Dipterocarpus
Dipterocarpus indicus
A towering Western Ghats endemic, listed as Endangered. The sacred grove at Karikan near Honavar holds a tall stand of these trees.
Photo: Forestowlet, CC0Biodiversity · Western Ghats
Western Ghats forests
The forested hills begin within a few kilometres of Honavar. They are part of the Western Ghats, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's biodiversity hotspots.
about 70%of Uttara Kannada is forest
about 1,600 kmlength of the Western Ghats
2012UNESCO World Heritage listing
193plant species in 58 Honavar home gardens
Forests of the Sharavathi River valley
The Western Ghats are older than the Himalayas. They catch the monsoon rains that feed the Sharavathi River. They also hold a huge number of plants and animals found nowhere else. Uttara Kannada, about 10,250 km², is around 70% forest, among the best preserved in the Ghats.
Between about 200 and 500 m, the forests of the Sharavathi River valley are a mix of evergreen and semi-evergreen trees. In IISc plots at Malemane, 17 of 38 tree species were Western Ghats endemics. Higher and wetter places hold true evergreen rainforest, swamp forests and sacred groves.
Some of this forest was lost under reservoirs: Linganamakki submerged over 326 km². The smaller Talakalale and Gerusoppa reservoirs about 8 and 6 km².
Trees to know
Kathalekan marking-nut
Semecarpus kathalekanensis
A Critically Endangered tree of Myristica swamps, first described from Kathalekan in Uttara Kannada.
Photo: Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 2.0
Wild nutmegs
Myristicaceae
Swamp trees with looping knee roots. Their forests are among the oldest in India.
Photo: Siyaulhaque, CC BY-SA 4.0People and forests
Forests and farms are woven together here. A study of 58 home gardens in Honavar taluk found 193 plant species, from areca and coconut to pepper, spices, fruit trees and medicinal herbs. Families keep bees for forest honey. Areca growers traditionally gathered leaf litter from nearby forest plots. See arecanut plantations.
Explore further
Meet the lion-tailed macaque, read about swamp forests and sacred groves, frogs, butterflies and mammals, or see the protected areas nearby.
To experience the forest, climb Karikanamma Hilltop, take the jungle trek with a local guide or drive up the Sharavathi River valley to the valley viewpoint and Jog Falls.
Research behind this page (6)
- Ramachandra T.V., Subash Chandran M.D., Joshi N.V. & Shalini Kumar (2012). Conservation of endangered fauna in Sharavathi river basin. ENVIS Technical Report 22, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
- Energy & Wetlands Research Group (2012). Exploring biodiversity and ecology of Central Western Ghats. ENVIS Technical Report 39, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
- Energy & Wetlands Research Group (2013). Status of forest in Shimoga district. ENVIS Technical Report 53, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
- Subash Chandran M.D. & Gadgil M. Sacred groves and sacred trees of Uttara Kannada. Sahyadri E-News 8, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
- Subash Chandran M.D., Rao G.R., Gururaja K.V. & Ramachandra T.V. (2010). Ecology of the swampy relic forests of Kathalekan from Central Western Ghats, India. Bioremediation, Biodiversity and Bioavailability 4(1): 54–68.
- Bhat S.S. & Rajanna L. (2014). Plant diversity studies in the rural homegardens of Honnavar taluk, Uttara Kannada.
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