Readings in Environmental History

In Environment and Empire, British historians William Beinhart and Lotte Hughes write about the “environment” of the lands of the British Empire as they existed at the start of colonization and then as they changed during about three centuries of empire. The authors’ main theme is that, in constructing its global empire, Great Britain did much environmental damage to these various lands while extracting natural resources that it needed to fuel its industrial revolution, but that at the same time it often acted as a wise steward of these lands by establishing conservation policies and practices which protected the environment for future uses. The authors also note that, in many of these lands, the British, as colonizers, did not initiate environmental damage but simply increased the rate at which it was already being caused by the activities of the indigenous populations. Examples of this are given from Canada, South Africa, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia and other lands that at one time or another were parts of the British Empire. The authors also note that, in many instances, the conservation efforts by British authorities were of a pioneering nature and often superior to those of the indigenous population– both pre-colonization and post-colonization. The authors document many instances in which indigenous populations either opposed conservation measures by the British or, once they achieved self-government, degraded the reserves and national parks established by the British as part of its imperial conservation policies.

 
In Chapter 17, the authors note the tension in the post-colonization period as countries whose environments had been damaged, but also in part conserved, during British administration, struggled to balance their own desire to protect the environment with their economic need to keep pace with the rest of the industrial world by engaging in resource extractive activities themselves. One prominent example cited by the authors is India, which after gaining its independence from Great Britain, initiated a policy of rapid industrialization, oftentimes at the expense of its natural environment (see text, pp 276-277). A review of a number of blogs and other sites on the internet suggests that the authors’ assessment of this circumstance in post-independence India is not inaccurate, although Indian historians tend to take a longer view of the environmental history of their country.

Jim Dubelko