Ongoing Biodiversity Related Initiatives

Abstract

India's forests have suffered serious depletion over the years, in terms of their growing stock, forest cover, creaming out of important timber species and biodiversity, mainly because of commercial over exploitation of the forests and the grinding poverty of forest dwellers. The direct dependence of forest dwellers on the forests is most evident in meeting their survival and subsistence needs e.g. collection of fuel wood, fodder, non-wood forest products, small timber etc. But unfortunately substantial number of them have been caught in the vicious circle of poverty that forces them to overexploit the nearby forests, causing serious depletion of the resource. In the process they have to sacrifice the long-term sustainability of meeting their survival and subsistence needs and their livelihood.