Forests and Ecological History of Assam

by Saikia, Arupjyoti

• ISBN13: 9780198069539
• ISBN10: 0198069537
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-04-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book presents a comprehensive account of the transformation of Assam's forests and ecology from the colonial times to the present. It examines the role of British intervention and imperial forestry practices highlighting the changes in traditional resource utilization patterns. The volume explores the question of law and conservation; role of institutions and organizations; and the changing role of the forests in imperial economy. It shows how current ecological conflicts areintricately located in the colonial era when forests, land and resource based conflicts began to take new shape. The author also discusses plantations, silvicultural practices, questions of protection and regeneration; and livelihood practices. He shows how the making of forest policy in thepost-colonial period was defined more by the complexities of the political matrix. The book also engages with public debates surrounding ecology and environment and examines changes in conservation practices after the 1980 Act. This book will interest scholars and students of modern Indian history and environmental studies particularly those concerned with northeast India.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
List of Abbreviations	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
Mapping and Imagining Forests: From Mercantilism to Imperial Forestry	p. 20
Conservation, Spatial Order, and New Landscape	p. 69
Regional Forest: Institutions and Organizations	p. 114
Forests in Assam: Merchant Trade to Imperial Economy	p. 146
Science in the Forests: Rethinking Conservation	p. 205
From Game to Wildlife Conservation: Redefining Conservation	p. 253
Livelihood Practices and Dynamics of Forest Conservation	p. 306
The Political Forests	p. 350
Select Bibliography	p. 359
Index	p. 377
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