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Commonwealth
Forests | | |
 History
The history of Commonwealth forestry research, like that of the art and science of forestry
itself, is largely based upon the practices developed in British India at a time when the country
encompassed Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in addition to the present day Republic of
India. Research on the Indian subcontinent followed the setting up the Indian Forest Service
under Lord Dalhousie in 1855. Dr Dietrich Brandis was the first Inspector General of Forests,
bringing with him the experience and the principles of sustained management in the forests of
Saxony and the first silvicultural principles were enacted in 1856. Government of India research
institutions were set up at Dehra Dun (Imperial Forest Research Institute and College, 1906,
which became the Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education in 1989) with regional
centres at Coimbatore, Bangalore, Jabalpur, and Burnihat to cover a wide range of eco-zones.
Research is carried out also by silviculturists in individual states; some of these research
teams were already well established before 1900.
The main concerns of forest research were, from the start, the sustained yield of timber (with
teak in first place), the protection of watersheds and the supply of non-timber forest products.
In addition to reserved forests, game reserves were also important and, in British India until
independence, large areas of forest remained in the hands of feudal landlords. After
independence, forest research in Pakistan was centred at Peshawar, in Bangladesh at
Chittagong and in Sri Lanka at Kandy.
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