some of the forest areas
of the country were constituted either into re-
served forests or protected forests During the
period 1880-1900 forest settlement was actively
m progress in the various Provinces At that
time, the reserved forests formed only about 9
per cent of the total area of the country The
attention of the local Governments was invited to
the need of constituting more areas into reserved
forests and for speeding up settlement and de-
marcation work Ribbentrop's "Forestry in Bri-
tish India" gives an account of the laborious
and arduous work which was turned out during
the period in regard to forest settlement, demar-
cation and survey
During the period 1871-1900 further steps
were taken for the technical education and tram-
ing of persons to fill the controlling and execu-
tive branches of the Forest Service The early
appointments were made with men selected
from the Police, the Army or other branches of
the public services In 1885, training commenced
at Cooper's Hill in England, as difficulty was ex-
penencecl in the training of probationers on the
continent . In 1878 a Forest School was inaugu-
rated at Dehra Dun The school turned out
tiained Forest Rangers for all the Provinces A
Provincial Forest Service was inaugurated in 1891
with a view to recruit in India itself a suitable
cadre of forest officers (A full account of the
development of Forest Services will be found
in Chapter VIII of Volume II)
During the period 1871-1900 considerable pro-
gress was also made in Forest Administration
Much work went into construction of buildings
and development of communications The crude
and wasteful ways in which the trees were fel-
led and converted into logs or rough-hewn
planks were gradually changed into more effi-
cient methods of conversion During this period
lire protection was extended over many of the
important forests Improvement of the forest
crops was also achieved by increasing the area
of plantations The formation of plantations com-
pensated to -some extent the destruction wrought
to the forests in the past This period also saw
much progress m the drawing up of the Forest
Working Plans The importance of forest litera-
ture and research was recognised and valuable
works were produced by Forest Officers during
the latter part of the 19th century Their works
still form books of reference regarding the flora
and fauna of the country as well as on different
aspects of development of forestry in India
The first three All-India Officers (Brandis,
Schlich, Ribbentrop) helped to establish a sound
forest administration They brought to bear on
their work a thoroughness and devotion that ib
reflected in the sound forest administration that
they built up during their long tenure of office
From the year of the creation of the post to the
turn of this century, during most of the time
during a period of 36 years, Brandis (19 years)
L/S5FRIpDun. 7
and Ribbentrop (15 years) occupied the post of
Inspector-General The presence of these ener-
getic and enthusiastic officers at the helm of
forest affairs for such prolonged periods made
it possible for a sound edifice of forest adminis-
tration to be installed in India. They made the
Government realize the need for scientific ad-
vice on forest matters During their period, the
Forest Administration was reorganized in the
various Provinces,
Progress of Forestry under the British in the
present Century
The first quarter of the present century would
constitute the next stage in the progress of
forestry in India There was general all round
progress in the different fields of forestry through-
out this period In particular, scientific aspects of
the profession received greater attention In 1906,
the Imperial Forest Research Institute was estab-
lished with six officers the Silvicuitunst, Supe-
rintendent of Forest Working Plans, Forest Zoo-
logist, Forest Botanist, Forest Chemist and Forest
Economist In the year 1914 the mam building of
the Forest Research Institute was opened by Lord
Curzon at Chandbagh, Dehra Dun Inevitably,
World War I (1914-1918) had its effect on the
forests of the country. The shortage of imported
materials caused by the German submarine cam-
paign made it necessary to develop indigenous
materials, and towards this end the Forest Re-
search Institute undertook different tests regard-
ing the suitability of local materials
As a result of the movement for Indian Home
Rule organized in 1916 and the Non-Co-operation
Movement that followed, there was a general defi-
ance against forebt laws and damage to forests was
caused by fire in some places (Bengal, Kumaon
Hills of U P ) In Pun, a large number of raids
were made by villagers into the nearby forests
and trees were cut down In Andhra instances of
violence against forest officials were also re-
corded
In 1901 a separate North-Western Frontier Pro-
vince was formed, the North-Western Pro-
vince was renamed as the Agra Province, and the
United Province of Agra and Avadh came into
being In the year 1911, a composite Bihar and
Onssa Province was formed From the forestry
point of view, the formation of these Provinces
was a welcome development, since it ensured
closer attention to the management of areas which
did not receive adequate attention earlier.
so
The original staff of the Forest Research Institute,
Dehra Dun in 1906
81
The importance of preparing forest working
plans on scientific basis was recognised by th*>
various torest administrations The old idea that
the forest was mainly a revenue-producing entity
was giving place to the recognition of the varied
functions of the forest Faith in the value of re-
search and of scientific management for the gra-
dual improvement of the forest estate was also
turther strengthened With the increasing woik
in the administration of forests, the number of
Conservatois in the laigei Provinces was increas-
ed 'But the presence ol moie than one Conserva-
tor, each in independent charge of forest adminis-
tration within his Conservatoiship, began to cause
difficulties With the passage of time the questions
presented \p the local Governments became more
technical in character and difficult of solution
The progress made in the preparation of working
plans, extension ol file-protection measures and
other silvicultural operations and application of
.icsults on research requned the presence of scien-
tifically trained men at the helm of the Forest
Department of each Province The work of the
Inspector-Geneial of Forests was also on the in-
crease, as ha himself had to undertake touis in
diffeient Provinces and make his advice available
whenever the local Governments needed In 1905,
the idea of having a Chief Conservator of Forests
in each Province crystallised incidentally to the
reorganization of the Imperial Forest Service
The Government of India suggested that each Pro-
vince where there were more than three Con-
servators might have a Chief Conservatoi of
Forests The appointments of Chief Conservators
of Forests be^an, however, only from 1917 By
1921, the only Provinces without a Chief Conserva-
tor of Forests were Bihar and Orissa, Bengal and
Assam Bifui cation of divisions also took place
wherever more intensive management of the
forests was called tor All these resulted in an
mciease in the number of foiest personnel In
1910, a Board of Forestry, composed of the repre-
sen 4 ative Conservators under the presidentship
of the Inspector-General of Forests was set jp
Meetings were held once in three years to discuss
the programme of research work as also the pro-
blems of general Forest Administration
As a result of the recommendations of the Royal
Commission on Decentralisation (1909), it was
not considered necessary that the Inspector-Gene-
ral should be called m as an adviser over every
working plan In view of the increase in the
number of Divisions, it was not possible, either
for him to advise on each working plan, and
further, scientifically trained forest officers being
available in the higher posts in different Pro-
vinces, it was possible for the work to be entiust-
ed to them In the Provinces, where there would
be a Chief Conseivator of Foiests, it was consider-
ed sufficient that a Chief Conservatoi does the
final scrutiny and check of the Working Plans The
Inspector-General of Forests would be asked to
advise only on matters on which the local Gov-
ernment desired his opinion With the increasing
importance of the working plan work, some of
the Provinces created a sepaiate Working Plan
Circle in charge of a Conservator With this ar-
rangement, the post of the Superintendent of
Working Plans at Dehia Dun was abolished In
1912, the Madras Forest College was started at
Coimbatore for training Forest Rangers for
Southern India
During World War I many of the younger offi-
cer? of the Forest Department were called on to
serve in the Aimy, and' this threw additional
work on the officers left in tne Department, es-
pecially as they had to deal with the enormous
demands for timber and other forest pioduce
from the Military authoiities Silvicultural woik
had perforce to be held in abeyance in some of
the f Jiest areas which had to concentrate on other
aspects Large scale supplies of timber, firewood
and othei pioduce (like hay) were made to the
Army Timber^ from India's forests were utilis-
ed in various mid-eastern fields of World War I
The Forest Research Institute at Dehra Dun also
carried out important investigations on the possi-
bilities of utilizing the so-called jungle woods,
many of which were recognised later as good
substitutes foi the important materials
The next stage in this history would include
the period 1926-47 In the political changes in
1921, 'Forests' became a transferred subject and
the administration of its forests came to vest in
the Government of the Province concerned In
1926, the Government of India announced the
amalgamation of the post of Inspector-General
of Forests with that of the President of the Forest
Research Institute Duung the next 20 years, on
more than one occasion the question was even
considered if the post of Inspector-General of
Forests was any longer necessary and whether it
should not be abolished However, towards the
end of the period, the posts were separated again
Since then the post of Inspector-General of
Forests has gained in importance, though more in
the capacity of adviser to the Government of
India than as the head of Forestry in the country
Correspondingly, the Chief Conservators of forests
m the Provinces became independent heads of
New Building o/ Northern Forest Rangers College at New Foresl
their forest departments, responsible only to theii
respective Provincial administrations The All-
India list for promotions to the ranks of Conser-
vators and Chief Conservators also came to an
end in 1935 The Indian Forest Service cadre was
set out separately for each Province except for
provision in them for deputation to India list
posts, viz , the Inspector-General ot Forests and
President, Forest Research Institute, and the
forest officers required for the Forest Research
Institute and College at Dehra Dun Ths unified
system of recruitment, training and service condi-
tions, however, continued to serve to keep forest-
ry in the whole country on d well co-ordinated
basis A course for training Officers for the Indian
Forest Service was commenced in Dehra Dun
fiom October, 1926 Till then all officeis of the
Indian Forest Service were tiamed m the United
Kingdom and training in Dehra Dun was given
only to men of the Provincial Forest Service and
for Forest Rangers Recruitment to and training
for the Provincial Forest Service ceased with
1926 The woild economic depression in the thir-
ties affected the forests of India also And taking
into account the large-scale recruitment to the
Indian Forest Service in the post-war penod (1921-
26), the Governments of the Provinces rapidly
reduced their needs for highly-paid forest offi-
cers, and all recruitment to the Indian Forest
Service came to an end m 1930 Direct recruit-
ment of Forest Officers was not revived till 1938
Retrenchment measures were taken and some of
the Divisions and Circles amalgamated The posi-
tion gradually improved towards the end of the
thirties and timber trade rehabilitated itself and
increased demand for timber, fire-wood and other
forest produce occurred The Indian Forest Col-
lege for the training of Gazetted Officers of the
various Provinces started at Dehra Dun in 1938,
each Province making its own arrangements for
recruitment.
Afforestation works taken up in the Punjab
(Hoshiarpur) and U P (Etawah, Terai and Bha-
bar) foi reclamation of chos, ravines and other
eroded areas during the earlier period, were con-
tinued during the period 1926-47 The success
achieved initially indicated the need for similar
83
work on a large scale, in other Provinces also, so
that the denuded areas could be reclaimed and
at the same time the increasing demand for small
timber and firewood could be better met than all
along.
During this period, more areas were brought
under regular working plans. Wherever a separate
Working Plan Conservator had been appointed
o supervise the work of the Working Plan Offi-
*ers, there was noticeable advance m prescrip-
lons for the proper management of the forests
concerned on scientific basis Major silvicultural
problems like the natural regeneration of deodar
in the Western Himalayas, the artificial regene-
ration of teak in South India were successfully
tackled arfd standard procedures evolved. The
natural regeneration of sal continued to receive
energetic attention
Notable advances in working plan work were
achieved in almost all the U P and the Himala-
yan forest regions in particular, though very
scholarly plans were compiled in Madras State
also
It must stand to the credit of forest administra-
tion that even in the lean years, the forest estate
was improved accoidmg to working plan pres-
criptions and that regulated forest working conti-
nued to result in surplus revenues to all Provin-
cial Governments
In the late twenties of this century, interest
first began in wild life conservation A few
sanctuaries were set up in different provinces
and pioneers like Milroy in Assam contributed
much to stimulate thought in favour of the great
herbage of the country m its varied wild life
The Forest Department of the Punjab took the
lead m miniating action in matters of soil con-
seiva+ion and focussing attention on the urgency
of this problem For many years from about 1935,
Hobhiarpur became almost a synonym for soil
conservation activities
With the Indiamsation of the Indian Forest
Service m 1922 (whereby 40 per cent of the va-
cancies were reserved for Indians)", Indian offi-
cers became a common part of the Indian Forest
Service With the coming in of the Government
of India Act, 1935, "Forests", which after great
controversy had become a "Transferred" sub-
ject, became entirely the concern of the Provin-
ces The Government of India and the Inspector-
General of Forests were to concern themselves
only with the common or general aspects of
Forestry, viz, Forest Research, Forest Educa-
tion, Soil Conservation, etc. They ceased to have
any direct authority or control over the adminis-
tration of the forests in the Provinces.
In 1926, the Forest Research Institute began
moving into a vast estate of its own, m "New
Forest", just outside the city of Dehra Dun, leav-
ing the old premises at "Chandbagh" for the use
of the new Indian Forest Service College. With
the closing down of this College in 1932, this his-
toric centre of forest research became a site of
India's first Public School, the Doon School The
new accommodation for the Forest Research In-
stitute was planned with great vision and
foiesight, taking into account the needs for ex-
pansion Apart from the designers and architects
responsible for this remarkable layout and edi-
fice, much credit must go to Clutterbuck, the then
Inspector-General of Forests During this period
of the history of Indian Forestry, viz., 1925 to
1947, the research branches and sections were
greatly expanded In fact, the organisation itself
underwent major changes All this was necessary
to cater to the needs of the most notable event of
this period, World War II, and the post-War con-
ditions During this war, which came physically
much nearer to India, the demands made on
India's forests were of much greater magnitude
than the demands dunng World War I Enor-
mous quantities of timber (from almost every
wood species) were extracted, causing excessive
fellings and advance working in almost all Forest
Divisions m the Provinces There were also very
extensive overfellings in private forests and
forests in the Princely States Many varieties of
timber which had not been used previously in
any appreciable quantity began to be consumed
m large quantities The plywood industry came
into its own during this period and many new
olvwood factories were started, especially in the
Calcutta area
Towards the end of the World War II, Howard
(as Inspector-General of Forests) made out a note
on a Post-war Forest Policy for India mainly in
order to rehabilitate the over-worked forests
and improve future forest working As a result,
a number of post-war development schemes werf
initiated in the last few years of this period,
involving large-scale plantation activity, expan-
sion of and improvement to means of communi-
cation and construction of staff quarters and
other buildings New forest industries also began
to come into existence in different parts of the
country some of them big undertakings like
the newsnrint factory at Neoa Nagar in Madhya
Pradesh Each Province devoted greater attention
to the preparation and revision of its working
84
plans. The Forest Research institute was expand-
ed and reorganised to meet the increasing needs
of forestry, forest production and utilization
Simmon's work in this lespect not only marked
a significant stage in the development of the In-
stitute, but also placed it in the vanguard of in-
ternational foiest lesearch oigamsations
It must also be mentioned that early in this
period, Burma ceased to be pait of the Indian Em-
pne and was constituted into a separate country
Naturally, the forests of Burma became an entity
by themselves, administered by a Chief Conser-
vator of Foiests But they continued to seek the
help of the Forest Research Institute, Dehia Dun,
for all research work.
Forestry in Independent India
The last stage in the first century of the his-
tory of regular forestry m India began with 1947
This year marks a most impoitant milestone in
the histoiy of the countiy itself, in that the Bri-
tish authority was voluntarily withdrawn to
leave it to Indians themselves to shape the
future destiny of their country At the same time,
India was, mainly in response to Muslim aspira-
tions, partitioned into two countnes, India and
Pakistan (the former provinces of Smd, Noith
West Frontier Provinces, Westein Punjab and
Eastern Bengal being constituted into the sepa-
rate country of Pakistan) The forests included
in these areas became the responsibility of forest
administrations of the States concerned with a
separate Inspector-General of Foiests to advise
the Central Government of Pakis f an in forest
matters
With the attainment of Independence on
15-8-1947, almost all the British Officers (who had
done so much to the cause of Indian forestry) left
the aiena and Indian Officers assumed chaige
(as in other fields of Government) of the Forest
Administration in all spheres at the centre and
in the Provinces Further political changes follow-
ed rapidly, with the Government of India taking
effective steps to consolidate the administrative
set up in the country As a result, all the Prince-
ly States, large and small, were either constitut-
ed into States of India or merged into the ad-
loinmg Ex-British Indian Provinces Some of the
large States like Travancore Mysore, Hyderabad
and Jammu & Kashmir had reasonably well or-
ganised Forest Departments. Others like Bhopal
and States in the Central and Eastern India
States Agencies had benefited by advice from
trained Foiest Officers from the neighbouring
Provinces of British India and their forests were
in a reasonable state of maintenance. But the
foiests of the other Princely States had seived
mainly as sources of revenue, and no measures of
forest conservancy had been piactised in them
The forests of many ot these Pimcely States thus
began to have the benefit of regular Foiest Ad-
mimstiation for the first time, on the same lines
as the British had developed in the forests in
areas directly undei then contiol There were
natuially very considerable variations in the
forest laws, forest organisations and forest work-
ing in the different uni 4 s now torming the States
of India The task of consolidation of the forests,
unification of forest laws, as well as of extension
of scientific management on a reasonably uni-
form basis, became a major pie-occupat'ion for
the forest officeis
In 1952, the Government of India enunciated
a new National Forest Policy, enlarging on the
earlier forest policy of 1894 and making good the
omissions noticed m it especially with regaid to
the protective functions of forests Much laboui
was put in by Chaturvedi (the first Indian Ins-
pector-General of Forests) in the iraming of the
new Policy Also in 1950-52, new efforts began to
(1) adopt a National Festival of Tiee Planting
(Vana-Mahotsava), (2) to devise measures for
'Wild Life Conseivation', and (3) to place 'Soil
Conservation' on an all-India footing The latter
has since emerged lapidly as a separate organi-
sation, dealing with the problems of Soil Conser-
vation on all lands including forest lands
As a result of new legislation affecting the land
tenure systems (Zamindari Abolition Acts) in
the different States laige areas of forests came
also to vest in the Forest Departments Most
of these were in a veiy derelict or over-worked
condition and their rehabilitation became a new
field of work for the Forest Departments Apart
from the consequent increases in the area to be
organised and administered by the Foiest Depart-
ments, extensive programmes of forest develop-
ment had to be planned, and increased planting
activities became the order of the day, with the
merger of the post-war development schemes into
the first National Plan of Development which
commenced in 1951 Artificial regeneration work
was organised on a scale not known before, aimed
at increasing productivity of all forest sites and
thus maximising the resources of timber fire-
wood, industrial wood, etc With the in-
creasing appreciation of the value of the
soil and the misuse to which it had been
subjected, the importance of forests in con-
serving soil came to be realised, and large-
scale afforestation measures were adopted either
85
to rehabilitate degraded forests or reclaim ravine
and other waste lands Such specially planned
forest development involving special large-scale
expenditure came to be taken up not a day too
eaily, in view of the excessive working ot India's
organized forests duimg the World Wars on the
one hand and the degradation and denudation
that characterised on the other many of the
forests that belonged to the Pimcely States
Zammdanes or to the local population The
First Plan was followed by a Second Five-Yeai
Plan from 1956, and at the close of the first cen-
tury of forestry India is entering the third period
of planned development as fiom 1961
A major political change took place in Novem-
ber 1956,* when the country's sub-divisions were
re-oriented on a linguistic basis and 14 different
States came into being, each covering a major
linguistic aiea A few areas like the Andaman Is-
lands, Tripuia (in the Eastern Border), Delhi
District and Himachal Piadesh (compiismg of
the small hill States between Uttar Pradesh and
Punjab) continue to be centrally admmisteied
With this change, the old Presidencies, Provinces
and the large Princely States like Hyderabad and
Mysore, a 1 ! lost their shape and significance alto-
gether and 1 he political map of India assumed a
new look This natiually resulted in considerable
ip-alignmcnt of forest aieas also
The Foiest Education organisation was also
expanded to meet the increasing needs for train-
ed personnel The Indian Forest College which
opened at Dehia Dun in 1940 with less than 20
students in its hist biennial course developed into
an institution cap iblo of turning out up to 80
trained officers annually The capacity of the
Foiest Rangers' College at Dehra Dun (now call-
ed 4 he Northern Forest Rangers College) was
doubled The Madras Forest College, which the
Government of India took over in 1948, was also
expanded to equal the capacity in Dehra Dun It
has since been renamed as the Southern Forest
Rangers' College To cope with all this expansion,
a new post of Directoi of Forest Education in
India came into being as from 1945 The training
of foresters on a icgional or State basis was plac-
ed on a systematic footing Most States have
established tegular training schools or courses for
their forest guards also
A further phase of expansion took place in res-
pect of forest research also, following on the ma-
jor reorganisation carried out m 1946 by Sim-
mons The facilities for research have been great-
ly enlaiged, especially in respect of Paper, Ply-
wood, Pathology, Seasoning Preservation, Minor
Forest Products, etc New fields of study such as
Forest Genetics, Ecology and Foiest Engineering
have been installed The Institute to-day includes
16 distinct branches of study as against the 5 with
which it began m 1906 It celebrated 50 years of
its useful existence in 1956 It has since been re-
cognised as an International centre for forest re-
search
A new feature in this last period of the first
century ol forestry in India is the development
of international interest in Forestry under the
auspices of the Forestiy Division of Food and Ag-
iiculture Organisation of the United Nations
One of the very last acts of the last British Ins-
pector-Geneial of Forests (Hamilton) was to
guide the Indian delegation to the first meeting
of a FAO Foiest and Timber Utilisation Con-
ference held m Mysore, South India, m 1948
This led to the establishment of the Asia-Pacific
regional forestry organisation, of which India has
not only been a prominent member, but for
which India also provided its first technical offi-
cer (Purkayastha) This interest of FAO and
other international organisations has enabled (1)
quite a few Indian foresters to receive training
in specialised branches of forestry in institutions
in advanced countries abroad, (2) experts from
such countries to advise India -on its forest deve-
lopment and (3)* India to obtain valuable equip-
ment and machinery for the better organization
of its forests, forestry and forest research Men-
tion may be made for instance of the United
States' assistance in setting up a new pilot-scale
paper plant in the Forest Research Institute and
FAO assistance in developing logging techni-
ques
In 1959, the Madras Forest Department celeb-
rated its first Centenary of regular Forest Manage-
ment and paid trrbute to Cleghoin, its first Con-
servator of Forests Now in 1961, the Centenary
of Foiest Administration for the country as a
whole is being observed Developmental works
on an evci -increasing scale, including improve-
ment of forest conservancy, of logging and of
communications, and expansion of forest indus-
tries, will continue with the inauguration of the
Third Five-Year Plan in April 1961 In the mean-
time, the redoubtable Indian Forest Service
comes to an end almost exactly with the first
century of scientific Forestry m India The last
member of this service will retire from active
service in the cause of India's forests, in 1962 The
great tasks which he ahead will, however, be
carried forward and further with equal faith and
confidence by the younger generation of the
86
country's foiest officers, thanks to the fine and
noble traditions built up by the Indian Forest
Service
One hundred years are but a small span in the
practice of the art and science of forestry and in
the development of sound forest administration
and Institutions Much remains yet to be learned
and done, though it can be claimed that the foun-
dations have been well and truly laid Recent de-
velopments m the country pose new problems
to the modern forester, but it is to be hoped that
the lessons learned in the past 100 years will
stand him in good stead May Forestry continue
to serve the land and contribute towards a bet-'
ter living for the people of India! 'Mehora Spe-
ramus'.
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
Coleridge
CHAPTER II
THE FORESTS
Topography, soil and climate determine the
type and quality of the forests The mam fea-
tures of Indian topography are the Himalayan
banner in the north, composed of the highest
mountain system in the world, the Western
Ghats (hills) tunning parallel and close to the
west cadet of the peninsula, the lowei and less
closely knit system of Eastern Ghats with a
wider margin between them and the sea, the
plateau countiy in between (the Deccan), the
numerous hill ranges in Assam and the north-
east merging into the Himalayan system, and
the large stretch of plains lying south of the Hi-
malayas and extending from Rajasthan to Assam,
watered by the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and
their numerous tributaries The Tropic of Cancel
nearly bisects the country, with a little over 13
degrees of latitude to the north and over 15 deg-
rees to the south
The wide range of latitude and altitude has a
profound influence on the distribution of rainfall
which is mainly caused by two wind currents t
one arising from the Arabian sea in the west and
the other from the Bay of Bengal in the east,
called respectively the south-west and the north-
east monsoons The winds which start from the
Bay of Bengal and blow steadily for five months
(mid-May to mid-October) hit the Himalayas in
the nor+h and the hills of Assam on the north-east
and cause conditions of heavy rainfall Deflected
by the Himalayas the monsoon current precipi-
tates less and less on its westward journey
giving rise to zones of decreasing annual ramfa 1 !
On the other hand, the more northerly of the
wind currents from the Arabian Sea have to
sweep over vast areas of low hot plains (Raias-
than, Punjab and the western part of Uttar Pra-
desh), and can only start shedding their moisture
at the Himalayan barrier
The pattern of rainfall in the peninsular por-
tion is different, the Western Ghats close to the
Arabian Sea catching most of the rams as soon as
the south-west monsoon strikes land; the winds
blowing over the mountains have less and less mo-
isture to shed on the inter-Ghat plateau The East
Coast gets parts of its rain through the summer
monsoon and part through the winter monsoon
87
(known as the north-east monsoon) Thus there is
a large zone in the centre of the plateau which
misses the precipitations received by the coastal
areas The Andaman and Nicobar group of
islands, which are sunken ranges of hills, are
again heavy rainfall areas being fed both by the
south-west and the noith-east monsoons
Temperatuies aie controlled by humidity, rain-
fall and altitude, the dry plains above the Tropic
of Cancer being much hotter in summer than, say,
the coastal region at the southern tip of the Pen-
insula The variations in climate due to altitude
are veiy clearly noticeable in the Himalayas
The influence of rock and soil is more apparent
in respect of distribution of some species rather
than on broad types of forest vegetation Climate
and topography, therefore, remain the dominant
factors which determine the occurrence of forest
types
The map showing the broad regions of tropical
forests in India ha's a fairly close correspondence
with the rainfall map of the country. Thus Tropi-
cal Wet Evei green forests (following Champion's
classification of Forest Types) are generally to
be found in areas where the annual rainfall is
ovei 2500 mm (100 inches) (Western Gha+s and
the hilly areas of Assam and the north-eastern
region), Tropical Semi-evergreen in the rainfall
regions of 1900 to 2500 mm (75 to 100 inches),
Tropical Moist Deciduous where the normal pre-
cipitation is 1250 to 1900 mm (50 to 75 inches),
Tropical Dry Deciduous in tracts receiving from
750 to 1250 mm (30 to 50 inches) of ram in the
year, with precipitations of below 750 mm (30
inches) Tropical Thorn forests are developed,
ultimately leading to a practical absence of
vegetation in the arid and desertic tracts The
gradations from dry to very wet climates and the
corresponding types of vegetation (in the reverse
order to what has been mentioned above) are
easily noticeable m a study from west to east of
the trumpet-shaped region bordered on the north
by the Himalayas, on the south by the Vindhyas
at the western end, and towards the east more or
less following the Tropic of Cancer.
Thus if one were to fly over the 25th degree
north latitude from the western border of Rajag-
IN
DISTRIBUTION
OF
FOREST TYPES
(DIAGRAMMATIC)
88
than eastwaids, one would pass over the debeit,
Tropical Thorn forest, Tropical Dry Deciduous,
Tropical Moist Deciduous, Tropical Semi-ever-
gieen on to Tropical Wet Evergreen forest On the
othei hand, if one weie to fly over the 14th paral-
lel tiom the west coast to the east coast of the
Peninsula, one would pass quickly over the naiiow
belts of Tropical Semi-eveigieen (along the foot-
hills), and Tropical Wet Evcrgieen (higher up),
back into anothei nairow strip ot Tiopical Scmi-
evei green, a nanow belt of Tropical Moist Deci-
dtious, followed by a wider belt of Tropical Dry
Deciduous, and a region still wider of Tropical
Thorn, forest, thence again the process reverses to
the Tiopical Diy Deciduous and into the Tropical
Dry Evergreen [1000 to 1250 mm (40 to 50 inches)
rainfall] along the east coast
The Andaman and Nicobar group of islands are
covered mostly by Tiopical Wet Evergreen forests
In the north the outer ranges of the Himalayas
take most of the precipitation The inner hills are
progressively drier Coolei temperatuies (due to
altitude and aspect) and snowfall are the moie
decisive factors rn this region If one were to tra-
vel north along the 80th degree longitude from
the sub-Himalayan legion one would pass over
narrow belts of Tropical Moist Deciduous forests
(with Shorea lobusta predomrnatrng) Sub-tropi-
cal Pine forest (Pinus roxbiirqhn being the do-
minant tree), Moist Temperate, Dry Temperate
and Alpine forest types
Three types that have not found a place above
in the foregoing brief description of the forest
vegetation of the country are (a) patches of
montane temperate wet forests (sholas) occurring
in the Nilgn is and Palm Hills of Madras m ele-
vations over 1,800 m (6,000 ft ) (b) small belts of
montane sub-tropical wet forests occurring
around Shillong and the northern border of As-
sam, and in parts of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, My-
sore Madras, Mahaiashtra and Kerala, and (c)
Tidal forests which occur marnly in the large
Ganga-Brahmaputra delta, smaller formatrons
being seen at the mouths of other rivers on the
mainland as well as along the numerous creeks
and coastal swamps in the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands
A very ootent factor in the distribution of
forests m the country is Man, who has been con-
tinually rnterferins with natural vegetation all
along clearing and burning it, grazing his
cattle, removing forest produce, killing wild
life carrying on shifting cultivation, causing
erosion, landslides and floods Where rainfall is
adequate the jungle may re-establish though of
a different composition as in Assam, vast areas
of bamboos (especially of Melocanna bambusoi-
des) are generally of secondary origin following
the destruction of the original Tropical Evergreen
forest by shifting cultivation In the poorer rain-
fall areas of the central and north-eastern parts
of the Peninsula, the male bamboo (Dendrocala-
mus btnctus) may follow shrftmg cultivation, or
the hills may remain bald and bare, there being
little chance for a fresh vegetational build-up
under the more severe climatic conditions and
biotic factors obtaining here
Man has almost acted as a poweiful geologrcal
agent, havrng produced vast and continually
spreading ravrne systems in the areas drained
by the Chambal, the Jamuna and many a minor
river or stream whose less spectacular, though
nonetheless insidious, influence can be clearly
seen by any close observer The treacherous chos
ot hill streams cf the Punjab wrth the fan-wise
detntal depositions at the base of the Siwahks
and the frequent floods whrch they cause rn the
fertile plains are also the results of his activities
during the past few centuries
The present forests of India are the remnants
of very large forests which in the distant past
covered the entire surface of the country, for, ex-
cept for some very arid regions of Rajasthan, the
stretches of saline soil bordering the Rann of
Cutch, the wave-washed sandy beeches along
the coast, the snow-clad peaks of the Himalayas
and the* rocks and boulders of the frigid, wind-
swept, inhospitable higher elevations, India is
essentially a forest region, and the Indian climate
a forest climate
Forests of the various types are today confined
to the hilly tracts and to poor soils Some forests
still remain on broken and undulating ground
which was found to be too infertile for agricul-
tural crops, but these have undergone severe
maltreatment at the hands of the populatron who
live around the margrn and often within the
forest itself
The hill forests also did not escape human at-
tention and interference Although the popula-
tions inhabiting the hill fastnesses were small,
their continuous activity over many centuries
has reduced the density of tree growth, some-
times substituting bamboos or grasses for regular
tree specres It is mainly in the Andaman and
Nicobar islands that one may still see what truly
deserves the appellation of "virgin forests"
Certain kinds of produce of the forests of India
were well known outside the limits of the South-
Asian sub-continent even in very early times,
90
Dalbergia sissoo
Pole crop, mean, girth 25 9 cm (10 2 in ), moan height 9 144 in (30 ft ) on elevated iiver hank s
Uttar Pradesh' tree* infested with chniber Dregea volubihs IT. II I. Collection.
ihjoct to ciosion, Dohru Dun,
91
Long before the advent of the British, rosewood,
satinwood, teak, ebony and sandalwood were re-
gularly exported to Arabia, Persia and other wes-
tern markets Indian teak was used by Arabs lor
building their once powerful fleet which used
to sail the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and
other parts of the Indian Ocean on to Malaya, East
Indies and beyond However, a regular forest po-
licy and planned administration of forests came
into being long after the British obtained a firm
loot-hold in this country, for the British them-
selves were ignorant of forestry and more in-
terested in revenue and trade. The first piomp-
ting towards forest administration came by way
ol anxiety regarding the dwindling supplies
ot teak used as a good substitute for their own
ship-building oak timber Although the far-sigh-
ted Collector of Malabar, Conolly, staited laising
teak plantations (with the help of his trusted and
devoted lieutenant, Chathu Menon) during the
1840s, it was not till well after the middle of the
19th centuiy that the idea of foiest conservation
took concrete shape in India
A central forestry training school was started
in 1878 and a research unit in 1906 at Dehra Dun,
these were later to grow into the present Foiest
Research Institute and Colleges, perhaps the big-
gest set-up of its kind in the world.
The total foiest area of the country according
to the latest statistics is 784, 558 sq km (302,918
square miles), which is 24 per cent of the land
surface Of this, reserved forests comprise
slightly less than half, being only 47 per cent.
The protected forests and unclassed forests form
30 per cent and 23 per cent respectively The
former are mainly private forests which have
been taken over since Independence by the vari-
ous State Governments for management in order
to save them fiom destruction These are at
present in a poor state indeed. But far worse is
the condition of the Unclassed State Forests
which are just stretches of barren land from
which almost all woody material has been re-
moved by an improvident population and all
grass destroyed by continual over-grazing of
their hordes of emaciated cattle The most dis-
piriting features of these forests, however, are
their weak legal status and the fact that many
of them are still under the control of the revenue
authorities who have no field staff to look after
the forests
The outstanding feature of the tropical forests
briefly outlined earlier is their complex composi-
tion. In the upper canopy there is a multiplicity
of trees, only a few of which are accepted as
good timbers m the market. Very few tree spe-
cies are gregarious in the sense that pines are in
temperate climates Often, therefore, the market-
ing of the timber presents a difficult problem as
large quantities of a particular kind of superior
timber are in demand The felling, logging and
carting of a number of weak, refractory and non-
durable (or often just less known) timbers to dis-
tant markets was hardly a paying proposition,
till recently Theie are some forests, however,
where past human interference (burning, graz-
ing of cattle, etc.) has retrograded them to a stage
where one particular species of tree (and this a
useful one) becomes predominant, being better
equipped to withstand the maltreatment than a
number of its less hardy associates Such
loiests, in spite of the manner of their origin,
have a significant place in economic forestry.
Two outstanding examples may be cited One
is that of sal (Shorea robusta) which occupies
two mam regions separated by the Ganga-
Brahmaputra plain In the north a long belt
of sal forest stretches along the sub-Himalayan
tract from the Punjab (Ambala) through Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal into Assam as
far as Darrang. *In Assam it is also found south
of the Brahmaputra in Kamrup, the Garo Hills,
Khasi and Jainti Hills and Nowgong South of
the great northern plain, the sal begins in the
south-western districts of West Bengal and ex-
tends through Bihar into Onssa up to its southern
border (Jeypore and Ganjam), and westwards
into Madhya Pradesh (Raipur, Bilaspur, Mandla,
Balaghat and Jabalpur). The forests where sal
occurs fetch very much better revenues than the
neighbouring blocks devoid of sal.
In a similar manner teak occurs in the Aravalh
Hills of Rajasthan, in parts of Gujarat, Maha-
rashtia, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, My-
sore, Madras and Kerala. It is by no means
continuous but occurs in larger cr smaller blocks
in suitable localities, reaching its best dimen-
sions on the West Coast (Mysore and Kerala)
Teak-bearing forests are far more valuable com-
mercially than non-teak forests of the same
region The high "per hectare" levenues of
Kerala and Mysore are mainly due to this, though
sandalwood also accounts for considerable forest
Shorea robusta forest rvorked under concentrated regeneration fellings,
immediately before final removal of overivood in even-aged crop, ivell
established Thano forest, Dehra Dun FRI Collection.
revenue of Mysore Although subiect to severe
conditions (fire, ovei -grazing by cattle, etc) and
nence of stunted growth, the dry tropical forests
3f some paits of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Gujarat and Rajasthan fetch good revenues
because of the pTeeence of the teak
The endeavour of Radian foresters over the
century has been to increase the content of
valuable species in the forests or to replace
forests of little worth by better species by
planting
The three important species of Himalayan
timbers occurring in large quantities aie chir
Dine (Pihus roxburghii), deodar (Cedrus deodara)
and to a certain extent the blue pine (P
walhchiana) All of them are conifers and, as
happens generallv with conifers, they are gie-
garious The most accessible oi these forests are
those of chir pine which are to be found in the
outer ranges and principal valleys of the Hima-
layas and on the ridges of the Siwalik hills flank-
ing the Himalayas, the altitudmal range of this
species is fairly wide, with a lower limit of 450
m (1500 feet) and an upper limit of 2300 m (7,500
feT) The deodar occurs most commonly at
elevations of 1,800 to 2,600 m (6000 to 8,500 feet)
fiom Garhwal (in Uttar Pradesh) westwards
through Himachal Pradesh and Punjab into
Kashmir often i caching up to 3000 m (10,000 feet)
or more on southerly slopes pnd down to 1,200m
(4,000 feet) on the cooler aspects The blue
pine favours the same elevations as the deodar
and often occurs in mixture with it, though it
does occasionally ascend up to 3,600 m (12,000
feet)
There are other Himalayan conifers such as
fir spruce, yew and hamlock which occur at
higher elevations, or cypress which is very patchy
and local in its distribution But the exti action
of deodar and blue pine from the elevations at
which they occur already poses difficult pro-
blems, and the economic exploitation of the
forests situated higher up must await a satisfac-
tory solution of the transport question
Even with the many handicaps hampering the
development of forestry m India, considerable ad-
vances have been made both in the field and in
experimental gardens In respect of the former
may be mentioned demarcation of forests, con-
struction of roads and buildings, establishment of
labour colonies in remote areas, enumeration of
useful trees and the estimation of their volume,
making Working Plans and laying down prescrip-
tions for various items of work to be carried out
in each forest, carrying out silvicultural opera-
tions for obtaining natural regeneration, thinning
of congested crops, and, above all, the raising of
plantations of useful species such as sal, teak,
rosewood (Dalbergia lati/oha), champ (Micheha
champaca), gaman (Ginehna arborea), semul
(Salmaha malabanca), toon (Cedrela tocma),
sissoo (Dalbergia sissoo) and other important
timber species, as well as supplementing natural
regeneration of deodar and other conifers with
nuisery-iaised seedlings Numerous trials with
exotic species from Europe, Africa, the New
World, Japan, China and Australia have also been
made Only a few have so far been found useful
for planting on a laige scale, chief amongst them
are Eucahj-ptns qlobulus (blue gum) and Acacia
mQllitsnna (wattle) oi Australia, which have been
extensively planted in the Nilgiris and Palms of
Madias and Cryptomena yaponica (suji), a
Japanese species, whose seeds were originally ob-
tained fiom Chrna along with seeds of tea (seeds
from trees of that origin formed the basis of
many plantations in the foiests around Darjeel-
mg) Eucalyptus citnodora and a eucalypt hybrid
have been found very usclul for raising pole and
firewood plantations in the drier tracts of Mysore,
Madras and Andhra Pradesh Along the coast,
impressive plantations of casuanna have been
built up both by Government and private agencies
m West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra, Madras and
Kerala
In the matter of research too, excellent work
has been done in timber testing, wood preserva-
tion, seasoning, timber engineering, wood mecha-
nics, Bo 4 any, (collection, and identification of
plants), Entomology, Mycology (the study of fungi,
ihe diseases they cause and their control), Minor
Forest Products (including oils, gums, dyes, medi-
cines, perfumery, tannins, fibres, flosses, etc ), Pulp-
ing and Paper-making of Volume and Yield
Tables and many other aspects of forestry and
forest products To mention only a few of the
most outstanding contributions, these are the
making of paper using barrboo as raw material,
the development of Ascu, an important wood pro-
servatrve, the improvement of the qualities of
rnanv secondary Indian timbers by seasoning,
compression and impregnation to serve as suitable
substitutes of imported woods for bobbins, shut-
tles battery separators, pencil slats, ammunition
boxes, sports goods, boot lasts, etc , the designing
of structures using short-length and small-
dimensioned timber of principal as well as
secondary species, the use of tamarind seed kernel
powder as a sizing material for cotton textiles and
Forest of spruce (Picea smithiana) 2500 m. (8500 feet) Jaunsar, Uttar Pradesh.
jute products, the development of the match m-
dustiy based on t>emul (formerly consideied a
worthless timbei) and othei soft-wooded species,
the building up of the plywood industry, the
making of diaper R wood, investigations on sandal-
\yood oils and th<l oleo-resm from chir pine lead-
ing to the establishment of big industries for the
manufacture of sandal-wood oil, gum turpentine
and gum losm, etc
One direction in which much headway has yet
to be made is in respect of logging and extia-
tion of timber, especially fiom mountainous ic-
->ions For this purpose equipment in the shape
)t s v eelcables, earners, motors, mountain trac-
ors, etc will be required none of which items
ne being 5 manufactuied in the countiy There is
ilso a need to introduce improved logging tools
-.uch as better axes, saws, bill-hooks and the re-
3air kit necessary to maintain them in an efficient
woiking condition The use of winches and cranes
for hauling, loading and unloading has to be
tesoited to moie and mote in order to minimise
delays and costs With current difficulties in re-
gard to foreign exchange it will not be possible
UK import the tools and equipment in sufficient
quantity Rapid progress in this direction can only
be achieved with the further development of the
steel and its ancillary industries
A more immediate and urgent need is that of
the cieation of extensive plantations of fast-grow-
ing soft-wooded species for meeting the growing
demands of the paper mdus'ry and of those that
can manulaciuie particle boards, fibre-boards,
chip-boards and similar processed wood Processed
wood will have to step in more and more to meet
a variety of wants It is estimated that over the
next 15 years it would be necessary to raise
rniTion hectares (1 5 million acres) of plantations
of fast-growing species in order to satisfy future
lequiremcnts This is a task to which the fores-
ters of India have to address themselves with
determination and zeal.
Wild lite is an integral part of the forests Re-
cent attitude towards forestry in the progressive
nations emphasizes the need for appreciating the
multiple-use aspects of forestry timber produc-
tion, protection of the environment, provision of
sport and recreation There is (or used to be) a
great abundance and variety of wild life in our
country which has been depleted by the clearance
of forests, cultivation of sparsely wooded wild
country, reclamation of swamps, indiscriminate
shooting and trapping outside reserves, mass-
hunts accompanied by forest fires m tribal areas,
L SSFRlDDun- 8
and recently through an enormous increase in
poaching Some animals and birds such as the
cheetah and pink-headed duck are extinct. Others
such as the Kashmir stag and the Great Indian
Bustard are in a precarious position The Indian
lion, the great Indian rhinoceros and the wild
buffalo are being protected with great effort
Many animals and birds are being trapped and
are being exported alive, or then furs, hides and
plumage are sent abroad Although the trade may
be lucrative whrle the supplies last, there is no
doubt} that unregulated trading of this nature
will end in the extinction of the species
A large number of sanctuaries have been set
up such as Kaziranga (Assam), Corbett (Uttar
Pradesh), Kanha (Madhya Pradesh), Tadoba
(Maharashtra), Bhaiatpur (Rajasthan), Gir
(Gujarat), Pakhal (Andhra Pradesh), Bandipur
(Mysore), Mudumalai (Madias) and Periyai
(Kerala) The Indian Board foi Wild Life keeps a
watch on the status of the wild life and advises
the States on legislation and other steps to be
taken for conservation of wild animals and birds
The development of sanctuaries and the provision
therein of amenities for visitors (including
foreigners) should help in countering the claim
that a more liberal policy on shooting and cap-
ture of wild life ^nd the expoit of live animals
or skins and plumage would considerably improve
our foreign exchange position
The total production of wood from India's
forests is estimated at about 17 million cu m (600
mill'on cu ft) ot which 31 per cent or 5 million
cu m (190 million cu ft) constitutes industrial
wood or timbei and the balance 69 per cent or }'2
millicn cu m (410 mrllion cu ft) fuelwood (in-
cluding charcoal wood) Because of the pooi con-
dition of the forests other than Reserved Forests
and the inaccessibility of some of the latter the
output appears small Moreover, this does not take
into account the large quantities of timber and
firewood removed from Protected and Unclassed
State Forests annually by rrght-holders and con-
cessionaires The value of forest produce as re-
ceived by the Government is over^$500 million,
of this less than half is expended on forest opera-
tions and staff About 600 000 persons are engaged
directly m primary occupations connected with
the management and exploitation of foiests Verv
many more obtain employment in trades and in-
dustries dependent on timber, firewood or other
forest products
Apart from yreldrng produce, the forests per-
form the great task of preventing floods, keeping
alive the springs that feed the streams during the
96
Eucalyptus glubtilvo high foie^t plantation before thriving, ago 3O years, after thu
guth 3 ft. 11 m , mean height 143 ft , before thriving, atoms per acre 628 , solid volun
2 ou ft. Mutinied plantation, NiJguris. F B. I. Collection.
rig mean
per aero
97
dry weather, checking soil erosion and exerting
a beneficent influence on the climate Forests
are important to any country To tropical
countries they have a special significance in rela-
tion to soil, wateV and climate Without the pio-
tective influence T>\ forests, agriculture languishes
in the tropics It h? N already been seen that in
the present day context, mdustiy too is depen-
dent on the law materials from forests
It is essential that there should be a full ap-
piaisal of these matters by all those who are
interested in the progress of the nation so that
there may be whole-hearted cooperation at every
stage in the implementation of the forest policy
which was clearly enunciated in 1952 by the
Government of India and which is being constant-
ly brought to the notice of the States by the
Central Board of Foiestiy
The Sandal tiee as if to prove
How sweet to conquer Hate Love,
Pei fumes the axe that lays it low'
Tagore
Khortu robusla fott-t <i best quaht\ jtmt thinned Jalpaignri, Bengal Mean girth, 2 ft 3 in in< an height, 100 ft. <Hrn^ ptr aero
after thinning, 150, volume of s<andmg*crop, 3,704 c ft , volume lemovecl in ricpnt thinning, 765 u It , estimated ago, 00 yeam. F. R. 1.
Oolleotion.
CHAPTER III
FORESTS AND THE COMMUNITY
The fact has to be faced that the general atti
tude of the people to forests is one of indifference,
and to forestry, one ranging between antagonism
and toleianca Some of the hostility to forests as
a natural environment is perhaps instinctive to the
human lace Man's first home was the forest and
he preserves memories of encounters with
dangerous carnivores and other animals which
were his fellow denizens in the forest His ascent
in the scale of civilization from the hunting and
food gathering stage through, the stages of pasto-
ral nomadism, shifting cultivation and permanent
agriculture to the present urban industrial phase
has been accomplished by clearing the forest and
pushing it back to the hills There is consequently
a tendency to regard every act of forest clearance
as yet another step in the march of civilization
In Western countries this attitude of antipathy
to forests has been largely overcome Economic
developments combined With education have
helped to engender in the people of those coun-
tries an appreciation of the value of forests as
the source of wood an indispensable and versa-
tile natural product as the home of many forms
of wild life which would become extinct if the
forests were to disappear and as a powerful and
economic means of moderating the climate, main-
taining stream flow and water supply and pre-
venting soil erosion Recognition of these values
leads in those countries to the adoption of sound
forest policies which enjoy popular support
In India, however, the situation is somewhat
different Our forests have been under systematic
management for a hundred years We have
evolved and enunciated an excellent forest policy
Our forest flora is rich and varied and we produce
some of the finest woods in the world In addition
to wood, our forests yield a large range of so-
called minor forest produce, which includes
sandalwood, many kinds of bamboos, ivory, gums
resrns, flosses, drugs, dyes, tanning materials, etc
Yet it is open to serious doubt whether our forest
policy enjoys positive popular support and
whether our citizens in general appreciate the
value and uniqueness of their forest heritage
with its great wealth of tree and animal species
We may as well recognise that the attitude of
the people towards forest management depends
on how near the forests tneynive inose who live
m or near the forest as a rule dislike the res-
traints and regulations inseparable irom manage-
ment and often do not see any justification tor
them Those who live far away from the foiests
are not interested in forestry To this second cate-
gory belong most of our legislators and our edu-
cated classes
There are several reasons tor the' lack ol
interest in foiests and forestry among our law-
makers and literate people Only a very small
percentage of them has ever seen a forest or been
inside one They are not to blame for this Indian
forests, properly so called, have now been driven
>o far away from the plains where the schools,
colleges and the mam centres of commerce and
industry are situated, that it costs much effort
and money for a plains-dweller to visit a loreSr-
for study, recreation or sport Add to this the sad
fact that by education and temperament we are
not, as a people, greatly interested in nature in
trees, birds, animals, insects, scenic beauty and
it is easy to understand why the great majority
of educated people in the country live and die
without ever having been in a forest or indeed
wanting to see one
The people who live in or neat forests resoit to
them for grazing their cattle, collecting firewood
or small timber for their needs and exercising
any rights to forest produce that they may enjoy
They get some seasonal employment in any
departmental or contractors' works that may be
going on in the forest in their vicinity They are
generally intolerant of purely protectrve regula-
tions This is especially the case in degraded
interior forests, where forest management is as a
lule limited to the passive role of stopping the
people from doing various things in the forest
and the forest guard is little more than a forest
policeman In such cases the objects for which
the restrictions are imposed are generally not well
understood by the people Passive measures of
conservancy in scrub or dry, deciduous forests
are of course necessary and beneficial, and in
most cases are all that the departmental budget
ran afford, but their effects are slow and not
readily apparent
98
99
The basic problems of forest management in
India arise from t-he following causes
(i) Low productivity of dry deciduous and
scrub forests A considerable part of our
foiests Recurs in regions wheie the rain-
fall is les^ than 40 inches and consists ol
mixed, ratlvr open formations with a
sprmkljng of timber species Where such
foiests occur within economic range of
large towns, they are legularly worked
undei the coppice system foi the supply
of firewood and charcoal to them and
thus provide some local employment
Elsewhere the forests are worked (often
only nominally) for minor produce
through the agency of lessees Such
foiests frequently adjoin villages and are
heavily grazed ovei and suffer much
from files set by the grazing interests
Then employment value is low on
account of their low productivity For
the same reason they cannot be develop-
ed and improved without heavy invest-
ment of capital Despite their poor finan-
cial return, forestry is still the best land
use in such areas as they provide both
pasture and small timber while securing
for the locality the protective benefits of
permanent vegetation
(it) Continual piessure for deforestation
Foiests which adjoin cultivation may be
said to be under permanent siege There
is a more or less persistent clamour for
throwing the torest boundaries back for
the extension oi cultivation 01 for secur-
ing safety fiom wild animals, or for
"standing room" for cattle or othei
similar pretexts Encroachments in the
forest aie not uncommon and present a
difficult pioblem as there are often politi-
cal repeicussions to attempts to reverse
a fait accompli Part of the difficulty in
preserving the integrity of such forests
arises /rom their low productivity a
point aheady referred to There is a
traditional but misguided belief that
forests are reserves of land for the exten-
sion of cultivation and that conversion
of "jungle" lands into crop lands, regard-
less of suitability or productivity, is a
sign of progress and a means of adding
to the revenues of the State When land
is required for a new project for a dam
site, an irrigation canal, road building, a
factory, an aerodrome it is unhesitating-
ly sequestered from Government forests,
even when alternative privately owned
lands are available A forest officer who
protests against such gradual eiosion of
the forest estate appears in the unfavour-
able light of a leactionary blocking pro-
gress and pursuing a "dog in the manger"
policy
(in) The old sanctions for forest piotection
have lapsed and new ones have yet to be
forged
In pre-Independence days, the penal piovisions
of the Indian and Madras Forest Acts were in
the mam sufficient detenents to the commission
of forest offences on any large scale This was
because magistrates as a lule dealt firmly and
seveiely with forest offences in consonance with
the then prevailing Government policy There
has been a change in this respect and punitive
measures aie no longer adequate for ensuring the
protection of forests It is of course right and
piopet that in a democratic society the security of
the forests should lest not on the tear of possible
consequences ot infractions of the forest law, but
on the willing consent of the people, especially
those who arc dnectly concerned, bat>ed on an
appieciation of the direct and mdect benefits
conferud by the foiests When the dnect bene-
fits are relatively small, and in any case aie taken
for granted as is the case with gracing facilities
for example, and the intangible benefits are the
more important, populai cooperation in protect-
ing the forest is not readily forthcoming
Forest management including protection in an
under-developed, predominantly agricultural
economy is always more difficult and less popular
than in industrialised countries Where the pres-
sure of the population on the land is great, as in
many parts of India, it is not surprising that land-
less people cast covetous eyes on land sealed off
in reserved forests In non-industrialised com-
munities, the mam use for forest produce is as
firewood or timber for constructional purposes
When industries develop to any substantial
extent, this situation changes, in that not only is
wood used directly as fuel or as a constructional
material, but becomes increasingly a raw mate-
rial to be processed into plywood, pulp, chip-
boards, hardboards. etc Secondary species and
species which aie not marketable for timber
purposes assume value as rndustrial law mate-
rials Notable examples are bamboo for paper
making and Salmaha (semul) for match splints
Industrialisation would thus have the effect of
drawing people off the land, finding uses for our
unmarketable species and generally "valorising''
our inferior forests.
100
The development of wood-based industries
may have an important influence on the manage-
ment policy relating to our inferior mixed deci-
duous forests The demand for specific raw
materials from compact areas to feed industries
may make it remunerative to replace such
inferior forests by concentiated plantations,
which can be worked on short rotations With
the notable exception of teak plantations, Indian
forestry has hitherto leaned heavily on nature
for the rehabilitation of degraded forests and for
the regeneration of worked forests This has
certainly meant economical management, but the
results have been slow and, so far as icgeneration
is concerned, generally disappointing With the
rising demand for wood for industrial purposes
and the rise in the prices of all timbers, the time
seems opportune for a bold departure from what
may be termed the "natuie" policy in favour of
artificial plantations
It takes many decades, often more than a
century, for our principal timber species to reach
exploitable size, usually taken as 2 ft diameter
This is one of the major handicaps of forestry as
compared with agriculture or pasture Advances
in silvicultural techniques have made it possible
to save time by accelerating the rate of growth
of the trees Advances in timber 1 engineering and
in wood processing industries nave made it less
important to grow large-dimerjNffbn timbei The
trend is definitely towards^/ffiorter rotations
The forest performs manifold functions, each
of which is important It yields timber and other
forest produce, it mitigates the ngours of the
local climate, protects the soil and legulates
stream flow, it provides a home for wild life, it
affords lecreation All this is undoubtedly true
But the continued existence of our ''.forests
depends less on their value than on a widespiead
appreciation of then value To gain this appre-
ciation much education is necessary Even more
important is to adopt policies in which the people
who live near the forest and resort to it for vari-
ous purposes are given a stake in its preservation
and management The new departures in asso-
ciating local panchayats with the management of
forests in the vicinity of villages are of great
significance
O leave this barien spot to me 1
Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree
Thomas Campbell
CHAPTER IV
WILD LIFE THROUGH THE AGES
' Introduce..
Wild Life is one'iif the most gracious gifts of
nature to this great country, as rich in its variety
and colour as in its numbei The majestic lion,
the -graceful but fearsone tiger, the powerful
elephant, the nimble deer, the picturesque pea-
fowl, the gorgeous parrots, pheasants and wood-
pickers and the elegant swan aie some of these
of which any country might be proud It is
estimated that there are about 500 species of
mammals, moie than 2,000 different species of
birds (about l/10th of the different kinds of
birds known to inhabit the eaith), many species
of fish, reptiles and amphibians and more than
30,000 forms of insects, which dwell in the In-
dian subcontinent In the absence of human in-
terference, this wild life, which is an important
constituent of the natural biotic complex, could
exist in a state of equihbi mm and in harmony
with its environments, governed by the inexor-
able law of the survival of the fittest But man,
for his selfish ends, has been ceaselessly perse-
cuting wild life, without appreciating its great
value and importance, thereby seriously up-
setting the balance of Nature and creating seri-
ous problems for himself As a result, several
useful species of animals and birds have, of late,
dwindled in numbei Some have become rare,
some are at the threshold of extinction, while
quite a few have become totally extinct and are
lost to posterity for even, such as the Great One-
horned Rhinoceros, the Lion, the Elephant, the
Wild Buffalo, the Musk Deer, the Kashmir Stag,
the Indian Wild Ass, the Snow Leopard, the
Pigmy Hog and the Cheetah or the Hunting
Leopard
The Rhinoceros has been saved only by special
measures, which if relaxed, will inevitably lead
to its extinction In Assam, their number had
dwindled to a little more than a dozen about
50 years ago and it is only as a result of inten-
sive efforts of the Forest Department that their
number has now increased in the Kaziranga
Sanctuary A close relative of the above, the
lesser One-horned Rhinoceros which, not long
ago, had been an inhabitant of the Sundarbans of
Bengal and other tracts, has completely disappear-
ed from India The Asiatic Two-horned Rhino-
ceros also once occurred in parts o Assam.
The Lion, which is reported to have been found
in Northern and Central India as late as in the
thirties of the last century, has completely dis-
appeared from these parts and is now confined
only to the Gir Forests of Saurashtra Even there,
the situation became alarming in about 1913, when
Wellmger, the then Divisional Forest Officer,
Junagadh State, made a report to the Administra-
tor that there were only 6 to 8 lions left in an area
ot 700 sq miles Restrictions were, therefore, im-
posed on the shooting of lionesses and cubs and a
limit was imposed on the number of lions that
rould be shot As a result of this timely protec-
tion, the 1936 Lion Census of the Gir Forests show-
ed a total count of 287 lions in that region as
against about 100 recorded in 1913 From 1936 to
1946 the ru nber again decreased and therefore
rigid protective measures had to be imposed in
1946 Subsequent censuses carried out in April
1950 and April 1954 indicated the lion population
to be 200 and 290 respectively
But for the timely promulgation of the Elephant
Preservation Act in. 1879, this magnificent animal
would also havp been eradicated by the great
ivory hunters But nothing was done to save the
Indian Cheetah or th? Hunting Leopard of the
Deccan which has now completely vanished some
30 years ago from India
Certain birds too have met a similar fate The
Great Indian Bustard has become quite rare This
bird wants long stretches of grasslands, which are
now being ploughed up Also, the nomadic tribes
arp hunting it and destroying its eggs The pink-
headed duck, the white-winged wood duck of
Assam and the Red Mynas arp some of the other
birds which are threatened with extinction
Historical Account
Wild Life in India has passed through several
phases Starting from its hey-day in the Vedic
period, it has steadly diminished
Vedic Age
Our mythology, ancient art, literature and
folk-lore all provide ample proof of the fact that
in the days gone by wild life in India enjoyed a
privileged and prominent place in the life of the
people Our scriptures eniomed a humane and
considerate treatment to all animals and birds,
102
Our religion would become very much the poorer
without the feeling of compassion and loving
kindness towards them There is nothing sur-
prising in this attitude It has been our tradition,
and it is a piecious one
"Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah" has been a cardi-
nal guiding principle of our way of life The
Purusha Sukta invokes peace and happiness to
all men and animals In Kautilya's Artha Shas-
tra, there aie significant passages which indicate
the recognition given by the statesmen m those
days to the problem of wild life preservation
Certain forests were declared as protected and
called Abhayaranya what we now term as Sanc-
tuaries and National Paiks Forest Superinten-
dents were appointed for their maintenance and
guards were posted to prevent poaching Heavy
penalties were prescribed for offenders who en-
tiapped, killed or molested deer, bison, birds or
fish in an area declared as piotected Ceitam ani-
mals and birds were completely protected such as
elephant, horse, animals with human form, pea-
cock, partridge, swan, cuckoo, fish in tanks, etc
Am nals which 'became vicious were to be trapped
and killed outside the sanctuaiy so as not to dis-
turb the others The extraction of timber, burning
of charcoal, collection of grass, leaves and fuel,
cutting of canes and bamboos and trapping for fur
skins, teeth and bones, were all totally prohibited
in these protected areas
The most effective means of protection and con-
servation of wild life, in those eaily days, was
however provided through religion The protec-
tion of animals and birds was considered a sacred
duty The Indian sages lived in forests and their
ashrams were seats of leainmg, wheic the best
m our ancient culture was born Here also lived
animals and birds, more or less as their kith and
km and roamed about freely without any fear of
molestation
In scriptures, wild animals and birds occupy as
important a position as man himself or even
higher In the Ramayana, we read about the
monkey-god, Hanuman, the wise bear, Jamvant,
and the loyal eagle, Jatayu, who helped Rama to
fight the evil perpetuated by the demon king
Havana and restore peace and tranquihty on the
land
The various incarnations of the Lord, such as
Meen (fish), Kurma (tortoise), Varaha (boar) and
Narasi (human form with a lion's head) all go to
show how the ancient inhabitants of this country
stretched their imagination in identifying the
Creator of the Universe with the various forms
of Wild Life Ganesha the elephant-headed
god occupies a distinct and unique place m the
pantheon The elephant has been described as
the favourite of god Indra and its sanctity has
been furthei enhanced by thel belief that ele-
phants guard the eight celesuai points of the
compass Similar veneration" has been attached
to the various forms of wfld life by associating
them with gods and goddesses and thus affording
protection and preservation to their community
Nandi (bullock) as the mount of Shiva, Garuda
(Brahmmy kite) of Vishnu, Swan of goddess
Saraswati and a host of others Goddess Durga
took the lion as hei chaiger m the fight against
the forces of darkness and evil It ib because of
this association that the lion has become <the sym-
bol of dhatma (righteousness) In the days of
yore kings, when dispensing justice, sat on Simha-
sana, the seat ot the lion The lions' heads adorn
the Ashoka Pillar , which is now the motif of the
emolem of the Republic of India
Wild animals and birds have also been a great
favourite with wiiters, poets and artists In the
well-known Panchatantra and Hitopadesh, a
variety of animals and birds have been mention-
ed, such as lion, bull, jackal, tortoise, crow, mouse,
monkey, crocodile, camel, elephant, crane, cat,
serpent, owl and sparrow Children still love to
listen to these tables of birds and beasts, and de-
rive much inspiration to build up their character
Much has been written about the melodi-
ous songs of Indian birds by our poets Ani-
mals shown on the Sanchi stupas, the Ajanta
cave frescoes and at the Khajuraho temples are a
proof of the hold they had on the imagination
and the affections of the people In short in anci-
ent India, much attention was paid to the pre-
servation and conservation of wild life and the
object was achieved by attaching sanctity, vene-
ration and importance to the individual forms
according to the beneficial role played by them
for the human society It, however, does not
mean that there was a complete ban on the killing
of wild life Harmful anrmals and birds were
destioyed for the protection of crops, human life
and property Hunting was also indulged in by
the kings and nobles but they tracked and shot
only the selected tiophies, and not indiscrimi-
nately
Hindu Period
In the early Jam and Buddhist period (00,
B C ) also, we find considerable stress on the reli-
gious sanctity of various animals and birds With
the passage of time, however, conditions changed
and forests also started receding, as more land
103
was brought under cultivation The forests which
provided timber for the fiist Indus Flotilla cons-
tructed by Alexander the Gieat in 325 B C were
no longer there (fione with them were the rhino-
ceros and the elepnant, tiger and the swamp deer
Other animals commonly found m the valley also
became mcieasmgly raie To check this depre-
dation, the first practical step, which incidentally
is the earliest known record of measures taken
for the protection of Wild Life in the world, was
the proclamation of King Ashoka in the thud cen-
tury B C tor the protection of fish, game and
forests The rock inscriptions give a list of buds,
beasts, fishes which were to be preseived The
Edict fifithei ordained that the forests must not
be buint, eithei for mischiof or to dcstioy living
creatuies
Moghul Period
For the period, 1526 to 1707, much interesting
information conceining wild life is available in
the memons of the Moghul p]mpeiors and the
chronicles of European travellers in India in
those days The Moghul Emperors weie veiv
fond of shikar but at the same time they weto
^t'at loveis of natuie and displayed keen interest
in the wild life of the country and its preseiva-
tion
The concept of management and conservation
of wild life during the Moghul period may, in
short, be denned as that of the "Chase" Game
was protected and preserved in hunting reserves
called Shikar qaha foi the primary aim of provid-
ing spoit to the royalties
When the Moghuls first came to India in 1526
rhinoceros was found along the Indus and Em-
peror Babar is reported to have come acioss it in
the plains of the Puniab The elephant was also
found in many places fiom where it has since
vanished The last remnants of the wild buffalo
survive in parts of Assam, Oiissa and Madhya
Pradesh In 1822 lions weie reported to be
found m considerable numbers in Saharanpur
and North Rohilkhand and in 1830 they were seen
in Mt Abu and Sabarmati regions, but now Ihev
are confined only to the Gir Forests m Gujarat
Moghuls also tamed and trained some of the
wild animals and birds like the Cheetah, the
Caracal (or siah-qosh at. they called it), the Falcon
and the Hawk as aids to hunting and for follow-
ing their quarry Akbar is reported to have kept
a thousand Cheetahs for this purpose
British Period
There was an abundance of wild life in India
before the British rule Later, the increase in
population together with the control of diseases
both of men and animals resulted in more de-
mands foi land and the frontiers of wild life
began to recede This decline gatheied momen-
tum from about the middle of the 19th century,
with the increase in the numbei of high power-
ed and dependable weapons Indeed the doom of
wild life was, as it weie, sealed the day gun-
powder was invented
Aimy omccis, tea-planters and civil servants
were, m many cases, heavy despoilers of game In
Kathiawar, a cavaliy ofiicer is reported to have
shot as many as 80 lions in 10 days, while on one
occasion 14 lions weie shot m a day in the Gir
Foiests
In the oiiental Sporting Magazine of 1876, it is
recoidcd that a sportsman m the Bengal Duars
filed about 100 shots at ihmob in a single day,
killing 6 and wounding more than 25 FB Sim-
son author of the "Sport in Eastei n Bengal", it is
iccorded shot 500 to 600 tigers during 21 years of
his stay in India at the close of the last century
It was not long before this contagion spread to
the ruling pimces also For example, in the
ahoot organised by a Maharaja between 1871 and
1907, it is iccorded that n less than 370 tigeis,
208 rhinos, 4,30 buffaloes and 324 bai asinghas
(swamp deer) were shot, in addition to innumer-
able other small game and birds Another Maha-
jaja shot 616 tigers during his life time, and an-
othei holds th e 'proved' record with over 1,100
tigeis to his credit In Kashmir, one sportsman
accounted foi 58613 wild fowl between 1907 and
1919, avei aging over 4,590 birds per annum In
Bikaner the recoid for the shooting of Imperial
Sandgrouse at the Gajner lake was 1,100 birds
with 35 guns in 2 days In a shoot at the Keola-
dco Ghana Lake of Bharatpur 4,273 duck and
geese were shot
Second World War and after
Dur ing the War years, heavy depletion of wild
life took place, wherever armies were encamped
Latei with the advent of Independence, the pro-
blem of food production assumed paramount im-
portance Vast areas of forests were cleared, in
many cases with quick mechanical means, to pro-
vide new fields and farms Every effort was
made to eliminate all enemies of crops, whether
animals, birds 01 insects, and even encourage-
ment was given to protect the crops Crop-pro-
tection guns were allowed to be used for hunting
within 3 mile radius of any village Under the
guise of the so-called vermin destruction, much
slaughter of deer and other game animals thus
took place,
104
Conclusion
To the cumulative effect of the War and the
country-wide expansion of agriculture must be
added that of larger numbers of gun-licences
being issued since Independence This has in-
evitably resulted in the emergence of a new type
of ruthless and unscrupulous 'sportsmen' (sic)
having scant regard for the unwritten nibs of
sportsmanship They hunt and shoot not for
sport but fot economic gams by selling meat and
skins And when, in addition to these heavy
odds, we take into consideration the deadly poten-
tialities of the jeep fitted with blinding flash-
lights for hunting game by night, it can be ima-
gined what odds our wild life has now to face in
its desperate 'struggle for survival
The problem therefore needs urgent and con-
certed efforts on the part cf all thinking men
The Natural History and the niM Life Preserva-
tion Societies and the Wild Life Board, wh'ich
was inaugurated at Mysore in December 1952, are
doing yeoman service m this direction, but much
remains to be done in the form of education ana
propaganda to awaken the masses and tp bring
home to them the importance and utility of wild
life Legislation, rules and regulations are' no
doubt helpful, but the real remedy lies in creat-
ing wild life consciousness in the people..
Tiees mean Water,
Water means Bread,
And Biead is Life
K. M. Munshi
\
CHAPTER V
FORESTRY EDUCATION : HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
The 'development of Forestry Education, or the
training of foresters to manage India's forests,
has been intimately connected with scientific
management and conservation of the foiests In
his memorandum of August 3, 1855 that has
come to*be regarded as the Charter of the Forests
of Ipdia. lord Dalhousie drew pointed attention
to the need for setting up a foi est organisation to
insure scientific management of forests to meet
he evei-mci easing demands for timber An Act
e or forest legislation was passed and Conserva-
ors of Forests were appointed in Madras, Oudh,
Kumaon and Burma In the beginning the forests
ivere manned by men drawn from the Civil Ser-
vices and the Army Brand is, the first Ins-
sector-General of Forests soon recognised
he need for fully qualified and scientific-
ally trained officers to help him in the admimstra-
lon and conservation of the forests of the coun-
ry Regarding selection of these officers, Brandis
wrote "Attention should paiticularly be paid to
scientific requirements, specially in natural
sciences, and they should be competent to survey
a forest and to plan and construct forest roads
Although climate and vegetation in India are
different yet the fundamental principles of forest
management are the same everywhere and per-
sons whose practical experience is supplemented
bv scientific education, will be able to apply these
principles in the forests of another country"
The Government of India approved of Brandis's
5Uggestion and authorised him to select two train-
ed forest officers from Germany 01 Fiance Two
German forest officers W Schlich (later Sir
William Schlich) and B Ribbentrop were select-
pd and appointed as "Special Assistant Conserva-
tors" m 1867, the former was posted to Burma
and the latter to the Punjab
Brandis also visualised bringing into existence
a full-fledged service of scientifically trained offi-
cers at an early date a^d, therefore, made further
proposals for providing trained forest officers to
man the forest service of the country He re-
commended
0) Provision of facilities for studying
105
forestry in Europe for untrained offi-
cers of the Forest Department of India,
(n) Selection of probationers from Europe
and making airangements for their
tiammg in the continent,
(in) A general scheme for permanently im-
proving the administration of the
Forest Department of India by sending
out trained men from Europe
He stressed the point that there were import-
ant differences between the general system of
management in the continent and that practised
m England and Scotland and the former was
more suited to India
The recommendations made by Brandis were
accepted by the Government and he proceeded
to make arrangements with Monsieur Laydekar,
Directeur-General des Forests m France and
Forest Director Burckhardit in Germany, for con-
ducting the courses The instructions issued by
Dr Brandis for selection of probationers in 1866
were "Forest Officers in India frequently live
isola'ted, far from immediate control of their supe-
rior officers, they require tact, consideration and
sound judgment in their constant, and often diffi-
cult, dealings with the local population More-
over, the fatigue and exposure, which the work
necessarily entails, are great and the malaria in
most of the forests is an undentable fact We re-
quire, therefore, pre-eminently picked men of a
high moral character, a good constitution even
temper and superior abilities, and it may be
found, as a rule, advantageous to give oreference,
cetens DCtrtbus, to young men of good family con-
nections"
In 1867, five candidates including an Indian,
Fram]ee Rustomiee Desai, son of a Bombay mer-
chant, were selected to undergo the training in
France As it was considered necessary to tram
some officers in Germany also, two more candi-
dates were sent to Hanover for training under
106
The 5o?^thern Forest Rangers College at Coimbatoie
107
Forest Director Burckhardt The period of train-
ing suggested by Brandis was two-and-a-half
years
The outbreak of war between Fiance and
Prussia bi ought to an abrupt close the proba-
tioneis' training in France, as the Nancy School
was closed down The probationers were trans-
Ceried to Scotland where then training wab con-
tinued m the University of St Andiews under
the supei vision of Dr Cleghorn, who had served
as a. Conseivatoi of Forests in Madias The six
probationers who weie selected for tiaming in
January 1871 were thus all sent to Geimany
The bieak was, however, tempoiaiy and tiaming
in Fiance was icsumed alter a short period The
training in 'Get many continued up to the yeai
1875 when it had to be abandoned due to certain
difTiculties Foi the next decade, probationer
for" the Indian Forest Service weie trained at
Nancy only
In all, 95 ofliceis weie lecnnted between 1867
and 1886 and trained in the Continent of
Europe
Training in U.K. at Coopers' Hill : (18851905)
Owing to cei lam difficulties, the proposal loi
training lorcst ofhceis m England was mooted
The (list batch joined the Coopeis' Hill College
in 1885 and Di Schlich was appointed Piofessoi
of Forestry Duiing the first lew years, the
course of study extended over twenty-six months
and was run much on the sanae lines as that in
the Continental Schools Twenty-two months
weie spent at the College and lour months under
supervision in selected Butish and German
toiests In 1888, Schlich submitted pioposals foi
extending the course to three years
Foi the selection of piobationeis a competitive
examination was held annually by the Civil Ser-
vic Commissioners and the qualifying candi-
dates joined the College m September The
Forest College at Coopers' Hill ran for about 20
yeais (1885 to 1905), turning out 173 probationer,
many ot whom tumed out to be eminent
foresters
Training at British Universities of Oxford, Cam-
bridge and Edinburgh: (19051927)
When the College at Cooper's Hill was closed
down in 1905, Schlich had the choice of transfer-
iing the training of forest probationers to any of
the Universities at Oxford, Cambridge or Edin-
burgh At that time Edinburgh was the only
University in the country which had a lecturer-
ship m Forestry created since 1887 Lieut Col F
Bailey (who was the first Director of the Forest
School at Dehra Dun) occupied this post from
1889 Schlich, however, decided on Oxford and
the India Office made a gi ant to the University in
aid of the new School
In 1907, Cambiidge University inaugurated a
Forestiy School and appointed a Reader in Fores-
tiy The Universities of Cambudge and Edin-
burgh represented against the prefeiential treat-
ment of subsidizing the Oxford Umveisity alone
A confeience was called at th e India Office in
July 1910, at which representatives of the three
Univeisities weie accorded equal recognition as
training centies loi the probationers of the In-
dian Forest Service
In 1911, a post of Dnector of Indian Forest Stu-
dies was created and A M Caccia was appointed
to the post His duties weie to maintain a gene-
ral supervision ovei the studies ot the proba-
tioners at the three Universities and to personal-
ly conduct the men on touis in the Continent
and in England With outbreak of Wai in 1914,
leciuitment ceased Aftei the cessation of hosti-
lities, Major Caccia (who served in the Army
dunng the Wai) was le-appomted to the post foi a
period of 5 yeais and continued until 1925 when
the post was terminated
A Commission on the Public Sei vices called
'Islington Commission'* visited India in 1913-14
and took evidence on Foiestiy Education The
question of tiaming probationers for the Indian
Forest Service in India, at Dehra Dun where a
Foiest Research Institute had bean established
in 1906, was considered The foiest educational
experts negatived such a possibility on the
ground that m the absence of forests which had
been undei expert management for one or more
rotations, such as were found in the continent of
Euiope, the piactical training would not be up
to the mark The training of the officers for the
Indian Foiest Service, theiefore, continued at the
Bi itish Universities
Soon aftei the Wai, demand for probationers
increased and between 1919 and 1923. 152 proba-
tioners were trained The Government of India
desired that all probationers be tiained at one
centie A confeience was held in India in April
1920 to consider the proposal to train the proba-
tioners at the Forest Research Instrtute, Dehra
Dun, but no decision could be arrived at In Sep-
tember 1922, however, the first Indian Legisla-
tive Assembly recorded their opinion that all
probationers for the Indian Forest Service should
be trained at Dehia Dun, in accordance wrth the
recommendatrons of the Islrngton Commissron
The proposal was later supported by the Lee
108
,,, v
fcs&W'.". 1 " '^'/Vi'fel
The building* af Chandbayh (now the Doon Public School) which
housed the Forest Research Institute from 1914 1929
109
Commission (1923 24), which also recommend-
ed that the recruitment to the Indian Forest Ser-
vice should be on the basis of 25% Europeans
and 75% Indiana The Governor-General in
Council finally decided to inaugurate the training
of Indian Foiest 'Service Officers at the Forest
Research Institute, Dehra Dun, from the 1st of
November 1926 ,
Training in India at Dehra Dun : (19261932)
The Indian Forest College at Dehra Dun start-
ed in 1926 and 12 students, including two proba-
tioners selected by the Government ot India,
attended the first course held during 192628
The course continued until 1932, when it had to
be closed 4 down due to lack of demand for officer *
The total number of candidates trained during
the period was 27, of which 14 were Government
probationers foi the Indian Forest Service, 5
States' nominees and the rest private candidates
. Since the mauguiation of the training for the
Imperial Forest Service in 1867 and till it came
to a close in 1932, the total number of trained
probationers appointed to the Indian Forest Sei-
vice was 580 A break-up of this figure as to
wher"e they were trained is given below
AMiuc trained
Number of
Officer*
Oei many
"Frame
Uoopois' Hill(U K)
Oxford University
Cambridge Uuivetsitj
Edinburgh University
Dehra Dun
72
173
203
18
14
The Superior Forest Service Course, 1938
onwards
The trarning of the gazetted officers of the
Fotest Department remained suspended from
1933 to 1938 when demand for training such offi-
cers arose again 'Forest' was by then a transfer-
red subject under the control of the various pro-
vinces and princely states and recruitment to the
Indian Forest Service had ceased Superior
Forest Services were created in the States to re-
place the Indian Forest Service and a course of
training for these officers was started in 1938 at
the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun The
first batch consisted of 16 students The College
was named the Indian Foiest College and was
located in one of the blocks of the mam build-
ing of the Institute
The number of trainees at the College has since
considerably increased and the present intake is
about 80 to 90 students annually To meet this
increased demand foi training, construction of a
sepai ate spacious college building has already
been taken in hand this yeai The activities of
the College have considerably expanded and it
has established a good reputation amongst the
foresters of the world The Forest Research Ins-
titute and Colleges have been recognised by the
Food & Agriculture Organisation ot the United
Nations as an International Centre foi the study
ot Forestry m the South-East Asia and the Pacific
region and students from other countries are also
being trained
During the peuod 1933 to 1938, when facilities
for training Superior Staff for the Forest Depart-
ments were not available in India and in so Tie
oases even after 1938, a few States sent their can-
didates for forestry training to Edinburgh and
other Universities in the United Kingdom
The Provincial Service Course
The proposal to constitute a Provincial Service
was first mooted in 1891 with a view to meet the
increased demand for trained officers at a com-
paratively lower cost This service was to form
a link between the Imperial Service and the Sub-
ordinate Executive Service In the early yeais of
the inauguration of the service, young men most-
ly ot European extraction came into the Service
but instructions were soon issued to confine re-
cruitment to the promotion of Rangers of prov-
ed meritorious service only
When the Research Institute at Dehra Dun
came into existence in 1906, the status of the Im-
perial Foiest School, which had been training
Rangers since 1878, was laised to that of a Col-
lege, called the Imperial Forest College and, in
the same year, a third-year course was introduc-
ed for training selected Rangers for admission to
the Provincial Service Experience however,
showed that the training given to the Rangers
for an extra year was far from satisfactory A
separate two years' course was, therefore, start-
ed in the year 1912 and only graduates in science
were eligible for admission The first two batches
were trained at the existing Rangers School and
from 1916 the College moved to Chandbagh.
110
I
a e
fe 8,
^
|
!!
Ill
The total number of officers trained in this
course, during its existence from 1912 to 1928,
was 199 [out of this some went to Trinidad,
Malay States and'Gold Coast (Ghana)] With the
commencement of training of Indian Forest Ser-
vice Officers at Dehra Dun. the Provincial Course
was abolished in 1926
Training for the Subordinate Executive Service
As early as 1869, Brandis recognised that it was
not enough to tiam only the Upper Controlling
Staft but that some technical training had to be
provided to the lower giades also A beginning
m this direction was made by placing selected
persons.under officers qualified to impart such
instructions Later it was decided to attach such
persons id divisions for a year or two and then
to send them to the Engineering College at Roor-
kee or borne other Engineering College for a theo-
retical training in surveying, levelling and ele-
ments of Civil Engineering The training so pro-
vided no doubt produced some good men but the
results in general were not as desired Therefore,
in 1877, Dr Brandis suggested havmg a cadie of
executive officers above the grade of the subordi-
nate of the protection establishment and below
the officers of the inspecting and controlling
branches of the service This gave use to the for-
mation ot the cadre of Forest Rangers With the
objective of imparting systematic technical train-
ing to this class of officials, a Forest School the
fiist Forest School in the British Empire was
founded in 1878 It was called "Central Forest
School" and was housed in an impressive build-
ing in the heart of the city of Dehra Dun
The forests of the Doon Valley and those of the
neighbouring hills of Chakrata were set aside as
'School Training Forests' and formed into a sepa-
rate Cucle under the control of the head of the
School, who was known as the Director Captain
Bailey (later Colonel) of the Royal Engineers
was appointed the first Director of the School In
1884 the Government of India took over the
management of the School from the Government
)f the North-West Province (U P ) and put it under
Hie supervision of the Insoector-GcTier al of
Forests
In the beginning, only practical instructions in
the forest were imparted The first theoretical
course with a strong nractical bias started in 1881
Two courses, one in English and the other in Hin-
dustani, were conducted for the Ranger's
certificate and Forester's certificate respectively
In 1884 the School was renamed as the Imperial
Forest School With the increase in the activi-
ties of the department, a higher course for Sub-
Assistant Conservators' Certificate was added in
9
1889 which continued for several years In 1906,
with the inauguration of the Forest Research Ins-
titute and Colleges, the status of the School was
raised to that of Forest College and named the
Imperial Forest College Sometime later, the
Forester's Course was discontinued The training
of Forest Rangers continued till March 1933,
when the College had to be closed temporarily
on account of the cessation of recruitment result-
ing from the general economic depression
The College re-opened in Apiil 1935 under the
old name and continued to train Forest Rangers
In 1938, the old name was changed to Indian
Forest Rangers College The instructions cover-
ed a period of 2 years, and till 1942 the intake
was biennial Thereafter, due to increased de-
mand, training facilities were increased to enable
yearly admissions The strength of the class con-
tinued to increase, till in 1945 fresh arrivals num-
bered seventy-five far too many to be trained
in one class Two classes had thus to be formed
for this batch The existing building could not
accommodate the enlarged classes and therefore
a new spacious building was constructed at New
Forest in 1949 Temporary hutments were cons-
tructed for use as hostels and the senior batch is
now accommodated at this wing, while the iumor
batch stays at the Cjty Wing of the College
Tn 1912, the Government of Madras started a
Forest College of their own at Coimbatore The
College provided training for Rangers in English
and was to be run on the samp lines as its counter-
part at Dehra Dun To start with, it was housed
in Municipal buildings, and then moved into its
own buildings in 1915 The College has a fine
museum attached to it, known as the Gass Forest
Museum
Though initially started by Government of
Madias to tram their own Rangers, the College
subsequently catered to the needs of the Central
and South Indian Provinces and States and Cey-
lon also After successfully working for over 27
years, it was closed in 1939 for want of adequate
number of students From 1912 to 1939, 640 Ran-
gers were trained The College was reopened in
1945 Tby the Government of Madras In 1948, in
pursuance of their policy of centralising forestiy
education and to organise and co-ordinate forest
research in India, the Government of India
took over the College On 1st April 1955 its
name was changed as the Southern Forest Ran-
gers College Consequently, the Indian Forest
Rangers College, Dehra Dun, had also to change
its name for the fifth time and it is now called
the Northern Forest Rangers College,
112
These Ranger Colleges have been recognised as
International Centres for Forestry Training by
the Food & Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations and are catering to the needs of
the neighbouring countries also Quite a few
candidates from Afghanistan. Burma, Ceylon,
Ethiopia, Iran, Malaya, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan
Thailand, Bntish Guiana, Uganda and Ghana
have passed through the portals of these institu-
tions
Some of the other erstwhile Provinces and
Princely States viz, the Piovmces of Bengal and
Bombay and the Princely States of Mysore and
Travancore, also started Ranger Couises to tram
their Range Officers but these were short-lived
and now all the States send their Ranger candi-
dates for training, either to the Northern Forest
Rangers College at Dehra Diin or the Southern
Forest Rangers College at Coimbatorc
Training of the Lower Subordinate Executive
Staff
The training of Foresters and Forest Guards
has primarily been the responsibility of the vari-
ous State Forest Departments except for a short
spell of the peiiod 1952 1960, when a Regional
Foresters' School was IUTI bv the Goveinment of
India at the Southern Forest Rangers College at
Coimbatore This Foresteis' School cateied to
the needs of the States of Madias, Andhra Pra-
desh, Mysoie, Kerala and Andamans The medium
of instruction was English and the duiation of
course one year The School trained 196 Fores-
ters duung its short life of 8 years
The Present Pattern of Forestry Education in
India
A detailed account of the present pattern of"
Forestry Education in India is given in Volume
II The ti dining of the Gazetted Officers and
Forest Rangers is conducted by the Government
of India on behalf of the States at Dehra Dun and
Coimbatore This ensuies a uniformly high
standaid ot education and helps in creating an
esprit de corps amongst the Forest Officers' of the
States, which is very essential for an integrated
manage nent of the forests of the country based
on the Foiest Policy enunciated by the Govern-
ment of India The selection of trainees is done
by the States either through their Public Service
Cormiisbions 01 by a qualifying examination
conducted by the Rangers' Colleges The rules of
admission, the curriculum and the syllabus have
oecn framed by the Government of India Train-
ing of B'oresters ard Foiest Guards is conducted
by the States themselves
India is now self-sufficient in the matter of
imparting scientific Forestry training of a high
standaid to all ranks of its foresters
CHAPTER VI
THE FOREST SERVICES
Higher Administrative ^Services
As detailed elsewhere, there appears to have been
no particular effoits in India at organised forest
administration or management prior to the 19th
cen 4 uiy Individual officers or staft were assigned
duties, part-time or whole-time as the occasions
called for, in connection with disposal of forest
produce,*partrcularly standing timber, and collec-
tion of revenues therefrom, or preservation of the
forest foi its value as Royal hunting grounds
The early period of British rule in India was no
exception On the other hand, there was consi-
derable increase in felling, especially of fine
.timbers like teak for the British Navv It was
about 1805 that doubts arose for the first time
that supplies of timber might run short In 1806
the first Conservator of Forests was appointed
with Malabar and Travancorc as his jurisdiction
To Captain Watson of the Police thus iell the
honour of being the first Conservator of Forests
in India A proclamation of 1807 formed the
basrs of the Conservator s authority By 1823 due
to the growing discontent among timber merchants
and on the recommendation of Sir Thomas
Munroe, the then Governor of Madras and with
the consent of the Supreme Government, the
Conservatorship m which Captain Wats.n had
been followed by others, was abolished after it
had been in existence for a bare seventeen years
Almost another quarter of a century passed ba-
fore any staff came to be appointed specificallv
for taking care of the forests It was m Southern
Indra that the first seeds of the future Forest
Service of India were sown In 1847, Dr Gibson
was appointed Conservator of Forests m Bombay
Presidency, and nine years later Madras follow-
ed suit and appointed Dr Cleghorn (1856) as
Conservator of Forests The first steps towards
the formatron of a forest organization in India
were contained m a report of McClelland, Super-
intendent of Forests, which he submitted to the
Government of India m August 1853 McClelland
was succeeded m 1861 by Brandis who has been
aptly named the Father of Indian Forestry
Thanks to his constant endeavours and excellent
personal example, the State Forests of India have
since been oigamsed, administered and develop
ed into a well-knit, productive estate by the
labours of successive bands of men of great hardi-
hood, pioneering spirit, scientific acumen and un-
tiring zeal These men belonged to the following
regular services
The Indian Forest Service from 1867 to
1932
The Provincial Forest Service from 1906 to
1926
The Superior State Forest Service from 1940
onwards
The cadres of Forest Rangers from 1881 on-
wards
How these developed is examined below m some
detail
Very soon after his appointment, Brandis re-
cognised the urgent necessity to secure the assis-
tance of some qualified and trained officers, if
he were to place on a sound basis, the conser-
vation and administration of India's forests He
realised also that for work m the higher
branches of forestry, 'he should not rely entire-
ly on untrained staff however zealous and re-
ceptive they might be to new ideas While his
suggestions did not find acceptance straight
away, Brandis persevered with his proposals to
the Government of India, recommending that
one trained officer each (recruited either from
Germany or France) be sent to the Punjab,
North West Provinces, Central Provinces and
Burma, to be placed m charge of the more m-
portant Forest Divisions as soon as they got
themselves acquarnted with the country, langu-
age, people and the forests "For the districts
under their charge" wrote Brandis, "they would
arrange methodical working plans, dividing each
forest into such blocks and compartments as the
working plans require, they would carry on
the operation of felling and thinning, as well
as planting and improving the forests where
necessary and practicable, where required, the
means of timber transport would be improved
and the administration of the district would be
placed on a satisfactory footing " He continued,
"m selecting such persons, attention should
particularly be paid to scientific requirements to
survey a forest and to plan and build foiest
roads Although climate and vegetation m India
are different, vet the fundamental principles of
113
114
forest management are the same everywhere and
persons whose practical experience is supple-
mented by a scientific education will be
able to apply these principles in the
forests of another country " It was thus
that the basic principles were enunciated, under
which recruitment in Europe followed for the
next sixty years for manning the senior grades
of the Forest Departments in India It is hardly
necessary to add that, as a result, a well-knit
body of forestry experts was brought into being
and the Forest Estate of India assumed its pre-
sent valuable and permanent shaoe, size and
productivity
In their despatch to the Secretary of State
(Revenue-Forest No 10, dated 25th June, I860)
the Government of India approved of the sug-
gestion of Brandis and stated that the Lieute-
nant Governor of the Punjab and the Chief
Commissioners of Central Provinces and of
Burma were strongly impressed with the advan-
tages to be derived from carrying out the pro-
posals The Secretary of State authorised Bran-
dis to select two gentlemen trained in forest
management from Germany or France on
Rs 500 per mensem (The Government of India
had cut the salary to Rs 400 but Biandis said
that he could not recruit men for this low salary
and the Secretary of State supported him) They
were to be allotted for works in the Punjab and
Burma respectively A forester was also to be
recruited from Scotland on Rs 200 per month
for work in the Central Provinces.
For these two first posts in the superior grades,
Brandis selected two German officers, viz , W
Schhch and B Ribbentrop, who arrived in Cal-
cutta on the 16th February 1867 They were de-
signated as Special Assistant Conservators and
posted, the former to Barma and the latter to
the Punjab Thus began the Indian Forest Ser-
vice
Brandis then made further proposals in the
matter of forest education, in order (1) to pro
vide facilities to serving officers of the Forest
Department (who had not received any scienti-
fic training in forestry) to be given suitable
training and (2) to select and tram m Europe
five forest probationers immediately He also put
forward a general scheme for the regular re-
cruitment and training of young men m Europe
for absorption permanently into the forest de-
partments of India These suggestions were ac-
cepted both by the Government of India and
the Secretary of State and in 1867 itself Brandis
made contacts with French and German autho-^
rities for instruction of Indian Forest Officers
on furlough ,
The initial arrangements for recruitment were
of a wholly ad hoc nature Brandis's own re-
marks are quoted "The forest appointments for
the minor administrations are in the nature of
gifts of the Governor-General, or the Governors
of Bombay and Madras for their Presidencies"
Under these circumstances, anything like a com-
petitive procedure for selection of the best avail-
able persons was naturally out of the question
Therefore, Brandis successfully submitted de-
tailed proposals for regulai, annual and conti-
nuous recruitment and training of men for
India's Forest Service The following categories
of controlling staff were recognised. (1) Conser-
vator, (2) Deputy Conservator and (3) Assistant
Conservator All promotions from grade to grade
within each categoi^ were left to the discretion*
of the local government, but promotions from
Assistant to Deputy Conservator and Deputy
Conservator to Conservator were to be made by
the Government of India The following were
the grades adopted:
Conservators
One post of Class I Conservator on Rs 1,600
per month
Two posts of Class II Conservators on Rb
1,400 per month
Two posts of Class III Conservators on Rs
1,200 per month
Three posts of Class IV Conservators on Rs
1,000 per month
Deputy Conservators
First grade at Rs 900 per month
Second grade at Rs 700 per month
Third grade at Rs 500 per month
The number of Conservators was fixed at one
for each Province, and the number of Deputy
Conservators was decided at 14 for the whole
country but with provision for expansion
Assistant Conservators
First Grade at Rs 450 per mensem
Second Grade at Rs 350 per mensem.
Third Grade at Rs 250 per mensem
It was also stated that the young men would
ordinarily enter the department at the lowest
grade of Assistant Conservator and be promoted
115
to the next higher grade on passing the langu-
age examination and attaining a standard of
proficiency Their promotion to Grade I was to
,ake place ordmauly after three years of approv-
ed service in the next lower grade
Up to 1870 no trained officers were available,
however, and appointments were largely by
selection from other bnanches of public services
such as the Army, the P W D and the Survey
Department With the advent of a regular and
separate Forest Department, a large number of
permanent officers was required The army
again provided a considerable number of recruits
for such permanent appointments Their selec-
tion wts on the grounds of aptitude for forest
work They were usually ardent sportsmen or
keen naturalists
By 1870. the Presidencies and Provinces were
each in charge of a Conservator of Forests, with
a number of officers who were in actual charge
of districts With the increase of work and res-
ponsibilities, increased staff was necessitated
Executive Staff
Subordinate staff was difficult to recruit and
this service was accordingly the slowest to deve-
lop and even by 1900 it remained most back-
ward The bulk of the field staff in the early
stages consisted of Forest Guards who possessed
neither education nor technical attainments of
any kind Recruitment to the ranks of Forest
Rangers from amongst the Forest Guards thus
proved exceedingly difficult In fact, in the
beginning, the engagement of Forest Rangers
was left entirely to the discretion of the local
Divisional Forest Officeis or the Conservators.
There was no regular staff organisation or graded
lists The men were appointed as and when
required and had no particular prospects to look
forward to, either The first improvement in this
respect took place with the establishment of a
Forest School at Dehra Dun in 1878, for giving
training in forestry to men selected for appoint-
ment as Forest Rangers Two classes of Forest
Rangers were provided for, with the following
grades
Forest Rangers 1st Class or Sub-Assistant
Conservator of Forests
1st Grade Rs 200
2nd Grade Rs 150
3rd Grade Rs 120
Forest Rangers 2nd Class
1st Grade Rs 100
2nd Grade Rs 80.
3rd Grade Rs. 70
4th Grade Rs 60
5th Grade Rs 50
At the same time, all protective staff, consist-
ing of all employees drawing pay between Rs. 50
and Rs 12 per mensem were called Foresters
Those drawing less than Rs 12 were called Fire
Watchers or Patrols and, subsequently, Forest
Guards
In 1900 the staff of the Forest Department of
India stood as follows
Imperial Service
Inspector-General 1
Conservators 19
Deputy Conservators 117
Assistant Conservators 63
Provincial Service
Extra Deputy Conservators 5
Extra Assistant Conservators 107
Executive and Subordinate Service
Rangers 437
Deputy Rangers and Foresters 1,226
Forest Guards 8,523
At the beginning of the present century, the
forests of India thus provided regular employ-
ment for a total of 10,508 forest personnel
Except for short interruptions (such as during
the war between the Russians and the French),
personnel for the Imperial Forest Service conti-
nued to be trained in France and Germany
Ribbentrop has referred to Hill, Gamble, Wright
and Tansley among those trained in France
and Popert and Bonham-carter from the German
school, as deserving of special mention Difficul-
ties arose, however, in these training arrange-
ments and after three years of discussion it was
decided to provide for all future trainees at
Coopers' Hill m England The fiist set of men
joined Coopeis' Hill in 1885 Schhch was chosen
the fust Professor of Forestry at Coopers' Hill
Stebbmg and W K Fischer were among the
first probationers to come out of the school
Selection of probationers for training at
Coopers' Hill was on the basis of a competitive
examination held annually by the Civil Service
Commissioners Forestry training continued at
Coopers' HiJl for twenty vears and was closed
down in 1905, when arrangements were made
for training of forest probationers at Oxford or
116
Edinburgh In 1924, the opinion found favour
that training of Indians recruited in India for
the Indian Forest Service should also be carried
out in India itself The Forest Research Institute,
Dehra Dun, was decided as the training centre
and fiom October 1926 onwards Indians foi the
Service were trained in India However, due to
world conditions of economic depression, recruit-
ment to the Indian Forest Service itself ceased
with the year 1932
The first graded list of Conservators, Deputy
Conservators and Assistant Conservators under the
Government of India was published in 1869 In
1878, the North-West Provinces and Oudh
weie formed into three circles each under a
Conservator of Forests The Department was re-
organised in 1882 on increased scales ol pay as
recommended by Schhch, then officiating Ins-
pector-General of Forests Only three grades of
Conservators were maintained, the number of
grades of Deputy Conservators of Forests was
increased to lour and that of Assistant Conser-
vator of Forests remained at three as earlier
The service was again reorganised in 1891,
with further upward revision of pay for the
different grades It was then decided to fill only
80 per cent oi the required strength by direct
recruitment to the Indian Forest Service The
balance 20 oer cent was set aoart to be filled
by promotion from the executive staff (trained at
Dehra Dun) of such persons as had Tendered
meritorious services the promoted staff was to
be designated as Extra-Deputy Conservators, on
pay ranging from Rs 350 to Rs 600
From 1920 onwards, as a consequence ot the
recommendations of the Islington Commission,
lurther changes took place in the constituti:n
of the highest service in the Forest Departments
of India In 1920, it was decided that further
recruitment to the Imperial Forest Service would
be made (a) bv direct recruitment in England
and in India and (b) by promotion from the
provincial service in India This marked the be-
ginning of the regular admrssion of Indians to
the highest ranks of the forest services in Indi-i
The service also came to be referred to as the
"Indian Forest Service" instead of the ''Imperial
Forest Service" Twelve per cent of the Indian
Forest Service was to be filled by promotion
from the Provincial Forest Service, in addition
to those who were already Extra-Deputy Con-
servators of Forests The latter were also to be
promoted to the Indian Forest Servica automati-
cally, if qualified Of the direct recruits, 40 pei
cent were to be Indians In fact, from 1921 on-
wards, 25 per cent to 40 per cent of the direct
recruits were Indians, the actual numbers m
any year depending on the availability of suit-
able Indians In 1923 only 12 per cent of the
vacancies could be filled by Indians'
The Inspector-General of" Forests
From its inception, the post of Inspector-Gene-
ral of Forests has always been held by an Indian
Forest Service Officer, but the last officer ol this
Service will be retiring in the very near future
In the days of Brandis, Schhch and RiJDbentrop
(le from its inception in 1861 to the' end ot
the nineteenth century), it was an , important
post, exercising administrative jurisdiction over
all the forests of the Indian Empire including
Burma Its position progressively became almost
titular, with 'Forests vesting entirely in the
Governments of the Provinces and with Cruel-
Conservators of Forests taking ovei as heads ol
their Forest Departments In the late twenties,
the Inspector-General ot Forests had to take over
the duties of the President, Forest Research
Institute and Colleges also, as the post by itself
was otherwise considered not neccssaiy whole-
time In the thirties, its very continuance was
threatened more than once, such a post for the
whole of India being considered no longer neces-
sary However, by 1946, the position crystallised
again, when the requirements of post-war re-
construction of India's forests on the one hand
necessitated the guidance of a whole-time Ins-
pector-General of Forests at Government of
India headquarters, and the expansion programme
of the Forest Research Institute and Colleges
demanded the attention of a who'etime Presi-
dent In other words, from 1946, the functions of
the post became clearly those of an adviser to
the Government of India
But with India gaming her Independence in
1947 and launching soon after on a succession
of development plans, the Inspector-General of
Forests has still a significant part to play in the
improvement of India's forests Again, with the
World Forestry Congress, the British Empire
Forestry Conference and more specifically the
Forestry Division of the Food and Agriculture
Organization, all helping in recent years to foster
international interest in Forestry, the co-ordina-
tion of India's participation in regional or inter-
national forestry activities has naturally devolv-
ed on the Inspector-General of Forests as the
obvious representative of India as a whole
ii?
In fact, the work of the post has increased to
such an extent since the post-war years that a
post of Deputy Inspector-General (with the lank
of Conservator i)f Forests) has been in existence
since 1945, and more recently (from 1960), an
Assistant Inspector-General ot Forests (rank of
Deputy Conservator) also works at the head-
quarters of the Government of India
The Chief Conservator of Forests
In. the history of the Indian Forest Service,
Chief Conservators of Forests came to be ap-
pointed m the laigcr Provinces, only at a much
later stage The necessity arose from the difficul-
ty experienced by the Inspector-General of
Forests to give his attention equally to all the
fast developing (orest units flung far and wide
over the Indian Empne including Burma Con-
sequently, in 1905, the Government of India
suggested to local Governments to create posts of
Chief Conseivatois of Foiests m all Piovmces
where there were three or more Conservators
The suggestion was first adopted m Burma, then
in the Central Provinces and in Bombay Others
followed later, till by 1918 eveiy Province (with
more than three Conservators) had appointed a
Chief Conservator in charge of its Forest De-
partment
The Chief Conseivatoi of Forests became ofh-
ciallv the head of the Piovmcial Forest Depart-
ment and the technical adviser to the local Gov-
ernment in ioiest matters He was empowered
to deal on his own authority with professional
questions Powers were delegated to him to deal
also with all technical matters, which Consei-
vators weie previously referring to the Inspec-
tor-Gencial of Foiests It was emphasised how-
ever that his duties as principal torest adviser
to the Provincial Government should not inter-
fere unduly with his duties, (especially of tour-
ing and field inspections) as head of his Depart-
ment The Chief Conservator was also required
to supervise all work regarding the compilation
and sanction of forest woikmg plans He had to
secure uniformity of policy and exercise control
throughout the Province as regards methods of
silvicultural improvements, sales of produce,
supplies against indents such as from Railway
and Ordnance Departments, stall requirements
in the forest department and the conduct of
forest research and training of staff in commu-
nication with the President of the Forest Re-
search Institute and Colleges at Dehra Dun
In other words, the post of Chief Conservator
of Fores' s m each Province came to correspond
with that of the Inspector-General of Foiests
for India and the latter began to concern himself
more and more with the centralised subjects of
Forest Education and Forest Research besides
being always available for advismg any Provin-
cial administration that invited him to do so
Once they were created, the posts of Chief
Conservators of Foiests faced no vicissitudes,
their functions as administrative heads of their
departments and as forest advisers to their Gov-
ernments being specifically understood In fact,
all the changes that have taken place from time
to time in the political framework of the Indian
Empire have only strengthened the numbers and
standing of Chief Conservators of Forests m the
States Punjab, United Provinces, Central Pro-
vinces, Bombay and Madras appointed their own
Chief Conservators of Forests, all before 1920
More recently the States of Bihar, Andhra and
Assam have also appointed their Chief Conser-
vators The latest post of Chief Conservator of
Forests came into being in 1960 in the newly
formed (out of the old Bombay State) Gujarat
State
Conservator of Forests
As has been made clear, from the earliest
days of scientific forestiy in India, the post of
Conservator of Forests was the primary adminis-
trative unit By 1870 a Conservator had many
ofhcers under him in the districts but he had
himself to carry out executive jobs also With
the foimation of forest divisions, executive duties
devolved progressively on the Divisional Forest
Officers, leaving Conservators free for admmis-
tiative and supervisory work
Prior to the creation of the posts of Chief Con-
seivatois of Forests, the Conservators dealt
dnect with the Inspector-Geneial of Forests and
the local Government, they had geneially com-
plete control of forest matters in their own Cir-
cles On all subjects having a bearing on the
public of the district, they had to correspond
with the Divisional Forest Officer through the
Collector and vice versa and the Divisional
Forest Officers were subordinate to the Collec-
tor m such matters Conservators were the con-
trolling authorities in matters of subordinate
services and departmental discipline On all sub-
lects of a purely departmental or professional
nature, the Divisional Forest Officers were
directly responsible to the Conservators
When visiting the districts, the Conservator
was expected to confer with the District Magis-
trate or Collectors and the Commissioners on
matters connected with his departmental inspec-
tions, in order to learn their views and to bring
to their notice any matters which were impor-
tant His touring and inspection duties involv-
ed, among other things, attention to surveys and
settlements, working plans, forest boundaries,
communications and building, staff condition,
protection of forests, works of regeneration and
tending and timber depots He had to ensuie
the adequacy and progress of aforesaid subjects
and it necessary to report to the Goveinment
or the Chief Conservator of Forests about them
He was also responsible for enforcing sound
financial regulations in the various offices under
him, ensuring that the officers and staff under
him were conversant with their duties, main-
taining discipline and supervising the progress
of vaiious works in the forests
Subsequently, in most Provinces, the authority
of the Conservator of Forests was completely
subordinated to that of the Chief Conservator
of Forests in all matters After India's Indepen-
dence, the Conservator has been called upon to
look after all work of development of forests
besides his normal duties connected with forest
conservation In some States, the Conservatoi
had also to see that privately owned forests were
managed according to the provisions of the rele-
vant Acts
The 'Conservator of Forests' has been perhaps
the most stable designation in the Forestry of
India The circumstances (of excessive and un-
regulated forest fellings) under which it was
brought into use first as long ago as 1805, fully
explain the emphasis on the conservation aspect
of forestry as of prime concern to the Conser-
vator Even to-day, in many parts of India, es-
pecially where the impact of large local popu-
lations on the forests is a major factor in regu-
lating forestry methods, this forest administra-
tor's first responsibility remains the protection
and conservation of the forests in his charge
With India's Independence and the subsequent
rapid development in all fields of activity, the
demands on forests were consistently on the
increase, not only for their produce but for the
very land on which they stand (for other uses)
The continued maintenance intact of the inte-
grity of the forest tracts became the anxious
care of the Conservators of Forests The average
Conservator's Circle included 5 to 6 Forest Divi-
sions (and this has scarcely varied in the his-
tory of Forestry in India) In more recent years,
special posts of Conservators have been set up
to assist the Chief Conservator of Forests in the
supervision of Working Plan preparation and
contiol, in implementing and progressing special
Development Plans and other such special works
In every large or progressive Forest State, there
is a Working Plan Conservator to-day The latest
special but whole-time function, for which a,
Conservator has been set apart in a State or
two, is the care of Wild Lite
Deputy Conservator of Forests
A Deputy Conservator of Forests or Extia-
Deputy Conservator of Forests usually held
charge of a division and was called Divisional
Forest Officer but it was not infrequently that
an Assistant Conservator of Forests or an Extra-
Assistant Conservatos of Forests worked as a Divi-
sional Foiest Officer However, from the very
earliest times of the setting up of posts of Divi-
sional Forest Officer, their duties were clearly
and almost finally defined The Divisional Foiest
Officer was the immediate controlling and exe-
cutive officei of the division concerned All the
works of sale, exploitation, regeneration, tend-
ing, protection, buildings, roads and bridges
were to be undertaken according to his direction
and under his personal supervision He was res-
ponsible tor budgetary and accounts control
over all revenues from the Division and expendi-
ture on staff, works, etc The Forest Division in
India became the unit of management from the
very beginning and a Working Plan usually
covered all the forests of a Division The Divi-
sional Forest Officer was fully entrusted with
the day-to-day management of the foiests in his
Division and had complete powers of control
over all the staff in the Division As mentioned
earliet, he was in most States subordinate to the
Collector or other senior-most revenue authority
in the district in such matters as affected the
oublic of the district and to the Conservator in
all other matters This position continues even
to-day
Duties of Assistant Conservator of Forests
Ordinarily he was a young officer allotted to
assist the Divisional Forest Officer, particularly
in field work and inspection and to learn the
management of a division He- was generally
attached to a division and took charge now and
again in temporary and officiating vacancies On
first appointment, for a year or two, the young
Assistant Conseivator of Forests had to be in
charge of Ranges in order to gain full working
knowledge of Range work.
lift
It. is needless to add that all Assistant Conser-
vators, Deputy Conservators of Forests, Conser-
vators and Chief Conservators and the Inspec-
tor-General of Forests were men belonging to
the Indian Forest Service, until the end of the
First World War or till about 1920 Officers pro-
moted or directly recruited for work in the
Forest Departments were designated Extra-
Assistant and Extra-t)eputy Conservators of
Foiests But subsequent to 1920, when promo-
tions -were also allowed into the Indian Foiest
Service besides the, liberal admission of Indians
direct to that Service, 'Extra-Deputy Conserva-
tors of Forests' were abolished In the earlier
decades; of Forestry in India, Deputy and Assis-
tant C9nservators weie concerned mostly with
the routine administration and management of
*he forests in the territories committed to their
charge besides demarcation of forest areas But
since the beginning of this century, specialisa-
tion was found necessary First, silvicultural
research called for attention, then followed
whole-time Working Plan Officers, Forest Utili-
zation Officeis and in veiy recent years Wild
Life Officers The diversification of responsibili-
ties and specialisation of duties have thus be-
come a feature of forestry in modern times in
India as everywhere else in the world
The Indian Forest Service
A total of 580 officers were selected between
1865 and 1930 Recruitment dunng this period
was more or less continuous, except that there
was no recruitment in 1867, 1868 and 1870 in the
eaily formative stages and 1916 to 1918, the latter
years of the First World War The annual re-
cruitment was at an average rate of 7 to 10 until
1915. but in the post-war period the requirements
of aftording suitable employment to ex-military
personnel combined with the Government's res-
ponse to the demands for Indiamsation, resulted
in an unbalanced and heavy annual recruitment
for the few years from 1921 to 1925, when, as
many as 178 officers were recruited in five years,
the actual numbers being 62 in two batches in
1921, 30 in two batches in 1922, 46 in four batches
m 1923, 25 in three batches in 1924 and 15 in
1925 With the constitution of Burma into a
separate country, the active strength of the
Indian Forest Service was noticeably reduced
(by the entire Burma complement) Subsequent
recruitment naturally dwindled down to very
small numbers The world-wide economic depres-
sion that characterised the early thirties assist-
ed in tha Governments m India and the Secre-
tary of State deciding on the final stoppage of
all recruitment to the Indian Forest Service The
last two recruits were selected in 1930 and en-
tered the service in 1932
In 1935, the general list of Conservators and
Chief Conservators was given up and the trans-
fer of administrative personnel from one Pro-
vince to another on the basis of that list also
ceased to be Except for deputations to the few
posts under tha Government of India, Indian
Forest Service officers had to look for all pros-
pects within the restricted provincial cadres
themselves, however, the Secretary of State pro-
tected their interests in respect of financial loss
by introducing a system of payment of compen-
sation But that also came to an end with the
withdrawal of. the British from India in 1947
As with every other all-India Service, the
Indian Forest Service also suffered a great
depletion not merely in numbers but in the
number of its experienced and senior personnel
as a result of this withdrawal On the eve of In-
dependence as many as 42 British Officers of the
Service quit it, availing themselves of the com-
pensation terms offered, and five more who had
stayed on also retired subsequently without
completing their full term of service The last
British Inspector-General of Forests (Hamilton)
left India in May 1949 At the same time, with
the partition of India, some ten Indian Forest
Service officers went over to Pakistan While
all this sudden and heavy exodus of more than
a third of the Service and that too all senior
men (mostly recruited 2025 years earlier) meant
unexpected advancement in career to many of
their Indian colleagues, it also resulted m the
latter having to shoulder heavy responsibilities,
especially because of the lacunae in the succes-
sion to lower posts in the officer ranks caused by
^tho short-sighted stoppage of all recruitment
"during the depression years from 1930 to 1940
and even later
In 1950, India declared herself a Republic and
the States (previously provinces) became wholly
autonomous, and with that, the last vestiges of
an all-India character of the Service came to
an end in practice, though the few individual
members strll in service continued (at least
nominally) to benefit by the guarantees given
by the Government of India at the time of In-
dependence in lespect of conditions of service,
especially of salaries, leave and pension The last
of them (Bhadran) is due to retire in 1962. almost
exactly a hundred years after Brandis was offi-
cially brought on the All-India scene in 1861 to
organise the forests of India.
120
The Indian Forest Engineering Service
Reference may be made here to a shoit-lived
adjunct to the Indian Forest Service The Indian
Forest Engmeeimg Service was inaugurated as
a post-war innovation in 1921 Eighteen men
were iccruited to this service in 1921-22, mainly
to develop the essential requirements ioi improv-
ed forest utilisation, such as loads, tramways,
lopeways, saw-mills, etc Half the number was
allotted to Burma, two each to the Punjab and
Bombay and one each to Bengal, United Provm-
ces North-West Frontiei Province, Bihar and
Onssa and Coorg The service ceased to be by
1935, by which time ten of the members had died
in service or retired prematurely The rest were
absoibed either into the Indian Forest Seivice
or the Indian Seivice of Engineers
The Indian Forest Service and the Forest Research
Institute and Colleges
Reference may also be made heie to the staff-
ing ot the forest research and education centre
at Dehra Dun Whi'e the Forest School foi train-
ing Rangers for all parts of India began in 1882
under the guidance of Indian Foiest Seivice offi-
cers, the Forest Research Institute itself took
shape only in 1906, when a'so all its five branches
of study were headed by officers of the Indian
Forest Service In fact, the Forest Research In-
stitute and Colleges weie lightly dominated by
forest officers on deputation, particularly officers
of the Indian Foiest Service, right up to the date
of India's Indeoendence But now onlv one officer
of the Indian Forest Service occupies a regular
post in the Forest Research Institute and Colleges,
that of the President The increasing calls on the
average Forest Officer's time because of enlarged
admmistratrve work, the shortage of personnel in
India's Forest Departments and the vastly in-
creased reeds for trained men to implement their
development plans, all combined progressively
to restrict the participation of forest officers to
work in the colleges and the silviculture branch
only
Some Outstanding Men of the Past
While almost every member of the Indian
Forest Service has undoubtedly given of his best
to the cause of India's forests and scientific fores-
try, it will be but appropriate here to pay tri-
bute to some outstanding personalities The valu-
able work done by the early pioneers in different
oarts of the country like Conolly in Madras,
Gibson in Bombay Cleghorn in Madras and Pun-
iab. Anderson and Gustaff Mann m Bengal and
the Eastern Provinces and India enabled Brandis
to give the Indian Forest Service an excellent
start, Brandis, Schlich and Ribbentrop between
themselves dominated India's organised foresf ad-
ministration lor nearly 40 years It should be no ,
wondei then that in the hundred years that the
service has been in force, maryy ol its members
have distinguished themselves in forest adminis-
tration, but what rs of even greater significance^
the individual contributions of quite a number
of Indian Forest Seivice officers to the advance-
ment of the science of forestry m various techni-
cal fields such as Silvicultuie, Botany, Entomolo-
gy, Utilisation and Forest Education The good
work of many officers of the Indran Forest Ser-
vice was recognised by the awaid ot Knighthood
and other titles by the British Crown
Administrators
Among outstanding administrators .must first
come Diet?ich Brandis In fact, he was most
versatile Besides organising India's foicsts a-nd
setting up its administrative machmeiy, he was
personally responsible for quite a few working
plans dealing with the tracts concerned for the 1
fust time His comprehensive work 'Indian Trees'
marks him out as no mean Botanist too In May
1883, the Govern jr-General placed on public re-
cord the eminent service iend?red by Biandis^
When Brandis entered servrce the revenues of
the Forest Department of the Indian Empire
were some Rs 35 lakhs and when he retired they
had risen to Rs 95 lakhs The foundations so well
laid have been tiuly built upon by succeeding
generations of Forest Officers and India's Forest
Revenues to-day (but cxc'udmg Burma and Pa-
kistan) are of the order of Rs 5,000 lakhs
Among other outstanding administrators (most
of whom rose to be Inspector-General or Chief
Conservator of Forests) that the Indian Forest
Service produced, may be mentioned the follow-
ing
W Schhch (1866-89) joined the Indian Forest
Service (at the age of twenty-seven) in Burma
and served m Smd and Bengal also To Schlich
must accrue great credit for (i) reorganising the
controlling staff to relieve serious blocks m pro-
motion, (n) forming an Internal Working Plan
branch, (in) revising (Thud Edition) of the Indian
Forest Code and (iv) organising the Foiest School
at Dehra Dun Schlich concluded his career iri
India m 1885, when he vacated the post of Inspec-
tor-General of Forests and returned to England
to organise the new Forestry School at Coopers'
Hill It was there that his best contribution to
Indian Forestry followed, when many recruits to
the Indian Forest Service passed through his
hands He was associated with teaching Forestry
almost right to the end of his life in 1925. His
121
monumental woik 'Manual of Foicstiy'.
in five volumes lemains a classic m its field
,3 Ribbentrop joined the Indian Foiest SLHVICC
along with Schtoch, but began his career in the
Punjab He retired in 1900 after serving in India
.for thnty-fouryears During the last fifteen years
of his service he held the post of Inspector-Gene-
ral of Forests Dunng this period with great skill
and judgment and with indefatigable energy he
guided and superintended extensive and far-
reaching changes in the organisation of the Forest
Department, paiticulaily in building up the Pro-
vincial Forest Service
E WijmQt_O873-1908) was responsible for
the founding of the Forest Reseaich Institute_at_
'Dchia Dun m 1900, which lias siircs^g^wOnan__.
bhength to strength. ~
Of E Fernandez (1881-1902), it may be confi-
dently said that few men have contributed so
much to building up a scientifically equipped
forest personnel He was particularly responsible
for the development of the forest school at Dehra
Dun He was also author of many working plans,
especially of the first plan for the Dehra Dun
Forests (1888-1902)
T R D Bell (1884-1920) did great service to
stabilise forests working in Bombay Presidency
and had the satisfaction of being appointed its
first Chief Conservator of Forests
P H Clutterbuck (1889-1926) served in the
Central Provinces and the North-West Provin-
ces before being appointed the first Chief Con-
servator m the United Provinces (191528) He
retired as Inspector -General of Forests He was
responsible for installing the first maioi forest in-
dustry m the United Provinces, the Indian Tur-
pentine and Rosm Factory near Bareilly The In-
dustrial township which developed as a result
came to be known as 'Clutterbuckganj' As Ins-
pector-General of Forests he was largely respon-
srb'e for the subsequent enlargement of the
Forest Research Institute at Dehra Dun to its pre-
sent vast dimensions He retired in 1926 from the
Indian Forest Service only to join the Jammu
and Kashmir State, where he became Develop-
ment Minister m 1942 He re-organised the valu-
able forests of Kashmir and brought them under
scientific management He was responsible foi set-
ting up forest mdustiies in the State Apart
trom Brandis, hrs was the most colourful, vari-
ed and purposeful career in the Indian Forest
Service
W F Perree first joined in Bengal in 1893
but he gave of his best to Assam His Working
Plan for the Goalpara forests was the first ma-
jor workrng plan for sal forests rn India His di-
vision of the solid block of 100 sq miles of sub-
montane forests by cutting permanent side and
parallel lines a mile apart resulted in these
forests becoming accessible
C G Trevor (born on 28-12-1882) was connec-
ted with India from birth, as hrs father was
then Principal Medical Officer of Her Majesty's
Forces in India and Colonel Commandant RA
M C He iorned the Indian Forest Servrce m the
Punjab in 1903 His contributions to work on
122
the natural regeneration of deodar, spruce and
silvei fir were oustanding His working plan
for the Kulu forests for the period 1919-20 to
1939-40 was "a great advance on any similar
production which has yet been issued for the
coniferous forests in the Himalayas". In 1926,
he was appointed Vice-President of the Forest
Research Institute and the Professor of Fores-
try for the newly started course of training for
the Indian Forest Service at Dehra Dun In 1933
he became Inspector-General of Forests) and
President, Forest Research Institute He repre-
sented India in the Empire Forestry Conference
in Canada (1923), Australia (1928) and South
Afnca (1935) His post-retirement activities in-
cluded management of his own woodland in
England of some 1940 acres, foi which he made his
own plan of operations and maintained careful
records till his death in 1959.
E O Shebbeare was another versatile officer
of raie ability He joined the service in 1906
and served in Bengal, Central Provinces and
United Provinces before he retired m 1938 He
was lesponsible for the bold adoption of clear
telling and taungya method of regeneration on
a working plan scale in Noith Bengal He is also
a great natuiahst, being equally as conversant
with field botany as with wild life, his special
study in the latter covering buds and snakes But
his love of Nature found full expression when
he jomed an Everest expedition at an age when
any average individual would have considered
himself too elderly for the arduous task
A Smythies joined the United Provinces in
1908 where he woiked in every variety of ter-
rain and forest He was the first Silviculturist
(1918) of the United Provinces He was Working
Plans Conservator of Forests foi long peiiods
and retired in 1940 as Chief Conservatoi of
Forests His book (jointly with Tievor^ on
'Forest Management' was a valuable addition
to the Forestry literature ot India even as his
safe-guarding formula for yield regulation pro-
ved valuable in conseivmg the mature crops in
sal forests, while the pioblems of their regene-
ration were being tackled
A J W. Milroy was an outstanding figuie in
Assajn's forestry He joined the Indian Forest
Service in 1908 and died in service m 1936 His
collaboration with Shebbeare in enthusing a
number of woikets in tackling the pioblems of
natural regeneration of sal in the moister forests
was a fine example of team work He was a
pioneer in the field of Wild Life Conservation
and was responsible almost personally from sav-
ing the great Indian Rhinoceros in Assam from
extmotiqn His ad/mmistiation was marked by
much tolerance and yet efficiency
L Mason (1910-1941) served m the Punjab,
United Provinces and Central Provinces before
he became Inspector-General of Forests, which
post he vacated on the out-break of World War
II in order to organise timber supplies from India
as a war effort, which he did with conspicuous
distinction.
S H Howard joined the Indian Forest Service
in 1911 Besides working in various capacities rn
the United Provinces, he woiked with great dis-
tinction as Central Silvicultunst (1919-2)t and
also held additional charge ot the post of'Forest
Botanist He prepaied an impressive .Working
plan for Haldwam Division and raised some of
the finest plantations m that division He retired
as Inspector-General of Forests m 1945
Forestry in India is indebted to Sir Herbert
Howard for contributions which vary from pro-
paganda leaflets to statistical tables ot yield and
volume He introduced a system of ledger filing foi
the maintenance of technical records in the Forest
Research Institute He compiled a Forest Pocket
Book which has gone through five editions His
lucid enunciation of a Post-War Forest Policy for
India (1944) gave a new orientation to Forestry
in India
C E. Simmons (1913-1946) served most of the
time m Assam He was an outstanding Instruc-
tor at the Forest Colleges at Dehra Dun and as-
123
sisted Trevor in the initial organisation of train-
ing for the Indian Forest Service officers in India
(1926) He returned to the Forest Research Insti-
tute in 1944, when he became its President after
retirement During the short spell before his
final retirement in 1946, he was responsible for
the large-scale re-organisation of that Institute
to equip it to play its *due xole in the rapidly de-
veloping economy of India
M' D Chaturvedi (1922-54) was India's first
Indian Inspector-General of Forests He distin-
guished himself by his contributions to Working
Plans and Silvicultural studies in Uttar Pradesh,
culminating m his compilation on 'Land Manage-
ment' "which laid down a programme for rural
forest development in that State Whatever place
'Forestry' has been accorded in the country's
current Five- Year Development Plans is due to
Chatuivedi's foresight and drive Credit must go
to him too for the slogan of 'Vana Mahotsava'
and also for propaganda foi wild life A new Na-
tional Forest Policy for India was also evolved
under his guidance, in replacement of the Policy
o 1894 which served the country well foi many
decades but needed re-orientation m the altered
political and economic conditions following Inde-
pendence He was the Secietaiy-General for the
Fouith World Foiestiy Congress at Dehra Dun,
1954
Chaturvedi continues to serve the cause of
fores + ry m other lands, even after retirement
from India, working as a Forestry Expert under
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations
C R Ranganathan (1923-1956) made outstan-
ding contributions to Working Plans work and
to Rangeis training He was the first Indian
President of the Foiest Research Institute and
Colleges, Dchra Dun He was almost the best
ambassador ever foi Indian Forestry He attend-
ed three World Forest Congresses and presided
over its Dehra Dun meetings (1954) He visited
the USSR as the forestry member of a study
team besides attending various meetings of the
Food and Agriculture Organisation and its Asia-
Pacific Forestry Commission
A number of officers of the Indian Forest Ser-
vice brought their administrative abilities to
bear on Improved foiest management in areas
outside the lunsdiclion of the Service To quote
Troup (Colonial Forest Administration, 1940),
"In forest matter s the (British) Colonies may
well be regarded as the disciples of India. On va-
rious occasions officers of the Indian Forest Ser-
vice have visited Colonial Dependencies and
given advice on forest administration Some
have joined Colonial Forest Departments m se-
nior positions and have placed their experience
at the disposal of the countries concerned, and
former officers of the Indian Service have been
responsible for the training of a large proportion
of the officers now serving m the Coiomal Forest
Service" It may be added that the large scale ex-
odus from the Indian Forest Service in 1947 en-
abled not only the Colonial Forest Department
but the British Forestry Commission itself to
secure the services of such experienced men
Apart from helping in scientific forest de-
velopment outside the Indian Empire, many
officers of the Forest Service distinguished them-
selves in organising sound administration and
establishing good forest traditions in the Prince-
ly States of India, to which they were depated
or by which they were employed For instance
the State of Jammu and Kashmir was able to de-
velop its valuable forest estate almost on as effi-
cient lines as the British Indian Provinces, main-
ly because of the succession of Indian Foiest
Service officers (on loan) who were at the head
of the State Forest Service from 1891 onwards
While G C Macdonnel (1891-1904) initiated the
C R, Ranganathan
124
Forest Department, H L Wright (19231933) in-
troduced a Forest Code for the State It was Sir
Peter Clutterbuck (as stated elsewhere) who orga-
nised Kabhmir'b forests and forest administration
on modern lines, taking up service with the State
after retirement from the Indian Seivice H F
Mooney distinguished himself as Forest Adviser
in the Eastern States Agency S A Wahid help-
ed Hyderabad State (as its Inspcctoi -General
on loan from the Central Provinces in 1942-47) to
lectify its defective foiest rules and regulations,
give its foiest management a new, scientific
orientation and bring its forest administration
on par with that in the rest of India
Numerous Officers of the I F S distinguished
themselves in the fields of silviculture, foiest
botany, forest cn 4 omology, torest economics,
and forest education Brief paiticulais of some
of them may be found in the appiopnate sec-
tions.
Thus the achievements of the Indian Foiest
Service in the first centurv of scientific forestiy
in India, collectively and individually, have been
of a very high order, in spite of the very arduous
nature of the woik involved and the comparative-
ly small recognition that came then way How
arduous and exacting it was can be best gauged
from the unvarnished fact that of the 580 men
who joined this Service, 78 died in service (five
killed in action in World War I) and 92 resigned
or retired orematurely, most of them compelled
to do so by ill-health contracted in the course of
service in remote and unhealthv tracts In other
words, more than one in every four men who join-
ed the Indian Foiest Service sacrificed their lives
on their careers to the cause of Indian Forestry,
in order that it may grow from strength to
strength Glory be to these martyrs It is to be
hoped that 1he significance of this will be fully
realised by the successors to the Indian Forest Ser-
vice in office so that they may guard the better
India's valuable forest estate And, let the Gov-
ernment of India from time to time also appre-
ciate this, so that they may at least pause before
dealing with this rich heritage except m the best
and permanent interest of the country
The Provincial and State Forest Services
From the very early days of Conolly and Chat-
hu Menon and their memorable efforts at teak
planting in Nilambur, the assistance of locally
recruited sub-officers working under the Euio-
nean Divisional Forest Officers was a feature of
forest management and administration in India
As a icgular service, the Provincial forest Ser-
vice was first inaugurated in 18,91 Even earlier
the increase of field work had necessitated the
employment of a larger number of officers than
those boine on the regular Indian Forest Service*
cadre Young men, mostly Eurasians or Anglo-
Indians, trained in the Rangers' School were rec-
ruited as Sub-Assistant Conservators of Forests '
Previous to 1891, the salaries of Sub- Assistant
Conservators of Forests ranged between Rs 175/-
and Rs 250/- only and their strength for the
whole of India was 47 In 1881-82 it was proposed
to fill the posts of Sub-Assistant Conservators of
Forests as tar as possible only with local recruits
but this proposal was not seriously implemented
oven till the turn ot the centuiy, as according to
Ribbentrop (1899) "it was a source of patronage
by the local Government and sowed seeds of dis-
cord as those Europeans or Anglo-Indians were
by no means super 101 to the Indian Rangers with
whom they passed out from the Rangeis School".
Therefoie, the lecruitment of Sub- Assistant
Conservators of Forests was stopped and in 189^1-
92 a Provincial Forest Service on a common basis
for the whole of India was sanctioned in the
scale ot Rs 200 350, and "was kept as a prize for
the able and the meritorious from among the
Rangers who could be promoted to this class"
These officers were known as "Extra Assistant
Conservators of Forests" Only the following
were eligible for promotion as Extra Assistant
Conservators of Forests (a) Forest Rangers
f Higher Standard with honours) with not less than
two years satisfactory service as Forest Ranger,
(b) Forest Rangers (Higher Standard without
honouis) with not less than five years' satisfac-
tory service as Ranger, (c) Forest Rangers who
were in service before 1881, possessing good ge-
neral education and sufficient knowledge of En-
glish having not less than five years service as
Forest Ranger Extra Assistant Conservators of
Forests with more than five years satisfactory
service were promoted to the rank of Extra De-
puty Conservators of Forests
The reorganisation of 1891 gave the following
pay scales for various ranks - -
Provincial Service Officers
Extra Deputy Conservators
1st Grade Rs 600/-
2nd Grade Rs 550/-
125
%d Grade Rb 500/-
4th Grade Rs 450/-
i]xlra Assistant* Conseivatoib of Forests
Ibt Grade Rb 350/-
2nd Grade Rs 300/-
3rd Giade Rs 250/-
4th Giado Rs 200/- f
These scales have been revised subsequently re-
sulting in the abolition of grades and their sub-
stitution by a time scale and further in consider-
able inci eases m the scales themselves The Extra
Deputy Conservators of Forests weie treated as
belonging to a superior cadie and were equated
against 20 per cent of pests in the Imperial Fores*
Service
With the object of raising the stardard of the
Provincial Forest set vices a system of direct rec-
rurki^nt wa introduced in 1905 The candidates
.chosen were either Rangers already m service or
"young men ol good educaticn and socral s and-
mg" Ranger b were required to undergo the third
year of the three-year Provincial Forest Service
Course (as an extension to +he two-vcar Ranger
Course already completed by their), whrle the
direct recruits took the full three years of 4 he
new course at Dehra Dun On the completion ot
thrs course of \rainmg and after three years' ap-
proved service as Ranger or as probationary Ex-
tra Assistant Conservator of Forests, the candi-
dates became eligible for permanent appoint-
ment in the Provincial Forest Service In 1912, a
separate two-year course was introduced foi
drrect recrurts in the time scale of pay of
Rs 250/- to 850/- As a matter of fact, this resul-
ted in considerable hardship and heart-burning
in the "Ranger stafl who formed + he backbone of
the staff of the District Forest Officer and the
restriction to promote Rangers was withdrawn
later"
In 1920, as a result of the orders passed on the
recommendations ot the Islington Commission,
all Extra Deputy Conservators of Forests were
declared fully equipped to hold major drvrsronal
charges and were transferred to the Indran
Forest Servrce cadre Except for five officers who
Were left to retrre as Extra Deputy Conservators
of Forests all others had been so absorbed into
the Indian Forest Service by 1923, when the class
of Extra Assistant Conservators of Forests was
finally abo'uftied The Provincial Forest Service
then consisted of Ex*ra Deputy Conservators -
only but they were eligible for promotion to the
Indian Forest Servrce to the extent of 12^ per
cent of its cadre strength m the Province Such
promotions were to be made by the local Govern-
ment strrctly on the grounds of merit The Extra
Assrstant Conservators of Forests represented
for the removal of the word "EXTRA", but Gov-
ernment decrded to retarn the distinction bet-
ween young officers of the Indran Forest Service
and of the Provmcral Forest Service
From 1st April 1921, recruitment to and em-
ployment in the Provincial Forest Seivrce rested
entrrely wrth the local Governments, subject to
the proviso that the maximum pay allowed by
them should not exceed Rs 1,200 /- pm Wrth the
rnauguratron of Indian Forest Service training in
India m 1926, direct recruitment and training for
the Provincial Forest Servrce was stopped There
was no significant addition to the officer ranks
of the Forest Departments of India between 1930
and 1940
Consequent on the mtroductron of Provincial
autonomy m 1935, "Forest" became a provrncial
subject and even the staffing of their forest de-
partments was left entrrely to the Provrncial
Governments Onlv the training of the staff
(prror to then joining service) contrnued at cen-
tral institutions An Indian Forest College was
opened rn 1938 to trarn the hist batch of the new
Superior Service Officers Subsequent to 1947
the State Forest Services have come into exis-
tence The present members of the State Forest
Servrce receive their training m the Indian Forest
College, the first ba f ch having passed out in 1940
A proportion of the posts is, however, filled by
the promotron of surtable Forest Rangers
It is of rnterest to note that less than a century
ago, drrect recruitment of officers for the Forest De-
partment of India was 7 to 10 annually, it was
stepped up to an average of 40 or so just for a
few years in the early twenties, this serious im-
balance in recruitment resulted m the Govern-
ment of the day findrng rt necessary to stop all
recrurtment for almost the whole decade rn the
thrrties But the natural expansion of forest actr-
vrty everywhere rn the country along wrth the
vast development programmes undertaken since
1951 have led to the enlargement of the State
Forest Servrces on a considerable scale At pre-
sent the average annual rntake for all States to-
gether is about 60 officers directly recruited as
Assistant Conservators This rate, it is expected,
will be sustained, if not further augmented It
will also be of interest that because of the big
gao in recruitment all over the country from
1930 to 1940 and beyond, the officers of thrs later
recrurtment benefited bv unusually ramd ad-
vancement in career, Most of them had to be
126
placed in charge of Forest Divisions dnectly af-
tei their training in the Indian Forest College,
without much preliminary experience in the
forests In turn, some of them became Conserva-
tors with less than ten years' service and even
Chief Conseivators when scarcely in their for-
ties In fact, in 1961, officers of the State Forest
Services (products of the Indian Forest College)
are in charge of the forest departments in 12 out
of the 15 States and the 3 major centrally admin-
istered areas of Himachal Pradesh, Andamans
and the North-East Frontier Agency The first of
them to be appointed Chief Conservator of
Forests is G S Dhillon, who took charge of the
Punjab Forest Department in 1957
Subordinate Services : Forest Rangers and other
Forest Personnel
The subordinate staff was the slowest to de-
velop in an organic manner and even up to 1900
it was quite backward In the beginning the ap-
pointment of all Range staff rested entirely m
the hands of the District Forest Officer and the
Conservator There was also no province- or re-
gion-wiss organisation or gradation list, men
being appointed as and when any need was felt,
with no particular prospect m service The first
step towards improvement was taken with the
establishment of the Forest School m 1878, but
even then prospects were very ill-defined The
idea of Brandis that "District Forest Officers
should tram their subordinates", persrsted for an
unduly long period and the predecessors of su-
bordrnate services, viz , Daroghas, Sarbalakaras,
Chaprasies, continued to serve as best they could
Brandis was himself responsible however, for
estabhshrng the first cadres of Forest Rangers
and Foresters and replacing Chavrasies and peons
by Frre Watchers and Forest Patrols The term
Deputy Ranger appeared for the first time in
1891 Also 'Forest Guard' replaced 'Fire Watchers'
and 'Patrols' The forest school for training Forest
Rangers was opened on 1st June 1879 at
Dehra Dun and the first class passed out in 1881
Two separate sets of courses were given in the
school, one in English for Rangers and the other
m Vernacular for Foresters On 3rd June 1884
the school was taken over by the Government of
India By 1900 some 360 Forest Rangers and 112
Foresters had passed out from this school In
1901, Brand's wrote "that men enterrng Dehra
Dun Forest School belong to a lower social stra-
tum than is desirable and this will continue until
Forest Rangers are given reasonable prospects
of promotion".
A general scheme for reorgnrsation of Execu-
tive and Subordinate staff was frarned m 1887
but was dropped pending reorganisation of tlie
Controlling Staff which finally took place in 1891
The reorganisation scheme of Executive and Sub-
ordinate servrces was finally sanctioned and
adopted in 1896 and the pay scales were fixed as
under i
Executive Staff
Rangers
1st Grade Rs 150
2nd Grade Rs 125
3rd Grade Rs 100
Deputy Rangers
1st Grade Rs 80
2nd Grade Rs 60
3rd Grade Rs 50
Subordinate Staff
Foresters m the graded scale of Rs 15, 20, 25,
30, 40
Forest Guards Rs 6 ^o Rs 12
It was not long before the executive and subor-
dinate services were constituted entirely on a
Provincial (and more recently a State) basis The
basic designations of Forest Rangers Deputy
Rangers, Foresters and Forest Guards prevail all
over the country, besides Forest Watchers and
Fire Watchers in some States
The pay scales of subordinate staff have been
revised several times and have been revised from
grades to time-scales of pay also Naturally,
ach Province or State has adopted scales com-
parable to pay scales of similar staff rn other
departments of the State Government and con-
sistent with the general economic conditions
prevailing in the State As an example, the pav
scales introduced in 1947 m Uttar Pradesh
were as follows
Forest Rangers Rs 120820010300
Deputy Rangers Rs 755120
Foresters Rs 603904110
Forest Guards Rs 25140
Really good Rangers could expect promotion
to officer grades Forest Rangers are usually rec-
rurted, about 50 per cent by direct recruitment
and training in the Forest Colleges ^ Dehra Dun
or Coimbatore and the rest by promotron of De-
puty Rangers and Foresters and occasionally mi-
nisterial staff in the forest offices Wherever the
posts of Deputy Rangers existed, they were filled
127
*imcJtet entirely by promotion of Foresteis Foies-
ters were generally recruited direct 01 by promo-
'*^ of Fo* >st Guards
Duties Prescribed from Time to Time
From the veiy beginning Foiebt Rangers weie
intended to lemam in c) \arge of a Range and be
icsponsible for all foiest operations within the
Range They have lightly been icf erred to repe-
atedly in the histoiy of Indian Foiestiy as "the
backbone of India's Forest Sei vices" Sometimes
Rangeis weie also lequned to peifoim special
^duties, si^ch as in the woiking plans, silvicultuial
"research 'and other fields The Foiest Ranger
was originally drawn from social and educa-
tional levels that scarcely permitted of his rising
above that giade In the present century there
has been steady impiovement in this icspect
thou s b even as iccently as in the twenties,
only very exceptionally weie Rangeis available
who could be consideied hi foi fuithei advance-
ment But since then conditions changed lapidly
and university giaduates were atti acted in lar-
ger numbers to this lank Consequently, in the
last two or three decades, it has became quite
common even to find Conseivatois in different
Stages who had risen fiom the giade of Ranger
and exceptionally, from even lowei ranks Be-
sides, the standard of scientific knowledge and
technical efficiency mci eased considciably as a
result of the widening of the cucle of tiained
personnel In fact, well befoie the close
of the first hundred yeais of Forestry in India,
in eveiy pait of the country arrangements were
in force for all foiest peisonnel to be professional-
ly trained eithei before admission m+o the depai t-
ment or at least shoitly aftei
'Foresters' and 'Forest Guards' aie categoiies of
personnel found in all States of India They came
into existence in the different Provinces and
States, in accordance with the necessity foi field
assistance to the Rangeis Particularly in the re-
gions where forest protection became a problem
Forest Guards were placed m charge of small
units of areas known as Beats, often assisted in
their patrolling work by temporary hands known
variously as Forest Watchers, Fire Watchers, Pat-
rols, etc
It would ^ but appropriate to recall here the
names of some at least of the men, who distin-
guished themselves and rose from the ranks of
Ranger or below to be Conservators of Forests or
to be admitted to the Indian Forest Service,
L/S5FRIPPnn 10
T N. Koppikar joined the Bombay Forest De-
partment in 1893 and served till 1925 He was pro-
moted to the Provincial Service in 1909 and to the
Indian Forest Service in 1922, apparently in recog-
nition of his excellent contribution to the classifi-
cation and organisation of the forests of Bombay
Presidency and their systematic management.
K R Vcnkataramana Iyer has left an indelible
mark on the working and administration of the
forests of the Madras Presidency, both in the
field and in the office Madras owes him a deep
debt of giatitude. particularly for the improve-
ments he so meticulously effected in the various
Codes and Rules
V N Kan)ilal was a distinguished pioneer in
the Forestry of Assam His compilation cf the
School Circle Flora is even to-day the first book
of reference to which every forest trainee is
introduced in India He also did most of the work
on a Flora of Assam He was promoted as Extra
Deputy Conservatoi of Forests before he retired
Keshava Nand secured the Ranger's Certificate
with Honours in 1885 He was a true pioneer
who "supplemented this training with much
careful study" He was responsible for the pre-
paration of working plans for many forest areas
for the first time, especially in the Oudh areas
About 1900 he went to the princely State of
Tchr i-Garhwal (which even to-day is a remote
tract) as rts Conservator of Forests He retired
in 1929 from the United Provinces Foiest Service
as an Extra Deputy Conservator of Forests and
died shortly after in the same year
G O Coombs lomcd the United Provinces
Foiest Depaitment in 1898, was promoted to the
Provincial Service in 1905 and to the Indian
Foiest Seivice in 1919 He retired m 1931.
M P Bhola was a Forest Ranger from 1902 to
1009, when he was promoted to the Provincial
Forest Servrce He was admitted to the Indian
Forest Servrce in 1920 and contrnued to serve
the State till 1936, officiating as Conservator for
a year or two He laid the foundations for the
'taungya' method of regeneration in the United
Provinces
P C Kanjilal, son of the illustrious father
who served m Assam, passed the Rangers' Course
with Honours m 1910 and was immediately after
admitted to the third year course of the Pro-
vincial Forest Service course He was promoted
to the Indian Forest Service in 1923 and remain-
ed m active service till 1940 Besides being in
charge of regular as well as Working Plans divi-
sions, he worked in a variety of other posts, as
128
Instructor in the Forest College (191722), as
Provincial Silvicultunst (1923) and Forest Bota-
nist, Dehra Dun (1924) and was also on deputa-
tion to Assam for two years to help publish his
father's monumental work on the flora of that
Province
A. Das joined the Assam Forest Department as
a Forester and rose to be admitted to the Indian
Forest Seivice He contributed much to the local
advancement of the sciences of Botany and Sil-
viculture besides the teaching of Forestry After
retiring fiom the Indian Forest Service, he went
to Mayurbhanj to organise the forests of that
State
Bahadur Singh distinguished himself in the Pun-
jab by his classic work on the irrigated plantations
of the Punjab, which have meant so much to the
development of the Punjab.
To C E Parkinson goe^ the credit of having
compiled a Floia of the Andamans He served also
as Forest Botanist in the Foiest Reseaich Insti-
tute, Dehra Dun
M C Bonmngton, ongmally of Bui ma, was
Chief Forest Officer Andamans, for over 20 years
from 1927 and did pioneer work in studying the
forests and bird life of these islands
B S Chengapa identified himself completely
with the Andamans forests, for which he compil-
ed the first comprehensive Working Plan His out-
standing contribution to forestiy was the develop-
ment of a proceduie to obtain natural regenera-
tion in the evergreen and deciduous foiests of
these islands He did pioneer woik in leading an
exploratory expedition to the Nicobai islands
During the War emergency (194245) he lose to
the occasion and assisted the Forest Reseaich
Enstitute in the Utilisation and Education blanches
Thus credit for much of the outstanding woik
in the development of the remote Andamans is-
lands foiest must go to officers othe - than ^^^
directly leciuited to the Indian Forest Service,
though men like Martin, Fostei and Banerji did
much to administer these forests well
Quite a few other officers also made then maik
in specialised fields of soidy, like J N Sen Gupta
of Bengal, Iswardas Mahendra, Permanand Sun
and Pnthvmath Deoqun, all ot the Puniab, and m
M S Raghavan of Madras in Silvicultuial Re-'
search, Rajendranath De of Assam m field silvi-
culture, Chandrasekhar Purkayastha of Assam m
Botany, R B Cornwell of Madias and Andam"~ ,
and T K Mirchandani of Bombay in F^iest Engi-
neering, T V Venkatesivara Iyer OL Madras in
Woikmg PlaTib, V A N Sauvman of Bombay in
Soil Conservation and Sasi Mohan Deb of Assam
in Forest Utilisation
Thus it is that devoted bands ol officers, British .
and Indian, and Rangers have toiled incessantly
for a hundred years now, to build up a truly valu-
able forest estate in India The progiess of foie9try
in these ten decades ha> been phenomenal from
mere protection, passive conservation and inciden-
tal lealisatron of forest pioducc on a conservative
sustained yield basis, Indian forestiy is progres-
sively moving forward to a dynamic policy of ex-
pansion, extensive planting and of forest produc
tion to meet the needs of the people The personnel
(Indian Foiest Service, Provincial Foiest Service
and others) that served India's forests so well in
the first century of scientific forestry can ask for
no better recognition than that their successors
(in the State Forest Services) should carry dn the
good work and endeavour always to excel on past
achievements
"On the roads wells have been dug and trees have been planted
for the enjoyment of both man and beast"
Ashoka Edicts
CHAPTER VII
SPECIAL FOREST DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1947
Status of Forests in 1947
Forests constitute an important feature of
.ndia's natural wealth, for forest produce is indis-
pensable in peace and in war, for defence, com-
munication and vital industries apart from serv-
ing the local needs Forests have to be managed
"hio'lv'in the interests of the region, if not the
Nation as a whole It tollows that their organi-
zation, protection and development must form a
piogressive function of the State Their manage-
ment on scientific and business lines is essential
f"> maintaining a sustained supply of wood and
cUiei products, horn year to year in perpetuity
At the same time, foiest products ate bulky and
difTicult to procuie and transport over long dis-
t>nces 01 Irom other countries, especially in
times of stress So, the National Forest Policy
aims at the maximu.. development of the forest
potential of the country, if not at attaining na-
tional self-sufficiency in respect of these vital
supplies All developmental activity is always
directed towards this end in view
Planning for development is nothing new to
foresters Drawing up of regular working plans
for the systematic management of forests was
among the earliest of activities in the leguhr
practice of forestiy, almost from a century ago
However, while every working plan prescribed
for 'Special Works of development' to be under-
taken, neither the prescriptions m this respect
weie obligatory nor were they on a significant
scale It was unfortunate also that all along, ex-
penditure on foiestry and forest admmistiation
was limited to but a part of the revenues derived
from the forests In fact, it was even the case
that the measure of good admmistiation of any
forest tiact was the net surplus over expenditure
obtained in the year The result was that poorer
forest areas suftered further and further owing
to want of special efforts at rehabilitation and
development The need foi such special efforts
began to be felt particularly after the destruc-
tive effect? of the Second World War and its in-
satiable demands for timber During the war,
the forests of India served the Government and
the people well but not without serious inroads
into and even denudation of the permanent grow-
ing stock This led to Howard's far-sighted
post-war foiest policy for India formulated in
1944 even before the war had actually come to
a close Thus, while India's foiests had been
conservatively managed dui ing ihe many decades
since 1861 (except during the periods of the two
World Wars), they were in need of special deve-
lopment on a very large scale, even as the rest of
India's economy was This tact came forcibly to
notice on the attainment of Independence m
1947 and the need for meeting national require-
ments in full from national resources was m-
cieasmgly realised The post-war lehabihtation
schemes were as a result, merged into an active
development programme to be included in the
National Five-Year Development Plans
Period Prior to India's First Five- Year Plan
The urge for country-wide development fol-
lowing en the dawn of Independence led to plans
and schemes calling lor the adoption of bolder
measures and closei co-ordination than \\ as found
necessary in the previous legime The lole of
forestry in the economic development ot the
country and the protective f unctions of the
foiests came to be more vividly realised than
before Measures were also adopted for the
State to administer the lorest areas of the foimer
princely States on their integration with the
Indian Union, besides steps to take over large
private forests in ex-zammdari and othei areas
All this necessitated schemes for further toiest
reservation, at this rather late stage in India's
forest history The degiaded or denuded nature of
most of these forest areas further demanded that
they should receive special attention urgently
Other productive schemes such as extension of
valuable plantations for timber and fuel were
also taken up A soil conservation unit was also
set up to deal with the protection and manage-
ment of important catchment areas and with the
problem of soil erosion in general The Work-
ing Plan organizations, which were considerably
reduced during the depression periods in the
thirties and were even held in abeyance during
the war period, were restored and enlarged as
necessary In Uttar Pradesh, a Land Manage-
ment Circle was cieated in 1945 for the creation
of village fuel and foddei reserves, the propel
management of road-side avenues and trees and
129
ISO
other amenity or ameliorative forestry work pri-
marily in the non-forest districts of the State
During the post-war development peiiod, atten-
tion was also paid to the enlargement of training
facilities for Forest Oflicers and Rangers and to
the provision of amenities for the staff and
labour employed on forestry operations
It was during this period that the reconstitu-
tion of the Board of Forestry was aLo taken up
The need for setting up a central forest organi-
zation to suit the altered conditions was voiced
at a Conference of Forest Ministers of States held
in 1948 As a result, the Central Board of Fores-
try was reconstituted to include Ministeis, in the
belief that its deliberations would mspne public
confidence and meet with public response and
country-wide support
During this transitional post-war period (from
194751), despite legislative measures, there was
considerable destruction of tree growth, and it
was considered necessary to enthuse the people
in the cause of planting trees A tiec planting
festival calling for annual observance of a "Van
Mahotsava" week was initiated from July 1950
through the efforts of the then Union Minister
for Food and Agriculture, Sri K M Munshi,
and the Inspoctor-Geneial of Forests, Chaturvedi
Since then Van Mahotsava has developed into
an annual feature during which people are en-
trusted not only to plant trees but to care foi
them, not to treat Van Mahotsava merely as an
annual festival but promote it all the year round
according to the local seasons More than all
the benefits that must accrue from this nation-
wide planting of trees in private and public
lands, the Van Mahotsava movement has done
much towards creating a tree if not forest cons-
ciousness among the people
First Five- Year Plan Period
New Forest Policy
A most significant first step forward in this
developmental activity was the enunciation of a
new National Forest Policy of India m 1952,
revising the old policy of 1894 The Forest
Policy prescribed (as a most desirable objective)
one-third of the total land area for maintenance
under forests It also called for a detailed sur-
vey to lead to proper land use, emphasised the
soil conservation aspects of forestry, urged the
need for weaning forest tribes away from their
age-long practice of shifting cultivation m forest
areas and pointed out the need for wide publicity
on the value of forests both in the economic and
the physical spheres.
Land Management
The area under foiests in India m ^49-50 was
14 7 million acres, 18 per cent of the ^ ' l^ad
area Therefore, the need for an immediate re-
connaissance survey of waste lands in order to
evolve a system of balanced and complementary
land use was suggested m 1953 A soil conserva-
tion Board was also set up m 1952
Forest Schemes in the First Plan
Thus, the post-war reconstruction activity
which began in specified areas and with limita-
tions of funds was progressively transformed into
a full-fleged five-year development plan the
First Five-Year (195156) Plan
The first plan peiiod, rather curiously, was pri-
marily one of forest consolidation, js a result of
which the bulk of the forests in India became
State-owned During this period, large areas Qt
forests came to vest m the State Governments j
as mentioned earlier In addition, the Plan in-
cluded schemes for afforestation and plantation
improvement of forest communications, prepara-
tion of working plans, p>marcation of newly
acquired areas fas an initial work for their re-
habilitation), improving the growing stock and
strengthening of forest administration In short,
all the States adopted the revised Forest Policy
and endeavouied to implement its various direc-
tions in their planned efforts at forest develop-
ment This included works on afforestation, re-
habilitation-planting and commercial plantations,
carried out over an area of about 30 350 ha (75,000
acres) Special mention may be made of some
of the schemes, by way of examples of trends in
forest development in the country In Saurash-
tra (subsequently part of Gujarat State) a scheme
for improving the Gir Forest was taken up in
1954-55 In Bihar, two divisions were set up for
afforestation work, one in Hazanbagh and the
other in North Bihar, the former afforested an
area of about 2,225 ha (5,500 acres) and the latter
carried out a detailed survey of lands suitable for
afforestation, besides undertaking some p:lot-scale
afforestation m this tract Assam exceeded its
afforestation targe* of 1,799 ha (4,445 acres) In
West Bengal about 1,200 ha (3,000 acres) of waste
lands (mostly latentic) were planted up In
PEPSU (later, part of the Punjab) an area of
about 800 ha (2,000 acres) was planted with the
help of irrigation
The development of forest communications was
on the programme in almost all the Stafes Over
4.800 km (3,000 miles) of forest roads were con-
structed or improved during the plan period,
131
T*/s in turn led to great increase in the use of
motor lorry tiansport, progressively replacing the
"irw bull C.K cart for the extraction of timber
ana xuie'st pioduce Further, several forest
areas, hitheito considered inaccessible areas,
were tendered 'accessible #nd were opened up foi
timber exploitation and regular forest opera-
f ions , \
Improved Forest Management
Owing to the abolition of the Zammdaris and
ihe merger of the princely States, more than 8
million ha (20 million acres) of forest land under
oriv*tc ownership were brought undei State
control^ and in order to deal with them, the ad-
mimstratrve set up was strengthened. Madras,
Bihar, West Bengal and Uttai Pradesh brought
into existence a number of new Forest Divisions
for taking ovei private forests and also for imple-
menting new plans of afforestation in predomi-
nantly agricultural districts In some States,
schemes suited to local needs were drawn up and
co-operative societies associated with forest
management and working At the end of the
Plan, there were, fo* ^stance, 73 forest co-opera-
tive societies in the Punjab responsible for a
forest area of 24,072 ha (59,484 acres) of vhich
16,089 ha (39,756 acres) were stated to have been
brought under scientific management In Bom-
bay State, encouiagement to Co-operative Socie-
ties oi forest workers (to replace contractors)
became a regular teature rn the working of fuel
and small forests
Industrial Plantations
A rew feature of this period was the special
emphasis on plantations of industrial import-
mce, with a view to providing for increasing
future demands from industries, such as the
match, plywood, packaging, textile, sports goods,
Banning and pharmaceutical industries Many
of such plantations were established in areas
whrch till then contained little tree growth or m
which the forests had been over-exploited in the
past under private ownership and were m need of
rehabilitation In places, these plantations also
helped to check erosion and the spread of arid
and desert conditions For example in Uttar
Pradesh, 6,576 ha (16,250 acres) were so planted,
Madras covered an area of about 3,200 ha (8,000
acres) with ...atchwood species, wattle, blue gum
and Casuanna, Mysore brought an area of 350
ha (2,100 acres) under Casuarma and Eucalyptus
and over 16 ha (40 acres) under cinchona, Assam
carried out its programme of planting 400 ha
(1,000 acres) under cinchona and 240 ha (600
acres) under wattle
First Timber Trends Survey
A Timber Trends Survey for the country was
initiated towards the close ot the Plan period
in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture
Organisation and the Economic Commission for
Asia and the Far East of the United Nations The
object was to collect data regarding present de-
mands for timber and other important forest
pioduce, their production, utilization, consump-
tion and end-uses and to indicate future trends
This survey was subsequently completed in the
year 1957 It has been largely helpful in assessing
the existing and anticipated gaps between de-
mand and supply of forest produce in the coun-
try and thus in long-term planning being at-
tempted on a rational basis
Colonisation
A programme for clearing forests and settling
colonists m Andaman and Nicobar Islands was
included in the five-year plan of that territory.
Clearing was by contractors' agency in the Noith
Island and by the Foiest Department in the
Middle and South Islands By the end of 1955,
2 000 ha (5,000 acres) ,verc cleared and about
1,000 families weie' settled, involving a total ex-
pendituie of Rs 68 lakhs This programme
envisaged rehabilitation of refugees from East
Pakistan and at the same time aimed at providing
much-needed labour resources for developing
these forest tracts
Wild Life Conservation
The Indian Board for Wild Life was constituted
in 1952 and has since done useful work to advance
the cause of preservation of Wild Life in the
country Work on the Delhi Zoological Park was
begun This pioject aimed at establishing
modern zoological garden in the capital Initial
difficulties regarding sites, staff and technical
advice were overcome by the end of the Plan
period
Forestry Education
Facilities for higher education m forestry were
further enlarged during the first Plan Annual
admissions to the officers' course in the Indian
Forest College, Dehra Dun, were increased from
30 to 40 Similar expansion was also organised
in respect of the training of Rangers Addition-
al accommodation was constructed to meet the
needs of further expansion Training at the
sub-professional levels (Foi esters and Forest
132
Guaids) was left mostly to the States, West
Bengal, Orissa, Uttai Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh.
Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and
Bombay established new schools of their own or
enlarged existing ones, for tiammg Foresteis to
meet their mci eased needs, but the Government
of India established a Foresters' Training course
of twelve months' duration at Coimbatore to seive
the Southern States
Forest Research
At Dehra Dun (which was still the only centre
in India for foiest research) 34 special schemes
were drawn up by the Forest Research Institute,
but owing to delays in procuimg suitable staff
and equipment, many of them could be initiated
only towards the end of the plan period Equip-
ment worth about Rs 44 lakhs was secured undei
the Indo-U S Technical Co-operation Piogramme,
paiticularly to bring into opeiation the pilot
papei plant acquired earlier in 1949 Following
on a survey of the cane resources ol the country,
experiments were undertaken for the improve-
ments of indigenous canes and for the introduc-
tion of exotic varieties of cane into India Seeds
of good varieties, as also planting stock, weie ob-
tained for the purpose from the Philippines,
'Thailand, Indonesia and Malaya and subjected to
necessaiy trials
Studies in the protection of timber against
marine oigamsms were undertaken for the first
time and six field stations were established m
important coastal centres Schemes we^e also
undertaken for the preservative treatment of
gieen bamboos in order that bamboo may leally
be developed into 'the poor man's timber' The
first volume of a revised, enlarged and up-to-date
nrne-volume edition of Gamble's "Manual of
Indian Timbers" was completed (illustrated with
micro-photographs prepared specially for the
purpose) and was in the press
Soil Conservation
It would be interesting to record that for the
initiation and early development of soil conser-
vation measures in India, full credit must go to
the Forest Departments Mention may be made
of the pioneer efforts from the thirties in the
Iloshiarpur Shiwaliks in the Punjab and the
large-scale work of bunding, etc in forest and
in agricultural lands in Briapur and other dis-
tricts of Bombay State from the forties But it
was only during the First Five- Year Plan that soil
conservation began to receive all over India for
the first time the priority attention due to it The
aim of soil conservation would be, stated in ger_
ral terms to protect the top layers of the so'l
which were otherwise apt to be consia tly shrft-
ed tiom one area to another by wind anu vvcuer
A preliminary reconnarssance survey showed
that about 25 per cent, ot the country's land sur-
face was urgently in need of soil conservation
measures It was estimated that some 80 million
ha (200 million acres) ol land were exposed to
hazards of wind or water erosion, and of lands
actually under cultivation about 40 million ha
(100 million acres) were vulnerable to erosion,
as considerable parts ot such lands would lie
fallow for several months periodically The
Western desert in Rajasthan alone account for
about 20 million ha (50 million acre^), ot this
about two mrlhon ha (five million acres) required
to be afforested and the rest were in need of
such conservation programme as closure to giaz-
ing and rotational grazing tor the betterment uf
the seasonal pasture lands Another 20 million
ha (50 million acres) in the drier districts con-
sisting oi open pastures waste lands and exten-
sive ravines required levelling, terracrng, gully,
plugging, turfing and planting of trees The
development of jxwer an^ -ngation projects .in
rivor valleys led to the lecogmtion oi the need
foi special attention to soil conservation in the
catchment areas in the hills
To cariy out the soil conservation progiamme
under the Five-Year Plan, a Central Soil Conser-
vation Board was set up (by the Ministry of Food
and Agriculture, India) towards the end of 1953
The Board assisted State Governments and River
Valley Authorities rn drawing up plans, arranged
for training of technical personnel for this new
held of service, acted as a clearing house lor in-
formation and recommerded financial assistance
foi States' schemes The Boaid also undertook
research, demonstration and extension work in
soil conservation Besides expenditiue on such
Centially administered items, the Board arranged
tor the sanction of a total expenditure of Rs 47
lakhs for the soil conservation programmes of
the State State Sorl Conservation Boards
were establrshed m all States
A Desert Afforestatron Research Station was
established at Jodhpur for investigating methods
of desert control by creating vegetal cover and
shelter belts The station established, nine nur-
series m the western parts of Rajaocnan, where
various trees and grasses were raised for experi-
mental afforestation, planting of avenue trees
and distribution to various agencies During the
three years 195255, about 32,000 kg (71,000 Ibs)
133
of eeds of different species weie distributed,
trees weie planted alongside 240 km (150 miles)
ot i Odds ar ' ,b sq km (30 sq miles) of desert
are -..forested Also 26,000 sq km (10,000
sq miles) were earmarked for pasture improve-
ment and experimental fodder plantations
Re'gional research stations were also proposed
tor location at Dehra Dun, Kotah, Bellaiy, Oota-
camand and Vasad (Anand)
By the end ot the Fust Plan some 120,000 ha
(300,000 acres) of land was treated foi soil con-
seiyation This includes 60,000 ha (150,000
acies) of jContoui bunding on agricultural land
and afforestation of 4,555 ha (11,256 acies) of
u,*" ir> >H.' land A progiamme of soil conserva-
tion in the catchment areas of river valley pro-
jects was also recommended in the First plan
The Soil Conservation Board rendered financial
assistance to States foi the execution of the pro-
giamme
During the Plan period, 20 gazetted and 119
other officers weie trained at the regional research
stations established by the Central Soil Consei-
valion Board Subordinate personnel were
trained in centres established in tjie States
Airangements were completed foi stepping up
training facilities during the Second Plan period
Training facilities were also organised by the
Damodar Valley Corporation at Hazaubagh The
States ol Uttai Pradesh, Bombay and Saurashtra
cstablised their own training centres In several
States pilot-scale demonstration pro]ects were
also taken up
The total expenditure on special development
scheme during the First Plan period under
'Forest' and Soil Conservation' was of the cider
of Rs 120 millions How this amount was allo-
cated as between the different States and utilis-
ed by them will be apparent from the statement
below
TABLE No 1
Fiibt Plan Development Erpendituie in vanous
States and in Centrally Administered Areas
(In laMis of Rupees)
Fust Plnn
State* including
adjust
ments
TABLE No 1 contd
1 Aiulhra
PAW 'A'
,
J Bihar
125
4 Boiuba>
83 8
5 MadlryaPiadesh
3fl^7
6 Madras
74 3
7 Orihtw,
17 2
Punjab
60 4
Uttai Pridesh
141 8
t(> Wist Ucngal
63 7
Totil Part 'V'St lies
667 8
I'Alir'F.' blATl-S
11 Kvlufllu.1
21 4
12 Madlna Bhaiat
48
1 ] Mysore
8 4
14 PEPSI;
43 4
1") Rijasthan
21
16 Suuanhti i
19 5
17 I'lavaiuorc & Cochin
IS Jainmii & Kashmir
16 8
Total Part 'IV State*
178 5
Puir'C' STATES
l \j.ntr
10 6
20 Bhojml
20
21. CO-IK
1 00
22 Delhi
2 7
23 1 1,1 nun ha 1 Pradesh
17 8
24 Kulfh
1 4
25 Manipur
2-0
26 Tupura
10 5
27 VindhAaPia.kNh
22 5
Total Part '(" State;
134
TABLE No 1 concld
i
UNION TujutiioKii s
28 Andaman & Nicobai Isl.uids hi) S
29 Ponduhorry
30 *N E F A 2(> 2
Add Government of Inili i Restart h & Other Piogtam UH)
Total
21b
Grand Total
NOTK 1. 10 Lakhs Out Million
2 tn addition, Ks UOlaktot
nervation mhtniOH
sjx. nt on
The Second Five- Year Plan
The First Five-Year Plan ended in Maich 1956
and the Second Five- Year Plan followed imme-
diately The total provision for forest develop-
ment in the Second Plan was about Rs 270 mil-
lions, with which it was planned to achieve a
more compiehensive programme of development
In addition to continuing, wherever necessary,
work on the scheme initiated duung the Fust
Five- Year Plan, the progiamme of the Second
Plan included the tollowing
(i) afforestation and improvement of pooiei
areas in the forests and extension
forestry,
(n) plantations of species of commercial and
industrial value,
(in) measures for increased production and
extraction of timber and other foiest
produce in the immediate future,
(iv) conservation of wild life
(v) amelioration of the conditions of stall
and labour in the forests,
(vi) increased tempo of forest research,
(vn) increased provision for training of tech-
nical personnel, and
(vm) central co-ordination and guidance in
the implementation of forest develop-
ment schemes all over the country
Detailed programmes were drawn up by diffe-
rent States on a fairly uniform and systematic
basis consistent with local requirements The
Central Government paid special attention to
research, education, demonstration and co-ordiua-
hon and the States carried out th forest deve-
lopment project in the field The State--""":
allocation of planned expenditure is anown in
the statement below
TABLE No 2
Second Plan Development Expenditu.c m the
vanau States oj India and w the Centrally
Administered Areas
Stion. Fivi Y<
Plan
btntws
( ^
^
FOK Ms So
il
Conso
'i \ a
tio
n
1
\
PAKT 'A' STATI a
1 Amlhra
()M 47 7^
M,
2 Warn
( >J '! 8
07
'}. Biluu
Ji(, 10 >7
00
4 Uomba\
J18 81 .531
0'}
," Mmlh> a Pradesh
Itt4 T>7 02
2
(. Madias
U( 20 118
70
7 OIIMU
47 71 48
70
8 Punjab
113 42
it Utt.u P.adish
JJ'J 40 LSJ
l<)
10 WtM Bulbil
W s-, 7-,
0,
Total Pait ' V States
1,634 07 050
55
Part 'IT StUts
11. Hyderabad
58 <(0 103
55
12 MadluaBluirat
5> 40 75
(id
13 Mynoie
46 03 80
75
14 PEPRU
,J8 OO ,J5
SO
15 Rajasthan
120 00 51
00
16 SauraBhtra
08 44 130
23
17. Tiavan< ore-Cot hni ..
S'J 3.5 30
88
18 Jammu & Knshnni
58 )0 36
10
Total Part 'TV States
539 02 546 01
135
TABLE No 2- -con eld
Part 'C' States
|) Ai-er
5 00
.i 00
20 Bhopal .
37 18
10 05
21 Coorg
6 84
4 73
22 Delhi
23 Uinuuhal Pradesh
11 40
34 07
1') 95
-t Uu. '
7 40
'2 r > Alampur
3 22
40
20 Tnpur.i .
11 20
90
27 Vmdhyal'iadiHh
V) 85
14 25
Total Part '(" States
170 70 ->3 90
TT ON TJ-JUUIOJUJ _
28 And,! mins and Ni oliar Islands SO 00 000
2') NEFA 11 80
30 Ponduhciry 42
Total Union Ti intones
121 80 1 02
Add Govern infill of India Research 240 00 400 OO
Demonstration & Training SchcmtP
(}i and Total
NOTE
1. 10iaklis=0nu million.
2 Actuals of expenditure not yet finally a\ailable for the Reeond
Plan period (ended 3131961) After the period I egari, in
November 1961, theie was a icoigamsution of States rt dm nig
the total number of 14 autonomous Stites and six Cent rally
adtnimsteied territories Towards the end cf th< peuod, in
1900, one of the States, Bombay, was again split into two,
thus mnkinff the total number of State's 15
Tho out-lay of Rs. 1,958,38 lakhs proponed under soil c onsen a-
tion included programmes for tackling eiosion problems of
all kinds m agricultural lands, deserts, coastal *aml dunes,
hill regions, wasto lands ani lands eroded by ea.
L/SSFRIDDun.
Short notes aie recorded on achievements
under some of the moie important schemes --
Forest Consolidation
A large area of degraded toiests bad come
under State control following the integration ol
princely States and the abolition ot the Zamm-
dary system Many of these torest lands \\erc
not demarcated on the ground 01 even indicated
on maps These extensive areas lequired ur-
gently to be defined on the ground and suitably
no'ihed under the Forest Acts in ordei to save
them from further unregulated exploitation and
denudation The first lask ol the /oiest De-
partment was, therefore, to undeitake surveys
of such areas, and arrange lor then rehabilita-
tion and better management About 1,54,000 ha
(380,000 acres) weie tackled under this pro-
gramme, thus augmenting the effective fcicst
area of the country.
Extension Forestry
Recognising the extreme difficulty in securing
any land already under other use, especially m
thickly populated aieas, for increasing the ex-
tent of forests, measures of extension forestry
were encouraged to a consideiable extent, such as
tree plantations along canal banks, in road-side
avenues in the form of shelter-belts and on
village waste-lands It was hoped that many of
these plantations would prove productive in the
long run, besides helping to bind and stabilise the
soil in these vulnerable sites
Commercial Plantations
Forest working plans were providing mainly
for the formation of timber plantations and that
on the limited scale necessary for ensuring re-
generation to justify working on a sustained yield
basis Not all the areas suitable for planting
were even tackled Thus, there was much scope
for increased and intensive woik along these
lines When the country's needs for timber and
other forest products already exceeded produc-
t on levels and were likely to increase further
it was imperative that economic plantations
should be formed to the fullest extent possible
and m the shortest period For this purpose, mostly
degraded forest areas or bare lands were utilis-
ed, while the normal working plan programmes
were adhered to in the regular forest tracts The
Second Five-Year Plan included proposals for
raising about 20,000 ha (50000 acres) of com-
mercrally important species like teak Match-
wood plantations were established on a larger
136
scale than in the first plan [about 20,000 ha
(50,000 acres)] A further 5,300 ha (13,000 acres)
weie planted with species like wattle &nd blue-
gum of value to the tanning, paper and layon
industries Plantations of batb glass, suitable
ioi papei making, were also extended
Improved Exploitation
The schemes described above were in the na-
ture of long-term measures of foiest improve-
ment The plan included measures to help
increase the output in the immediate iuture, such
as adoption of bettei techniques foi timber ex-
traction, development of forest communications
and increased use of preservative and t>ersonmg
processes The plan also provided for the intro-
duction of improved logging methods, particularly
with reference to the use of efficient tools for
felling and extraction The use of simple wire
lopes and other similar devices was extended m
01 dei to bung under working even relatively
i emote and inaccessible hill areas About 11,900
km (7,400 miles) of forest loads were constructed
01 improved
Forest Statistics
Much difficulty was felt in planning and deve-
lopment of forest resources due to lack of basic
national statistics The first Timber Trends Sur-
vey was completed and the report made avail-
able by early 1958, in order to make good this
deficiency
The Conservation of Wild Life became an
integral part of forest administration, especially
m view of the imperative need for piotectmg
India's rich but vanishing heritage of wild life
It was increas ngly apparent that the reserved
forests were becoming the last lefuge ol the
country's wild life, in the face of increasing
human activity outside Such notable animals
as the lion and the rhinoceros were confined to
small pockets and were still in danger of extinc-
tion in spite of the live inteiest rn them for the
previous two decades or more To serve the
cause of wild life, forestry programmes in the
Second Plan included the formation of 18 Nation-
al Parks or Wild Life Sanctuaries, besides the
establishment of a zoological park in Delhi or\
modern lines
Forest Research
Research programmes initiated during the Fust
Five-Year Plan were further expanded New lines
of investigation included studies in loggi*i b
methods, timber engineering, plant mtroduction
ard genetical pioblems A regional research
station in two sections was started in the ooutft
biological and silvicultural problems to be studied
in the section (located in conjunction \vith the
Southern Forest Rangers' College) at Coimba-
tore, and forest products research to be under-
m taken at Bangalore, utilising the Mysore Govern-
ment's Forest Research Laboratory as a nucleus
Forestry Education
The requirements of fresh forest peiso^nel
during the Second Five-Year Plan was esti^'_:I
as 250 forest officers The normal likely output
of ihe Forest College at Dehra Dun of about 150
had to be stepped up Simrlaily, the training
arrangements for Forest Rangers had also to be
enlarged upon m the colleges both at Dehra Dun
arid Coimbatore in order to piovide for an annual
output ot about 160 men About 2,000 Foresters
were needed for implementing the vai icms pro-
grammes included in the Second Five Year Plan
and arrangements were made locally in the
States for their training *
Soil Conservation
Durrng the Second Plan, soil conservation
woik was proposed over some 1 2 million hectares
(3 million acres), giving pnoiity to much of those
tiacts as were seriously affected by soil erosion
The prom ammo attempted to tackle ciosion pro-
blems ot all kinds on agricultuial lands, deserts
and coastal areas affected by sand dunes, catch-
ment areas of river valley projects hilly regions,
ravine lands over-grazed waste lands, and lands
f-rodod by sea The Forest Departments were
mainlv concerned wrth the afforestation ot ciod-
ed and denuded hills Reconnaissance surveys
on a regional basis were also taken up to collect
essential data regarding the present land use
pattern, soil characteristics, degree of erosion,
etc A provision of Rs 65 lakhs was made in
the Second Plan for surveying, classifying and
mapping about ten million acres of land, primari-
ly in areas which presented special problems
The Third Five-Year Plan
The Second Five-Year Plan was executed bet-
ween April 1956-March 1961 , and India has just
started on her Third Five-Year Plan of develop-
ment In respect of forests, the First Five-Year
Plan made a good start with the adoption of the
137
revised Foiest Policy Afforestation and rehabi-
litation plant, hons formed the mam fields oi
developme* t m that period, following post-war
reconsu action In schemes like 'Foiest Com-
munications' and 'Improved Logging' a start
iri the right direction was made, but actual
achievements were maagre The Second Plan
aimed mainly at an enlargement of the processes
i"./uiaied in the First Plan and provided for large
increases in the tempo of forest develop-
ment Foiest consolidation and vastly erilaiged
organisation of forest roads and techniques of
forest exploitation charactensed this period,
bosidos expansion of commeicial and mdustiial
pl^n+ tions The one majoi feature of the Thud
Plan is ztne large provision foi extending foiests
and ci eating tree crops outside the regulai
forests Some of the major schemes like forest
plantations, ichabihtation ot degraded foiests,
biirvey and demarcation and improvement of
communications will also be pioceeded with pro-
gressively during the penod
Farm Forestry
As stated earlier, the new Na^Lnal Forest
Policy of India aimed at increasing the overall
extent of aieas under toiests to 33^ pei cent of
all land areas Even though this objective was
reiterated over and over again, little pi ogress
could be made in the actual realisation of this
ideal on account of the immense pressure of the
rapidly increasing population, reluctance of the
mainly agricultuial people to part with land
howsoever uneconomic for agncultural puiposes,
clamour from the landless and lack of ieally
effective action on the part of Governments in
practice to implement it As it became cleat
that it would be moie than an achievement if exist-
ing forest areas could all be continued as such
in peipetuity, it was realised that atleast the ob-
lective of mci easing forest resouices rhould and
could be achieved by such measures as bringing
under tree crops all lands not fit for sustained
agriculture, all wastelands, village commons, etc
With these objects m view, the Third Plan has
incorporated m its forest development pro-
gramme, a large scheme for "Faim Foiestry"
This scheme will extend tree planting and fores-
try activities to areas outside departmental
forests Fuel and fodder plantations will be
created on all suitable waste-lands in village
commons nd tank foreshores, along canal barks,
etc A first puipose of this project will be to
cieate local fuel resources and thus free the
agricultural population from dependence on de-
partmental forests for small requirements, this
will enable diverting farm yaid manuie to its
correct use for manunng the fields instead of
being burnt as domestic iuel To produce 154
million cu m (109 million tons* of firewood, which
is the anticipated shortage by 1975, plantations
ot 1 6 million ha (4 million dues) of fast-growing
species will be requned Such large-scale plan-
tations will only be possible with the willing co-
operation of the people It is proposed that these
fuel and foddei species will be planted in village
localities through the good o 'frees of the com-
munity and development blocks Nearly 500
million lupees have been provided lor this scheme
alone duimg the Thud Plan
Economic Plantations
The Thud Plan includes continuance of nearly
all tht special activities needed further to deve-
lop the forests, Specific attention has also been
given to the economic aspects in working out the
detailed foiest programme foi the Thnd Plan
A steady increase in forest outlay is visualised
from yeai to year, through intensive forest deve-
lopment schemes such as planting of fast-growing
and valuable species Forest schemes are also to be
con elated directly with schemes of industnal
development during the next few decades Thus,
the schemes for lafsmg plantations of economic
value have been placed next only to farm
foiestiy in importance Timber production in
India has all along been limited to what could b*
taken out of existing forests, under conservative
management mostly depending upon natuial re-
generation methods, While this has ensured that
the existing forests remained in good shape, it
has resulted nerther in the full utilisation of the
productive capacity of the ^oil nor has it
taken into account the needs of the country in
respect of this basic law material Consequently,
the present output of India's forest is very low
Recourse to intensive forestry practices is ur-
gently indicated if the gap between supply and
production is at all to be bridged speedily It is
clear that, except in the areas of limited extert
where natural methods of replacement of exist-
ing foiest crops are readily successful, large scale
plantations must be resorted to in order to utilrse
the soil potential fully Such plantation activity
began during the First Plan and continued dur-
ing the Second Plan period, provision has been
made to step up this activity further during the
Third Plan period 40,000 ha (100,000 acres) will
be planted with teak 2,000 ha (5,000 acres) with
sal and 2,000 ha (5,000 acres) with conifers, in
addition to 120,000 ha (300,000 acres) with
138
miscellaneous species A provision of a little ovei
Rs 180 millions has been made for these works
Forest Resources Surveys
While borne foiest resources of conventional
utility aie assessed trom time to time \\hen pre-
pat ing or revising individual working plans,
veiy little has so far been done to deteimme
comprehensively the variety and extent of the
forest resources Such resources surveys have
been recognised as an essential first step in any
organised developmental activity in forests 01 for
starting industries based on forest products as
raw materials The recent Commonwealth
Forestry Conference (Australia New Zealand
1957) laid great emphasis on this aspect of fores-
tiy Such a survey would not only deteimme
the existing resources with a view to their maxi-
mised utilisation, but would also examine the
question of the best use of the foiest soils con-
cerned It is envisaged that such a survey will
be conducted State by State at an estimated total
expenditure of Rs 10 millions
Improvement; to forest grazing and pasture
have to receive increased attention to the interest
alike ot balanced agricultural development and
sound foiest management The Second Plan
provision of Rs 1 2 millions was considered
meagre Foi the Thud Plan, a provision of
Rs 10 million^, has been made Arrangements
will be made toi lotational grazing and periodic
closure of gia/mg areas Suitable fodder trees
and grasses will be planted wheiever possible
Wild Life Conservation received much atten-
tion in the Second Plan period, woik did not pio-
gress, however, on the scale visualised Much
has to be done in the Thud Plan towards consti-
tution and development of National Parks and
Wild Life Sanctuaries, improvement of existing
zoos and setting up of new ones in important
places A provision of Rs 30 millions has been
made under this scheme
Minor Forest Products
Schemes for the development of minor forest
produce will receive increased attention during
the Third Plan period, when Rs 10 millions will
b^ spent for the purpose Indian forests abound
m a vast variety of valuable minor foiest pro-
duce Quite a few of these feed modern indus-
tries and some are valuable items of foreign
trade; the resources survey is likely to result in
their increased output and intensive utilisation
or export
Improved Forest Utilisation
The scheme under timber operaiions and torest
utilisation provides for Rs 17 5 millions Recent
investigations by foieign experts have shown
that theie is great scope for improvement in oui
manual working methods The improvement in
tools and mechanrcal connivances is expected to
lead to a considerable reduction ol waste ar.H a
fullei utilisation of oui wood resources, so neces-
sary when there is an acute shortage of these
mater jals The provrsron under this scheme will
bo utilised ior equipping forest workers with
and training them in the use of bett.T imple-
ments
Forest Research
For the development ot forest research a pro-
vision of Rs 20 millions has been made Dur-
ing the Second Plan, the entire piovision made
was not utilised on account ot various difficulties
such as import restrictions, scarcity of technical-
ly qualified staff, foreign exchange pioblems, etc
It is hoped to make good these deficiencies under
the Third ."Plan period^ Besides the Southern
Reseaich Station, plans are in hand to set up an
eastern station in Assam and another in the
western legion ot the country
Amenities for Forest Workers
Attention has also been given in the Thud
Plan for labour and other amenities Forest
laboui is yet to be organised on a systematic foot-
ing, most of it foi the present being casual or pait
time in nature Import of laboui, particularly
hdwyeis, from distant areas and their accom-
modation for the season in the areas being work-
ed aie a common feature The need for perma-
nent laboui forces foi cultural and plantation
works is increasingly felt Adequate facilities
like housing, medical facilities, water supply,
schooling for childien of laboui are all sure to
attract more labour and result in more efficient
working Duung the Third Plan peiiod, an m-
ci eased piovision of Rs 10 millions has been
made
'Soil Conservation' which started as a limb of
'Forestry' in the beginning of the first plan
period, has since blanched off into a maior field
of national development
The following gives a summary of the various
forest schemes of Ihe Third Plan, indicating the
total provision (for all the States together) made
for each
139
TABLE No 3
Summary uj third Five-Year Plan Schemes
In lakhs of Rupees
SMic
Exknsion Foipstry (Farm F<> ctr\)
(a) Plantations
(6) Evtenwon Forostn
Consolidation
Foiost R< nomr<8 Smvev
Woiking\Plans
7 Glra/n / <t<
S \atme .OP w-rvat ion
') Minor Fir si Produ,
10 Timhoi opoiations
It Training of Stall
]J Forest Rescn r< h, el
CoiunuinK.itiuiiM
BuildingH
labour and Ann
Public it v
Forest 1'iotc (tio
Amount
'lot.!
l,4J r > 00
400 00
040 00
100 00
300 00
1,000 00
10(1 00
*!00 00
100 00
17 r > 00
210 00
200 00
70O 00
r 00 00
100 00
100 00
300 00
11,600 00
The pi o visions under the Third Plan are almosu
four times those of the Second Plan The total
revenue surplus nowadays over normal working
of the forests of India is 353353 millions (1959-
60) annually, with a tendency to use from year
to year In the present still under-developed
stage, it would not only be desirable but also
reasonable to plough back a substantial part of
it into the forests This will really be an invest-
ment for a blighter future During 1959-60, the
expenditure in Five- Year Plan and Development
was Rs 58 052 millions and the net surplus after
meeting both normal and development expendi-
tuie was Rs 295301 millions It is estimated
that the -urplus of foiost revenue in the Third
Plan period will not be less than Rs 1,500 mil-
lions In othei words, the pioposals for the
Third Plan die likely to involve only 446 per cent
(excluding expenditure on farm forestry) of the
revenue suiplus for the five-year period With
this increased provision under the Third Plan, it
is hoped that attention will be focussed on in-
tense foiost development all over the country
All the States have formulated their plan propo-
sals for 1961-62 and most of the schemes are well
under way fiom April 1961
CHAPTER VIII
DESCRIPTIVE AND STATISTICAL
Area under Forests
The aiea undei forests comprises 783,962 sq
km (302,688 sq miles), constituting only 24 per
rent of the total geogiaphical area The per capita
forest area is only 22 ha (0 54 acre) compared
with 55 ha in the USSR, 38 ha in North
America and 1 6 ha for the wuild as a whole This
is even less than 03 ha per capita for Asia
Not only is the forest aiea propoitionately
smallei in India, but it is also unevenly distribut-
ed Th's is especially remarkable when considered
m relation to the population which the forests
have to serve Thus, whrle Assam, Manipur and
Trrpura at one extreme have over one hectare
(25 acres) per capita, at the other extreme, West
Bengal, Kerala, Madias, Uttar Pradesh and the
Punjab have 009 ha (023 acre) or less per capita
Madhya Pradesh has the largest area under
forests with 182,468 sq km (70,451 sq miles),
while West Bengal has the least aiea with
12,246 sq km (4,728 sq miles) Assam including
NEFA has the highest percentage ot forests
(426 per cent), while Punjab has the lowest
(117 per cent) The National Forest Policy en-
unciated in May 1952, (reproduced as an Appendix
m Volume II) lays down that "India as a whole
should airti at maintaining one-third of its land
under forests, the piopoition being 60 per cent lor
hilly regions and 20 per cent in the plains" A
planned extension of regular foiests would, there-
foie, bs essenMal to meet the above needs The
Table below furnishes the statistical data for India
as a whole The State-wi^e figures, which are avail-
able, are furnished in Tables I, IA, II and II-A
TABLE No 4
Total area and classification of area
I
III
IV
sq
Forest area 783,962 sq km (302,688
miles* 193,720,320 acres)
Area permanently devoted to agncultuie
(including shoit^smi fallow) 1,500,807
sq km (579,462 sq nvles)
Area not available for agriculture 01
forestry- 382,631 sq km (147,734 sq
miles).
Area potentially productive under aqn
culture or forestry 595,475 sq km (229,913
sq miles)
Total geographical area 3,263,354 sq km
(1,259.982 sq miles)
TABLE 4 Contd
VI Forest area as a percentage of geographi-
cal area 24
VII Total population in millions 361 2
VIII Density of population 111 per sq km
(287 per sq mile)
IX Forest area per capita 22 ha (0 54 acic)
X Total livestock population 307 millions
(159 millions of cows and built 4 r , mil-
lions oi buffaloes and 103 millions of
othei live-stock)
XI Head of like-stock per unit area of forest
3 95 per ha (1 6 pei acre)
XII Head of live-stock per unit area undei
agriculture 2 04 per ha (083 per acre)
Classification of Forests by Ownership
The forests owned or managed by the State
thiough the Forest 01 other Government Depart-
ments during 1957-58 comprised 723,610 sq km
(279,388 sq' njjes), forrmng ^2 3 per cent of* the
total toiest area Those owned by corporate bodies
and private individual^ were 42,150 sq km
(16,276 sq miles) and 18,190 sq km (7,024 sq
miles), forming 54 per cent and 23 per cent res-
pectively In 1949-50, State forests constituted
77 2 per cent communal forests 3 per cent and
onvate forests 22 5 per cent of the total forest
irea The substantial increase m State-ownership
and the corresponding reduction in private forests
is the result of the abolition of Zammdari estates
including forests and their acquisition by States
dm >ng the course of the last decade
Andhia Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir,
Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Rajasthan, Andaman
and Nicobai Islands, Manipur and Tnpura have
all forests under State ownership, while Kerala
(28 pci cent) and Punjab (33 per cent) have maiked
extents under private forests The National Foresl
Policy of May 1952 has laid down that "the cont
rol and management of private forests should be
strictly regulated and where that cannot be en
sured, they should be acquired by the State
thiough effective legislation" All States have
enacted legislation to regulate the working ol
private forests
No information is available on fa r m *orest<
raised by cultivators in their private holdings rn
eluding the back-yards of their houses, along fielc
bunds, in village common lands, etc With the in
creasing tempo of the Vana Mahotsava movemen
140
141
Une' Festival of Trees), the area under this cate-
gory may be 'pprecrable Exact data are not forth-
coming, but these may come up to, say, 1 per cent
of the total cultivated diea or about 15,000 sq km
(5,800 sq miles,)
Classification by legal status
The forests of India [783,960 sq km (302,683 sq
mi4*s)] are classified under the following cate-
gories
(i) Reserved Forests So constituted undei the
provisions of the Indian Forest Act or othei forest
taw in force in the State 369,500 sq km (142,604
sq mile),), forming 47 1 per cent of the total forest
ar e: , .
(n) Protected Forests Those constituted under
Chaptei IV of the Indian Foiest Act an i torest
areas notified as reserved lands under the piovi-
sions ot the Madras Foiest Act for a limited degree
of protection 237,840 sq km (91829 sq miles),
forming 303 per cent of the total forest area
and
(in) Unclasped Forests Other forests and
waste-lands belonging to both Governments and
private individuals and bodies 176.630 sq km
(68,195 sq miles), fuming 226 pei cent of the total
foiest area
The State-wise data are furnished in Tables III
and III-A
Reserved and protected forests constitute per-
manent forest estates, maintained fur the purpose
of producing timber and other produce and for
protective reasons As such, they fall within the
Category of "permanent foiests", as used by the
Food and Agriculture Organization in its World
Foiest Inventory Unclassed forests are largely,
degraded and unprofitable forests, rarely surveyed
or subject to anv organized protection or manage
ment
The total extent of permanent forests in India
as per present available data, is 607,340 sq km
(231,493 sq miles), forming 77 4 per cent of the
total forest area
Classification of forests by composition
Forests may be broadly classified as (i) coni-
ferous and (n) non-coniferous or broad-leaved A
sub-drvision of the latter type under the economi-
cally more valuable species and types, such as
teak, sal, evergreen and miscellaneous will be
touched upon rn the light of available statistics
BV conipos.tion, India's forests aie predomi-
nantly non-coniferous Conifers occupy only 26
million hectares (10,040 sq miles), comprising a
very meagre 3 3 per cent of the total forest area
These are confined to the Himalayas for the most
part, rn the States of Jammu & Kashmrr, Punjab,
Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and to a smaller
extent in Assam, West Bengal and Manipur Im-
portant Indran conifers are deodar (Cedrus deo-
dara), chir-prne (Pinus roxburghii), blue pine (P
walhchiana), Khasr pine (P tnsulans), spruce
(Picea smithiana and P spinulosa) and fir (Abies
pindrow and A. spectabihs)
Bioad-leaved forests occupy 758 million hecta-
re-, (292,648 sq miles), forming 96 7 per cent of the
total forest area These foiests are composed of a
very large number of species, only a few of which
aie at present of value Among timbers of national
importance may be mentioned teak, sal, laurel
qurjan and some others Some timbers like rose-
wood (Dalbetgia latijoha), pah (Palaqmum elhpti-
cuw), A idamjn padcmk (Pterocaipus dalbergioi-
des) and sandal (Santalum album) enjoy a wide
export md'ket
Teak forests are found largely in the States of
Andhra Pradesh (9,145 *q km), Gujarat (7,208 sq
km), Mahai ashtra (9,464 sq km), Kerala (5,698 sq
km). Madhya Pradesh (41,463 sq km) Mysore
(3,445 sq km) and Rajasthan (5,180 sq km The
total area, including small areas in other States,
works out to 82,703 sq km (32,318 sq miles)
Sal foiests comprise a total of 114,377 sq km
( i4,161 sq miles) #nd are chiefly found in the
following States
Madhva Pi adesh 37,682 sq km (14,549 sq
miles)
Bihar 33,504 sq km (12,936 sq mlies)
Or issa 28,733 sq km (11,094 sq miles)
Uttar Pradesh 5,716 sq km (2,227 sq miles)
West Bengal 5,232 sq km (2,020 sq mrles)
Assam 2,709 sq km (1,046 sq mrles)
Miscellaneous forests occupy 561,989 sq km
(216,984 sq miles) These include the magnificent
wet evei green, semi-evergreen and moist mixed
deciduous forests of Assam, West Bengal, Anda-
mans Kerala, Mysore and Madras The bulk of
them, however, comprises dry deciduous forests
containing bamboos, small timber for local use,
fuelwood and grazing Some dry deciduous forests
of Mysore and Madras contain the valuable sandal
tree (Santalum album), the wood of which is
laigely exported Many of the miscellaneous
species found in these forests, such as Vafena
indica, Trewia nudiflora, Salmalia malabcmca,
Ailanthus excelsa, Alstonia scholans, Kydia caly-
cma, and Boswellia serrata are used as raw mater-
ials in the plywood, match and pulp industries.
Two species of bamboos, Dendrocalamus stnc-
tus and Barabusa arundmacea, are often found
142
gregariously in India's forests, the former occupy-
ing a much larger extent than the latter Bamboo
plays a very important role in the national econo-
my, being a raw material for paper-making, in
timber for house construction and for a variety of
addition to its primary function as the poor man's
other purpose About 36,000 sq km (14,000 sq miles)
may be said to carry bamboo stands These
include the very considerable areas of teak and
mixed miscellaneous forests wheie bamboos occur
in the second stoicy Bamboos are also cultivated
in appreciable quantities, by villagers in their
' r nomo-steads to meet purely local i equipments
Classification of forests by functions
Of the total of India's forests, 92,410 sq km
(35,681 sq miles) 01 12 per cent comprise protection
forests These are managed pnmarily to regulate
stteam flow, prevent erosion, bind shifting sands
or exert any othei beneficial influence on the ad-
joining country The yield fiom these is veiy
small as removals aie limited to salvage 01 sanita-
tion fellings They arc of particular significance in
hilly tracts and along nvei couises
Production foiests foim 691,550 sq km
(267,007 sq miles) ci 88 per cent of the total
forest area of the country But only 70 per conl
ot the total forest area is actually merchantable
With the expansion in the domestic and industrial
consumption of forest pioducts, extension of com-
munications and reclamation of deielict aieas, we
may expect a gradual diminution in non-mei chant-
able areas
Out-turn of Home Grown Wood (Tables IX &
IX-A)
The total production of wood in the country i^
16 2 million cu m (579 3 million cubic feett. of
which 31 pei cent or 52 million cu m (185 million
cu ft) constitutes industrial wood and the balance
6 ( ) per cent fuelwood (including charcoal wood)
The percentage of industrial wood to total out-turn
of wood in other countries ranges from 8 per cc nt
in Africa and 15 to 17 per cent in South and Cent-
ral America to 85 per cent in North America
India's total wood pioduction is just 1 per cent
of that of the world and 18 pei cent of that of
Asia Considering that the total forest aiea of
India is 1 8 per cent of that of the world and
15 per cent of that of Asia the wood production
per unit area falls lowei than that of the world
and is just a little better than that of Asia as a
whole
The bulk (90 per cent) of the country's wood
out-turn is of broad-leaved species (14,575,000 cu
m or 520,540,000 cu ft) 79 per cent of coniferous
wood produced (1,644000 cu m or 58,720,000- cu
tt) is used as industrial wood and onl T 21 per cent
as iuel wood The high consumption of the rela-
tively unsuitable coniferous wood for fuel is con-
lined to Himachal Pradesh, the other States with
the exception of Jammu & Kashmir which use*
9 par cent of its softwoods for fuel, restricting
its use as industrial wood only Of total industrial
wood, softwoods form 25 per cent (1,301 000 cu m
or 46,463000 cu it) and hardwoods 75 per cent
(3,882,000 cu m or 138,635,000 cu ft) Ot total
fuelwood, only 3 per cent (343,000 cu m or
12,257,000 cu ft) is softwood and the balance
(10,693 000 cu m 01 381,910,000 c ft) haidwcod
The lemovals work out to 14 cu m (512 cli tt) of
industiial wood and 31 cu m (1,091 cu f f ) *cf fuel
wood per 1,000 inhabitants The corresponding
figures for Asia are 63 cu m and 112 cu rn res-
pectively and foi the world, 324 cu m and 268
cu m lespectively
India's lemovalb are thus rather low This must
bo attributed to the rather high density ol popu-
lation, the relatively large extent of inaccessible
foiests and the ovei-all low productivity of large
tiactb of accefesib'e forests 1 The immediate aim. is
to reduce the inaccessible 'area* by extending com-
munications and to improve the productivity of
all forests, particularly the depleted areas, by
appropriate silvicu'tural methods
Out-turn of Minor Forest Products
The minor foiest products of India which are
Cvimmercmlly important are bamboos and canes,
foddei and grazing, gums, resins, lac, grasses other
than fodder grasses and products which are of use
in perfumery or medicine During the year 1958-
59, accoidmg to data furnished by States, the value
of the total output of minor forest products was
estimated at Rs 98 millions, out of which the
share of the above categories of products was
Rs 58 millions (57 per cent) The corresponding
figures for 1953-54 were 998 millions and 392
millions (39 per cent) respectively
It must be remarked that the value of the out-
put of the minor forest products furnished above
lepresents the seigniorage value of the minor
forest products (at site m the forest, before
they are harvested) Owing to the scattered
occurrence of the products, not only is the cost of
collection high, but also the cost of transport fiom
the foiest to the rail head or other centres with
motor transport facilities Hence by trV tmie it
i caches the wholesale markets, the costs have in-
ci eased about 10 times or more including handling
charges of contractors and merchants On this
assumption the value of the total out-put of minor
143
f6resl products would come to over Rs 100 crores
(Rs 1,000 miL.cns) It is worthy of mention here
that out of this total, products of the value of
Rs 92 crores (Rs 920 millions) are utilised foi
internal consumption
Four of the above products, namely, lac,
myrabolans, gum karaya and beedi leaves, occupy
posi Lions of considerable importance in India's
external trade During 1959, shellac and other
forms of lac wete expoited to the tune of
Rs 367 crores (Rs 367 millions) Production of
lac coulq\ be mci eased very considerably Synthe-
tic re,jbin c $ although costlier, have come into limit-
ed -use .in recent times and are replacing lac for
electrical insulations
As India has a virtual monopoly in lac, it is of
vital importance that shellac should not lose
ground to synthetic substitutes During 1959,
myiabolans, both whole and crushed, were export-
ed to the extent of 250,000 quintals (492 cwt)
valued at Rs 41 lakhs (Rs 4 1 millions) The gum
of Stercuha urens (gum karaya) is exported to the
extent ot Rs 87 lakhs (Rs 87 millions) while
beedi leaves (Diospyros melanoxylorv) aie export-
ed to the tune of Rs lib lakhs (Rs 11 8 millions)
The chief classes of items of minor forest pio-
ducts, together with the value of the output as
recorded for 1958-59, are furnished below
TABLE No 5
Out-turn of Minor Forest Products in 1958-59
Serial
No
Class of Products
Value of
out tutn
(1958 r >9)
1
Animal products
3
2
Bamboos and canes
182
3
Drugs and spices
12
4
Fibres and flosses
small
5
Fodder anJ grazing
109
6
(Jtiasses othci than giazmg
3**
7
Gums, resin and lac
152
8
Rubber and latex
small
9
Incense, peiiume Moods
84
10
Tanstuff and J)ye stull
24
11
Vegetable and oil seeds
6
12
Other minor forest piodiuts
376
Total
981
Grazing in Forests
India bping still largely an agricultural country,
the importance of live-stock in the national econo-
my needs no emphasis According to the census of
1956, India possesses 302 millions of cattle ex-
cluding pigs of which 34 8 millions or 11 5 per cent
L/S5FRIDDun~ll
obtained grazing in the foiests With a geographi-
cal aiea which is only 22 per cent of that of the
world and a population which is 13 per cent of
that of the world, India has 19 per cent of the
world's cattle, 50 per cent of the world's buffaloes
and 18 per cent of the goats The annual contribu-
tion from live-stock to the national income is about
Rs 1,000 crores (Rs 10,000 millions) forming about
10 per cent of the total The Ta'ble below furnishes
an abstract of the various classes of animals which
giazed in the foiests during 1957-58
TABLE No 6
Abstract of Live-stock that grazed m Forests
Percent-
Total
Animals
age
population
gia/cd
ot total
K
Kind of
as pu
n forests
>opulation
Remarks
aniui.il
1016
in
of each
2
census
1957-18
kind
*
trra/cd in
forests
1
-5
.)
4
B
6
,
Buffaloes
44,) 1 "i,7.ii8
4,302,872
9 6
2
Cows and
lf>8,<>">0,624
17,133,081
10 8
bullocks
Separate
data Of
3
4
Sheep
C.oats
W,24b,248
>->,405,490
L 12,178,833
13 3
sheep
and goats
grazed in
forests
are not
available
5
Cairn Is
77,~,680
146,31)0
18 9
6
Otlui
2,041,026
673,020
25 4
Pig are
animals
not
exi hiding
grazed in
gS, V17 ,
forcfita
lorses,
and are
lonies,
omitted
mules ind
hete
donkcj s
Total
301.fi 31,7261 34,834,106
11 5
| 1
i
Converted into equivalent cattle (i e cow) units
at the rate of 2 sheep for 1 cattle unit, 4 buffalo
for 1 cattle unit and 1/8 camel for 1 cattle unit,
the total number of animals that grazed works
out to 38 9 million cattle units Based on the total
forest area this works out to an average grazing
incidence of 2,316 ha (5,724 acres) per cow unit
As an incidence of 1 6 ha (4 acres) per cow unit is
considered ordinarily adequate, the ovei-all posi-
tion would appear to be satisfactory However,
when we consider that large areas of forests are
not available to grazing on account of inaccessi-
bility, absence of palatable grasses, or closure due
144
to administrative 01 silvicultuial reasons, this is
far from being the case Control and ameliorative
measures such as levy of appropriate grazing fees,
periodic and rotational closures, penning of cattle
in the mtetior regions and improvement of the
stocking of palatable grasses are some of the nica-
suies which are being attempted with varying
degrees of success in different States
As only 11 5 per cent of the total live-stock popu-
lation get their grazing in the forests, a veiy large
majority necessarily has to subsist on dried stalks
ot agricultural ciops and crop residues Annual
production of green grass, raised with nngation,
is very small, being limited to municipal sewage
farms and scatteied areas managed under faim
forestry conditions Taking both the areas under
agriculture and the areas under foiests into ac-
c 
