Which activity was made an offence by forest laws in Java?

Correct answer: Taking cattle into forests without permission

Direct answer: Option A is correct. Java’s forest laws could make it an offence to take cattle into forests without permission. Colonial authorities wanted to reserve forests for timber production and regulate entry, grazing and other customary uses. Step by step: the government declared forest areas controlled; entry required permission; grazing cattle counted as forest use; entering with cattle without permission therefore became punishable. Option A is correct because it describes a direct breach of a forest rule. Option B is wrong because sowing seeds in one’s field is an agricultural activity and is not the specific offence described. Option C is wrong because cooking at home is unrelated to forest control. Option D is wrong because watching a boat in a river is neither forest entry nor grazing. The lesson is that laws changed ordinary village practices into punishable acts when they occurred in controlled forests. Memory cue: no permission plus cattle in a reserved forest could mean an offence.