This uniquely detailed study of the most wooded disricts in India -- North Canara (Uttara Kanada) in the Western Ghats, Karnataka, reveals that economic stake as well as a conservation agenda were at the centre of the British forest policy in the area.  The study also argues that one of the most destructive consequences of colonial intervention was the disruption of social organisation, which was originally closely linked to the environment.  In undersanding these socio-economic changes, one may find some answers to the challenge of contemporary attempts to reconcile the needs of the local communities with the conservation of a vulnerable environment.