Future of various flora and fauna associated with lac is thus, intricately linked to the fate of lac cultivation. Fast shrinking area of lac cultivation is a serious threat to the biodiversity of lac insect ecosystem.

Some of the important issues at stake are:

• Of the 26 species of lac insects reported from the country, mainly Kerria lacca is exploited for commercial production of lac. K. chinensis in the north-eastern states and K. sharda in coastal regions of Orissa and West Bengal are also cultivated to a certain extent. Potential of other lac insect species reported from the country remains to be exploited. Wild lac insects are principally distributed in the forest and sub-forest region thus, the future of lac insects is intricately linked to the fate of forests. Fast depleting forest cover of the country is a serious threat to the bio-diversity of lac insects as well as their host-plants. In the absence of human intervention, the unattended species of lac insects and their host-plants might be lost.

• Conversion of forest land for agricultural and industrial activities has eroded the lac cultivation area. Assam, Meghalaya, Orissa, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh earlier contributed significantly in lac production but now their share is almost negligible as cultivation of lac has been abandoned. Many species of lac insects reported from these places have thus, become endangered.

Lac infestation on Litchi at Ranchi (Jharkhand)

• Lac insects infesting economically important plants, viz., litchi (Litchi chinensis), mango (Mangifera indica), ber (Ziziphus mauritiana), sandal (Santalum album) etc. are the direct target of pest management leading to erosion of the biodiversity of lac insects and associated fauna.
• Lac insect species belonging to Paratachardina genus do not produce true lac of commercial importance and are pests of such important plants as sandal (S. album) and tea (Thea chinensis) and hence, are deliberately destroyed.
• Some of the insect fauna associated with the lac insects are species-specific (exclusive to the ecosystem) and hence, loss of even one species of lac insect poses a danger of losing many other related species.
• In agriculturally advanced states like Punjab and Haryana, ber (Z. mauritiana) in the wild has been replaced by high yielding fruit varieties. The trees are regularly pruned and subjected to pest management measures, which have led to the loss of lac insects.
• In drought prone states like Rajasthan and Gujarat, twigs of lac host trees such as palas (Butea monosperma), rain tree (Albizia saman) and Ficus spp. are utilized as cattle fodder during adverse conditions, thus preventing natural multiplication of lac insect populations.