Western Ghats Kokum Foundation - Organic Farming Association of ...

Status and Prospects of Kokum in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka
Prabhakar R. Bhat
Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, SIRSI -581 402, Karnataka.
Forests in the Western Ghats harbour a rich and diverse plant life and provide a
whole range of forest products to the local population. Non-Wood Forest Produces
(NWFPs) have great significance for local communities in meeting their subsistence needs
through the supply of food and nutrition, medicines, oils, dyes, aromatic substances,
flavourings etc. Further, non-wood forest products offer local community a basis for
employment and income generation along with other farming activities.
NWFPs provide livelihood for millions of rural people who live in and around the
forest. They offer considerable potential in the conservation of tropical forests through
judicious harvest, and by enhancing rural income and motivating people to conserve their
resource base. Thus, they have become an important aspect in forest conservation
programmes that are aimed at extracting NWFPs in a sustainable way and consequently
conserve the forest as well.
Forests of Karnataka
Karnataka is endowed with some of the most magnificent forests in the country
ranging from the majestic evergreen forests of the Western Ghats to the scrub jungles of the
plains. The forests comprise of several types ranging from fragile coastal mangroves along
the coastlines to tropical wet evergreen forests all along the Western Ghats. The total forest
cover of Karnataka is 36991 square kilometer representing around 19.3 percent of the total
geographical area of the state and 5.5% of the country. Forests in Karnataka are classified in
to reserve forests, protected forest, village forests, unclassified, and private forests (Table
1). The area under dense canopy cover (canopy density more than 40%) is nearly 13.6 per
cent of the total geographical area of the state while 5.6 per cent falls under open forests
(canopy density between 10 to 40 per cent) and 3245 square kilometer of scrub (canopy
density less than 10 per cent).
Table 1: Classification of Recorded Forest Area in Karnataka on the Basis of Legal
Status
S. No. Legal Status Area (Sq. Km) Percent
1 Reserved forests 28,689.97 74.94
2 Protected forests 3,930.70 10.27
3 Village forests 124.20 0.32
4 Unclassified forests 5,230.99 13.66
5 Private forests 308.42 0.81
Total 38,284.28 100.00
Source: State of the Environment Report and Action Plan - 2003
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Resource Book on Kokum (Garcinia indica Choisy)
Western Ghats Kokum Foundation, Panaji - Goa