Medicinal Plant Resources with Their Novel Therapeutic Applications

The 4000 years old treatise Agnipurana' mentions that a man should protect trees to ensure material prosperity and religious merit. The great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata provide a very lucid description of the forest like Dandakaranya. Manadavana and Khandvan. Pipal (Ficusreligiosa) and Babul plants (Acacia nilotica) are considered to ancient times lived in harmony with their ecosystem, which was formed by the forests.

The accounts of Indian forests given in these sources are one of richness and abundance and so have little relevance to the present time scarcity sticken condition and complexity of modern forests management. Mismanagement of Indian forests started ever since the beginning of invasion of India by foreign powers and reached its zenith during the Mughal and early British period. For the British, Indian forests were an inexhaustible source of durable and ornamental timber and other forests products. Teak forests along the coast of Malabar were over exploited to meet the requirement of the British Navy.

The sandalwood tree of South Indian were exploited for the periods of great devastation of Indian forests. Forests were cut recklessly to meet the increasing demands. As a result, rich productive forests vanished, causing an irreparable damage of the ecosystem and to the people especially the tribals. In the present compilation the attempt has been made to determine the floristic composition, productivity and Biodiversity characterization of Indian forest.