Why can deforestation be called the cost of colonial development?

Correct answer: Because forest resources declined for railways roads ships and plantations

The direct answer is D: forest resources declined because railways, roads, ships, and plantations needed large quantities of wood. Colonial development was not resource-free. Railways required sleepers and fuel, ships required strong timber, roads and construction consumed wood, and plantations cleared natural forests. The reasoning is: imperial projects expand; projects need land and timber; trees are cut and forests are converted; natural forest resources decline. Option A is wrong because development did take resources. Option B is wrong because forests were not fully saved. Option C is wrong because local rights generally came under pressure rather than increasing. Option D is correct because it names several major colonial demands and their cost to forests. The word “cost” means that economic expansion produced environmental and social loss. Memory cue: development project plus timber demand equals pressure on forests.