Introduction

Sahyadri e-news is CES-ENVIS's quarterly newsletter, covering the issues related to Western Ghats biodiversity. Western Ghats is rich in diversity of life. Due to unplanned developmental activities, its ecological resource base is under threat, with extensive destruction of natural habitats, widespread degradation of ecosystems and a growing burden of air and water pollution. Simultaneously, knowledge base of uses of biodiversity is also being eroded, with the present generation becoming increasingly alienated from the natural world. The flora of Western Ghats comprises about 12,000 species ranging from unicellular cyanobacteria to angiosperms. The Ghats mountain range runs through different states of south-western India such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and covers various types of vegetation including evergreen, tropical deciduous, scrub, montane, subtropical temperate forests and grasslands. Although the higher plant flora and fauna of various ecosystems have been studied in great detail since European colonization in India, the lower groups of plants including pteridophytes, bryophytes, lichens, fungi and algae have not received the desired attention.

Karnataka is the home to about 4800 species of flowering plants out of which about 2000 species are medicinal and accounts for about 27% of the countrys flora, with just 10% of the geographical area. Karnataka with its unique wild habitats spread across the Western Ghats and the Deccan Peninsula is also the home to several endemic species of commercial importance. The current issue discusses the gaps and challenges while focusing on the initiatives undertaken towards the conservation of medicinal plants in Karnataka