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

Table 2: Forest Cover and Forest Types in Karnataka and their Extent
Forest Cover of Karnataka in sq. kms Forest Types
t
Dense forests 26,156
Evergreen 4.350 (11.36) Semi-
Open forests 10,835 evergreen 1,450(03.79) Moist
deciduous 5,780 (15.10) Dry
Total 36,991 deciduous 7,270 (18.99) Thorn
forests 8,340(21.78) (Scrub)
Un-wooded 11,094(28.98) (Number
in parenthesis is percent )
Source: State of the Environment Report and Action Plan - 2003
Forests in Karnataka support a wide range of biodiversity and play an important
role in the socio-economic scenario of the state. Population meets its major share of basic
needs from these forests. People gather and harvest a variety of non-wood forest products
such as gum, cane, myrobalans, edible fruits, seeds, and a variety of herbs from forests.
NWFPs provide sustenance to the rural and tribal people. Eleven districts in the state have
the presence of Western Ghats forests and Uttara Kannada is one of them.
District of Uttara Kannada
Uttara Kannada district (13°52' to 15°31'N and 74°9' to 75°10'E) is the
northernmost coastal district of Karnataka. It has a total geographical area of 10,291 km2
and accounts for 5.4% of the total area of the state. The district has lot of ecological
significance with its location at the centre of Western Ghats. The district is divided in to
characteristic four distinct regions depending on the physical features and natural
resources available. They are Coastal region, Foothills of Western Ghat, Hilly region,
Eastern transition region. The Western Ghats covers a substantial portion of the district.
The hills rise to 600-700 m above msl. The average annual precipitation is 2742 mm
ranging from 1000 mm in the eastern transition area to 5000 mm on the coast.
Uttara Kannada which is divided in to 11 talukas administratively has a total population of
13, 53,299 (Census, 2001) and more than 3 lakh households. By utilising available natural
resources the people practice agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry for livelihood
and also have a number of small scale forest and agro-based industries.
Forest Resources of Uttara Kannada
Kannada is endowed with rich forest wealth. Total forest cover is 781,600 ha which
accounts for nearly 76% of the total geographical area of the district. The district has an
undulating terrain with a long contiguous tract of tropical forests. The major forest types
found here are tropical wet evergreen forest (14%), semi-evergreen forest (25%), moistdeciduous
(35%), dry deciduous (26%) and mangrove forests. These forests are
categorized into different forests according to the ownership pattern. State Forest
Department manages the most part of the forests in the district.
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Resource Book on Kokum (Garcinia indica Choisy)
Western Ghats Kokum Foundation, Panaji - Goa