How Are Colonial Forest Policies Responsible for the Depletion of Forests?

Some of the environmental activists say that the promotion of a few favored species in many parts of India has been carried through the ironically termed “enrichment plantation”, in which a single commercially valuable species was extensively planted and other species eliminated. For instance teak monoculture has damaged the natural forest in South India and Chir Pine plantations in the Himalayas have replaced the Himalayan oak and Rhododendron forests. Large scale development projects have also contributed to a great extent to the loss of forests. Many environmentalists and foresters hold the view that the greatest degrading factors behind the depletion of forests are grazing and fuel wood collection. Besides, the expansion of the railways, agriculture, commercial, mining activities and scientific forestry during colonial period are responsible for the depletion of forest.