Forest Biodiversity and its conservation in India

The word forest derived from the old French forest(also fores). Originally, a forest must have included all uncultivated and uninhabited land. Today a forest is any land managed for the diverse purposes of forestry, whether or not covers with trees, shrubs, climbers or such other vegetation. A flourishing forest provides food, shelter and clean air and water to support a wide range of species. A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. Diversity means in the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part. More than 10 million different species  of animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms inhabited the earth. Humans use at least 40,000 species of plants and animals on a daily basis for food, shelter, clothing and medicinal needs. Within forest biodiversity refers to everything from the earthworms and bugs burrowed in the soil, to the land animals foraging on the ground, to the squirrels and birds in the trees. 

Forest biodiversity and its conservation in India: With its varied climate and terrain, and characterized by at least 10 distinct bio-geographical regions, India supports a huge variety of forest types and harbours three global terrestrial biodiversity hot spots. Most of the terrestrial biodiversity now resides in the forest, as other terrestrial habitats have lost their natural state. An impressive protected area network, comprising 509 wildlife sanctuaries, 96 national parks (including 14 biosphere reserves), and several sacred groves maintained by indigenous communities, is in place. However despite a benign forest policy and a strong regulatory regime, forest degradation and biodiversity loss continue because of the increasing requirements of the burgeoning human population, land use change and spread of invasive alien species. The extend and loss of biodiversity must be continuously monitored and people attracted to participate in biodiversity conservation rehabilitation on a massive scale. India, with a geographical area of 329 million hectares (ha), is located north of the equator between 08º04′-37º06′N and 68º07′-97º25′E. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean in the south, Arabian Sea in the west, Bay of Bengal in the east and the Himalayas in the north. India is endowed with a great variety of terrain and climate. The majority of India is tropical to subtropical, which means that the temperature, which is the most important factor, is conducive for growth and development of vegetation. The rainfall, which is ranked second in importance, also varies tremendously from place to place. India receives rains from the monsoons originating in the Arabian Sea as well as the Bay of Bengal. The range of topography, temperature and rainfall are responsible for the development of a great variety of macro and micro climates and the resultant rich biological diversity on the Indian subcontinent. The country has been divided into a number of bio-geographic zones based on biota and environmental realms. India has nearly all the representative global ecological zones of south Asia.

Conclusion: For a forest and species-rich country like India, assessment and conservation of
biodiversity is of paramount importance. There is a need to set up a
coordinated programme for systematic biodiversity measurement and monitoring,
at least in major forest types or ecoregions. At the same time as enlarging the
PA network, optimising its size and rationalising its boundaries, there is a
need to develop conservation programmes at the landscape level so that the PAs
do not suffer from island syndrome; focus should also include strategies for
biodiversity conservation outside PAs. It is desirable to keep the regulatory
regime in place, but concerted efforts need be made to attract people’s
participation in a big way. Education should be provided and capacity should be
built such that people may derive intangible as well as economic benefits from
conservation efforts to improve their livelihoods.

Picture credit: 

https://www.teriin.org/forest

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