A move is on to amend Karnataka's State Forest Act to ensure protection of endangered species of medicinal and aromatic plants. The Forest department’s additional principal chief conservator of Forests has prepared a draft amendment in this regard and submitted to the state committee.

The Forest Department's initiative is in the context of the need for enforcing regulation on herbal and pharma industries to prevent access to forest produce through unauthorised pickers.

Unrestricted access of the herbal drug industry to medicinal plants resulted in loss of earning to contract farmers engaged in cultivation of medicinal plants. There has also been massive destruction of fauna leading to its extinction, S Venu Gopal, additional principal chief conservator of Forests, Medicinal Plants wing, Karnataka Forest department told Pharmabiz.

By amending the Forest Act, uncontrolled exploitation of medicinal plant resources could be contained to a great extend. It will make it costlier to procure collected materials for the herbal drug industry which depends on middleman to source the produce from forests. For the farming community, government will offer the support to cultivate the medicinal plants and this will make it far more economical to take up planting. The produce prices will be monitored and regulated making it more viable for farmers take on its cultivation. In addition, it will help conserve the natural forest area in the state and ensure its future regeneration for multiplication of species, he added.

Therefore, APCCF is now looking at making specific amendments to the Act. These include special protection of species of medicinal and aromatics plants used by industry. The tree reserve norms existing in the Act will now include prevention of sawing and storage in the forest areas. If species are destroyed, the Schedule I of the Act will now include compensation higher than the market value appropriate to its scarcity. The list of forest produce attracting forest development tax (FDT) will cover all endangered species which will not be less than twice the cultivation plus extraction cost and not lower than the market price.

The Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) is authorized to issue source certificate for species in Schedule I which includes rare and endangered medicinal and aromatic plants grown on private land within a fortnight of application.

No license will be granted for plant products in Schedule II except for reproduction, regeneration and research. These include Aconitum heterophyllum, Coscinium fenestraturn, Decalepis hamiltonii, Saraca Asoka and Vateria indica which cover the major traded and threatened category. Among the vulnerable species are Adenia hondala, Aegle marmelos, Glorisosa Superba, Tinospora sinesis. Some of the near endangered species include Celastrus paniculatus, Hedychium, Nervilia aragonana, Piper nigrum. Critically endangered species are Cycas circinalis, Heliotropium keralense, Puraria tuberose and Shorea tumbuggaia. Endangered species are Chonemorpha fragrans, Drosera indica and Michalia champaca.

The amendment draft has also included the species from tropical forests consumed over 100 metric tones annually. These are Acacia Catechu, Boswellia serrata, Cassia fistula, Desmodium gangeticum, Shatavari, bael, Amla, Kokum among others.