The First World War and the Second World War had a major impact on forests. Explain the statement with five facts. ( 5 marks)
- First World War and Second World War had major impacts on the forests.
- In India, trees were cut to meet the British war needs while the earlier plans were abandoned.
- Before the arrival of the Japanese in Java , the Dutch followed the ' Scorched Earth Policy', destroying the sawmills and burning huge piles of giant teak logs so that it would not fall into Japanese hands.
- Japanese when occupied it , they also exploited forests recklessly for their own industries.They forced villagers to cut down forests which also gave an opportunity to the villagers to expand their cultivation.
- After the war, it was difficult for the Indonesian Forest Service to get the land back.
- In India, people needed the agricultural land and fought with the forest department for it .