REPORT |
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Bio Prospecting
Mapping Life
Renu Swarup1, Sundeep Sarin1, S. Natesh1, and K N Ganeshaiah2#
(swarup@dbt.nic.in / sundeep@dbt.nic.in / natesh.dbt@nic.in / kng@vsnl.com)
1: Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi, 2: School of Ecology and Conservation,
UAS Bangalore, #: Co-ordinator on behalf of the over fifty co-workers of the
Western Ghats Program |
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Quantification and mapping of plant resources has been initiated in three different geographic areas of the country that are known for their biological richness: Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and Eastern Himalayas.
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Global demand for biological resources from the wild has been continuously on the rise. The annual demand of botanical raw drugs in the country is estimated to be 3,19,500 MT for the year 2005-2006 valued at Rs. 1069 crores (D. K. Ved and G. S. Goraya, 2008). 6000 plants are currently being used by the herbal drug industry in some form of the other. About 960 medicinal plants constitute the source of 1289 botanical raw drugs with 178 species being consumed in volumes exceeding 100 MT per year. Most of this demand is met from the wild populations without any assessment of their actual availability on a sustainable basis. This dependency on wild populations of plants for life saving drugs will not reduce for a longtime to come for at least two reasons: a) non-availability of technology for domestication of the large set of species and, b) growing competition for land between cultivation and developmental activities. The dependency on exploitation of wild resources would continue unabated despite new regulations and controls.
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Indiscriminate extraction of biological material from the wild threatens their survival, even to the extent of pushing some species into extinction. It is hence important to develop sustainable harvesting regimes that do not undermine the capability of a plant species to survive in the wild. Sustainable utilization of economically important components of biological diversity requires the understanding of three important elements: How much of what resources are available where in the country. In other words, developing a sustainable utilization plan demands data beyond just numbers. It is not enough to just know how much of what resources we have, but also where these resources are located. Spatial maps of distribution of biological resources help in assessing the gaps between their demand and natural supply and in alerting about possible local extinctions of species due to unsustainable exploitation levels of harvesting. Such data sets are also important to arrive at locale specific estimates of sustainable levels of harvest for different species.
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While we still have some idea of how much is being harvested from the wild, it is unfortunate that we do not yet have any data on How much of What is available, let alone Where!. In order to address these questions, National Bioresource Development Board, DBT has initiated a network of national programs focusing on quantitative assessment of biological resources of major biodiversity rich areas of the country such as the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and Eastern Himalayas (see map on previous page). It is planned to extend this network to other important areas such as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Vindhya & Aravali mountain ranges and the Trans-Himalayan belt.
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These programs are unique in several ways in terms of the overall approach being pursued as well as the scale at which they are being undertaken:
a) These efforts represent first ever inventories where the entire global hotspot is surveyed at a very fine scale of ~6.25 X 6.25 KM (~40 sq km). The entire study area is divided into several thousand grids (for example, 3320 grids for Western Ghats). Within each grid one km. transects are laid to sample vegetation heterogeneity.
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b) The study enumerates all the plant resources (herbs, trees, shrubs and regenerants) and their population status in each grid. This makes it possible to understand resource levels and conservation status of each species across spatial dimensions. The data generated in the process helps in assessing and mapping the plant resources in different parts of the country. From these data sets it would be possible to assess the total resource available for any species and also the levels of harvesting possible on a sustainable basis.
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c) The teams use satellite data for identifying vegetation heterogeneity and for stratifying sampling units across this heterogeneity. In essence all the vegetation types are properly represented during the survey making possible an appropriate estimation of resource status.
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d) For the first time all teams working across the country in different biodiversity rich areas adopt a uniform methodology for stratifying, sampling and enumeration to make data sets from various geographical regions comparable with each other..
Among the programs that have already been initiated, the one focusing on Western Ghats is now at an advanced stage having covered 70 percent of the area and results made available online (www.ibin.co.in). The data, so made available, is already helping in mapping the hotspots of resource diversity and availability (see maps on pg. 19). It is expected that within the next six months the data from the Eastern Ghats would also be similarly made available on the web. The website also offers thematic maps depicting distribution of populations along the Western Ghats enabling users to derive information on availability of specific resources in different areas (see map alongside). The data sets generated so far suggest that some species have already reached critical levels in certain areas and are in of need careful planning for their long term conservation.
While a variety of outcomes are expected from these data sets, preliminary analysis has shown that for a number of species the geographic range has been found to be extended (see table above). New varieties and species of Ceropegia have been described by the study groups working along the northern part of Maharashtra.
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Besides assisting in mapping plant resources and highlighting their status, the data collected for the Western Ghats has also shown that while some of the species have been recovered in hitherto unknown ranges, some have been found to have extended their ranges in the last one hundred years. Some species that were thought to have been extinct have also recovered (see pg. 20).
Another significant feature of these programs is that the groups working in different areas come together periodically to share and interact to develop a common methodology and sampling strategy and execute the same uniformly across regions. This allows various data sets generated to be subsequently integrated which is another important and unique feature of the program. |
