As regards plantations in forest area, 5,25,398.72 hectares of plantations have been found in the state. These comprise of mixed plantations (1,32,188.92 ha), forest plantations (10,162.92 ha), teak (82,795.68 ha), eucalyptus (2,11,958.84 ha), acacia (54,915.69 ha), casuarina (4,125.33 ha), bamboo (1,401.79 ha ) and cashew (27,849.55 ha). Out of the above, in the malnad districts there are 2,53,151.41 hectares of plantations comprising of mixed plantations (39,939.12 ha), forest plantations (6,141.39 ha), teak (82,308.15 ha), eucalyptus (42,182.56 ha), acacia (49,708.16 ha), casuarina (4,125.33 ha), bamboo (897.15 ha ) and cashew (27,849.55 ha). In the semi-malnad region, there are 1,73,492.58 hectares of plantations comprising of mixed plantations (53,180.13 ha), forest plantations (681.47 ha), teak (487.53 ha), eucalyptus (1,15,397.9 ha), acacia (3,240.91 ha) and bamboo (504.64 ha). In the maidan region, there are 98,754.73 hectares of plantations comprising of mixed plantations (39,069.67 ha), forest plantations (3,340.06 ha), eucalyptus (54,378.38 ha) and acacia (1,966.62 ha). Thus, 48.18% of the state's forest plantations are in the malnad region, 33.02% in the semi-malnad region and 18.80% in the maidan region.
With regard to teak plantations, most of these plantations are in the malnad region, notably, in the districts of Uttara Kannada (48,593.39 ha), Shivamogga (9,750.41 ha), Chikkamagaluru (5,296.54 ha), Kodagu (12,900.93 ha) and Mysuru (2,713.83 ha). The total extent of teak plantations in the state is about 1.6 lakh hectares out of which about 1.2 lakh hectares were raised before 1984 as pure plantations. Subsequent to 1984, the system of raising pure teak plantation had been given up and teak was planted in combination with other species. Therefore, the plantations raised after 1984 will not have the appearance of a teak plantation. Such plantations are likely to be captured as natural forest or mixed/forest plantations in the satellite imageries. As regards the plantations raised before 1984, thinning of teak plantations in wildlife areas was discontinued because of an order dated 14-02-2000 of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India prohibiting removal of any forest produce, including grass, from protected areas. Thinning and other cultural operations were also not carried out regularly in the plantations of some regular forest divisions for one reason or the other. This resulted in resurgence of miscellaneous species in these plantations. Such plantations give the appearance of natural forest or mixed/forest plantations. In view of this, the figure of 82,795.68 ha of pure teak plantations assessed by the KSRSAC for the entire state appears to be reasonable. Apparently, most of the pure teak plantations of Uttara Kannada district have been captured in the satellite imageries, an indication of the fact that these plantations were by and large thinned and maintained regularly as per the schedule of prescriptions.
Eucalyptus plantations covering 2,11,958.84 ha happen to be the largest segment among plantations of various species. Some of these plantations, especially in Bengaluru (Rural), Bengaluru (Urban), Tumkur and Kolar districts, are private plantations. Some plantations in forest areas have been raised and managed by the Karnataka Forest Development Corporation and Mysore Paper Mills (MPM) Limited. Although the tempo of planting of eucalyptus by the Forest department came down since the mid 1980s, the species is quite visible in the forest areas because of its tenacity and coppicing vigor. In the malnad districts, its presence is mainly in the drier taluks of Belagavi, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Mysuru districts where agro-climatic conditions are quite favorable for eucalyptus. It had been planted quite extensively in the semi-malnad districts where similar agro-climatic conditions prevail and these plantations are visible even now. In the maidan-districts, although eucalyptus was planted widely, its presence does not appear to be very dominating now partly because of hostile climatic conditions, which inhibited vigorous growth of the species, and partly because of high biotic pressure which resulted in frequent removal of whatever had grown. As already mentioned, it became a popular species for planting in farmlands in a number of districts around Bengaluru.
Source: This is an abstract taken from the book, 'Status of forests in Karnataka' (https://bit.ly/2G2iTh0). The author is Mr. Dipak Sarmah.
