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1.	Name of the Division	Non Wood Forest Products Division Himalayan Forest Research Institute, Shimla, HP
2.	Head of Division			Sh. M. Raj Kumar, IFS
	The medicinal and aromatic resources of the Western Himalayas are being exploited since long and some of the species became endangered and red listed. Therefore, the institute felt dire need to have a separate Non Wood Forest Products Division, which came into existence during 1998 with responsibility to take up the research activities on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of this region.
3.	Objectives:
	To assess the distribution and status of important NWFP’s of the region. To assess the demand and supply of important NWFP’s. To develop appropriate harvesting techniques and post harvesting handling methods for various NWFP’s. To standardize nursery and cultivation techniques of important MWFP’s including red listed Medicinal Plants of the region. To establish gremplasm banks for important NWFP’s.
4(A)	Projects under plan			NIL
4(B)	Externally aided projects
(a)	Title of the project			Inventorization, documentation of plant diversity and to evolve site-specific management strategies for conservation of various sacred groves in Kullu valley of Himachal Pradesh (Funding agency – GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development)
	Duration:			April 2005 - March 2008
	Principal Investigator			A. Rajasekaran, Scientist – B
	Objectives:
	To inventorize and document the plant diversity of sacred groves To assess the regeneration status of trees in sacred groves in comparison to the adjacent forest area To evolve site-specific management strategies for rejuvenation and conservation of sacred groves To create awareness among the local community for conservation of sacred groves
	Progress achieved up to March 2006:
	Field visits were made throughout the study area and information about the existence of sacred groves was gathered through personal contacts with villagers. A questionnaire was prepared to record data on the sacred groves. Twenty-two sacred groves were visited and information on plant diversity was recorded. 55 plant species belonging to 31 families have been recorded so far from the sacred groves. Traditional ethnobotanical information on 15 species was documented. About 300 seedlings of Cedrus deodara, Pinus wallichiana, Abies pindrow and Picea smithiana have been raised in the nursery for plantation in degraded sacred groves. Informal discussion with villagers of Jana, Halan, Larankalon, Nasha, Shuru and Sajla regarding present management practices about the sacred groves has been conducted. To create awareness among the local community for conservation of sacred groves, a pamphlet in Hindi about sacred groves is being prepared.
(b)	Title of the Project:			Studies on population status and berberine content in different provenances of Berberis aristata in Himachal Pradesh and standardization of its propagation techniques (Funding agency – Department of Biotechnology)
	Duration:			August 2005 - July 2008
	Principal Investigator			A. Rajasekaran, Scientist – B
	Objectives:
	To identify high Berberine yielding B. aristata provenances in Himachal Pradesh and To develop nursery techniques for mass propagation of identified elite clones/provenances of B. aristata
	Progress achieved up to March 2006:
	Six provenances of Berberis aristata have been identified so far in Himachal Pradesh. After identification of different provenance, about 2kg of root samples were collected from each provenance randomly from 2 to 3 mature plants. The collected roots were cut into small pieces, dried in shade and sent to the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun for estimation of berberine content. To standardize nursery techniques for mass propagation of the species, one year old semi-hardwood cuttings collected from mature plants were treated with different concentrations of IBA, IAA and NAA and transplanted in mist chamber of the Institute. Data on sprouting of stem cuttings are being collected from the nursery and mist chamber of the institute. For seed germination studies, seeds extracted from ripened fruits were subjected to 13 different pre-sowing treatments and the studies indicated that maximum germination was recorded in seeds treated with 24 hour hot water followed by 24 hour boiled water.
(C)	Title of the project:			Studies on natural regeneration of Pinus gerardiana Wall. In Himachal Pradesh (Funding agency- Under USDA pine project of FRI)
	Duration:			18 Months (March 2005 - September 2006)
	Principal Investigator			A. Rajasekaran, Scientist – B
	Objectives
	To assess the natural regeneration of the species in Himachal Pradesh To organize village level meeting/discussion for the sustainable utilization and conservation awareness
	Progress achieved up to March 2006:
	Literature on Chilgoza pine was collected from UHF, Nauni and HFRI. Quadrat study was conducted in Kinnaur and Bharmour Forest Division to assess population status of adult trees and natural regeneration (Seedlings & Saplings). Current practices followed by people for harvesting the nut was recorded from Kalpa, Rarang and Spilo villages of Kinnaur District and Koti and Arkhi villages of Bharmour Forest Division. Informal discussions regarding need for sustainable utilization and conservation of Chilgoza pine with local people.
5.	Major achievements of the division (Supported by good photographs)
	Survey of Chilgoza pine in Kinnaur and Bharmour Forest division of Himachal Pradesh was conducted.

Figure 1 Chilgoza male cone			Figure 2 Chilgoza female cone
7.	Publication
	Books
	Booklet
	Brochures
	Pamphlets
	Papers			Nil
	Rajasekaran A., Narendra Prasad & Surinder Kumar (2003). Impact of Lantana camara on native medicinal plant populations, Presented in the workshop on Lantana camara problems and prospects held at Dehradun 0n 10th & 11th Febrauray 2004, Organised by HESCO, Dehradun. Surinder Kumar, Jagdish Singh & A. Rajasekaran (2004) Agroforestry for mitigating pressure on native forests. In: Proceedings of National Workshop on agroforestry, organized by Forest Department, Haryana at Van Bhavan, Sector 6, Panchkula on 22-24 November 2004. Rajasekaran, Jagdish Singh & KD Sharma (2004) Intercropping of medicinal plants for augmenting income of rural people. In: Proceedings of National Conference on Resource conserving technologies for social upliftment organized by Indian Association of Soil & water conservation, CSWCRTT, Dehradun held at NASC complex, New Delhi on 07-09 December 2004. Surinder Kumar, A. Rajasekaran & K.D. Sharma (2004). Sacred and venerated plants of Himachal Pradesh, Presented in the National workshop on Strategy for conservation of sacred groves (27-28th May 2004), Institute of Forest genetics & Tree Breeding, Coimbatore. Surinder Kumar, K.D. Sharma & A. Rajasekaran (2004). ‘People, Participation and Natural Resource Management through Watershed Management in Himachal Pradesh” Presented in the workshop on Forest and water conservation: myths and realities held at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun on 8-10th June 2004. K.D. Sharma & A. Rajasekaran (2005) Management of plantation sites for successful plantation. Presented in the workshop on problems and prospects of afforestation and tree planting on the degraded hill slopes with special reference to NTFP species. Organized by Regional center, Nauni UHF, National Afforestation and Ecodevelopment Board (MoEF) and HP Forest Department at Hotel Holiday Home, Shimla on 15-16th February 2005.