Karnataka: Beat lantana with worms, Bandipur style

Chamamrajnagar: An invasive weed, lantana  has been hard to remove from forests, but now nature has come to the rescue of forest officials in the Bandipur National Park, where worms are doing the job they haven't been able to.

Forest officers on patrol in the park were recently surprised to see the lantana infested with worms and withering under their attack. According to park officials  such an attack on the weed is perhaps the first of its kind in Bandipur.

 "We came across the withering lantana in Holkalre and Moolpura beats close to the Moyar River flowing through the park even as other vegetation is springing to life with the rain lashing the region," said Assistant Conservator of Forests, Anthony Mariyappa, revealing that the invasive weed had withered over about 15 sq. kms.

  "Perhaps, it's nature's way of getting rid off lantana, which dominates vast areas of Bandipur," added the officer.  With lantana losing out to the worms, Mr Mariyappa says they have invited officers of the Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, to study the phenomenon to see if it could affect other plants too in the park.

In the normal course it would take de weeding of a few years to rid the park of  lantana as its seed has a dormancy of about 10 years. But with the worm infestation, the invasive plant is dying on its own, lessening the burden of forest officials, who are  jubilant at this natural solution to their problem. 

 Though the infested area is small it has been noticed both on the Bandipur side and on the other side of the Moyar River falling in Tamil Nadu, according to Mr Mariyappa.