History
Write a comment on the closure of the forests to grazing from the standpoint of:
- a forester
- a pastoralist
Answer
A forester — As a forester, I would support the closure of forests to grazing. Grazing can disrupt ecosystems, damage vegetation, and negatively impact wildlife populations. Grazing can hinder natural forest regeneration. Young trees and saplings are vulnerable to damage from livestock. Over-grazing leads to soil erosion. I would ensure the closure of the forests to grazing as it will protect the forests from all the above listed factors.
A pastoralist — As a pastoralist, I would face many challenges as my livelihood directly depends upon the grazing of animals in forests. Grazing provides fodder for my livestock. If forests are closed, we would need alternative grazing areas. Finding suitable land for livestock will become difficult for us, especially in regions with limited pastureland.
Related Questions
Read Sources A and B.
- Write briefly about what they tell you about the nature of the work undertaken by men and women in pastoral households.
- Why do you think pastoral groups often live on the edges of forests?
Source A
Writing in the 1850s, G.C. Barnes gave the following description of the Gujjars of Kangra:
‘In the hills the Gujjars are exclusively a pastoral tribe – they cultivate scarcely at all. The Gaddis keep flocks of sheep and goats and the Gujjars, wealth consists of buffaloes. These people live in the skirts of the forests, and maintain their existence exclusively by the sale of the milk, ghee, and other produce of their herds. The men graze the cattle, and frequently lie out for weeks in the woods tending their herds. The women repair to the markets every morning with baskets on their heads, with little earthen pots filled with milk, butter-milk and ghee, each of these pots containing the proportion required for a day’s meal. During the hot weather the Gujjars usually drive their herds to the upper range, where the buffaloes rejoice in the rich grass which the rains bring forth and at the same time attain condition from the temperate climate and the immunity from venomous flies that torment their existence in the plains.’
From: G.C. Barnes, Settlement Report of Kangra, 1850-55.
Source B
The accounts of many travellers tell us about the life of pastoral groups. In the early nineteenth century, Buchanan visited the Gollas during his travel through Mysore. He wrote:
‘Their families live in small villages near the skirt of the woods, where they cultivate a little ground, and keep some of their cattle, selling in the towns the produce of the dairy. Their families are very numerous, seven to eight young men in each being common. Two or three of these attend the flocks in the woods, while the remainder cultivate their fields, and supply the towns with firewood, and with straw for thatch.’
From: Francis Hamilton Buchanan, A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar (London, 1807).
Imagine you are living in the 1890s. You belong to a community of nomadic pastoralists and craftsmen. You learn that the Government has declared your community as a Criminal Tribe.
- Describe briefly what you would have felt and done.
- Write a petition to the local collector explaining why the Act is unjust and how it will affect your life.
Imagine that it is 1950 and you are a 60-year-old Raika herder living in post-Independence India. You are telling your grand-daughter about the changes which have taken place in your lifestyle after Independence. What would you say?
Imagine that you have been asked by a famous magazine to write an article about the life and customs of the Maasai in pre-colonial Africa. Write the article, giving it an interesting title.