Orchids under threat in Saputara as tourism grows: Research scholar

The field study carried out on orchids suggest they are being threatened by the growth of tourism in the region.

Rapid growth of tourism in Saputara at the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats in the Dangs district of Gujarat has taken a toll on some rare orchids that grow there. The findings have come as a shock to the researchers at the MS University who are surveying the orchids under a project funded by the state government’s Gujarat Biodiversity Board.

The field study carried out to look at the status of some of the rarest varieties of orchid flowers grown exclusively in Saputara and surrounding areas in the Dangs suggest they are being threatened by the growth of tourism in the region.

“Tourists are not sensitive to the ecologically sensitive region and do not think twice before plucking these flowers,” said P S Nagar, a faculty associated with the botany department of the MSU. Nagar is carrying out the survey along with research scholar, Mittal Bhatt.

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When Bhatt visited Saputara in July this year, she was amazed by the abundance of the single-leaf white orchid growing in abundance on a rocky region at a high altitude, which forms perfect condition for the growth of this type of flower known as habernaria longicorniculata, and which are found only in Saputara in Gujarat and elsewhere along the Western Ghats. But when Nagar visited the same spot a few months later, he found few such flowers.

“Tourists visiting Saputara during monsoon had plucked the flower in large numbers. The problem is that the flower grows and multiplies after its seeds get affected by the mycorrhiza fungus. It does not grow if it is plucked and thrown to the ground,” Bhatt said. This variety of orchid generally grows during monsoon.

Another variety of purple white orchid with bulby base that grows on trees mostly found in Saputara is also threatened, mainly because of large-scale cutting of the trees on which these orchids grow. “The trees are being chopped off because of the demand of growth made by increasing number of tourists. The trees grow in moist areas at a high altitude and in Gujarat such as Saputara. A similar orchid with larger bulbuous base also growing on tree in the region is also being threatened,” Bhatt said.

Another variety of orchid that comes in pink colour and grows in a bunch is threatened as they are plucked and sold at a very high price in the bordering areas of Maharashtra. These are wild orchids that grow in tribal region but have a good market value. Natural disasters such as landslides and human interference are also threatening these rare orchids. The research covers a total 28 varieties of orchids that are found across the state.

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