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NSave Nature to Survive
QUARTERLY
TRIPTI BOURI* AND AMBARISH MUKHERJEE
Centre for Advanced Study, Department of Botany,
University of Burdwan, Burdwan - 713 104, West Bengal, INDIA
E-mail: tbouribot@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The present study documents the non timber
forest products used by the tribal people of
Basudha beat of Durgapur Forest Range under
Burdwan District, West Bengal. The local
people mainly belong to Santhal communities.
Their activities include collection of different
non-timber items of forest resources and
cultivation. This work records 131 plant species
of angiosperms belonging to 60 family and
118 genera. The taxonomic analysis shows
that the dicot and monocot ratio is 114:17.
Habit analysis shows that the herb: shrub:
climber: tree composes the forest in the ratio
of 29: 27: 16: 59 respectively. A precise account
of their habit, common name and use category
has been prepared which as a document might
prove useful in stock-taking of biodiversity and
their conservation through sustainable use.
INTRODUCTION
Forests around the world provide a massive variety of valuable products aside
from the timber we use. Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) are defined as anything
that is harvested or collected from forests that are not trees to be cut into timber.
This includes a large variety of foods, medicines, fuel, forage, plants used for dye,
and much more. The forest dwellers mainly belong to tribal communities and
they mainly depend on forest flora for their livelihood. Some NTFPs are highly
valuable in local and global markets. For exhaustible involvement of non timber
forest products in commercial sphere directly from the forests as very valuable
commodities, many species have been perceiving threat of extinction and
necessitating immediate conservation and protection. In view of the importance
of the non-timber forest products and their implications with forest conservation
and livelihood of forest dwellers the present work was undertaken in the forested
areas of Basudha Beat in Durgapur Forest Range of Burdwan district, West Bengal.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Ethnobotanical surveys were carried out since 2009 in the forested areas of
Basudha beat under Durgapur Forest Range of Burdwan District to collect the
primary data pertaining to phytoresources more or less following the standard
methods (Rao, 1989). Pertinent plant specimens were collected which were
processed for herbarium preservation as voucher specimens for future references
as well as for identification using authentic literature (Prain, 1903; Guha-Bakshi,
1984; Bennet, 1987). The voucher specimens have been preserved in the
Herbarium of the Ecotaxonomy Laboratory of the Department of Botany, Burdwan
University.
Study site
Basudha beat is located at 23º26’’N L and 87º27’’ E L under Kanksa Block of
Durgapur forest range of Burdwan District. This beat is located between the rivers
Ajoy in the north and Kunur in the south. The local people are mainly Santhals
and dependent on non-timber forest products for their livelihood (Bouri and
Mukherjee, 2011; Mukherjee and Bouri, 2011). Their dependence on NTFPs is
very high especially during subdued agricultural production. The soil is lateritic
in nature. Annual rainfall is 1500 mm.
RESULTS
This work records 131 plant species of angiosperms (Table 1) belonging to 60
families and 118 genera. The taxonomic analysis shows that the dicot and monocot
ratio is 114:17 (Fig. 1). Habit analysis shows that the herb: shrub: climber: tree
composes the forest in the ratio of 29: 27: 16: 59 respectively (Fig. 2).
*Corresponding author
DISCUSSION
During an ethnobotanical study in Basudha beat of Durgapur Forest Range
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