Keywords

1 Introduction

Nature works persistently as per its laws, yet man abuses it continually in various ways and on various occasions. Nature tells the man that there isn’t anything on the planet that isn’t liable to change. Nature has given a warning that even the entire world might be (Choubey 2019) pulverized in a not so distant future. Practically every time, we neglect to evaluate, or even factor in, the natural expense of such cataclysms. Forests are basic territories for biodiversity, and they are likewise basic for the arrangement of a wide scope of biological system benefits that are critical to human prosperity. The tree has numerous advantages for the whole existence of our planet. Trees tower gloriously into the air where they retain carbon and deliver oxygen, a cycle that allows the very existence of (Berlyn 2020) aerobic life forms like people to exist. Their underlying foundations infiltrate profoundly into the dirt where they reuse supplements around the rhizosphere. Trees cover only around 33% of the earth’s surface, but they are responsible for roughly 66% of the planet’s carbon capture through the photosynthetic cycle.

Desertification and land debasement is one of the greatest ecological dangers that the world network is looking at in present-day times. The risky impact is clear all over the place. Switching land corruption and its results while quickening positive accomplishments for individuals and environments to convey Sustainable Development Goals involve prime significance. Every year, the world loses 12 million hectares of land (Ojha 2019) enough to create 20 million tons of food grains because of overexploitation and climatic varieties. If we talk about the calamitous results of land corruption and desertification of India, the image appears to be exceptionally somber. Approximately 30% of nations’ entire geological territory is influenced by land contamination. The explanation behind deforestation and debasement could be because of (FSI 2017) redirection of forest land for non-ranger service reasons, infringements, and other biotic and regular aggravations in woods.

Today, over 1,000,000 species are very nearly annihilated, undermining worldwide food security, generally because of environmental misfortune and land debasement. Land corruption working couples with environmental change and biodiversity misfortune may compel up to 700 million individuals to move by 2050. Desertification land corruption and dry spell are immense difficulties. According to experts, India’s population is projected to increase by 1.7 billion by 2050, and it was one of the first countries to agree on the 2030 Sustainable Development Target. India’s CO2 emissions will increase from 2.3 gigatonnes (Gt) per year currently to over 4.8 Gt in 2050 (Tripathi and Powell 2020) with 3.3 Gt per year coming from coal use alone. As reported by the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, 41% of amphibians, 25% of reptiles, 34% of conifers, 13% of birds, 31% of sharks and fishes, 33% of coral reefs, and 27% of crustaceans are threatened with extinction.

Amphibians are the first terrestrial vertebrates to have evolved on earth nearly 350 million years ago. They colonized virtually (Vasudevan et al. 2010) all habitats in the terrestrial biome. Indian amphibians pose a serious challenge to their life. Habitat degradation and fragmentation for growth and monoculture plantation are significant threats to forest species. Carbon capture through afforestation, reforestation, and forest conservation is one of the cheapest options (Rawat 2019) today for carbon sequestration. Additionally 20% of the world’s 380,000 plant species are by the side of risk of extinction, making plants more endangered than birds, according to the first global report (Gilbert 2010) on the status of plant biodiversity. Fresh National Correspondence to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) indicates that our forests account for around 12% of our national emissions. Globally, it is estimated that 22% of the forests found in developing (GEE, UNDP 2006) countries are managed by local communities. Conservation of habitats, mitigation of climate change, conservation of international waters, prevention of habitat loss, and removal of chronic organic contaminants are global environmental goals with local community need – issues that have been tackled in various ways across the world, based on the specific economic, cultural, political, and environmental circumstances of the countries involved.

2 Recapitulation of Forest Diversity

Since the cause of life in the topographical past, assorted biological systems have developed on earth which are overseeing the atmosphere and are the principal geological elements of our planet earth. Woodlands are fundamental for life on earth. 300,000,000 individuals overall live in timberlands, and 1.6 billion depend (WWF 2019) on them for their occupations. India is invested with different woodland types extending from tropical damp evergreen timberlands within the upper east as well as the southwest on the way to tropical dry thistle forests in focal and western India. Woodland is the second biggest land use in India close to agribusiness. The current woodland status of the world is the consequence of these changes, both characteristic and anthropogenic. The assortment of physiographic and climatic conditions has credited India with rich biodiversity.

Biogeographically, India is arranged at the tri-intersection of three domains, to be specific, Afro-tropical, Indo-Malayan, and Palaeo-icy domains. Forests are home to 80% of the world’s earthly biodiversity. The most organically differing and complex woodlands on earth are tropical rainforests, where precipitation is plentiful and temperatures are in every case warm. Timberlands assume a basic part in moderating environmental switch since they absorb carbon dioxide and other ozone harming substances that would some way or another be free in the air and add to continuous changes in atmosphere designs. After independence as well, the forests of the nation stayed under colossal tension because of different variables. Lantana is one of the ten most reprehensible obtrusive species in the world and a form of high concern in India. The inquiry also brings attention to the 300,000 km2 of forest area (an additional 44% of forest area) across India which is compromised by the Lantana strike, which means that there is a high chance (Rastogi 2020) of biodiversity misfortune due to Lantana intrusions in these regions.

  1. 1.

    Very Dense Forest (VDF): with canopy the density of more than 70%.

  2. 2.

    Moderately Dense Forest (MDF): canopy density 40–70%.

  3. 3.

    Open Forest(OF): canopy the density between 10 and 40%.

  4. 4.

    Scrub: Degraded forest lands by way of canopy density less than 10%.

  5. 5.

    Non-forest: Lands not mentioned within some of the above classes (includes water) (Fig. 2.1).

Fig. 2.1
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Types of forest cover. Source: FSI

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The complete woodland front of the nation according to India State of Forest Report 2009 is 690,899 sq.km which establish 21.02% of the topographical zone of the nation. Of this 83,510 sq.km (2.54%) is extremely thick woods, the (Fig. 2.2) reasonably thick woodland comprises 319,012 sq.km (9.71%), and open forests establish 288,377 sq.km (8.77%). The mangrove spread in the (FSI 2011, 2013, 2017) nation is 4639 sq.km which is 0.14% of the complete geological territory. The absolute increment in woods and tree spread which together make up the nation’s green spread – somewhere in the range of 2017 and 2019 – was 5188 sq.km.

Fig. 2.2
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Forest cover assessment. Source: FSI

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The absolute weight on India’s forests is exceptionally high due to the high populace. The fast development in the economy of the nation over the most recent multi decade has put extra requests on forests for foundation development. Forest assumes a significant function in the nation’s biological solidness and financial turn of events. The public woodland strategy in India, since 1952, has defined an objective of bringing 33% of the region of the nation under timberland spread. India targets keeping up at least 33% of the nation’s geological region under woods and tree spread. The extent of various wood thickness classes is portrayed in the pie outline in rate terms. According to FSI, the primary purpose behind the woods spread increment was because of the adjustment in the zone of the trees outside the woodlands. The woodlands of the planet earth were nonstop on change because of advancement. The current wood’s status in the world is the aftereffect of the changes, both common and anthropogenic.

Concurring examination between 2015 and 2020, the pace of deforestation was assessed by the side of ten million hectares for every year, down (The State of the World’s Forests 2020) from 16 million hectares for each year since 1990s. Agriculture and development keep on being the principal driver (Table 2.1) of deforestation as well as woodland debasement with the related loss of forests biodiversity. Appropriation of the woods spread over the globe is reliant on numerous variables, fundamentally topographical attributes, for example, elevation, geography/soil type, and atmosphere. Atmosphere conditions, for example, the temperature and the precipitation, are vital factors in deciding the woods dissemination. In terms of the level of land under woodland spread, South America is on the top, having almost 50% of its territory mass under timberland and in terms of per capita forests zone. As of December 2019, an aggregate of 20,334 tree species had been remembered for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN 2018), of which 8056 were surveyed as internationally undermined (Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable) (Table 2.2).

Table 2.1 World forest area by region (Source: FFDM, NIDM)
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Table 2.2 Management of mangrove sites in India
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Over 1400 tree species are surveyed as fundamentally jeopardized and in earnest need of protection activity. As per a study The United Nations Trillion Tree Campaign has been dispatched to encourage (Crowther 2020) individuals all around the globe to reestablish trees. We have to help an enormous worldwide development to secure and reestablish the world’s timberlands. This is an open door for us all to get included. This advantages us all.

2.1 Mangrove Habitats

The term “mangrove” is used to refer to a whole community of trees and shrubs. But the trees designated as mangroves are not closely related: they belong to several different plant families. Mangroves are salt-tolerant tropical and subtropical plants (TNAU 2016) in intertidal regions of the planet. The unique areas in which these plants occur are referred to as “mangrove habitats.” Mangrove woods stabilize the coastline, minimizing erosion caused by storm surges, currents, waves, and tides. The complex root structure of mangroves also makes these forests attractive to fish and other species looking for food and protection from predators. Indonesia, Thailand, and Mexico are locations with especially large areas of mangrove forest. Mangroves internationally spread (Fig. 2.3) a territory of just around 152,000 sq.km in 123 tropical and sub-tropical countries and regions.

Fig. 2.3
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Mangrove forests in India

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According to the FSI, India’s mangroves cover 4975 km2, or 0.15% of the country’s topographical zone. Mangrove timberlands are biodiversity hotspots, and mangroves in India are the ideal pristine objections to see nature’s endowments. Mangroves are available worldwide on different shorelines between roughly 250 N and 250S scope. Mangroves offer ideal habitats for many terrestrial and marine species, carbon sinks, and natural barriers against storm (www.mangrovesforthefuture.org) surges and coastal erosion. Mangroves provide invaluable services but have been declining worldwide because of anthropogenic and different dangers. Mangroves are critically desirable sites that take care of shrimp and fish areas. In addition, they limit storm damage. Despite their high economic value, mangroves are often harvested for timber and charcoal production and cleared for progress. In recent years, mangroves have been gradually cleared for rice production and commercial shrimp hatcheries, while South East Asia, in fact, as much as 15% of the mangrove land has been cleared for aquaculture purposes. About 35% of the world’s mangrove forests have been lost, and 40% of mangrove native vertebrates are faced with extinction. Mangrove ecosystems are inhabited by a variety of salt-tolerant inter-tidal halophytic plants and innumerable amount of invertebrate and vertebrate fauna. Maybe, the most significant mangrove woods (Fig. 2.4) in India is the Sunderbans, and its popular occupant, the Bengal swamp tiger, the most desired wild felines in this aspect of the world. The total area under the mangrove ecosystem in India is about 0.8 million ha.

Fig. 2.4
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Significance of mangrove

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The important genera include Rhizophora, Ceriops, Bruguiera, Derris, Xylocarpus, Sonneratia, Acanthus, Avicennia, Heritiera, Nypa, Phoenix, etc. These are generally evergreen with thick leaves and sunken stomata. The trees primarily belong to the family Rhizophoraceae, Verbenaceae, and Sonneratiaceae. Pneumatophores also are a common adaptation in many species. Mangroves are a vital forest habitat, as can be seen in some of the mangrove plants, such as Bruguiera cylindrical and Sonneratia acida, which are on the verge of expansion. About 35,000 hectares of mangroves have been destroyed in India due to shrimp cultivation. Estimates of mangrove diversity suggest that there are 16–24 families and 54–75 species worldwide. The world’s largest mangrove species was discovered in America (http://www.fao.org/forestry/mangroves).

The Educational Science as well as Cultural Body of the United Nations (UNESCO) supports the conservation of mangroves by means of drawing every one of its strength through its several programs to protect mangrove ecosystems in the vein of man along with the Biosphere Programme, the International Hydrological Programme, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and the Local and Indigenous Information Structures Initiative Mangroves which are all listed in the Biosphere Reserves, World Heritage Sites, and UNESCO World Heritage Sites geo parks.

According to mangroves management, there are 38 mangrove sites listed for extensive protection and management. It leads to the development of awareness, management, and protection of mangrove habitats around the world. To protect the genetic diversity of mangroves, the National Mangroves Genetic Resource Center has been established in Bhitarkanika in Odisha where the maximum number of mangrove species of the country is present in a single area. Mangroves are among the oldest as well as most creative wetland forests of our earth. Mangroves provide priceless services but have been declining worldwide as a consequence of anthropogenic as well as additional threats. Thus, while mangrove forests have a significant role to play for more valuable ecological resources, the scientific conservation of mangrove forests requires time not only for human well-being, but also for coastal biodiversity.

2.2 Perils of Wildfire

Wild hearth place is the maximum not unusual place danger to forest, and fires are as vintage because of the woodland itself. They pose a primary danger now no longer handiest to the woodland resources, however additionally to the whole regime, to the fauna and flora, and to the bio-range and ecology and surroundings of the region. The wood gets combined with the dry, senescent leaves in the fall, when there has been no rain for months, and the twinges of the may burst into the place with the slightest spark. The Himalayan forests, in particular Garhwal Himalayas, have been burning frequently over the last few summers, with the region’s tremendous loss of vegetation. Several 37,059 fires were observed within 2018 using (Fig. 2.5) the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-Radiometer) sensor data.

Fig. 2.5
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Forest fire incidents in India (Source: FSI)

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Over 30,000 forest fires were registered in India in 2019; experts suggest that fire management (Srivastava 2020a, b) should concentrate on prevention, not containment, and that tribal populations should be targeted for successful management. Humans are responsible for around 95% of forest fires in India, primarily through the fostering of new grass flushes, the gathering of tiny forest things, and the use of land for shifting cultivation. Land capital, including carbon contained in biomass every year, and large tracts of woodland are threatened by fires of varying severity and size. According to forest inventory data, 54.40 per cent of forests in India are subject to sporadic fires, 7.49 per cent (Satendra and Kaushik 2014).

It is destroyed every year due to forest fires, which negatively affect the movement of goods and services greater than 6 feet (1.8 m) wide from the wooded area. These shootings regularly arrive at the extents of significant fire and are now and then started by ignition and warmth from surface and ground fires. Different anthropogenic elements join to cause uncontrolled flames. Flames of shifting power and degree can influence a large number of hectares of woodland consistently, genuinely affecting the variable on supplement cycling and working of a biological system.

According to the data, the majority of the fires occurred in Uttarakhand, India, in 2019, with the Kumaon district (681) leading the way, followed by the Garhwal area (367), and the untamed life safe-havens and public parks (51) accounting for 938.77 hectares, 360.11 hectares, and 70.41 hectares of timberland, respectively (Fig. 2.6). Some timberland biological systems have developed in light of successive (Srivastava 2020a, b) fires from regular causes; however, most are helpless to the harmful impacts of fierce blaze. Every year, several hectares of the world’s trees are lost by fire, causing monetary misfortune, environmental damage, and the loss of human life much like wild greenery. The ongoing Australian bushfires in 2019 ought to have pushed India to more readily get ready. A few animal types (more than one billion animal groups) have been affected severely by Australia’s flames. Among the fowls, the Kangaroo Island Glossy Black Cockatoo, which happens just on Kangaroo Island, has endured the flames. These have likewise worn out its natural surroundings. There’s another marsupial called the Kangaroo Island Dunnart.

Fig. 2.6
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Forest fire area in Uttarakhand and Assam

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Its environment has been totally scorched. In this way, the loss of these species has implied worldwide misfortunes since they happen no place else. Losing such species implies it will recuperate after the flames. The flames are consuming large areas of these trees, and the woodlands in the northeastern and central sections of India, as well as the country’s central regions, have the most fire-prone areas. Almost a third of the timberland in Mizoram is classified as “extremely fire-prone”.

In India, 65% of the provincial family depend (Hegde 2017) on kindling for cooking. Around 1,000,000 passings are accounted for yearly brought about by the exhaust of kindling for cooking. So as to spare forests from fire, it is important to receive the most recent procedures for putting out fires. The fires are a clear indication of climate change as well as they are taking place across the world. A portion of the fire concealment methods is to create three-meter wide fire paths around the fringe of the fire, reverse discharges, game plan of water shower, fire retardant synthetic substances ought to be splashed from the back tank and if conceivable by helicopters. There must be a prepared staff of firemen to control the fire.

3 Repercussions of Climate Change on Forest Diversity

Forests play an important role in climate change mitigation through acting as “sinks,” absorbing as well as storing carbon from the atmosphere into biomass in addition to soil; other than when cleared or degraded, they are too noteworthy sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Forests are therefore significant components of climate change adaptation strategies. Without direct managing interventions, climate change is probable to jeopardize forest ecosystem health, pliability, efficiency, biodiversity, as well as carbon storage along with forest degradation in addition to thrashing which will continue to contribute to climate change, fascinating 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, in relation to one-third of the carbon dioxide released from fossil fuel combustion.

Many studies suggested that the Himalayan range was in the midst of nearly all sensitive regions to climate change. Since the 1950s, the cold arid zone in Himachal Pradesh witnessed a pointed rise of about 10C in mean temperature. On the other hand, this massive holding structure also ensures that as trees are burned down, there is a large collision. As per the Global Risk Report (GRR), by the World Economic Forum, the repercussions (Down To Earth 2020) of climate change are conspicuously harder as well as more rapidly than expected. Environmental risks now pinnacle the risks agenda. Deforestation accounts for about 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions rather than the entire transport industry in the country. Around the same time, the capacity to eradicate trees is diminished as forests are destroyed. Since deforestation and habitat depletion have such a major effect on climate change, minimizing forest losses can have many advantages for both wildlife and humans.

This includes cutting greenhouse gas emissions, carbon sequestration, providing other ecosystem services, and (WWF, UK) preserving intact, working ecosystems that have the greatest chance of resisting climate change. Forests have a significant effect on climate change by affecting the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When trees expand, carbon is eliminated from the atmosphere and consumed (Digests 2001) in wood, leaves, and soil. Adaptation and mitigation are two main approaches to climate change. Mitigation tackles the causes of climate change and adjusts the impacts. In the forestry industry, adaptation includes improvements in management strategies designed to reduce the vulnerability of trees to climate change and measures designed to reduce people’s vulnerability to climate change. Forest conservation measures may be classified under four major categories: reduction of deforestation emissions; reduction of forest depletion emissions; enhancement of forest carbon sinks; and replacement of items. Forests are also sources of GHG emissions from greenhouse gases, primarily CO2.

Deforestation and habitat depletion account for an estimated 17% of global (GHG) pollution. A report conducted by the United Nations for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) stated that India is in the third place after China and the USA to register the largest number of (TOI 2019) natural disasters. Extreme weather events – floods, storms, landslides, heat waves, drought, and wildfire – accounted for almost 91% of all 7348 natural disasters in the last 20 years (2000–2019) as compared to 4212 recorded (Table 2.3) between 1980 and 1999. The UNDRR also warned that global warming is causing more climate-related disasters, the frequency of which has increased by more than 83% in the last two decades compared to the previous two. There are significant risks to human life and property, including air pollution, influenza, earthquakes, drought, and climate change. Climate change and increased climate instability have both overt and indirect (FAO 2013) impacts on forests and forest-dependent residents. Biodiversity depletion or degradation has significant consequences for climate change.

Table 2.3 Human cost of disasters (Source: UNDRR)
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According to climate change researchers, almost 49 million more individuals (Mahapatra and Jeevan 2018) will be pushed out of the workforce by 2020 at the cost of famine. India, being a developing country, would be affected by climate change in an unforeseen way. India, as an extra developed nation, will also face an unpredictable climate change effect. Climate change can have a number of effects on the distribution of woodland habitats and populations, and impacts on the structure and structure of habitats. Changing climate has a direct impact on the cost of water, energy supply, environmental protection, and mine closure techniques (Down To Earth 2018).

4 Challenges as an Outcome of Forest Degradation

Because woodland trees are the cornerstones of forest ecosystems, their existence is essential for some floral and faunal relationships in these biological systems. There is indeed pressure on woodland land resulting from the extraction of assets by businesses and infringement for the purpose of enhancing farming. The rising clashes between monitoring forests for producing environment administrations and redirection for formative undertaking present perhaps the greatest test in dealing with the woods assets. Since people started cutting trees, 40% of Earth’s tree spread has been obliterated. Up to 20% of ozone harming substance outflows every year is because of timberland spread misfortune. It is projected that demand in wood is rising faster from 58 million cubic meters in 2005 to 153 million cubic meters in 2020.

The annual production of the woodland stock can only gracefully contain 70 million cubic meters of timber, constraining us on the way to bring in hardwood lumber as of different countries. While actualizing these green plans, India faces colossal difficulties. Timberlands in India are now exposed to numerous stresses (Ravindra Nath 2012) including over-extraction, bug flare-ups, domesticated animals brushing, forest fires, and other anthropogenic weights. Environmental warming has a valid effect on the endurance of cultivated saplings. The extension of dry lands and desertification is another tremendous test that should be dealt with legal intercessions. There is a need for participatory afforestation models to integrate knowledge on local communities and better conservation of forest resource. Woods are the most important form of social development. The sages calculated the scientific and profound energy of the forest, living next to trees and streams of water. However, as problems with the advancement of creativity and self-assurance are incalculable, we should minimize them together.

5 Conclusion

We are battling to shield woodlands around the world from deforestation and corruption showing them a way to reclamation. Woodlands help settles the atmosphere, continue a variety of life, give financial chance, and are the wellspring of culture for some Indigenous Peoples. However, woodlands and other basic environments are yet to be determined, as there is expanding strain to change timberlands over to croplands, fields, and manors. At present, there are profoundly deficient securities against exercises that corrupt the estimation of woods. The current woods ought to be secured. The times of misuse have pulverized and debased a great part of the Earth’s common timberlands. We’ve just lost a portion of our woodland land around the world.

Over the planet from the Amazon to Canada and Indonesia, huge territories are being corrupted to a great extent because of impractical modern exercises. Essentially, for the development of towns and urban communities, woodlands have been cleared, and this cycle proceeds right up ‘til the present time causing the loss of forests spread. The need to secure those woodlands that remain is more earnest than any other time. Losing these essential biological systems is uprooting networks, undermining the territories of uncommon and imperiled species, and regurgitating ozone-depleting substances into the environment. Supportable woodland executives, reforestation, agro ranger service, empowering plant-based eating regimens, establishing biodiversity protection zones, and creating forest cover belts that store carbon play a central role in our future.

The Earth’s greening can be accredited on the way to both reforestation and agricultural activity. The assessment of the ecological as well as genetic diversity of the Himalayan conifers is important for the assessment of budding responses to changing climate circumstances. Conservation plans for large temperate medicinal plants must be established. The effect of climate change on insects and diseases in the Himalayas must also be measured. In addition to prevention, concerted efforts are required to establish successful adaptation strategies. Land reforestation is very important in alleviating the current challenge of greenhouse gases, climate change, and habitat loss. All the way through these efforts, we focus on the top of creating a sustainable future. Administrations underlined the seriousness of thrifty forests to check the annihilation emergency as well as battle environmental change. Nature secures consideration of us if we acquire consideration of it. We must work hard to ensure what is left in order to keep a strategic distance from new consequences.