More than one-third of the forests in the Western Ghats region, which form the ecological backbone of Karnataka and for most of South India, is highly vulnerable, says a study, which warns of dire consequences owing to overuse and over-exploitation of the lush ecosystem.
For perhaps the first time, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) mapped the entire stretch of the Western Ghats in Karnataka that spans 44,900 sq km to find out the “vulnerability” of the forest chain.
The results show a distressing trend.
Overall, 34 per cent of the forests were found to be highly vulnerable. Of this, nearly half of dry deciduous forests (found on the Eastern-sloped) and two-thirds of “plantations”, which are done by the Forest Department to reclaim degraded stretches, were found to be highly vulnerable.
“In layman’s term, vulnerability is part of the forest that is in danger. By showing the areas that are vulnerable, forest policy can be tweaked to focus on these areas,” said Jagamohan Sharma, Chief Conservator of Forests, Water Resources Department, the author of the paper.
Areas such as Shivamogga, Chikkamagalur, Kodagu and fringes of Mysuru district see high human activity, lower rainfall that stunts the forest’s ability to regenerate, and highly fragmented forests make the region prone to degradation.
