Vol.:(0123456789) Biodiversity and Conservation https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01823-7 1 3 LETTER TO THE EDITOR The indispensable bond between Mazri Palm (Nannorrhops ritchiana) and the Indian Porcupine (Hystrix indica) leads them towards extinction! Abdullah 1  · Zahoor Ul Haq 1  · Shujaul Mulk Khan 1 Received: 22 May 2019 / Revised: 4 July 2019 / Accepted: 12 July 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019 The Mazri Palm (Nannorrhops ritchiana) is one of the native palm species of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. In southern Europe and southern and subtropical parts of America it is grown as an ornamental (Mahmood et al. 2017). Historically, the leaves and stems are remarkable source of mats, fences and house roofng (Goodman and Ghafoor 1992) and numbers of other handicrafts. Leaves alone are used to manufacture handicrafts such as hand fans, baskets, brooms, trays, prayer mats, storage boxes for grain, hot pots, hats, and sandals (Marwat et al. 2011). The reddish moss-like wool of the peti- oles of Nannorrhops is used as tinder. The seeds are utilized for manufacturing rosaries (Panhwar and Abro 2007) and the fresh fruits are edible. Dried parts of the plant are used as fuel wood as well. The local inhabitants collect leaves of the palm due to its utilization in handicrafts and others. Collection in huge amount of this plant is one of the main fac- tors for the drastic decrease in its population. Keeping in mind the economic importance of this palm, the Government of Pakistan passed an act on the conservation of Nannorrhops namely “Kohat Mazri Control Act 1953” (http://kp.gov.pk/page/the-kohat-mazri-control- act-1953/page-type/rules) in 1953 where laws and rules were devised for the conservation of Nannorrhops in Pakistan in general and for the Kohat Division in particular (which then covered the whole southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). Regionally, it has been categorized as Endangered (EN) under the IUCN criteria. Murad et al. (2011) reported that in the Hazar Nao Forest of Malakand Nannorrhops ritchiana is on the verge of extinction due to over exploitation by the local population for commercial purposes. Conservationists have also reported a tremendous decrease in the number of individu- als of Nannorrhops over the past few decades in the region. Collection in huge amount of this plant for domestic as well as commercial purposes is one of the main eroding factors for its population. With this letter we report an important secondary reason for concern, the Indian Porcupine (Hystrix indica) which grazes the roots and leaves of Nannorrhops. The porcupine species use the roots mostly in the winter season for food. We continued our observations over the last 4 years in various regions of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwah Province and also interviewed local people where Nannorrhops’ roots were observed/reported the Communicated by David Hawksworth. * Shujaul Mulk Khan shujaqau@gmail.com 1 Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan