Question

How did the Second World War impact the forests of India and Indonesia?

• A. Many Indonesian villagers took advantage of the war and cut down forests to expand cultivation.
• B. India gave up much of its agricultural plots to the Forest department.
• C. The forest department of India cut trees freely to meet British war needs.
• D. The Japanese managed Javanese forests sustainably and compensated well for cutting down trees.

Answer 1

Answer: (A), (C)

The correct options are
A Many Indonesian villagers took advantage of the war and cut down forests to expand cultivation.
C The forest department of India cut trees freely to meet British war needs.

The Japanese forced the Javanese villagers to cut down their forests for wood. Many villagers took over the cut down regions for agriculture. In India, the forest service freely cut down the forest to meet the war requirements and most of these regions were taken over for agriculture. In both cases, the Forest service of the respective countries had to struggle to get back the agricultural lands.