Revisiting forest types of India (Champion and Seth, 1968): A case study on Myristica swamp forest in Kerala

The Forest types of India were classified in the Year 1936 By H.G. Champion which was later on revised in the year 1968 by Sir H.G. Champion and S.K. Seth as \'A Revised Survey of Forest Types of India\'. The work of Champion and Seth (1968) although widely accepted in India but the owing to large number of subgroup types at times it is not very feasible for forest manger to manage his forest in according to forest types. Indian council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE, Dehradun) has decided to revisit the forest types of India through rapid assessment mode. We revisited Myristica swamp forest in Kulathupuzha range of Thiruvanathapuram Division, Kerala . From the present study it is observed that there is no change in forest type of Myristica swamp as described by Champion and Seth (1968). When compare to the study made by Vijayakumaran Nair et al. (2007), the species composition vary and the density changes have also observed. Hence, Myristica swamp forests have to be restored and conserved through Special efforts on careful planning and manipulations and watershed management. Considering its importance, UNESCO declared the Western Ghats as a World Heritage Site (Natural site) during its 36th session of 21 parties World Heritage Committee panel held at St. Petersburg in Russia on 1st July, 2012