ABSTRACT
Centuries before British merchants and timber entrepreneurs began to cast covetous eyes on the vast and highly variegated forests of the region that makes up the contemporary nation of Burma, the forest products of the area were renowned throughout much of the Southeast Asian segment of the great Asiatic trading network. The importance of teak and other forest products in the pre-colonial era is also indicated by the fact that forests were traditionally declared the property and exclusive preserves of Burmese monarchs. From the 1840s onward, the efforts of concerned British officials to set aside forest reserves and regulate commercial cutting in Burma were concentrated almost exclusively on the evergreen rainforest and deciduous monsoon forest areas where European speculators had centered their activities and forest depletion had been the most severe. Malarial epidemics were among the most immediate adverse effects of widespread deforestation in Lower Burma.
