Pune: The urgent need for Conservation Assessment and Management Plan ( CAMP ) for plants in Maharashtra was highlighted by Ankur Patwardhan, a member of the State Wildlife Board Committee, recently. The project was given the go-ahead by chief minister Eknath Shinde during a meeting of the board held a few days ago. The CAMP project, which was discontinued in Maharashtra after 2001, aims at listing plants (including medicinal) under various categories, such as critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable and near threatened, and conserving them based on their category.
Patwardhan, who is also the head of Annasaheb Kulkarni Department of Biodiversity at the Abasaheb Garware College, said that during the last exercise — 50 taxa — was assessed by taxonomists in Maharashtra, however, there was no time-wise action plan on the identified plants for conservation. During discussion with the Shinde, the issue of giving priority to plants was raised. Patwardhan said, “The CAMP workshop was last held in 2001 in Pune.
The aim of the exercise is to conduct a rapid assessment of threat status of medicinal plants of Maharashtra. During this exercise, once the plant species are identified, their short-term and long-term conservation measures are undertaken. This has not been done since 2001, which is dangerous for the ecosystem.
” The CAMP project follows the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threat assessment process for shrubs, herbs, and trees. Patwardhan said, “This exercise mainly helps conservationists to prioritise plant species in Maharashtra. Since such an exercise has not been conducted for two decades, we do not know what our priority species are.
” In 2001, the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions, Bangalore, and the Medicinal Plants Conservation Centre, Pune, along with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, collectively conducted the exercise. The working group consisted of taxonomists and ethnobotanists who were active in fieldwork, besides forest officials, industry representatives, and a few botanists. “In our previous exercise, we had shortlisted 69 plant species of known medicinal value perceived to be threatened in state,” added Patwardhan.
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