Forest Transformations In Java
Java is a famous rice producing island of Indonesia. In past years, it was mostly covered with forests. The colonial power in Indonesia were the Dutch and they wanted timber from Java to build ships.
There were many similarities in the laws for forest control in Indonesia and India. In Java, there were many villages in the fertile plains but many communities living in the mountains used to practice shifting cultivation.
The Woodcutters of Java
The Kalangs of Java were a community of skilled forest cutters and shifting cultivators.
Without their expertise, it would have been difficult to harvest,teak and for the kings to build their palaces. When the Dutch began to gain control over the forests in the 18th century, they tried to make the Kalangs work under them. In 1770, the Kalangs resisted by attacking a Dutch fort at Joana, but the uprising was suppressed.
Dutch Scientific Forestry
In the 19th century, the Dutch enacted forest laws in Java, restricting villagers’ access to forests. This law imposed that wood could be cut for specified purposes like making river boats or constructing houses. But this was done only from specific forests and under close supervision.
Villagers were punished for grazing cattle, transporting wood without a permit or travelling on forest roads with horse carts or cattle. This was similar as in India, the need to manage forests for shipbuilding and railways led to the introduction of a forest service.
In 1882, 280,000 .sleepers were exported from Java alone. However, all this required labour to cut the trees, transport the logs and prepare the sleepers.
The Dutch first imposed rents on land being cultivated in the forest. It then exempted some villages from these rents if the villagers worked collectively to provide free labour and buffaloes for cutting and transporting timber. This was known as the Blandongdiensten System.
Later, instead of rent exemption, forest villagers were given small wages, but their right to cultivate forest land was restricted.
Note Most ot Indonesia’s forests are located in islands like Sumatra, Kalimantan and West Irian. However, Java is where the Dutch began their scientific forestry.
Samin’s Challenge
Around 1890, Surontiko Samin of Randublatung village (a teak forest village) started a movement against the state ownership of the forest. He argued that state could not own forest as it had not created the wind, water, earth and wood.
By 1907, 3000 families were following his ideas. Some of the Saminists protested by lying down on their land when the Dutch came to survey it i.e. While others refused to pay taxes, fines or perform labour.
War and Deforestation
The Allied power exploited the resources (mainly forests) and people of their colonies and won both the First and Second World War. Both these wars had a devastating effect on the forests of India and other colonies. In India, at this time and the Forest Department was cutting trees freely to meet British war needs.
In Java, the Dutch followed a Scorched Earth Policy, just before the Japanese dominance. By following this policy, Dutch destroyed sawmills and burned huge piles of giant teak logs, so that they would not fall into Japanese hands. The Japanese then exploited the forests recklessly for their own interests.
This opportunity was used by many villagers to expand cultivation in the forest. After the war, it became difficult for the Indonesian forest service to get this land back. This situation was same as that of India where people and forest department conflicted with desire to control forest area.
New Developments In Forestry
Since the 1980s, governments across Asia and Africa found that scientific forestry and the policy of keeping forest communities away from forests has resulted in many conflicts. Now, conservation of forests was more important than collecting timber.
The government recognised that to conserve forest, the people who live near the forests must be involved. In many cases across India, forests have survived only because villagers protected them in sacred grove known as Samas, demrakudu, kan, rai etc.
Some villagers have been patrolling their own forests, instead of depending to the forest guards. Local forest communities and environmentalists now are thinking of different forms of forest management.