Hardly 15 km. from the coast of Porbandar town of Porbandar district, the hilly forest of Barda is standing against the salinity ingress in the region. This area was declared as sanctuary in February' 1979.
The sanctuary having a forest area of 192.31 sq. km. is relatively small in extent. However, it is characteristically abundant in floral diversity, which consists of a good number of medicinal plants. In fact, very high percentage of rare and endangered plants occurring in the area is an important component of the sanctuary.
The area falls into two erstwhile princely states of the history i.e. Rana Barda, where Ranas of Porbandar ruled once upon a time and Jam Barda, where the rule of Jamsaheb of Jamnagar prevailed. The ethnic races such as Maldharis, Bharvads, Rabaris and Gadhvis live in this region of Saurashtra.
Location
Porbandar district
Sanctuary area
192.31 sq. Km.
Flora
The area has maximum floral diversity in the state (650 plant species). Gorad, Babul, Dhav, Rayan, Ber, Jamun, Amli, Dhudhlo, Bamboo etc.
