British Imperialism and its Legacies: Eucalyptus sp. (Gum tree)
- Comments
-
Glasgow Museums has a collection of plants collected from other countries. The specimen seen below is a sample of a gum tree (Eucalyptus sp.) from the Nilgiri Hills in southern India, probably collected around 1860. Gum trees are native to Australia but were introduced to India and many other countries during colonial times. The subsequent large-scale planting of non-native trees was important economically, providing timber for railways and firewood, but it also had wider social and ecological impacts, mostly negative.
The first recorded planting of gum trees in India dates back to 1790 in Bangalore, and in the Nilgiri Hills (Western Ghats) in 1843. The Nilgiri Hills planting was supported by the colonial government, and the forests expanded rapidly. But the plantations affected the local indigenous people and their lifestyles, resulting in the loss of natural woodlands and the associated grassland ecosystem of the Western Ghats. Large areas of land – about 98% of the area – were bought up by European settlers, creating a commercial market-driven economy benefiting large landowners and settlers.
A range of species and hybrids of gum trees have been planted over the years. The trees have many advantages, being fast growing and offering resistance to diseases, fires and browsing by stock. However, they are considered to be damaging to soil ecology and hydrology, as well as being of lower value for biodiversity than native woodlands. In recent years the planting on such a large scale and in unsuitable places as been called into question, and planting has been banned at some locations.
The specimen is part of a larger collection of economic plants donated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, in the 1870s. The gum tree specimen may be linked to two collectors: Hugh Cleghorn (1820–1895), who was the first Conservator of Forests for of the Madras Presidency, and his assistant, and eventual successor, Major RH Beddome (1830–1911). Cleghorn is sometimes considered the father of scientific forestry in India. He was an early advocate of promoting forests to combat climate damage resulting from flooding and soil erosion. The benefits and controversies surrounding tree planting resonate today, and the concept of the right tree in the right place is something which these early forest pioneers may well have agreed with.
- Broader term