"It was a wonderful experience interacting with you and appreciate the way you have planned and executed the whole publication process within the agreed timelines.”
Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh PalThe book provides an overview of the various types of forests occurring in the Indian state of Karnataka. Some of the most magnificent tropical forests of the Western Ghats are found here, including evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous, dry deciduous, thorn, shola, swamp and mangrove. Although scattered information about these forests is available, such information for the whole state is not available in the form of a comprehensive document. The book, while providing district-wise information about Karnataka’s forests, also dwells upon the interplay of different factors that have led to the formation and transformation of these forests. It critically analyzes the salient features about tropical forests, their past management and present status; this is relevant not only to Karnataka’s forests but also to the tropical forests of peninsular India, in particular, and Indian forests in general.
The book provides a brief description about some 325 tree species—some endemic to the Western Ghats, some stretching from Australia to Africa and many pan-India—touching upon their ecology, habitat, field characteristics, tips for identification and utilization, including traditional medicinal uses. These trees represent a very wide spectrum of the trees from tropical forests.
Dipak Sarmah
Shri Dipak Sarmah, a retired Indian Forest Service (1977) officer, started his career in the Western Ghats, serving in the region for more than a decade. He was primarily responsible for the protection and development of forests, for which he was awarded the Karnataka Rajyotsava award during November 1980. He was part of a team that worked on an innovative program in Uttara Kannada district for the rehabilitation of degraded forests through rigid protection and planting of indigenous species, including bamboo. The district won the Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra award (1989) for exemplary afforestation work.
Over his illustrious career, Shri Sarmah served in many positions in the Government of India as well as Karnataka for forest and wildlife conservation and development. Post-retirement, he has assisted the Forest Department in the preparation of many important documents that help the department function efficiently. He has also assisted the Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI), Bangalore in compiling the State of Environment Report (SoER-2015) as chief editor. Shri Sarmah is the author of two books, namely, Forestry in Karnataka - A Journey of 150 Years and Status of Forests of Karnataka.
In 2011, Shri Dipak Sarmah was nominated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India to the Monitoring Committee to supervise mining operations and sale of ore in Karnataka. He continues to serve as the Chairman of the Committee till date.
