INTRODUCTION

The tropical forests of Uttara Kannada district are repository of diverse medicinal plants and constitute a vital component of the traditional knowledge of various tribes and local communities. Studies earlier have focussed on the status, diverse applications and community uses of the forest  medicinal plants (Rao et al., 2014; Kirthikar and Basu, 2003; Bhandari et al., 1995; Harsha et al., 2002; Hegde et al., 2007; Somashekhara et al., 2010). Species and community ecology of these plants are complex necessitating taxonomic, ecological and ethno-botanical knowledge for understanding medicinal properties and uses apart of updated knowledge in pharmacognosy and pharmacological applications. Demand for a wide variety of wild species has been increasing with growth in demand, numbers and commercial trade (Schippmann et al., 2002). Hence, vegetation and floristic studies have gained increasing importance and relevance in recent years. Depletion of biodiversity at an alarming rate with burgeoning anthropogenic activities has necessitated inventorying, monitoring, conservation and management of medicinal plants in their natural habitats. This paper highlights the diversity and regeneration status of medicinal plants Medicinal Plants Conservation Areas (MPCAs) at Shirgunji in Uttara Kannada coast of Karnataka. The vegetation in the study area mainly comprises of tropical wet evergreen to semi-evergreen forest in the coastal and hilly areas as the rainfall is high. Moist deciduous forests mixed with savannas is found in more disturbed areas.