Forest administrators in India linked forest cover to climate. By the 1850s “it can hardly be denied that the existence or non-existence of large well-wooded areas in a country naturally capable of growing forests affects its climate in a very marked degree.” Thus precipitation depended upon forests as well as the evaporation of water from the world's oceans. A forest, whether evergreen or deciduous, made the difference between lush green countryside and sandy waste. Administrators in India saw both teak plantations and the reservation of existing forests as essential to the preservation of good climate.

It is possible to misunderstand Indian teak plantations as the farming of timber with little diversity or ecological value. This is a mistake. Early Indian foresters gave careful instructions to guarantee that teak forests were not “pure forest of large extent.” Since the teak tree is leafless during the dry season, the soil loses shade during the hottest part of the year. Thus the soil is easily washed away in the monsoons. Accordingly, a mix of trees is advisable for the teak plantation, with trees that provide shade and also allow for a variety of undergrowth. Vines and underbrush protected plantation soil in this capacity as well. Working plans of plantations involved thinning out teak trees, planting a variety of species, and monitoring soil and water quality.

Plantations reclaimed desert or waste areas where man's abuse had destroyed a once pristine “household of nature.”