Question

The forest Act of 1878 divided forests into _____.
A) Reserved and protected forests
B) Protected and village forests
C) Biosphere reserves and wildlife sanctuaries
D) Reserved, protected, and village forests.

Answer 1

Hint: The Indian Forest Act was enacted to safeguard and preserve the forests generally in India. The Act makes various provisions for the conservation of forests. The scheme provides a State Government to constitute any wastelands or forest lands, which are property of the Government over which the Government has proprietary rights.

Complete answer:
The forest act has details of what are acts prohibited inside a Reserved Forest, what a forest offense is, and penalties chargeable on violation of the provisions of the Act. After the Forest Act was enacted in 1865, it was amended twice in 1878 and 1927.
The British Administration acquired the sovereignty of all wastelands by the forest Act of 1878, which by definition included forests. This Act also enabled the administration to demarcate protected and reserved forests. The local rights were refused in the case of protected forests. But, some privileges given to the local people by the government can be taken away anytime.
This Act classified the forests into three –protected forests, reserved forests, and village forests. The best forests were called ‘reserved forests’. Villagers are not allowed to take anything from these forests, even for their own use. For fuel or house building, they could take wood from village forests or protected forests. It attempted to regulate the collection of forest produce by forest dwellers and some activities declared as offenses and fines and imprisonment were imposed in this policy to establish the state control over forests.
Types of Forests:
Reserved Forests: The most restricted forests are the reserved forests and are constituted by the State Government on any wasteland or forest land which is the property of the Government. In reserved forests, local people are prohibited, unless they are specifically allowed by a Forest Officer in the course of the settlement.
Protected Forests: The State Governments are empowered to constitute any land other than reserved forests are considered as protected forests. The Government has proprietary rights over these forests and the power to issue rules regarding the use of these forests. This power gave the States control over trees, whose timber, non-wood products, or fruit had revenue-raising potential.
Village forest: Village forests are those in which the State Government may assign to any particular village community the rights of Government over or to any land which has been constituted a reserved forest.
Degree of protection
Reserved forests > Protected forests > Village forests

So, the correct option is Option D.

Note By the Indian Forest Act of 1865, the Imperial Forest Department, set up in 1864, tried to establish British control over forests in India, by various legislations. It empowered the British government to declare any land covered with trees as a government forest and make rules to manage it.
The Indian Forest Act of 1927 aimed to regulate the movement of forest produce, and duty leviable forest produces. It also explains the procedure that has to be followed for declaring an area as Protected Forest, Reserved Forest, or a Village Forest.