Harcharan Singh

Dietrich Brandis, a German expert, was appointed the first Inspector-General of Forests in India.
His ideas and achievements for the management of forests are stated in the points below:
(i) He formulated new forest legislation and helped establish research and training institutions. The Imperial Forest Research Institute at Dehradun was founded by him in 1906.
(ii) He set up the Indian Forest Service (IFS) in 1864 and helped to formulate the Indian Forest Act of 1865.
(iii) He took an interest in the forest flora of North-West and Central India and Indian trees.
(iv) He was among the earliest expert in India to formally link forest protection with local people.

Forestry is the study of this complex interaction, the management of the various components of the forest, the preservation of its' natural balance (of forests and the life forms they support) as well as the care of it to ensure its' wellbeing.

Good forestry programs also make it possible for humans to get some economic value from it, without hurting the forests in any way. This way of using the forest is known as Sustainable Forestry.

(i) In the 16th century price of wool increased. This prompted rich farmers to expand wool production to increase profits. For this purpose they were keen to enclose lands.

(ii) To improve sheep breeding and ensure good feed enclosures become necessary. They therefore began to enclose common land and grow hedges around their holdings to keep out the poor.

(iii) These enclosures were usually created by individual efforts and not supported by the state or church.

(iv) While 16th century enclosures were driven by need to increase wool production, those in the 18th century were a result of need to increase grain production.

(v) Rapid expansion of English population, growing industrialisation and urbanisation led to increase in demand and price of grain.

(vi) By end of 18th century England was at war with France. This disrupted import of food grain supplies. As prices increased further, landowners enclosed lands to bring land under cultivation. Landowners pressurised the Parliament to pass Enclosure Acts.

(vii) By 1850, nearly 6 million hectares of land was enclosed and the British Parliament had passed 4,000 Acts legalising these enclosures.