The data contained in the latest report on the state of forest prepared by the Forests Survey of India on the depletion of dense woods in three districts of Karnataka add up to a very grim picture. What really lends a grave dimension to the dismal scenario is that the depletion of dense forests has taken place in the three districts, Shimoga, Kodagu and Uttara Kannada, which form the integral part of the Western Ghats, deemed to be a bioreserve of the living order...editorial