Front 1,side Bak Inner,Fnt2 - Shodhgangashodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/4796/16/16_chapter 2.pdf · Most of the pristine vegetation forms are located in the hilly terrains

CHAPTER- II

Review of Literature Review of Literature

Chapter – II Review of Literature

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2.1. Introduction

Forest resources are the best asset a Nation could ever retain. A country's health is

determined by the natural wealth it possesses (Khoshoo, 1996). Forests--the home of the

Plant kingdom works as a storehouse to supply all the Basic Life Supporting System

(Bliss) to the mankind and other organisms. Besides the tangible and intangible benefit

flow, the Plant kingdom also extends subtle blessings and wisdom to the aspirants through

their spirit of unending services in silence as monks. Thus forests as a composition of

enumerable plants operate as the Sea of monks being panacea to the human beings and

other organisms.

Population explosion causing explosion in material demand has led to

indiscriminate clearing and destruction of these intrinsic forest resources over the years.

Over exploitations and imbalances in management practices in past and tremendous biotic

pressure is pushing the rate of deforestation towards desertification every day. The only

option to end this alarming situation is to sustain the available resources.

The development in science has led to certain policies, methodologies and

techniques for better conservation and sustainability. Studies starting from simple species

richness and inventory to a tremendously improved monitoring using the latest technology

i.e., Remote Sensing, Geographical Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System

(GPS) and finally Geoinformatics in totality has found utility in various fields starting

from Geology, Climate, Soil etc to Biodiversity assessment and their interrelationships in

planning and decision making. Modelling for sustainable and strategic management of

forest resources is another aspect, simplifying and providing better understanding of the

forest status in desired angles for better management. The most important application is

conservation and management of priority sites i.e., Biodiversity Hotspots with special

attention to the medicinal plants for this studies. This review spans with all important

related issues as follows:

2.2. Natural Forests

Natural forests are one of the most magnificent terrestrial ecosystems of the world.

Over time, due to the population explosion and its increased demand, the dependence on


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forests has crossed the carrying capacity of the forests. This has resulted in large-scale

global deforestation and forest degradation (Kushwaha et al., 2000). Deforestation has

many ecological, social and economic consequences, one of which is the loss of biological

diversity (Jha et al., 2000) and has affected a number of species worldwide (Ciesla, 1989).

Biodiversity is a very precious natural resource because it contains the gene pool, which is

the product of evolution of four billion years, and it is the basis for the very existence of

life on earth. Any loss in this gene pool is irreversible and detrimental to mankind.

Most of the pristine vegetation forms are located in the hilly terrains. Because of

its altitudinal range it has a wide range of edapho-climatic conditions, creating conducive

atmosphere for more plant species to grow well in this region, than the surrounding plains.

Hill areas are frequently affected by extensive soil erosion, land slides, deforestation,

overgrazing and drought caused due to wanton destruction of hill slopes for development

(Dobhal, 1987; NRSA, 1998).

Forest type and density are the two important elements in both management and

sustainable utilization (Martin et al., 1998) of forest resources. Maps are the most

effective and convenient forms of storing the spatial data base of natural resources like

forests. Conventional mapping procedures are time consuming and accuracy of

information is also questionable in many cases (Tiwari et al., 1996). The application of

recent technology such as Remote sensing, GIS and GPS are widely employed to

overcome difficulties in vegetation mapping.

2.2.1. Remote sensing in forest resource management

The science of remote sensing is based on interaction of earth surface features with

electromagnetic radiation from the Sun. Earth surface features have three types of

interactions with light viz., absorption, reflection and transmission. The behavior of

interaction by different objects assists us in identification of various features. Land use

and vegetation assessment is one of the most important parameters, which can be done

very efficiently using remote sensing (Tiwari et al., 1996) Remote sensing system can

provide information about the location, availability and changing conditions of natural

resources, in specific areas, information that is essential for establishing appropriate

priorities and effective planning for land management (Adrien and Baumgarduer, 1977).


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2.2.2. Digital classification

Mapping of vegetation through satellite images can be done using visual

interpretation of images (Beaubren, 1986) or through computer aided digital classification

such as supervised, unsupervised (Jensen, 1986) and hybrid classification (Hoffer, 1986;

Behera et al., 2000) or by onscreen visual interpretation (Kushwaha et al., 2000;

Jayakumar et al., 2002a). A number of image enhancement procedures are now available

(Saha and Kudrat, 1992) which enhance the contrast between various land surface features

and thus mapping is more accurate and meaningful. The aerial photographs were being

used for such studies for more than three decades in India for assessing vegetation cover

(Tiwari and Singh, 1987).

Digital classification of satellite data provides a better identification of various

colour tones when compared to human eyes (Tiwari et al., 1996). Computer can handle

larger number of spectral bands for classification in comparison to a maximum of three (in

the form of false colour composite) in visual interpretation.

In a supervised classification, the identity and location of certain representative

patches of the land cover types present in a landscape need to be identified prior to

classification. Initial field input is normally required for adequate map accuracy (Lark,

1995).This can prove a limitation in relatively inaccessible tropical areas

(Rey-Benayas and Pope, 1995). Jha et al., (1993) have demonstrated the effect of various

enhancements in vegetation type’s reparability.

The utilization of supervised and unsupervised techniques for training set selection

is called hybrid classification. Behara et al., (2000) attempted to classify the forest region

using supervised, unsupervised and hybrid techniques and they concluded that hybrid

approach has been found to be effective especially in hilly and mountainous areas.

However, post classification editing is needed in the shaded areas. Head on screen image

interpretation is also found to be suitable for classification. This method facilitated the

interpreter in many ways (Kushwaha et al., 2000; and Jayakumar et al., 2002b). It is

obvious that there are number of techniques available for classification and utilization of

any such technique is generally based on the extent of area of study, time, money and

expertise availability.


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2.2.3. Forest Types classification in India

Application of satellite remote sensing for forestry and environmental studies in

India was initiated during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The initial studies using

Landsat MSS data were mainly based on visual interpretation of false colour composite

(FCC) and were restricted to broad level classification mainly depicting closeness of

canopy (Unni et al., 1983; Tiwari, 1983). The first countrywide forest cover mapping

using Landsat MSS imagery pertaining to 1972 – 1975 and 1980 -1982 was carried out by

NRSA (1983) adopting visual interpretation techniques on 1: 1 million scale false color

composites. The study highlighted rampant deforestation and forest degradation in

absolute terms and created tremendous awareness on use of remote sensing for forest

cover assessment. This exercise also demonstrated that small-scale national forest cover

estimates could be conveniently made within short period thus saving cost and time.

Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehra Dun was formed in 1981 under the Ministry of

Environment and Forests. FSI has adopted the techniques and the technology used by

NRSA and taken over the task of assessing the country’s forest cover at definite intervals

of time. This organization also makes inventory of growing stock using remote sensing

and ground data conjunctively. Beginning in 1981, FSI has made seven such assessments.

Presently, they map the forests in India once in two years on 1: 2,50,000 and 1: 50,000

scale using Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) data available from NRSA, Hyderabad.

According to the latest report of FSI (2005) the forest cover status of India is 6, 77,100

km2 which is 20.60 percent of the total geographical area.

The initial remote sensing studies on forest related aspects were based on aerial

photographs, mostly black and white. The aerial photo-interpretation technique was the

most popular tool for vegetation mapping till early 1980s.

Unni et al., (1985) evaluated the use of Landsat digital data for mapping forest

features in a part of Godavari basin, India. Porwal and Roy (1992) used Landsat

TM false color composite to classify the highly heterogeneous forest environment of

Western Ghats, Kerala using visual interpretation technique. Nagendra and Gadgil (1999)

employed supervised and unsupervised classification techniques on IRS 1B LISS II digital

data in west coast moist forest eco-region of Western Ghats of India.

Behera et al., (2000) attempted to stratify and map the Taxus baccata bearing

forest in Talle Valley of North Eastern Himalayas using IRS 1C LISS III digital data by


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digital classification techniques on 1: 50,000 scale. Jha et al., (2000) mapped the present

status of forest cover and the changes it has undergone between 1973 and 1995 in the

south part of Western Ghats forest region using IRS 1B LISS 1 and Landsat MSS digital

data. They classified the forest region by supervised classification technique on 1:

2,50,000 scale. Ramachandran et al., (2005) have done a case study on Kolli hills, Eastern

Ghats of Tamil Nadu where, they have insisted on the need for reclassification of Indian

forest types rather than following the same old classification of Champion and Seth

(1968).

2.2.4. Accuracy assessment

Evaluation of mapping accuracy is considered yet another important task in

deciding the reliability of the maps. Various statistical methods are being used for

evaluating quantitative and qualitative accuracy of maps produced in different regions

(Hord and Brooner, 1976; Aronoff, 1982; Congalton et al., 1983; Hopkins et al., 1988).

2.2.5. GIS in forest management

A significant development in the resource management has been the development

of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology during the 1980’s facilitating the

storage, retrieval and integration of spatial and non-spatial data on natural resources and

environment and eventually helping the decision makers and planners, in arriving at

appropriate action plan for sustainable development of an area.

While remote sensing provides a variety of information on land features, GIS plays

a significant role in the integration of information to prepare site-specific solution for

present day problems effectively. The use of remote sensing and GIS for natural

resources study and decision-making has been well established.

GIS based modeling and decision-making in forestry, wildlife, recreation and

conflicts in the Tangier watershed in the North Columbia Mountains in British Columbia,

Canada has been discussed by Schreier et al., (1996). Skidmore et al., (1997) discussed

the use of remote sensing and GIS for sustainable land management. Baskent (1997) has

applied GIS for forest landscape management in New Brunswick, Canada.

2.2.6. Global Positioning System (GPS)

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) provide powerful tools for acquiring accurate

locations and areas. The relatively recent development of GPS and GIS technologies


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appear ideally suited to conservation effort because they empower ecologists to

expeditiously acquire, store, analyze, and display spatial data on organisms and their

environment (Johnston 1990).

2.3. Biodiversity Study

Forests are the cradles of Biodiversity and are one of the most important renewable

natural resources. Awareness to protect it along with other natural resources has gained

momentum only in early 1970s.

2.3.1. Definition

Biodiversity was construed to account for the genetic diversity, their abundances,

distribution patterns and evenness with a specific study and this too was debatable.

McNeely et al., (1990) considered biodiversity to be an ‘umbrella term for the degree of

nature’s variety including both number and frequency of ecosystems, species or genes in a

given assemblages’. The definition was again debatable, so a global agreement on a clear

definition was formulated during the Rio de Janeiro conference in 1992 which defined it

by stating that ‘the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter

alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of

which they are apart; this includes diversity within species, between species and of

ecosystems’ (UN, 1992b).

The term biodiversity is restricted to its most commonly used form, i.e., species

diversity (Stoms and Estes, 1993). As rates of habitat and species destruction continue to

rise, the need for conserving biodiversity has become increasingly imperative during the

last decade (Wilson, 1988; Kondratyev, 1998). For effective planning and sustainable

utilization of forest resources, measurable indicators of its composition, structure and

functioning must be identified (Noss, 1990). Conservation strategies, which are prepared,

based on the data on vegetation such as species composition, distribution pattern and

diversity status of any forest region along with remote sensing data and GIS would be

very much reliable and operational. Therefore floristic ground survey must be carried out

in any forest region in order to get the above said information.

2.3.2. Biodiversity status

There are important references on probability of species richness ranging from 5

million (Stork, 1993) to 360 million (Andre et al., 1994) species. The bias is tremendous

but we have at hand knowledge of about 1.7 million species (Barthlott el al., 1996 ) again


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with a projected estimate of 20 million i.e., we have knowledge of about 8.5% of all

species exist on earth. The statistics is oriented on the animal population with the insects

accounting for the most of it. On the other hand there is no adequate knowledge about the

vascular plants and till date about 3,00,000 species is documented with a probability of

existence of around 4,00,000 species (Heywood, 1995).

Even after 250 years of cataloguing of flowering plants we don't have accurate

estimates. The fact is we are still ignorant of the total flora on earth, however recent

estimates by Bramwell (2002) place the total plant species to 4,21,968 flowering species.

India accounts for 6.67 % of the total global plant species (Hajra and Mudgal, 1997).

India exhibits a vast diversity of forest communities due to its varied climatic and

topographic conditions and yet the forest resources cover only 19.27 % of the total area

(Khoshoo, 1991). The National Forest Policy (1988) has suggested 33 % of the nation’s

area to be under forest cover. The situation at hand demands wise use of these resources

that is to be managed in such a way that they meet the socioeconomic and forest produce

needs to the present and future generation and at the same time conserve the available

forest stand.

Of the twelve biosphere realms in this world, Indian subcontinent falls in only two

realms with twelve biogeographical provinces i.e., palaearctic (Himalayan and Tibetan)

and Indo-Malayan (Malabar, Bengalian, Indus-Ganges, Assam-Burman, Mahanadian,

Coromandel, Deccan thorn forest, Thar desert, Laccadive islands and Andaman and

Nicobar islands) realms (Khoshoo, 1991).

NRSA has been estimating the forest status periodically from 1972. It is found that

the forest status was 16.83 % (55.2 million ha) in 1972-75 and decreased to 13.94 % (45.7

% million ha) in 1980-82 i.e., loss of 2.89 % (NRSA, 1983). Recent estimates in 1990

place the total forest area to 51.7 million ha and it may be due to increase in number of

protected areas from 224 in 1980 to 521 in 1997. Nevertheless the deforestation rate was

0.6 % (Agarwal et al., 1999). According to the latest report of FSI (2009) the forest cover

status of India is 69.09 million ha which is 21.02 percent of the total geographical area.

In Tamil Nadu the trend was similar with 12.83 % (1.68 million ha) in 1972-75

(NRSA, 1983) reducing to 10.14 % (1.32 million ha) in 1980-82 i.e., loss of 2.69 %.


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2.3.3. Biodiversity Assessment and Inventory

Assessment of the forest resources is a prerequisite for conservation and

sustainable strategies. It is understood by the scientific community and has resulted in

studies pertaining to plant diversity in proximity to agriculture (Fujisaka et al., 1998) and

regeneration of native species in degraded area (Manilal et al., 1989; llorkar and Totey,

1999). Following it is the concept of ‘keystone’ species (Terborgh, 1986) in tropical

forests. The notion is neither adequately explored, nor has its relevance to sustainable

been evaluated (Hartshorn, 1995).

The growing awareness of the importance and rapid decline of biodiversity has

given an unprecedented impetus for speedy inventory and monitoring of regional and

global biodiversity to help in the assessment of priorities for conservation, and in

assessing environmental impacts (Stork and Samways, 1995). A variety of approaches

and techniques have been proposed for this purpose, the biodiversity can be assessed at

genetic, population, species and ecosystem level (Singh and Khurana, 2002)

The assessment of biodiversity is needed to be done both on spatial and temporal

scales. Spatial scale includes local inventory (i.e., sampling within biotopes) and global

inventory (i.e., sampling among biotopes). Local inventories can be combined to produce

a regional inventory to a biome level characterization (Joshi et al., 2002)

Inventories pertaining to forest resources in tropical countries like Costa Rica

(Wattenberg and Breckle, 1995; Breckle, 1997), Bangladesh (Nath et al., 1998), Bolivia

(Boom, 1986), Caribbean Islands (Forman and Hahn, 1980), Malaysia (Ashton, 1976),

British Guyana (Johnston, 1998), etc express the intensity of the assessment of the forest

patches and the necessity to conserve them.

In India with the advent of India’s new National Forest Policy during 1988, the

objective of forest management has shifted from timber production to biodiversity

conservation. To meet this objective it is necessary to collect quantitative information on

the vegetation. Floristic field survey on any forest region can be done following any one

of the standard sampling methodologies. From the literature survey it was inferred that

plot sampling method of various sizes is found to be widely used for the diversity studies.

Inventories has been carried out in most of the forest resources and the foremost

studies were in the great Himalayas (Singh and Singh, 1987; Khan and Tripathi, 1987;

Pandey and Joshi, 1998; Singh et al., 1991) followed by the Western Ghats which is


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internationally known to harbour two of the world's hot spots (WCMC, 1992). Intensive

studies were carried out in Western Ghats by Pascal (1988), Sukumar et al., (1992), Pascal

and Pelissier (1996), Jha et al., 1997); Varghese and Menon (1998), Parthasarathy and

Karthikeyan (1997b), Muthuramkumar and Parthasarathy (2001) and Parthasarathy

(2001). Similar floristic quantitative studies are lacking from the forests of the Eastern

Ghats (Visalakshi, 1995; Kadavul and Parthasarathy, 1999; Jayakumar et al., 2002b).

2.3.3.1. Survey of Rare and Threatened Medicinal plant resources in India

Nayar, M.P. and Shastry, A.R.K. (1989, 90-91) Botanical Survey of India (BSI)

has edited and brought out three publications entitled “Red Data Book on Indian Plants”

Vol – 1,2 & 3, covering 235, 192 and 195 (622 in Total) threatened plants in 1987, 1988

and 1990 respectively. The prime objective of these bio documents is identification,

protection and conservation activities to plug further erosion of these plant

resources.Viswanathan, M.B and Melkani, V.K. (1999) stated that the Kalakkad –

Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) has 161 endemic and threatened plants.

The Botanical Survey of India (BSI) had assessed threat status of 622 Indian

plants, using herbarium information and the 1972 criteria for ‘red listing’ (Nayar and

Sastry, 1987-90). Red listing requires updating with latest criteria of International Union

for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and ground information. To

update the Red list of medicinal plant species of peninsular Indian states (Andhra Pradesh,

Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu); Foundation for Revitalisation of Local

Health Traditions (FRLHT) used rapid and participatory methodology termed as

Conservation Assessment and Management Plan (CAMP) workshops, guided by

Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) - India at the Zoo Outreach organization

(ZOO), Coimbatore (Ravikumar and Ved, 2000). Six such CAMP workshops organized

at Bangalore (4), Pune (1) and Hyderabad (1) during 1995 to 2001, using 1994 red listing

criteria at Bangalore for Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and 2000 criteria at Pune and

Hyderabad for Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh respectively. CAMP synthesized field

perceptions of about 200 field botanists including BSI, forest officials, industry staff etc.

Regarding 164 species, assessed for being extensively traded and /or endemic and /or

harvested essentially in destructive way (e.g. root, bark etc). Of these, 134 species were

red listed in one or more States.


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Anon (2000), Forestry Sector in Conserving Indian’s Medicinal plants, FRLHT,

Bangalore, indicated that more than 85 % of the plant product of medicinal value comes

from the wild / forest areas.

Ravikumar and Ved (2000) have given the details of number of plant species being

used under different systems of medicine in India namely Ayurveda, Folk, Homoeopathic,

Modern, Siddha, Tibetian and Unani.They have mentioned number of threatened

categories of medicinal plants, the status habitat distribution and description of 100 red

listed medicinal plants of Southern India.

Sarin, Y.K. (2003) emphasized that inventory, quantitative techno-economic

evolution, standardization in terms of therapeutic efficacy and augmentation of medicinal

plant resources through conservation, domestication and large scale cultivation can reduce

the problem.

Sarcar et al., (2002) suggested intensive species inventory for threatened plants as

one of the conservation efforts and methods. Sarcar (2005) suggested floral resource

survey and inventorisation of medicinal plants as policy recommendation and action plan

under proposed State medicinal plant policy as one of the prime strategic management

tools. Other habits like shrubs, herbs, climbers and grasses, account for 66 % of forests

and include many species of great medicinal and commercial value that are to be given

importance for inventory unlike mere tree species as observed from the working plan

operations of Forest Department since 1900.

Though a large number of medicinal plants are facing different degrees of threats

for their mere survival but no specific policy measures or regulations are available in the

country to protect, propagate or to rehabilitate the threatened medicinal plant species,

which are on the verge of their extinction. Due to lack of effective regulation and

institution mechanisms supported by the legislative measure of the country, a large

number of medicinal plants which give life saving drugs are facing challenges for their

survival. The urgency of a committed action by different stakeholders namely, the

custodian of source areas of Medicinal plants and various other interested groups are

being realized now.

2.3.4. Biodiversity and Abiotic factors

Biodiversity responds to the physical environment and living surrounding.

The abiotic factors involve temperature, rainfall, geology, hydrology and topography


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(Huggett, 1997). Similarly the surrounding physical environment i.e., topography and

climate results in dominancy of a specific community (Joshi et al., 2002). Climate is one

of the major factors in influencing biodiversity (Meher-Homji, 1996). Temperature and

precipitation are the most important determinants in biodiversity distribution along with

topography. Nevertheless abiotic data is used for conservation (Pressey et al., 2000).

Biodiversity studies at various levels are common yet there is meagre information on the

altitudinal gradient (Joshi and Tiwari, 1990; Bhandari et al., 1998; Prakash and Uniyal,

1999). To discuss about abiotic factors in assessing biodiversity one has to focus on

water, which is one of the major aspects needed for conservation (Postel, 1985; Murthy,

2000).

2.3.4.1. Biodiversity Conservation

Conservation planning seeks to identify spatial options for the preservation of

biodiversity (Williams et al., 1996). It involves making decisions on the basis of

biological, environmental and anthropogenic attributes (Pressey et al., 1993) and the

ultimate purpose of conservation is to inform and affect the conservation policy

(Robertson and Hull, 2001). As our need for ecosystem and global approaches to

biodiversity conservation increases (Turner and Gardner, 1990, Kareiva, 1993; Mooney

and Chapin, 1994; O’Neill et al., 1997; Bawa and Seidler, 1998), conservation planners

have sought objective and quantitative criteria for setting priorities among elements of

biodiversity to be protected (Bibby et al., 1992; Williams et al., 2002; Margules et el.,

2002; Gaston et al., 2002) like biosystematics (Desmet et al., 2002) and indicator species

(Peterken, 1974).

Various quantitative methods that allow relatively expeditious identification of

conservation-priority areas have been proposed in recent years. These approaches include

identification of hot spots of biodiversity (Myers, 1988a and 1990; Dobson et al.,1997),

rapid biodiversity assessment (Oliver and Beattie, 1993 and 1996), identification of

indicator and surrogate species (Curnutt et al.,1994), development or rarity and

complementary sets (Williams et al., 1996), gap analysis (Scott et al., 1993; Scott and

Csuti, 1996; Caicco et al., 1995; Wright et al., 2001; Britto, 2002a), identification of key

eco region (Olson and Dinerstein, 1998), and cost-minimizing or land-values analyses

(Ando et al., 1998).


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The question of how to manage conservation areas effectively has played by many

managers and researchers (Western and Wright, 1994; Calridge and O’Callaghan, 1997)

and many alternative approaches have been discussed. One such promising approach is to

integrate protected area management, biodiversity conservation and social development

(Western and Wright, 1994). Such an approach would entail an improved understanding

of the local pattern of resource use, so as to enable conservation strategies to be better

adapted to earn local livelihood and is a major criteria recommended for the National

biodiversity Conservation Board in India by Khoshoo (1996).

2.3.5. Remote sensing and GIS in Biodiversity Assessment

Maps are the ideal spatial database and often used in presentation of results of any

operational project and the quality of maps will depend on scale, accuracy, utility and

clarity to take any relevant decisions for sustainable management.

Application of Remote Sensing in assessment of forests and the environment was

initiated in late 1970s and early 1980s and this technique is quite reliable in mapping land

cover and vegetation types (Anon, 1987; Marceau et al., 1994; Schriever and Congalton,

1995; White et al., 1995; Roy et al., 1996; Martin et al., 1998).

Remote Sensing and GIS have a number of antecedents i.e., they bring together a

number of early technologies i.e., surveying, photogrammetry, cartography, mathematics,

statistics and the like (Reddy, 2000) and have demonstrated that they together can provide

reliable information on various facets of natural resources like land, water, mineral, ocean

resources, environmental management (Noss, 1996) and forest management (Roy 1999).

Nevertheless fuzzy classification of forest disturbance was found to be better than hard

image analysis techniques (Foody, 1996; Foody and Boyd, 1999).

GIS is most importantly used for modeling i.e., construction of models of the real

world from digital database, stimulating the effect of a specific process over time of a

particular scenario or theme for planning decisions and its effectual consequences. GIS

has also helped in reducing the errors creating in Remote Sensing (Thakker et al., 1999).

Remote Sensing and GIS combination has now become more important for ecological

studies (Marble and Peuquet, 1983; Krummel, 1986; Weir et al., 1988; Murali et al.,

1998).

Past two decades has seen tremendous application of this development in forest

management and the satellite images pertaining to Landsat MSS (Madhavan Unni et al.,


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1985; Saxena et al., 1992), AVHRR (Tucker et al., 1985; Prince, 1991), SAR (Wu and

Linders, 2000), EROS (Reed et al., 1994) and IRS (Tiwari et al., 1992; Prasad et al.,

1998; Joshi et al., 2001) were used to assess the forest stands using digital interpretation

techniques. However Roy and Ravan (1996) suggested visual interpretation for

identification of forest stands using FCCs (False Colour Composites) of different seasons.

The conceptual integration of Remote Sensing, GIS and field (laboratory) data for

forestry and environment assessment was understood, compared (Mack et al., 1997) and

accepted by the scientific community and resulted in studies pertaining to estimations of

biomass (Tiwari and Singh, 1984; Ripple et al., 1991; Ardo, 1992; Roy et al., 1993b; Roy

and Ravan, 1996), fuel and fodder potential (IIRS, 1994), afforestation potential site

selection, nutrient dynamics (Tiwari et al., 1996), energy linkages of agriculture

and forests (Wilson, 1988; Kondratyev, 1998), biodiversity (Fuller Tet et al., 1998; He et

al, 1998; Innes and Koch, 1998), its characteristic patterns (Jha et al.,1997; Lauver, 1997),

spedes distribution (Palmeirim,1988; Avery and Haines - Young, 1990), Wildlife habitat

management (Johnston and Naiman, 1990 ; Herr and Queen, 1993), Watershed

management (Dengo, 1989; Murthy,2000), conservation (Turner et al., 2001) etc.

The satellite Remote Sensing technology is also used for estimation of vegetation

stratification (Houghton and Woodwell, 1981; Botkin et al., 1984), forest resource stock

(Singh and Roy, 1990), growing stock (Udayalakshmi et al., 1998) and density

classification (Roy, 1998). Vegetation maps at community level pave a reliable

understanding of the vegetaion occurences and patterns (Whittaker, 1967; Austin, 1985;

Thomas et al., 1993; Roy et al., 1993a; Franklin et al., 1994; Nagendra and Gadgil, 1999).

The main utility of Remote Sensing is its repetitive (monitoring) capability i.e., it

provides a synoptic view of the earth cover at regular intervals (Roughgarten et al., 1991;

Stoms and Estes, 1993; Innes and Koch, 1998) and coupled with GIS can provide us with

updated data on periodic intervals and strategies could be planned accordingly based on

the positive or negative development of the concerned subject.

The applicability of Remote Sensing technology has led to comparative studies of

different satellite data (imagery) i.e., Landsat – TM, MSS (Wolter et al., 1995) and SAR

(Brisco et al., 1989) with SPOT (Ripple et al., 1991; Franklin et al., 1994; Miguel-Ayanz

and Bigging, 1997) and with IRS (Roy et al., 1988). Comparison of the vegetation area


23

measurement is dependent on the type of satellite data used and mode of assessment

(Mayaux et al., 1998) and may hold true for the locality it is assessed.

Trisurat et al., (2000) discussed improvement of vegetation mapping which

improved upon the species response (Verbyla, 1995), canopy architecture (Bouman and

Van Kasteren, 1990; Leckie et al., 1992; Gougeon, 1995; Fournier et al., 1995; Meyer et

al., 1996) species characteristics (Price, 1994; Dietz and Steinlein, 1996), biochemical

characteristics of the species (Martin et al., 1998) and the abiotic features like soil and

sunlight (Atkinson et al., 1997).

2.3.5.1. Biodiversity Characterization

Remote sensing techniques in combination with field-collected data for the

assessment of biodiversity (Rames et al., 1997; Roy and Tomar, 2000; Nagendra, 2001)

has enhanced the accuracy of assessment, but these techniques need to be further refined.

Davis et al., (1990) proposed an approach to integrate existing data on species

distributions and habitat characteristics in biodiversity assessments using geographical

information system (GIS) technology, supported by Remote Sensing inputs.

The Indian Institute of Remote Sensing has developed system of creating geospatial

database on vegetation cover types, disturbance regimes and biological richness to

characterize biodiversity at landscape level for bio prospecting and conservation.

Biodiversity characterization can be improved by using aerospace and GIS technologies

(Roy, 1999). The efficacy of this system has been demonstrated for north east India and

Western Ghats (Roy, 2002 a, b) and can be adapted to similar studies.

2.3.6. Sustainability of Forest Resources

Sustainable forestry dates back to 1849 (Faustman, 1968) and WWF defines

sustainability, as improvement in the quality of human life within the carrying capacity of

supporting ecosystems and this is quite ambiguous.

Gow (1992) considers the following definition of sustainable development

provided by FAO (1989) to be broad enough to capture the multidimensionality of

sustainability particularly with respect to the maintenance and management of the natural

resource base. Sustainable development is the management and conservation of the

natural resource-base and the orientation of technological and institutional changes, in

such a manner as to ensure the attainment and continued satisfaction of human needs for

present and future generations. Such sustainable development (in agriculture, forestry and


24

fishery sectors) conserves land, water, plant, and animal genetic resources, is

environmentally non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially

acceptable.

Sustainable management of natural resources has become a key issue for survival

of planet earth. Successful actions to conserve biodiversity must address the full range of

cause loss and embrace the opportunities that genes, species and ecosystem provide for

sustainable development (WRI, IUCN, UNEP, 1992). Any biodiversity conservation

programme, however, cannot succeed without the involvement of local people. Policies

that concentrate on mechanisms, which ensure that local communities appropriate a large

share of total gains from their conservation of biodiversity, are needed. According to

Tisdell (1995) because of externalities and market-failure, specific incentives are needed

to make sure that local communities support biodiversity conservation.

2.4. Taxonomic literature on plants in KMTR

KMTR is one of the well-studied areas since British Period (first study was made

by Beddome in 1877) but there is no specific or well-defined checklist of medicinal plants

of the area till this date. However the study began with the survey of literature and

herbarium. Initial information on endemic and threatened tree taxa of KMTR was

collected from the following publications:

Beddome (1877), Bourdillon (1908), Rama Rao (1914), Brandis (1906), Hooker

(1982 Rep.ed), Gamble (1967 Rep.ed), Nayar and Shastry (1987, 1988 and 1990)

Ahmedullah and Nayar (1987), Nayar (1996), Ramesh and Pascal (1991), Gopalan and

Henry (2000).

Data on scientific name of species, their family, taxonomic status, habit, habitat

and historical distribution were incorporated from the works of Gamble (1915-1936), and

Hooker (1872-1897). Current distribution was documented from published State florae

such as Nair and Henry (1983), Henry, Kumari and Chithra (1987), Henry, Chithra and

Balakrishnan (1989). In addition, data for some species on current distribution were

collected from the reports of CAMP I (1995), II (1996), and III (1997). Published

literature such as Ahmedullah and Nayar (1986), Beddome (1877), Bennet (1986),

Gopalan (1997, 2000), Hajra and Mudgal (1997), Henry, Chandrabose, Swaminathan and

Nair (1984), Henry and Subramanian (1981), Henry and Swaminathan (1979), Henry,

Vivekananthan and Nair (1978), Jain and Sastry (1980, 1982, 1983a, 1983b), Jothi (2005),


25

Karthikeyan (2007), Lasardoo (1936), Manickam et al. (2003), Mittermeier (1988, 2000),

Mittermeier and Werner (1990), Mudaliar and Sundararaj (1954), Myers (1988, 1990),

Myers et al.(2000), Nair and Daniel (1986), Nayar (1996), Nayar & Ahmed (1984), Nayar

and Sastry (1987, 1988, 1990), Ramaswamy (1914), Rangachari (1919), Santapau (1970),

Sebastine and Henry (1960), Shankaranarayanan (1970), Sharma, Shetty and Karthikeyan

(1973), Subramanyam & Nayar (1974), WCMC (1992, 1994, 1996) and other related ones

were referred and documented.

2.5. Plant Endemism

In Greek ’en’ means within and ’demos’ means population. The word 'endemic' is

ascribcd to any taxonomic unit or taxon which occurs in a restricted area, usually isolatcd

by geographical or temporal barriers.

A.P. DeCandolle (1855) used the concept Endemic area which is defined as an

area of a taxonomic unit, especially species which has a restricted distribution or habitat,

isolated from its surrounding region through geographical, ecological or temporal

barriers. Engler (1882) classified endemics into two types viz. Paleoendemics which are

ancient in nature, and autochthonous endemics which are otherwise called Neoendemics

(Herzog, 1926). The Neoendemics are considered to have been newly evolved by

genetic process with closely related taxa in the vicinity. Within the group of

Paleoendemics, the type known as Patroendemics is also recognized and which are

confined to geographically isolated habitats of a stable ecosystem. Once such ecosystem

is disturbed, patroendemics fall into an ’evolutionary death trap’’ as there is not enough

genepool reservoir of such species for adaptive experimentation (which is a natural

process). Due to this, they become extinct prone.

According to Richardson (1978), all species start as neoendemics and end up as

palaeoendemics. It is generally considered that in favourable environmental conditions,

neoendemics tend to behave as Holoendemics and may lead to the formation of

palaeoendemics through the following steps : origin, expansion, stabilization,

diversification, migration, fragmentation, contraction and later extinction. Due to

selection pressures and environmental stress some relict species can become active

epibiotics. These stages can occur in both ways, leading either to contraction of species

with possible extinction or burst of speciation, depending on genetical, ecological and

temporal factors (Nayar, 1980). Holoendemic is the phase of endemic species between its


26

origin, spread and eventually perhaps its loss. In this spectrum there is no time scale and

according to Richardson (1978).

”If endemic species are eliminated from our country it will mean they will be

annihilated from the whole world, will be lost to science, will be struck off the roles of

biological resources of this earth” Jain (1980). Hence, in conservation efforts we should

give priority to endemics. ”It is very essential that rare, threatened and presumed extinct

taxa should be repeatedly searched for in their type localities for correct assessment of

their position” (Nair, 1991). In late 1960’s, Peter Scott, a botanist with the help of Ronald

Melville evolved the concept of Red Data Books on Plant Species.

2.6. Extinction of Species and Process

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)

played an important part in focussing World's concern in the loss or extinction of species

during the last two decades. IUCN's Red Data Book (Anonymous, 1966) is a path finder

and since then several nations published their Red Data Books (Perring & Farewell, 1977 ;

Takhtajan, 1975). With the pre-dominance of Homo sapiens and with the advent of

industrial revolution of 20th century resulting in vast habitat disturbances concomitant

with the exponential population growth, extinction of some of the vast array of plants and

animals constituting our world's rich biological diversity became the order of the day. Of

the estimated 10 million plant and animal species, not more than 1.5 million is recorded in

scientific literature. According to IUCN's Threatened Plants Committee about 10 %

(20,000 to 30,000) of the World's flowering plants are dangerously rare or under threat.

According to Raven (1990), ‘it is likely that a quarter of all species of Indian plants

may be either extinct or on their way to extinction within 25 years, and the great majority

of the species present now are likely to be extinct within a century if proper conservation

efforts are not in place in time’.

In any biologically evolving system, where evolution sets in motion, extinction of

the unit in the process of natural selection is a biological necessity and this is the main

point underlined in Darwian’s "'The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection".

According to Martin (1967), extinction is not an abnormal fate in the life of a species.

When all the niches in a biotic community are filled, extinction takes place as part of the

evolution of new species. Hence this phenomenon of extinction is a natural process. In

the evolutionary pathways of organisms, there are extinctions of the unfit and survival of


27

the fittest. However, the present day changes in the environment and habitat are so

unnatural and drastic that plant species (Nayar, 1977) could not get evolutionary time

span for survival or adaptive radiations.

Levins (1970) estimated that since the beginning of the Cambrian, species have

been getting extinct at the rate of about one per year though not uniformly. According to

Hooper (1971), the factors leading to extinction can be classified under the following

categories :

Demographic stochasticity; Environmental stochasticity; Natural catastrophes and

Genetic stochasticity.

Hooper (1971), observed that ”a minimum viable population of any given habitat

is the smallest isolated population having 99 % chance of extant for 1000 years despite

the forseeable effects of demographic environmental and genetic stochasticity and natural

catastrophies".

Extinction of species may be due to environmental factors, ecological

substitutions, biological factors, pathological causes and anthropogenic interference in

the form of habitat destructions, human overkill or overexploitation.

1. Environmental factors : When climatic changes occur beyond the tolerance limits of

a species, extinction of inflexible species is inevitable.

2. Ecological substitistes : A species or group of species is replaced from the same

matrix by competitive species which have competence to survive.

3. Biological factors : In the co-evolution of plants and specific pollen vectors there is

close parallel evolution. Due to loss of habitat, many pollen vectors specific to plant

species are getting decimated. This causes loss of chance cross pollination leading to

loss of gene flow.

4. Pathological causes : Outbreak of diseases is one of the major causes of the loss of

species. A recent example is the spread of Dutch Elm disease resulting in the process

of wiping out of Elm trees in Europe and America. Monoculture of crops resulting in

genetic uniformism, and quick mass transport are some of the causes for quick spread

of plant diseases.

5. Habitat destruction : When man used fire as a means of controlling nature and

invented stone tools for killing animals during Early Stone Age, he started interfering

with Nature's ecosystems. One of the major tenets of Ecology is "that all ecosystems


28

tend towards stability (Goldsmith et al., 1972) and that the more diverse and complex

the ecosystem, the more stable it is, i.e. the more species there are and the more they

interrelate the more stable is their environment". This means a stable ecosystem has a

vast array of plant and animal species, closely knit together in ever perpetuating web

of life and a loss of one component of this mosaic, affects the totality of the

ecosystem.

Due to man-induced-changes in the form of road building, forestry plantations,

construction of large scale projects in areas of high conservation value, the original habitat

is fragmented into isolated patches. Each such isolated fragment behaves like an Island

and the theory of Island biogeography (Mac Arthur & Wilson, 1967) holds good. Most of

the Western Ghats in India and Western and Eastern Himalayas come under this category.

In such a fragmented system smaller fragments will initially contain more species than

they can hold at equilibrium. The rate of extinctions or loss of species is faster in such

smaller group than in a bigger habitat as ecological niches available for survival will be

proportionally reduced.

2.7. Rare and threatened plant resources and Monitoring

Rarity of species requires proper scientific definition and many workers give

different attributes as per their perception with reference to beauty of flowers, usefulness

and availability on different qualifications. However, according to Drury (1974), "a rare

species is the one that occurs in widely separated small sub-populations so that inter-

breeding between sub-populations is seriously reduced or is restricted to a single

population".

According to the Survival Service Commission, the following categories of taxa

are defined (i) Extinct, (ii) Endangered, (iii) Vulnerable, (iv) Rare (IUCN Plant Red data

Book, 1978).

The 1994 IUCN Red list categories of plant species has been revised in 2000. The

revised categories of plant species is dealt in chapter IV under Material and Method.

The foremost task in the conservation process is to prepare an inventory of plants

that are rare or threatened otherwise. Thus, reliable and documented information on Rare,

Threatened or Endangered plants is prerequisitic to actual implementation of plant

conservation programmes. To determine the status of the plant the IUCN' Red Data Book

categories can be employed. Mac Bryde (1979) discussed in detail the information that is


29

required to use the Endangered species Act of 1973 (amended in 1978) which. was the

first federal endangered species legislation to include protection of plants, which are in

danger of extinction in their natural habitats. The inventory should take into consideration

scientific information like species taxonomy, historical range, present known range,

current population numbers and trends, threat to extant populations, all of which can be

determined by field studies and observations. Nayar and Raju (1974) adopted a Degree

Reference System for plant records and observed that grids encompassing concentration

of plants can be taken as parameters for mapping endangered habitats and threatened

species for conservation purposes. Davy and Jefferies (1981) underlined three basic

approaches to the monitoring of rare plant populations i.e.. Demographic, Genetic and

Resource allocation approaches.

2.8. Thematic Mapping of Abiotic factors

A Thematic map is a simple map made to reflect a particular theme about a

geographic area. Thematic maps can portray physical, social, political, cultural, economic,

sociological, agricultural, or any other aspects of a City, State, Region, Nation, or

Continent.

All living population responds to the surroundings i.e., abiotic environment, which

includes rainfall, temperature, light, soil, geology, topography, fire, water, chemical factors

like oxygen levels, salt concentration, presence of toxins and acidity (Whittaker, 1956;

Huggett, 1995). Environmental heterogeneity in both space and time has been important

in the evolution and maintenance of biodiversity (O'Neill et al., 1986) and the prevailing

vegetation structure is the end product of all confluent dynamic influences (Subramanian

and Murthy, 1968; Gupta et al., 2000). Biological diversity and its relationship to

underlying environment have recently attracted considerable interest in the scientific

community (Thompson and Brown, 1992; Haila and Kouki, 1994) especially in

conservation biology (Miller, 1994; Roy, 1999).

Climate is one of the major factors affecting biodiversity and studies on rainfall

regimes (Puri, 1960; Champion and Seth, 1968; Dye and Walker, 1980; Sharma et al.,

1986; Pascal, 1988) has led to better understanding of the climate on the forest ecosystem.

Since the climate is not the only factor, studies pertaining to confluent influences of

altitude (Bhandari et al., 1998; Pandey and Joshi, 1998; Prakash and Uniyal, 1999), slope

(Shreve, 1924; Hutchins et al., 1976; Swanson et al., 1988; Singh et al., 1991; Forman,


30

1995; Wu and Loucks, 1995; Uniyal et al., 2002), geology and soil (Raina et al., 1994)

have increased the precision of the abiotic influences on biodiversity.

The application of Remote Sensing in assessing and mapping the landforms,

physiography, hydrology, topography and geology has increased tremendously

(Bhattacharya, 1999; Jayaprasad et al., 2002) and nowadays the confluential effects i.e.,

geomorphology (Rao et al., 1996; Nichols et al., 1998: Burnett et al., 1998) and Hydro

geomorphology (Pandiyan et al., 2002) are no exception.

2.9. Existing Policies, Legal Acts and Rules

The major policies, legal Acts and rules which control and govern the protection

and conservation of the flora and fauna in Tamil Nadu including KMTR are in brief given

chronologically.

1 1882 - Tamil Nadu Forest Act. 2 1894 - National Forest policy. 3 1927 - Indian Forest Act. 4 1946 - Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forest Rules, 1946 5 1949 - The Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forest Act. 6 1952 - National Forest Policy, 1952. 7 1955 - The Tamil Nadu Hill Areas (Preservation of Trees) Act. 8 1957 - Tamil Nadu Hill Areas (Preservation of Trees) Rules, 1957 9 1967 - Tamil Nadu sandalwood Transit Rules, 1967 10 1968 - Tamil Nadu Timber Transit Rules, 1968. 11 1970 - Tamil Nadu Sandalwood Possession Rules, 1970 12 1972 - The Wild life (Protection) Act 1972 13 1980 - Forest Conservation Act, 1980. 14 1982 - Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers,

Drug Offenders, Forest Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum Grabbers Act, 1982 (commonly called Goondas Act

15 1982 - Tamil Nadu (Movement Control) Order, 1982 16 1986 - The Envioronment( proction)Act, 1986 17 1988 - National Forest policy, 1988. 18 1988

-Tamil Nadu Maintenance of Accounts in Respect of Scheduled Timber for Industrial or Commercial Purposes Rules, 1988

19 1991 - Forest (Conservation) Rules, 1991 20 1991 - Tamil Nadu Wildlife (Transit) Rules, 1991 21 1994 - Tamil Nadu Rosewood Tree (Conservation) Act, 1994


31

22 2002 - Biological Diversity Act, 2002. 23 2002 - The Wild life (Protection) Amendment Act 2002. 24 2002 - The Export Import Policy, 2002-2007.

2.10. Stralegies for conservation of Rare or Endangered species

Henefin,M.S., et al., (1981) indicated the guidelines for the preparation of status

reports on rare or endangered plant species with following details. Species Information,

Assessment and Recommendations, Information Sources, Authorship and New Information

The main function of the management strategy is that once a species is listed as

vulnerable, threatened or endangered, there should be ways to prevent the loss of listed

species. There should be organised methods to restore these species in the original habitat.

Each species requires its own strategy as per its distributional range, its biology and

reproductivc potential.

Following strategies are needed for each category of listed species :

i) In situ conservation of endangered species in their natural eco-system, biosphere,

national parks and sanctuaries. There should be designated areas (i.e.,) Refuge for

our endangered species which should have legal status.

ii) Preservation and cultivation of endangered species in the chain of Botanic Gardens

and Arboreta.

Habitat loss : The loss of special habitats lead to eventual reduced populations,

fragmentation of population and finally extinction. It is necessary to evaluate in the status

reports, the present habitat available, past range and future requirements and buffer zones.

The habitat loss may be due to urbanization, forest clearance, agricultural or forest

operation, nutrient enrichment, road building, mining or quarrying, water or air pollution

and pressure from introduced population. Concomittant with this, there are other threats

like over utilization, commercial exploilation, even over collection for scientific or

educational purpose. It is seen populations of many commercially wild useful species

decline when the reproductive potential of these species reach critical threshold limit.

In the centres of genetic diversity where there are abundant variations as seen in

many river valleys, a dam constructed to impound the waters will destroy all the species

diversity in the impounded area.


32

Introduced exotic species often become aggressive colonisers and sometimes they

threaten the habitat of native species. In such cases native species are on the run for

survival. Introduced tropical weeds like Parthenium hysierophorus, Lantana camara, etc

have caused loss of habitat for many tropical herbaceous flora. Preservation of endangered

species in seed banks and through tissue culture . Artificial propagation should be started

when the species is on the decline and the natural population is fragmented. There should

be free exchange of germplasm material in order to avoid the risk of catastrophic loss of

genetic material at one centre resulting in the total extinction of the species.

2.11. Strategic Management

Strategy connotes a broad commitment made by the firm that defines and

rationalizes its objectives and it intends to pursue them. Chandler (1962) has stated that:

“Strategy can be defined as the determination of the basic long term goals and objectives

of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources

necessary for carrying out these goals”.

Drawing on Chandler and others, Maccrimmon (1993) has defined strategy as:

“Coordinated series of actions involving resource deployment and being goal directed

with goals serving to coordinate actions”. In the Strategic management literature, the

concept of strategy has been studied in different ways. The most commonly used

approach has been Porter’s (1980) generic strategies:” Cost leadership, Differentiation,

and Focus. Another approach is Miles and Snow’s (1978) strategic typology: Defenders,

Prospectors, Analyzers and Reactors. Researchers have also studied variation of Miles

and Snow’s typology in terms of strategic orientation: Analysis, Defensiveness, Futurity,

Riskyness and Proactiveness (Venkatraman: 1989). Strategy making in terms of

Command, Symbolic, Rational, Transactive and Generative has been studied by

Govindrajan and Gupta, 1985; Hart & Ben bury, 1993; Miller, 86. Mintzberg (1987) has

defined strategy as 5 P’s (Plan, Ploy, Pattern, Position and Perspective).

The utilities have to follow a low cost strategy because they are regulated, can

operate only in a limited geographical area, and have to supply to all the consumers in that

area. Within low cost strategy, they can have variations. Efficiency improvement is a

part of low cost strategy (Ramaswamy et al., 1994) and hence is a variable of strategy for

the present study. Process automation has a positive effect on cost (Dvir et al., 1993),

hence, this is another variable considered here. Customer focus is the fourth variable


33

considered here. In the public utility context, the strategy of the utility may not be very

clear. Hence, we will use the definition of strategy give by Minzberg (1987). According

to him, the strategy of an organization is defined as “Plan – consciously indented course

of action and pattern in a stream of actions”.

Strategic planning is another dimension of strategy (Bracker & Pearson, 1986;

Kukalis, 1991; Pearce & David: 1987; Powel, 199a). The dimensions of strategic

planning used are namely: mission statement, trend analysis, competitor analysis, long

term goals, annual goals, short term action plans and ongoing evaluation.

Strategic planning is an important aspect, which is relevant for this study and thus,

is another variable. The relevant dimensions of strategic planning for the present study

are vision and mission statements, long term goals and objectives.

Indian Medicinal Plants, A Sector Study by Export Import Bank of India, Mumbai.

(1997) mentioned that out of 25 million species of the world only 20,000 species are

documented and only 5000 species are phytochemically studied. There was export of

60 % of this resource in 1994 –97. Globalization has enhanced the medicinal plants trades.

Hamilton Alan, (2003) reports that total annual imports of Medicinal, and aromatic

plant material into all countries during 1990s was amounted to an average of 4,00,000

tones, valued at US $ 1.5 billion, valued at 1.2 billion showing a 100 % rise between 1991

and 97 and India exports 46,000 metric tons following China in his paper “Medicinal

plants and conservation” issues and approaches, International plant conservation Unit,

WWF-UK, Panda House, Catteshall Lane, UK.

2.11.1. Study of Stakes and Stakeholders of Medicinal Plants in KMTR

In the last decades of the 20th century the word "Stakeholder" has become more

commonly used to mean a person or organisation that has a legitimate interest in a project

or entity. In discussing the decision making process for institutions including large

business corporations, government agencies, and non- profit organizations, the concept

has been broadened to include everyone with an interest (or "stake") in what the entity

does. This includes not only its vendors, employees, and customers, but even members of

a community where its offices or factory may affect the local economy or environment. In

this context, "Stakeholder" includes not only the directors or trustees on its governing

board but also all persons who "paid in" the figurative stake and the persons to whom it

may be "paid out" (Freeman, R.E. 1984). Stakeholder analysis is the analysis that aims to


34

identify the stakeholders that are affected by the results of a project simultaneously with

the result’s success depending on the cooperation between the stakeholder and the project.

It is important to identify all stakeholders for the purpose of identifying their success

criteria and turning these into quality goals. A stakeholder analysis is performed when

there is a need to clarify the consequences of envisaged changes or at the start of new

projects and in connection with organisational changes generally. The stakeholder is any

person or Organization who / which can be positively or negatively impacted by, or cause

an impact on the success of the project (Freeman, R.E. 1984).

A Stakeholders analysis of medicinal plants was performed among the various

groups of Stake holders during this study in KMTR. The methodology applied and the

results obtained are elaborated in concerned chapters.

2.11.2. SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strength,

Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It

involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the

internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective.

The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a convention at Stanford

University in the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies.

The use of medicinal plants and their processed essence in industrial countries is

increasing. Hence the main purpose of SWOT analysis with a systemic approach to

production situations of medicinal plants is being applied in various countries.

Sarcar (2005) under “A Framework for Strategic Management of Medicinal

Plants” applied SWOT analysis and the results found in his study were divided into four

categories namely Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Similar Strength, Weakness and Opportunities (SWOT Analysis) in medicinal

plant sector was carried out by Endashaw Bekele (2007) for Japan Association for

International Collaboration of Agriculture and Forestry for Actual Situation of Medicinal

Plants in Ethiopia (JAICAF, 2007). “SWOT” analysis of medicinal plant production in

Andean Region of South America was carried out by Carlos Aguirre-Bastos (2008) to

draw a Roadmap for the Commercial Development of Medicinal Plants of the region.

Documents

Front 1,side Bak Inner,Fnt2 - Shodhgangashodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/4796/16/16_chapter 2.pdf · Most of the pristine vegetation forms are located in the hilly terrains