Dry tropical forests constitute an important group representing more than 45 per cent of the forests in the Indian state of Karnataka. These forests comprise all dry deciduous and thorn forests of the state along with their degraded formations, being distributed in numerous patches over about 80 per cent of the state’s geographical area. The scattered but widespread presence of these forests is evident from the fact that 21 out of a total of 31 districts have only dry tropical forests, and another seven also have substantial dry tropical forests. The book, ‘Distribution of Trees Across the Dry Tropical Forests of Karnataka’, aims at providing an analytical overview of how trees and other plants occur in these forests. The analysis is based on feedback provided by field functionaries of the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) in pursuance of a project initiated by KFD in collaboration with the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (KSRSAC), Bengaluru, to study various aspects of the state’s forests. Range-wise segregation of the data has thrown light on various attributes such as forest types, tree distribution, tree association, tree dominance, tree preponderance, etc. in each forest range. Comparative analysis of such information for a cluster of ranges enables understanding of how these attributes change across a larger landscape such as a forest division or a forest circle. Analysis of the data has also provided information about the extent of fragmentation of natural forests due to plantations. Such information can be quite useful in rehabilitating monoculture patches back to natural forest.
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DIPAK SARMAH, IFS (Retd.)
Shri Dipak Sarmah, a retired Indian Forest Service (1977) officer of the Karnataka cadre, started his career in the Western Ghats, serving in the region for more than a decade. He also served in the Government of India as a Deputy Adviser, Planning Commission, and as Deputy Inspector General of Forests, Forest Policy, Ministry of Environment and Forests (1991-1995). Later, he served in several positions in the Government of Karnataka including Secretary (Forest), PCCF (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, superannuating in December 2013 as PCCF (Head of Forest Force). Post retirement, Shri Sarmah has devoted himself to writing on various aspects of forestry, wildlife and agroforestry with special emphasis on the state of Karnataka. He is the author of a number of books on these subjects. In 2011, Shri Dipak Sarmah was nominated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India to the Monitoring Committee to supervise iron ore mining operations in Karnataka. He continues to serve as the Chairman of the Committee to date.
