Karnataka government has allocated Rs 39 lakh for the protection and preservation of medicinal plants in the state. Last year's budget allocation was just Rs 10 lakh.

There has been a serious attempt by the government to take stock of the medicinal plants coverage in the state. The government is looking at increasing the area under cultivation. Currently, 13 Medicinal Plant Conservation Areas (MPCA) which have been established and managed by locals with the help of the Foundation of Revitalization of Local Health Traditions.

The 13 regions are Savandurga known for dry deciduous scrubs Sandur has dry mixed deciduous forest, BR Hills is known for the Southern dry mixed deciduous forests, Kemmanagundi Hills, Karpakapalli in Bidar district, Devarayanadurga in Tumkur district has Southern thorn forests, Talacauvery in Coorg district, Subramanya, Charmadi, Devimane in Dakshina Kannada has West coast semi-evergreen forest, Kudremukh in Dakishina Kannada is known for its Southern hill top tropical evergreen forest and Agumbe for West coast tropical evergreen forest.

Under the new MPCA project Siddhabetta in Tumkur district is included along with Kappatgudda in Gadag district, Baba Budangiri in the Western ghats, Belur near Charmadi and Kanukumbi in Belgaum.

"We need to work out how much funding allocation is required for the development of these areas for the cultivation and conservation of medicinal plants," S Venu Gopal, additional principal chief Conservator of Forests, Medicinal Plants wing Karnataka Forest department told Pharmabiz.

According to the Botanical Survey of India, Karnataka has 3,924 species belonging to 1,323 genera and 199 families in the forests, of which 1,493 species are of medicinal value. These belong to 808 genera and 108 families. They occur in different vegetation types across the Western Ghats. It is estimated that 90 percent of the herbal industry requirement of plant material is coming from the forests. Species recovery programme by conserving the habitat of threatened medicinal plants and steps to enhance production seems to be the only solution to stop further degradation.

The Karnataka Forest Department has initiated various programmes for the creation of medicinal herbs, shrubs and trees associated with traditional methods of medicines, he added. Unless medicinal plants area is demarcated, there is no hope of conserving the same. These are the key ingredients of Indian Traditional System of Medicine. There have been efforts to encourage the farmers to take on its cultivation but the reluctance in the agricultural community is poor pricing. Unless, there is economic viability, the farming community will not take interest. There is also a need to put an end to the illegal collection of medicinal plants from the forest areas and herbal drug industry also need to be imposed a royalty or a tax when companies access the medicinal plants from the forests, said Gopal.