Evaluating the last remnants of Butea monosperma (Lam.) Kuntze Forest for their in situ conservation: a case study.

This paper provides a suitable framework for consolidating knowledge and providing a useful starting point to undertake conservation of the last remnants of Butea monosperma forest. A survey was conducted to assess the status of a reportedly unexplored B. monosperma forest in a narrow strip of land along the northeastern region of Pakistan in order to conserve the remaining remnants. A preliminary reconnaissance survey on the basis of land use divides the narrow stretch of land, with concentration of remnants into four zones. The remnants were further evaluated for in situ conservation by a scoring system based on vegetation analysis and quality of habitat. Low value was assigned to those criteria which had negative impact and high to those which had positive impact on performance of B. monosperma and its long-term survival. Additional information, pertaining to decline, trends of change in the land use, and the underlying socioeconomic processes, was also made. Information from the study area indicated that, in the past two decades, the decline and conversion of the remaining B. monosperma forest to agriculture and forestry has been intensified. The vegetation analysis revealed that all remnants are broadly B. monosperma-Adhatoda vasica, bispecies association. The scoring system ranked the remnants into four classes. Two forests from the intact remnant class and one from the mildly degraded class were recommended for in situ conservation. Keeping in view the deteriorating status of the highly ranked remnants across the landscape and the degree of alteration it is undergoing, they were assigned the conservation status category of "critical." An approach suggested for their immediate conservation was to fence them, with open access to the local people for sustainable resource use. In situ conservation of these benchmarks would help in further understanding the ecological, evolutionary, and structural features of this unique biogeographic ecotone and its affinities with the adjacent ecosystems.