THE NATURE OF FORESTRY ' SCIENCE '

It is axiomatic in government circles that the German foresters called in by the British laid the foundation of 'scientific' forestry in India and that future management has adhered to the 'scientific' prescriptions laid down by the systems of working plans (which cover each forest division) introduced by Dr. Brandis and his associates1. In contradiction it is argued that the forests under other forms of management— either other state departments or corporate bodies—are poorly stocked owing to the 'virtually unrestricted rights' of the people. The official gazetteer of India observed that 'only the reserved forests of the Forest Department are managed according to scientific management practices'.

In this note we shall be concerned with the nature of forestry 'science' and its alleged sophistication3. It is to be remembered that the use of the term 'science' has several value-loaded connotations—namely, that the activities so described is a 'value-free', 'objective', way of apprehending knowledge, and of putting that knowledge into practice, and as such is necessarily 'progressive' and 'modern'.

Statistical base of forestry

To begin with, the essential requisite for any scientific endeavour, an adequate statistical base, is lacking in Indian forestry. This has been remarked on at various times by official sources. The Planning Commission observed in 1962 that much of the forest data was 'based on guesses', while a more recent committee has cautioned that the projections of future demand and supply it made were very tentative, since the estimates of growing stock in forests 'were at best well informed guess estimates.

Nevertheless, the expansion of forest-based industry, and the greater cut that it has necessitated from the forest, has progressed unimpeded. Actually, this scanty base is not confined to the macro-level aggregate statistics. Working plans, although theoretically based on 'complete enumeration surveys', never go beyond sample survey of strips of forests, which it is assumed are typical of the division as a whole 1. There also exists much discrepancy between sets of statistics prepared by different government agencies.

Theory of 'Sustained Yield:

The principle of sustained yield, which is the 'sine qua non of forest management,; has been the 'fundamental principle of Indian forestry since the foundation of the Forest Department in India'9. According to this principle, so that forest capital never gets depleted, only the annual increment to the total growing stock of wood is felled.

How has this theory worked in practice ? Apart from the imperfect statistical base that underlies all forest operations, the enormous scale of unrecorded fellings have made the prescriptions of many working plans invalid. Even those writers who do not question the 'scientific' basis of forest operations 'on paper' have remarked on the illegal fellings through which huge sections of the forest are lost yearly10. In Madhya Pradesh, although the state earns a revenue of Rs. 140 crores from its forests, an estimated Rs. 40 crores per annum are lost through unauthorized tree felling and the sale of expensive teak wood according to sources in the Forest Department itself". The excessive felling during the world wars and the devastation in the period before most forests were covered by working plans are two other factors that have affected the results achieved under 'sustained yield' harvesting.

The concept of sustained yield, far from being an inviolable rule, has a tremendous flexibility. The rotation, the exploitable age at which the tree is cut, is usually determined according to considerations of maximum revenue or maximum volume production rather than on silvicultural and ecological grounds that could ensure adequate regeneration. As a result, the rotation of Chir Pine, fixed at 160 years by the first working plan in 1920, has progressively decreased till it now stands at 100 years. Volcker had adversely remarked on the short rotations through which the Forest Department over exploited the forests. The shorter and shorter rotations advocated by successive working plans, under pressure to meet industrial demands, have ted to the annual outturn exceeding the annual increment in many cases

A fundamental problem with the so-called 'selection' method, under which sustained yield harvesting is carried out, has been the failure of attempts at achieving proper natural reproduction of the species being logged. This failure has stemmed from imperfect knowledge of the silvicultural characteristics of the forest cover. In 1921, Troup admitted, that in the case of the 'great majority' of species, 'we are as yet only on the threshold of enlightenment'13. In Garhwal, each working plan has complained of insufficient reproduction under the past system of management, with the progress of regeneration being much slower than anticipated. Further, the silvicultural system was not followed properly—consequently, many areas were 'completely denuded'—while the yield was arbitrarily fixed without reference to the actual stocking of forest crop. Despite the existing stock being poor in density, more intensive methods of exploitation were always prescribed1 . As a result, official figures show today that 'all these [Uttarakhand] forests, and particularly of chir and blue pine, are very much under stocked'16. At an all-India level, the selective fellings practiced formerly in nearly all forests have not led to acceptable natural reproduction', thus compelling the Forest Departments to modify working plans in favour of methods of concentrated natural regeneration.

To recapitulate then, the selection felling system, under which the bulk of our forests have been managed, has not led to the expected sustained yields. The theory of 'sustained yield' can be faulted on several counts : (i) the necessary empirical base and silvicultural knowledge of the forest being worked, for ensuring that 'sustained yields' are achieved in practice, is lacking; (ii) the prescriptions are therefore arbitrary and in fact do not ensure sustained use; (iii) much evidence goes to suggest that forest stock everywhere has been exploited on a non-sustainable basis17. One forester recently described these arbitrary methods of working in the following terms:

The commonest affliction is adhocism which if one likes it or not has come to stay in Indian forestry due to many factors. First of all a forestry has to create a forest or manage an existing forest. In the absence of any clear cut scientific findings he resorts to an adhoc prescription. The research in forestry has always moved far behind the practice and the adhoc practices keep on moving forward. Even when good alternatives are available, due to his long association with ad hoc prescriptions he tends to ignore the right alternative

Forestry and Human Manipulation:

Indian forestry has evolved, over time, a set of strategies to overcome the peculiar difficulties it is faced with. We shall here examine three such strategies:

(i) Grazing:

The working of a forest for commercial purposes necessitates its fencing to enable regeneration to take place in the areas being logged. This closure to both men and cattle is regarded as integral to forest management and hence grazing and lopping—and those who perform these activities—are declared enemies of the forester. Grazing and lopping, it is said, 'slowly and surely kill the forests' 9. The National Forest Policy affirms: 'All grazing in forests particularly unlimited and uncontrolled grazing is incompatible with scientific forestry'20. Several academics and journalists, agree with the official view—viz., those who graze cattle are 'oblivious ignorant of the ill effects ruthless grazing has on the forests'2', while grazing is the 'number one cause of deforestation' shrouded by a 'conspiracy of silence'22.

The impact of grazing on young regeneration has been a subject of debate among Indian foresters for over a century. Through the trial-and-error methods of experimentation characteristic of forestry science, it was found that grazing did help regeneration in several cases. It was reported from Berar in 1886 that the protection of forests from fire had let to a tall and dense crop of grass which hindered reproduction—therefore, grazing was resorted to as an economical and practical means of overcoming the difficulties which beset, reproduction in these parts"28. Likewise, it was found that forests of deodar, one of the most valuable of Commercial timbers, did not benefit from being closed to grazing. Here too the thick growth of grass and brushwood impeded reproduction — it was thus felt that , in the months before the deodar was felled, the forests could 'advantageously be thrown open to grazing' 4. The realization that controlled grazing benefited deodar regeneration later led to the British bringing in Gujars or nomadic graziers to the hills. With the enhanced grazing rate the Gujars had to pay, at one stroke forest revenue was augmented and the regeneration of favoured species helped

However, even where grazing was found beneficial on silvicultural grounds, it would introduce an element of 'insecurity in forest operations, particularly as 'all ..forest rights tend to get more onerous'8". Officers were therefore cautioned that while allowing grazing under favourable silvicultural conditions, the terms and conditions under which it was regulated were most important. Although villagers had to be told that grazing was being allowed merely as a favour and not as a matter of right there existed a very real danger, viz., 'it is difficult to subsequently restrict that which has once been conceded to the people'

(ii) Lopping :

Lopping, one government manual advised, 'should be restricted to species which do not give timber ior to trees which will shortly be felled'28. One of the primary aims of forest management, enumerated in every working plan, is to increase the proportion of 'valuable' species in the forest crop. In Garwal, the aim has been to convert the mixed forests of oaks and conifers to pure coniferous stands. Working plans prescribed detailed silvicultural operations, covering thousands of hectares, in order to help the conifers in the struggle with other species. These operations included the felling or killing by ringing (girdling) of the non-coniferous trees"9. We are told by one writer that 'with the fact before" us that deodar is the only tree (of any value in these forests, the importance of aiding in its struggle for existence with its neighbours is self-evident'30. In the forests to the east of the deodar zone at a time when the successful chemical treatment of chir pine for use as railway sleepers was an accomplished fact, future management was advised, chir will be retained and helped against ban and other miscellaneous species'31. In general, 'wherever possible, the inferior broad leaved species will be replaced by valuable ones

The 'cultural' operations 'prescribed for the removal of 'inferior' species often proved insufficient, due to the lack of adequate funds and staff. In the circumstances, it was decided to allow unrestricted lopping by villagers of ban oak in Garhwal and of all broad leaved species (expect a few industrially useful ones such as hazel and Walnut) in Jaunsar Bawar. The area thus thrown open to lopping, in order to 'help the conifers in their struggle', amounted to 45,000 acres in Jaunsar Bawa'r and 106,000 acres in Garhwal33. It was later reported with satisfaction that the selective lopping of banj by villagers, coupled with the girdling of other miscellaneous species was likely to transform the mixed forests into pure strands of chir

The official view of lopping underwent a change as the possibilities of utilizing it in the services of commercial forestry came to be realized. While in 1907 it was (felt that as long as lopping was restricted to the-oak zone there was 'practically no harm done'35, over time it came to be efficiently used in the bid to increase the percentage of coniferous species in the mixed forests of the hills — and 'not merely restricted to unremunerative forests. Needless to say, this attitude further encouraged the growing alienation of man from forest.

(iii) Jhum cultivation and forestry:

The official view of jhum is that it is responsible for 'large scale 'destruction' of the forest30. Jhum, it is argued has 'adverse physical consequences' which are 'well accepted'. According to two economists, jhum 'destroys the ecological balance, results in substantial soil erosion which subsequently leads to flooding of rivers, [and] dries hill springs'

Careful research in recent years has corrected the stereotyped view of jhum propogated ,by colonial administrators and uncritically accepted in academic circles.

Anthropologists, agronomists, and geographers have shown that jhum is an efficient adaptation to tropical forests, where the soil is leached and the bulk of the nutrients locked up in the vegetation . It; "is important to remember too that jhum has been practiced for several millenia, and only becomes unsustainable in a changed ecological context, when the delicate balance between man and forest is disrupted by the usurpation of forest tracts by an external authority, typically the colonial state. In fact, some of the largest natural forests still exist in areas inhabited by slash-and-burn cultivators for centuries, whereas intensive plough agriculture has destroyed forests wherever it has been practiced Official propaganda not with standing, jhum has long been harnessed in the service of commercial forestry, through the taungya method of cultivation evolved in Burma in the 19th century. Here jhum cultivators are allowed to grow food crops in the forest, provided they plant 'useful' trees alongside. After a few years, when the cultivator moves on to clear the next patch of forest, a forest crop is established on the vacated ground. The method, originally used for teak cultivation in Burma, was strikingly successful and soon spread to other parts of India its greatest advantage being that it rendered possible at a 'comparatively low cost the establishment of the labour force necessary for forest works.

The rates by the Forest Department to the taungya cultivators very considerably, depending on the inducement necessary to get them to work. While in some areas the work is done free, in other parts a small payment, which corresponds to the survival rate of the saplings planted is made. The need for maintaining proper control is stressed—'It is necessary to keep the term of cultivation lenient at the begining and only gradually tighten them up to what is necessary for good results'41. In some areas, cultivators are accustomed to supplementing the dry crops raised through taungya with rice raised on wet land. Where this occurs, foresters are cautioned against pursuing an 'over-liberal policy', for 'one acre of cultivation per household is quite enough and even this should never be given exept where local! customs already demands it'

The need to evolve such strategies arose from the historical situation in which Indian forestry was first imposed on the people. In the days before the Forest Department was formed, people had been accustomed to graze cattle and utilize the produce of the forests, without any restrictions whatsoever. Commercial forestry, which divided the forests into blocks that were completely closed after the trees had been felled, disrupted this traditional pattern of resource use. A further difficulty faced by colonial foresters related to the nature of India's mixed forests, where only a few among the large number of associated species had commercial uses 3. Instruments had to be forged, therefore, which could increase the proportion of commercially valuable species without antagonizing the local population. The strategies we have described are particularly resourceful in so far as unwitting villagers are used to circumvent these difficulties of obtaining adequate regeneration of favoured species of trees. As a result, though industrial interests desire the forests to be 'totally closed to the ingress of men and cattle, which are highly destructive' , the imperatives of 'scientific forestry' will not allow such a closure.

The elitist language in which the traditional practices of the agrarian 'population are described needs comment Despite the official attitude towards grazing, it is obvious, that like jhum, unrestricted grazing is opposed to the interests of commercial forestry, not to the retention of forest cover as such. Thus in the early years of forest administration, it was reported from the Himalayas that despite regular grazing and burning of hillsides for a fresh crop of grass (another local practice later condemned strongly), the reproduction in natural chir forests was 'remarkable'46. Champion and Seth admitting the need to revise earlier opinions regarding the danger posed by grazing to reproduction, point out that grazing in regeneration areas, provided 'it is well distributed and not excessive, can be helpful'46—a situation, it need hardly be stated, which existed in the days before large tracts of forests were closed to cattie by the colonial Forest Department.

The validity of the pejorative terms in which traditional agrarian and grazing practices have been described in1 both colonial and neocolonial elite discourse is brought out by the skilful use commercial forestry has made of the very practices it publicly describes as 'primitive' and 'wasteful'47. Indeed, the extent of India's forests regard as 'inexhaustible', land treated as such by the British at the time of the colonial intervention, despite being affected by thousands of years of human action, is adequate testimony to the efficacy of these traditional practices.

Monocultures and Ecology:

The trend towards inducing monocultures in Indian forests, done earlier through systematic and controlled 'cultural' operations of cleaning, tending, girdling and lopping, and latterly through the method of clearing existing forests to replace them with plantations of a single species, has led to certain adverse ecological impacts. The reduction of complexity that is in general associated with monocropping systems has increased their vulnerability to attack and failure". At the turn of the century, the Inspector General!of Forests had commented on the failure of the attempts at raising plantations of pure teak in Burma and the central provinces, which had suffered greatly due to insect attack49. And by artificially aiding the regeneration of Himalayan conifers, 'the forest officer was introducing an "unnatural'' state of affairs! [which] renders his forest more liable to insect and fungal attack'30. It was also observed that deodar in artificially induced pure stands was affected more by fungus than deodar in mixed forests (i.e., as it occurs in nature)61. Plantations of both casuarina and eucalyptus were badly damaged by fungus attack in the 1950's—in fact, the eucalyptus plantations that were undertaken on a large scale by clear felling the natural forests of the western ghats were everywhere attacked by the fungal disease (known as pink disease, in effect converting excellent rain forest into man-made desert

In general, the dynamics i of forest ecosystems have been totally neglected63. As the ecolo'gically stable claimax 'forests' have usually not been the most 'valuable', restrogressive succession towards a less stable and ecologically undesirable stage has been consciously encouraged. The so-called 'father' of Indian forestry, Dietrich Brand is, had himself recommended the girdling of oaks to make way for conifers, as the oaks had 'much too slow a rate of growth to justify their maintenance as component parts of the high forest'54. The consistent policy favouring the extinction of Himalayan oaks has led to the drying up of perennial water sources and to the decay of hill agriculture. The economically valuable conifers that have replaced the economically undesirable' broad leaved species are neither useful to the hill economy nor desirable on ecological grounds. The shorter and shorter rotations induced by the rising industrial demand, and the failures of past management to cope with it, have decreased the productivity of the soil—in fact, in the days before short rotations became the norm, Howard had pointed out. that cutting over at short intervals decreased soil fertility, and was really only another form of 'devastation'

Forest officers have, on occasion, shown an awareness of the deleterious ecological consequences of these silvicultural practices although these officers have gone on to prescribe identical policies themselves. The reaction of the official manual of forest management to the accumulated evidence betrays the true nature of 'forestry science' wherein practical considerations of profit maximization take precedence over the results of careful investigation. While the greater incidence of disease in plantations—consistently observed for the last 80 years is explained away by obliquely arguing that 'damage is more noticeable in plantations', the repeated assertions of declining soils fertility through the composition of monocultures are dismissed on the grounds of there not being enough data to draw 'definite conclusions'. In short, the path advocated is one of continuing to raise monocrop forests until it is definitely and irrevocably proved to be harmful a negative attitude that is surely incompatible with any definition of the 'scientific method', especially as ecological processes are cumulative and as yet largely unknown.

Class basis of Forestry Science:

It will be evident that the class bias of forestry science is imprinted in its very language. Jhum, we are told, 'destroys valuable forestry', therefore the 'needs of cultivation [should] be removed, and the proper function of the forest for protection and production be restored'08. Just as the forest is considered to have no value for the jhum cultivators who have inhabited it for thousands of years, the multifarious benefits which broad-leaved species render to the hill economy are inconsequential for forestry science in the eyes of which oak represents an impediment to the propagation of pure coniferous forests 'Valuable' and 'desirable' are in every instance euphemisms for 'commercially important and profitable' while the term 'inferior' bears no relation to the ecological and other functions the species thus described may perform for the surrounding countryside. Working plans, while i indicating possible sources of injury to the crop, include 'man' in the same category as natural hazards (e.g. snow and frost) and wild animals - the technical reports of the profession thereby institutionalizing the conflict between the 'primitive' forest dweller and 'civilized' man. And for one officer, roads are the 'veins and arteries along which forest revenue flows', 'as it is little use having valuable forest if no one (sic) can get at it'60. The first, and indeed only, claim on the produce of the forests has been exercised by the white man, in the colonial period, and the urban producer (and consumer) since such a situation being implicitly accepted by the jargon of forestry science.

The silvicultural methods of treatment have depended on the demand for different types of forest produce in the dominant sections of society. Interestingly, oak, which most working plans tried to remove, was required for the supply of fuel to the hill stations and cantonments established by the colonial state. For this important exception, oak forests in the neighbourhood of such stations were resumed and the local population denied access61. More recently, there has been a renewed interest in the broad-leaved species, which as research has discovered, could 'be utilized for such sophisticated uses as high class furniture, scientific instruments, sports goods, shuttle, and picking arms for textile mechinery, jute and textile bobbins, rifle butts and high class tool handles' 12. In the changed situation, the World Bank was petitioned for funds so that the exploitation of these hardwoods would be facilitated by improved communications. In the early phase of forest science bamboo at the time a plant of tremendous utility for the "rural population, was treated as a weed and eradicated by early working plans—however, as its use as a pulping material was discovered in 1919, plans advocated its retention against all other species63. Similarly, for many years mixed forests of deodar and blue pine were attempted to be converted to pure deodar forests, until it was realized that the faster rate bf growth and the growing market for blue pine made its retention in a mixed crop worthwhile.

Research in forestry science has concentrated on two aspects : the silvicultural treatment which could help the regeneration of favored species at the expenses of those less favoured; and, increasingly since world war II, the discovery of commercial uses for the varied species of India's forests05. Research efforts are centralized at the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, and economic investigations naturally govern all its investigations' 0. The direction which forestry research has taken has had several important implications :

a) Till very recently, the study of forest ecosystems, and the. impact on them of conventional silvicultural and logging practices, was given short shrift;

b) the concentration of research on commercial trees has been at the expense of the development of quick-growing broad-leaved varieties of fuel and fodder trees, the lack of which is severely felt in almost all rural areas today"

c) the process of classification, intrinsically important for the growth and further development of a science has reflected this bias thus practical utility is indeed the main criteria for distinguishing forest types'.

It is striking that two working plan manuals, written fully fifty eight years apart, should describe the essential features of forest management, as they perceive it, in identical fashion. Both manuals draw a parallel with the commercial world arguing that a forest must be treated just like any other agricultural or industrial undertaking. And as investors require a continuous return from any enterprise in which capital has been invested, the forests, in an analogous fashion, must be managed so as to yield the largest possible average annual return . We have observed that the investigations of forestry science, and its further applications in the management of forests, are predicated upon the prevalent market situation with respect to the industrial commercial demand for different types of forest produce. Inevitably, those groups who control the market are in a position to determine both the development of forestry science and its strategies of technical and human manipulation. Thus, while working plans do recognize the importance of the forest (and of its composition) in stabilizing soil and water regimes, their presumptions invariably emphasize the 'practical' side of forest management.

The Autonomy of Science:

In the sociology of science, scientific research and practice are often accorded a near-total autonomy from the social relations that characterize the epoch in which they function. Sociologists have been chiefly concerned with, firstly, the 'codes of conduct' and methods of disseminating knowledge within different sciences and among groups of scientists, and secondly with the system of ideas which it is claimed gave rise to western science. Moreover, the claims of western science to possess a universal validity and its promise of mankind's material salvation are not called into question71. Orthodox Marxism, too, has regarded science as a relatively autonomous 3rd neutral activity, and one that is by its very nature progressive. Its use abuse model assumes that the potential usefulness of science in serving the human race is not fully realized under capitalism owing to its asymmetrical relations of production—the transformation of social relations that socialism ushers in, therefore, would automatically result in the rational and logical exploitation of science for the people.

It is our contention that the social analysis of science and technology must seek to understand the content of science in the context of the prevalent pattern of social relations. Recent studies have shown that, contrary to accepted belief, in the natural sciences (as in the social sciences) facts cannot be separated from theory. Scientific theories are the expression of the metaphysics of a society and the dominant classes within if they thus form part of the internal communication within the society itself73. It is important to show both the social determinations of science under capitalism, which direct research in the service of profit, and the means by which these determinants are internalized by scientific practitioners, with the resultant direction of research, its methods, and its interpretations (and, as we have shown, the language itself)7. . This is especially so in the case of an applied science like forestry, which does not function in an isolated laboratory (where scientific activity may at least appear to be neutral) but which directly confronts social reality. Forestry, therefore, has to continually adapt itself to relevant changes in the web of social relations (and the system of production) in which it is embedded.

Author: - RAMACHANDRA GUHA

References:

1. The National Forest Poffcy observed : 'Scientific forest management in India owes its inception
to Dr. Brandis' (GOI, 1952 p. 14).

2. P.N.Chopra, ed. The Gazetteer of India, Vol. Ill, Delhi, 1975, p. 62; emphasis added.

3. This enquiry into the nature of Indian forestry science was begun at the suggestion of Professor Madhav Gadgil. Though my approach differs in several important respects the debt to his work-will be obvious.

4. Quoted in' J. C. Reedman and G. S. Chandran, 'Needed research in economics of Indian Forestry1, IJAE 22 (1967):

5. GOI, 'Report of the Working group on energy policy'. Planning Commission, Delhi, 1979,

6. One working plan manual advised with respect to enumeration, that''in many cases... a good description of the crop, is all that is required'. In the opinion of the author, complete enumeration was called for only when' an accurate plan was 'justified by the high revenue expected'

(W. D. Arcy, 'Preparation of forest working plans in India,' Calcutta, 1910, pp. 53-4). The commercial oriented approach of Indian forestry wilfully short-sighted in certain respects, is also typified by Herbert Howard who as the IGF had rejected the need for a complete survey of India's forests on the grounds (that it would be 'such a costly undertaking and so much of the money would be wasted on enumerating valueless species' (Ref. 9 below, p. 22).

7. NCA, Report of the National Commission of Agriculture, Part IX, Forestry, p. 399.

8. Foreword by C. R. Ranganathan,! in U. P. Mathur, 'Forest Management' Dehradun, 1968, p. 6.

9. H. Howard 'Post-war forest policy for India", New Delhi, 1944. p. 17.

10. Centre for Science and Environment, India; 'The State of the Environment, 1982, A Citizens' Report,' .1982.

11. Sudip Mazumdar, 'Mafia cliques plunder of forests alarming', Indian Express 8.11.1982. The W political links of those involved in the operations are also brought out in Raju S ant ha nam' 'Sehore's V.I.P. timber thieves'. The Statesman, 26.5.1982. The illegal trade is not restricted to one
state-see J.N, Sadhu's' Loot of H.P. forests by V.l.P. timber smugglers', Indian Express, 12.1.1982.

12. Voelcker, Report on 'Improvement of Indian Agriculture', Calcutta, 1897, Voelcker, p. 116; Sagreya, 'Forests and Forestry,' Delhi, 1 979, p. 34. Gadgil, 'Towards an Indian conservation strategy", paper presented at the workshop on a new forest policy, ISI, New Delhi, April 12-14, 1982, p, 8.

13. Op. cit, p. viii.' After more than a'century of Indian forestry, a retired IGF was saying much the same thing,' viz. that 'silvicultural command over natural regeneration is," as yet, imperfect in the case of many species' (Ranganathan, in Mathur, op. cit., pp. vii-viii).

14. See, for example; Lohari' WP for the North and South Garhwal Division, U.P. 1958-59 to 1972-3; Allahabad, 1962, p. 175; johri, WP for the Garhwal Forest Division, Kumaon circle, United Provinces, 1940-41 to 1954-5,'Allahabad, 1940, p. 43; Paut, WP for the Tons Forest Division (nonTleased forest), Tehri Garhwal State, 1945-46 to 1964-65, Dehradun, 1948, p. 17.

15. . K. M. Tewari, 'Development of forestry', in S.C.Biswas, ed., 'Study report on the socio-economic development of Himalayan hills'. Planning Commission, Delhi, 1982 (January) p. 42, Chir and blue pine are of course, with deodar, the species most intensively worked for commercial purposes.

16. H. G. Champion and S. K. Seth, 'General Silviculture for India', Delhi, 1 968, p. 263, emphasis added.

17. Gadgil et ah. 'Forest Management in India: a critical review'. CMIE, Bombay, 1982 pp. 18-19, who also point out that the selection system ignores environmental considerations.

18. K. R. Venkatesan; Environmental forestry: the psychological constraints,' paper presented at the National'Seminar, on forests and environment. Bangalore, 2-3 December, 1981. This 'adhocism',. it may be added, has considerably helped overfelling by commercial interests.
Working plan.

19. S. A. Vahid, 'A note on post-war forest policy for H. E. H. the Nizam's dominions', Hyderabad, 1945, p. 17. Lopping is the practice of chopping branches for fuel and leaf fodder (see below).

20. Chandras and Srivastav, 'Forestry, Economics in India - Some Areas for Research', Artha Vijnana 10 (1968), p. 203.