Question: who own the forest and wildlife in india

title: Forestry in India
text: In 1840 , the British colonial administration promulgated an ordinance called Crown Land ( Encroachment ) Ordinance . This ordinance targeted forests in Britain 's Asian colonies , and vested all forests , wastes , unoccupied and uncultivated lands to the crown . The Imperial Forest Department was established in India in 1864 . The British state monopoly over Indian forests was first asserted through the Indian Forest Act of 1865 . This law simply established the government 's claims over forests . The British colonial administration then enacted a further far - reaching Forest Act of 1878 , thereby acquiring the sovereignty of all wastelands which in its definition included all forests . This Act also enabled the administration to demarcate reserved and protected forests . In the former , all local rights were abolished while in the latter some existing rights were accepted as a privilege offered by the British government to the local people which can be taken away if necessary . These colonial laws brought the forests under the centralised sovereignty of the state . Sir Dietrich Brandis , the Inspector General of Forests in India from 1864 to 1883 , is regarded as the father not only of modern scientific forestry in India , but also as the `` father of tropical forestry . '' 

Answer: answer: The British colonial administration enacted a further far - reaching Forest Act of 1878, thereby acquiring the sovereignty of all wastelands which in its definition included all forests.  These colonial laws brought the forests under the centralised sovereignty of the state.