In the nineteenth century, when it became important to control territory and not just people, the Dutch enacted forest laws in Java, restricting villagers’ access to forests. Now wood could only be cut for specified purposes making river boats or constructing houses, ad only from specific forests under close supervision. Villagers were punished for grazing cattle in young stands, transporting od without a permit, or travelling on forest ads with horse carts or cattle.
As in India, the need to manage forests for building and railways led to the introduction of a forest service. In 1882, 280,000 sleepers were exported from Java alone. However, all this required labour to cut the trees, transport the logs and prepare the sleepers. The Dutch first imposed rents on land being cultivated in the forest and then exempted some villages from these rents if they worked collectively to provide free labour and buffaloes for cutting and transporting timber. This was known as the blandongdiensten system. Later, instead of rent exemption, forest villagers were given small wages, but their right to cultivate forest land was restricted.
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