• About BioGove

    JOURNEY FROM BIOGOV.IN TO BIOGOVE.COM

    10th October, 2025; Somarasampettai, - 620102

    This joint venture with https://www.bigogov.in initiative was started from 2014 and continued with Dr. Sunil Kumar Verma actively till 2019. But sudden demise of Dr. Verma by Pandemic Corona 2019 made the joint initiative become standstill and I lost my best friend with scientific temper and a true guide for this initiative. Further, Dr. Verma was maintaining the biogov.in account. Finally, I lost my true Friend and lost our initiative through bigogov.in account. I tried to renew the website , get back the connected data and all creativity we made jointly but failed as I was unaware the correct number of the website to renew it.

    Hence, we have made a fresh Team to continue the Biodiversity Governance of India with a fresh website i.e. https://www.biogove.com collecting all my past data. I remember my true friend Dr, Sunil Verma, Principal Scientist, CSIR – CENTRE FOR CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY and firmly believe that the spirit of his noble soul would guide me and my new team with our present initiative in biogove.com.
    With the same spirit, two books were published based on the findings of my Ph.D. thesis, as given below.

    Biodiversity Governance India BIOGOVE Initiative

    Dear Readers,

    The Plant Kingdom is the only living entity that sacrifices everything for the benefit of others including mankind. Forests – the home of the Plant kingdom works as a store house to supply all the Basic Life Supporting System (BLiSS). Besides 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 innumerable plants operate as the ‘Sea of monks’ being panacea to the human beings and other living organisms. These very facts urge for a committed, logical and scientific approach in conserving, managing and expanding our forest resources for the present as well as for the generations to come. With the same spirit, two books were published based on the findings of my Post Doctorate Ph.D thesis.

    Management Strategies For Endemic and Threatened Medicinal Plants in India - A Geoinformatics Approach

    With Special Reference to Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India Published (March 2012) by Department of Environment, Government of Tamil Nadu

    Biodiversity Governance for Managing Endemic and Threatened Medicinal Plants in India - A Geoinformatics Approach

    (National Biodiversity Authority Government of India Published an abridged version of the first book for use by conservationists, forest and environment department personnel, policy makers and local people)

    I acknowledge the source of everything that is in this book and accept my indebtedness to that infinite source of strength that exists in all living beings especially in the form of plant kingdom, which pulled me affectionately and instilled all wisdom documented in this book through their selfless service in silence.

    I, come from there….


    Dr Manoj Kumar Sarkar, IFS
    Mobile: +91 8778306284

    The First Editorial

    Dr Sunil Kumar Verma, D.Phil. (University of Oxford, UK) From the Editors desk: Two words of Grace for BioGov

    BioGov: An online portal for Biodiversity Governance for Endemic and Threatened Plants of India

    Dr. Sunil Kumar Verma, D.Phil. (Oxford, England)
    Principal Scientist
    CSIR-CENTRE FOR CELLULAR & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
    Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India
    Uppal Road, Hyderabad 500 007, India

    The woods are lovely dark and deep…
    But I have promises to keep…
    And miles to go before I sleep…
    And miles to go before I sleep…

    …From Stopping By Woods

    Dear Readers,

    On the auspicious occasion of International Biological Diversity Day today (22 May 2014), we are pleased and privileged to dedicate this BioGov portal (http://biogov.in) to the endeavors of Biodiversity Governance in India.

    As you know, India is very rich in Biodiversity; however, unsustainable harvesting and illegal exploitation of large number of highly precious plants in India has raised a serious alarm on the existence of hundreds of endemics (Indian) plant species. As per the decade long comprehensive studies conducted by Dr. M. K. Sarkar on the Biodiversity Governance in India, a total of 201 lifesaving Medicinal Plants species is suffering from various degree of threats. Some of those 201 species are on the verge of extinction. Nevertheless, the Indian legislation only provides to protect merely the ‘six’ plant species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972. Moreover, this number of protected plant species remained just the ‘six’ even after 42 years of the inception of this Act. The International authoritative databases enlisting threatened and endangered plants are mostly silent for most of the threatened plant species of India due to lack of information. Lack of effective Governance Policies further worsens the situation. Thus, there is a lot that need to be done as a matter of urgency in this sub-continent.

    Dr. M. K. Sarkar, the author of important book “Biodiversity Governance for Managing Endemic and Threatened Medicinal Plants in India – A Geoinformatics Approach” deserves big thanks for igniting the Spirit of Biodiversity Governance in India and allowing BioGov to make his entire work available via this portal so that the country could benefit from his life-time studies on Biodiversity Governance.

    In the initial stage of its development, the portal thrust to document and present the important scientific findings and other work of Dr. Sarkar on Plant Kingdom in a user-friendly manner. In the second stage, a comprehensive reference database on the endemic plants of India (Endemic Plants Reference Database: EPRD) would be developed. We hope that this database would not only fill the gap between researchers and policy makers but would be very useful for the curators and lovers of plants and would represent the Indian plant diversity on global map. Provided the availability of funds, we shall then proceed to do the DNA profiling of all the threatened plants species of India so that the illegal trade of them could be controlled by law enforcement.

    While starting this scientific cum spiritual journey, we seek your good wishes and blessings so that it meets its single goal – Serving them who selflessly serve others in silence endlessly!

    May God bless all….

    BioGov is an Initiative dedicated to the endeavors of Biodiversity Governance in India. The inception of BioGov occurred in a conference which was organised by TRAFFIC India, WWF (World Wildlife Fund), New Delhi at Simplipal Tiger Reserve, Odissa in January 2014, where Dr. Manoj Kumar Sarkar presented the findings of his comprehensive, decades long studies on the important issues of Biodiversity Governance in India. The inspiring talk given by Dr. Sarkar was an eye opener. The house was stunned to note that illegal exploitation of several plant species of India over the decades has pushed thousands of endemic and medicinal plant species of India on the verge of extinction. Nevertheless, the Indian legislation only provided to protect merely the ‘six’ species of plants under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972. Moreover, this number of protected plant species remained just the ‘six’ even after 42 years of the inception of this Act. Surprisingly, the international authoritative databases enlisting threatened and endangered plants remain silent for most of the Indian threatened plant species. Lack of effective Governance Policies further worsens the situation. The Scientific Governance Policy proposed by Dr. Sarkar was a ray of hope! These findings are published by Tamil Nadu forest Department and ‘National Biodiversity Authority’ of India in form of two books in the year 2012.

    It was proposed in the meeting to make these important books freely available ‘online’ so that entire world could benefit from them.

    This BioGov portal (http://biogov.in) is thus dedicated to the Nation on the issues of Biodiversity Governance in India. In the initial stage of its development, the portal thrust to document and present the important scientific findings and other work of Dr. Sarkar on Plant Kingdom in a user-friendly manner. In the second stage, a comprehensive reference database on the endemic plants of India (Endemic Plants Reference Database: EPRD) would be developed. We hope that this database would not only fill the gap between researchers and policy makers but would be very useful for the curators and lovers of plants and would represent the Indian plant diversity on global map. Provided the availability of funds, we shall then proceed to do the DNA profiling of all the threatened plants species of India so that the illegal trade of them could be controlled by law enforcement.

    Hope you enjoy surfing through BioGov portal…

    Happy Surfing!
    Sunil Kumar Verma

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE BOOK
    Biodiversity Governance for Managing Endemic and Threatened Medicinal Plants in India – A Geoinformatics Approach
    Manoj Kumar Sarkar, I.F.S.

    The concepts of biodiversity and sustainable management of natural resources of forests became a global concern during 1980’s and 90’s and globalization has triggered an upsurge in the production of plant-based medicines and herbal products. More than seventy percent of the people worldwide rely chiefly on traditional, largely herbal medicine to meet their primary health care needs. India, being a tropical country with favourable phytogeographical prerequisites for plant growth, has rich floral diversity with estimated 45,000 plant species and over a sixth of them have medicinal value. Traditional herbal medicine has been practiced in India and China since ancient times. India is also one of the world’s leading exporters of medicinal plants (MPs) and herbal products, second only to China. With over 50,000 herbal formulations, an industrial turnover of Rs. 4200 crores per annum, and a projected annual growth rate of 20-30%, the MP related health sector is poised to take off. Despite its advantageous position, its share of the US$ 62 billion global market is less than half a percent.

    Although trade in MPs in India has doubled since globalization, it is completely controlled by the informal sector with large traders operating from port towns and important cities, while only 15% of the MPs are cultivated in the country and remaining 85% used in trade and industries comes from the wild/forests. The increase in trade resulting in indiscriminate harvesting and export have put a large number of India’s MPs under the threat of extinction.

    Further, analysis of the working plan operations (prescriptions of work to be carried out in any forest Division/District for next ten years) in forestry sector since 1900 shows that tree species of commercial value and fuel wood have received far more importance than other lower habits like shrubs, herbs, climbers, grasses, etc., which account for 66% of floral composition of forests and include many species of great medicinal and commercial value. It is a matter of concern that when more than 1000 species of MPs suffer from various degrees of threats with genetic loss for ever, still there is no policy formulation/reforms in this sector of integrated phyto- resource management in the country. In the absence of such species specific laws or policies for plants, indiscriminately collected MPs from any unit area from wild / forests could neither be identified (physically or by biochemical tests in forensic lab due to lack of skill, expertise and policies) nor booked outside the forest boundary under any offence, as it is not legally supported by the court of law.

    The management of flora (including MPs) needs to be prioritized and dealt with site specific geographic information of their natural habitats. Precise point-location data on microclimate, topography and soil, in association with geographical distribution of threatened medicinal plant species in the Phyto-sociological layout will lead to the exact locality information of the concerned taxa, their population status, the factors limiting their distributions, and also the factors leading to local and biological extinction and critical habitats. The protection, conservation and overall management of threatened MPs need support of various kinds like inventory of resources and ascertaining their species specific threat status, effective regulations, institutional mechanism and strong legislative support, as well as the participation of all stakeholders with systematic short term and long term planning in place.

    Hence, the soul of this book is anchored with rehabilitation approach of these endemic and threatened groups of plants of trees, shrubs, and herbs which provide lifesaving drugs to the people. I have documented 1106 plant species occurring in Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) based on 120 sample survey quadrats laid in the field. Out of this, around 772 species are recorded as MPs used in Ayurveda, Folk, Siddha, Tibetian, Unani, Homeopathy and Allopathy systems of medicine. Of this, as many as 189 endemic species of angiosperms have been identified from this region. In Western Ghats and other parts of Peninsular India, 122 endemic and threatened medicinal plant species (ETMPs) are distributed, while 58 ETMPs are confined to KMTR and its surroundings alone in the world. The information with latest taxonomical names, synonyms, family, habits, their utility in Indian systems of medicine, the forest types where they occur, centers of endemism and also the threat status are furnished in Appendix-I. The floral biodiversity indices of species is provided in Appendix – II while in Appendix – III and IV detailed information about 58 ETMPs, their centre of endemism, intensity of threats along with factors of threats are elaborated. Further, as helping hand to the field executives for species recovery programme, a table showing Phenology and Propagation Calendar of ETMPs is furnished in Chapter – V. For easy identification of lesser-known species in field, more than 300 coloured illustrations are furnished as flagship species under major forest types narrated in this book.

    Detailed study of various phytogeographic parameters for plant growth in the study area were taken up. Generation of thematic maps on many themes, (e.g. geology, elevation and relief, slope, geomorphology, drainage, slope, bio-climate, soil etc.), all in common geo reference can be used in GIS domain for modelling. To prepare maps on MPs with its environmental entity (with abiotic and biotic parameters) using geospatial techniques is a model study. Accordinglythirty-two thematic maps have been prepared with common geo reference and finally Summary Table of abiotic factors of individual ETMPs along with their ecological situations elaborated so that further rehabilitation work for the species can be taken up by the custodian and also similar work can be taken up for other species too.
    Creation of a Conservation Development Model and Action Plan, a real need of the hour has been suggested for selected species. A conservation development model for prioritizing the management prescriptions for MPs along with Taxon Data sheet of sixteen ETMPs with species specific Recovery Plans in addition to the details of 58 ETMPs of the study area is also provided. Finally the causes for decline of the medicinal plants to reach their threshold point of threatened conditions were found out especially for these select ETMPs.
    Species specific recovery plans of sixteen selected ETMPs of the area have been discussed at length with sufficient coloured illustrations and prescribed for future course of action by the custodian. Identifying these species in the field along with their specific geo-coded location and then prescribing specific Recovery plan for each species with the Phenological and propagation Calendar is a new venture in the scientific literature related to wild plants. Mapping of Floristic species richness, Medicinal plant species richness, Hotspots of ETMPs and finally Zonation of conservation values based on field survey and analysis is a novel study that can be applied for all areas of natural forests/wild areas for resource planning. Modelling for Strategic Management and Conservation by prioritization of threatened MPs of any unit area as generated in this study will have much application value to develop protocol for similar purposes for any given area.
    The findings of this study are placed primarily before the custodian stakeholders of medicinal plants (with special attention to the endemic and threatened ones) which suffer from different degrees of threats and need immediate attention from the Policy makers and natural resource managers. As the appropriate policies are not in place even after the economic liberalization in 90’s and its consequent effect of the upsurge in production of medicinal plants and herbal products and while more than 1000 medicinal plants suffer from various degrees of threats, the existing policy frame work regarding protection assurance of the floral species of the country needs to be relooked at. Because of this vacuum at policy level, the trade remains opaque and completely controlled by the informal sector. The custodian has no material stake in the trade either in terms of revenue or even in terms of surveillance of what is exported. Besides, the executives in field meant to protect and conserve this plant resources are not in a position to take any appropriate legal action against the persons involved in illegal collection and destructive harvesting as it is not legally supported in the court of law.
    Specific policy lacunae in the system has been provided by analysing the i) role of existing legal provisions and polices in protecting medicinal plants; ii) protection assurance status of flora in comparison to fauna and iii) the historical perspective of policies and Acts formulated over the last 120 years in forestry, which clearly spell out the shortcomings as well as the paradigm shift required in the management strategy for medicinal plants. Further, overall summary in the sector has been drawn through the SWOT analysis and furnished in Chapter – V.
    Therefore, specific recommendations for Policy formulation, extension of legalprovisions for conservation and sustainable utilization of medicinal plants were developed based on the findings of this study. Finally, a list of 201 Threatened Medicinal plants have been proposed for inclusion as Plant Schedules in Wildlife (Protection) Act based on CAMP workshops conducted by various prime institutes in this field like FRLHT, Bangalore; Zoo Outreach Organization, Coimbatore; Forest Department, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow and my own field study. This list of proposed Plant Schedule is supplemented with 193 photographs collected from various sources in addition to my own photographs with the single objective to provide comprehensive information to the users at one reference. The findings provide necessary input for the Policy makers to evolve conservation strategies, formulate negative list of MPs from the threatened groups of plants so that these can be well protected using appropriate Plant Schedule.
    Finally, I have provided a Recommendation Tree and Action Plan for conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants with all related issues so that this can be applied by the custodian as well other stakeholders in the field for protecting and conserving these resources. The required training of stakeholders of medicinal plants at various levels and also the related technology in identification, protection and conservation of medicinal plants are provided with exclusive flow charts.
    Finally, I have provided a Recommendation Tree and Action Plan for conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants with all related issues so that this can be applied by the custodian as well other stakeholders in the field for protecting and conserving these resources. The required training of stakeholders of medicinal plants at various levels and also the related technology in identification, protection and conservation of medicinal plants are provided with exclusive flow charts.
    This document treads in a multidisciplinary path incorporating and synthesizing information from a variety of interrelated subjects like biodiversity with taxonomy and ecological input, geo-informatics, phytochemistry, public policy and management to serve as a reference point for the endemic and threatened medicinal plants, whilst endeavouring to provide a road map for conservation of plants.

    Finally, this book is intended to reach the users involved in the field, policy makers of the country and also the elites who convert the broad policy into practical steps to implement these in field. Be it conservation of medicinal plants, biodiversity, or eco development, or even application of advance technology in decision making and planning by geo informatics, there is lack of written document in the form of a authentic handbook to provide readymade information to the practitioners who toil in the field to undertake protection and conservation measures of imperilled plants and flora in general. I attempted to fill up this gap with my earnest efforts of a decade by offering this document as service to the Nation. In spite of my best efforts, it is possible that there may be some shortcomings/errors in this book inadvertently. If these are intimated, I shall improve upon this book in future.

    Bringing out this scientific document is considered as an opportunity to learn intimately the floral resources including medicinal plants of the country and KMTR in particular to protect, conserve and augment them ensuring sustainable benefit flow for the people of this country. I have enjoyed the journey of carrying out this work. The information given here in this book, if can bring some positive change in the system in protecting the imperiled plants and if people of my country at large are benefited, I shall feel rewarded.


    Dr Manoj Kumar Sarkar, IFS
    Mobile: +91 8778306284

    Author Manoj Kumar Sarkar

    Dr Sarkar did his graduation and post-graduation from the Presidency College of Calcutta University; M.Sc. in Forestry from Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Dehra Dun and MBA/PGPPM (Post Graduate in Public Policy Management) from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. He was conferred a doctorate degree in Botany from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. Read More…

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