Whose power increased due to forest laws in Java?

Correct answer: Dutch colonial government

Direct answer: Option A, the Dutch colonial government. Forest laws usually do more than regulate trees; they also decide who may enter, collect, work or profit from forests. In Java, the Dutch government made legal claims over forests and created rules for their use. Step by step: the state declared authority; officials enforced regulations; villagers’ customary access became narrower; the administration gained the power to punish and control; therefore Dutch colonial power increased. Option A is correct. Option B is wrong because local village councils did not gain the main authority under colonial forest laws. Option C is wrong because Saminists resisted state control rather than becoming the stronger government. Option D is wrong because cotton farmers were not the central institution whose power expanded. Memory cue: a colonial forest law generally strengthens the colonial state, not the local community.