Environmental History of India: Vol. 2: Forests and Wildlife

This is the second volume in the series Environmental History of India, covering the ‘History of India’s Forests and Wildlife’. Forests were considered to be divine abodes and a source of inspiration. Animals received respect as creations bound equally by karma and rebirth. Land was sacred. Sacred groves abounded all over the country, as mini biosphere reserves. Yet, over time, all these ideas collapsed, leading to environmental degradation and, consequently, human suffering. Environmental factors, such as climate change and natural disasters, prolonged drought, changing river courses, floods and earthquakes have impacted agriculture, water availability and the stability or decline of civilizations. Similarly, human activities, such as wars, migrations, changing lifestyles, urbanisation and industrialisation, have impacted India’s environment and biodiversity, leading to deforestation, loss of wildlife, air and water pollution and land degradation. The food chain and water cycle were disturbed, and today, entire species of animals, birds and insects are either threatened or wiped out, while exotic species have entered the forests, causing new problems. This book covers the changing land uses of north, south, east and north-east and western India. Forests once conserved by local communities have disappeared in the absence of ownership by local communities.