ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the historical changes in the philosophy and practice of forest use in the study-areas. It reviews the historical trends in forest use which have alienating effects on local people in the study-areas. The chapter illustrates the gradual transformation of the localized and more informal pattern of forest use to a centralized-commercialized one. The process of commercialization of forest use and the consequent alienation of local communities was sparked by the colonial intrusion on the Indian sub-continent. The trends in forest commercialization were sparked by the early Company rule which was characterised by “rampant profiteering” and maximized exploitation. Principally, the forms of forest use in the field-case localities include grazing, timber logging, fuel wood extraction for commercial purposes, domestic fuel collection, and public afforestation activities. M. Edwardes, in his extensive study of the British Indian history, noted that the Company administration’s “only interest was in profit” and they took recourse to “predatory activities” in fulfilling their interests.
