In India forests cover about 75m ha or about 25 per cent of the entire land area. In order to fulfil the appropriate functions the foresty development in India must proceed at a rate much faster than witherto for the sake of the entire economy, for the protection and improvement of the environment and for a much greater production of wood and other non-wood products. Not only the quality of environment be preserved and improved, but also the economic demand for forests products met adequately, both the internal utilization and for export. A substantial increase in employment in forestry operation is feasible and should be aimed at. It is necessary to emphasise that a close integration of the protective and porductive functions of forest should be aimed at which is both feasible and possible. Forests are a major factor of environment conservation and control extremes of heat and cold, rendering the climate more equable. To achieve good conservation and management of our natural resources, we should know the status of our genetic and biological resources. Thus continuous workd and intensive research in the fields of genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity and urgently needed. Contents: Chapter 1: Introduction, Chapter 2: Land Use, Forest Area and Population, Chapter 3: History of Forestry in India, Chapter 4: Ecological Perceptions, Chapter 5: Ecology of Indian Forests, Chapter 6: Forests and Environment, Chapter 7: Ecosystem Theory and Application, Chapter 8: Forests and Environment: Soil Erosion and Floods, Chapter 9: Wildlife and Biosphere Reserves, Chapter 10: Silvicultural Principles and Practices, Chapter 11: Socio-economic Effects and Constraints, Chapter 12: Women and Environment, Chapter 13: Macro Issues: Pressure on Forests, Chapter 14: Forestry and Rural Development, Chapter 15: People Participation in Afforestation, Chapter 16: Environmental Considerations, Chapter 17: The Environmental Scenario, Chapter 18: Environmental Problems, Chapter 19: Environment: An Impact Assessment, Chapter 20: Analysis of the Environmental Problems: Case Studies, Chapter 21: Pollution: An Appraisal, Chapter 22: Pollution Control (Air and Water) and Its Concept, Chapter 23: Biological Diversity, Chapter 24: Management of Forests and Wildlife, Chapter 25: Biodiversity Biotechnology and Profits, Chapter 26: The Impact of Biodiversity Conservation or Indigenous Peoples, Chapter 27: Genes for Sustainable Development, Chapter 28: Forest Resources and Its Management, Chapter 29: Production and Receipt of Forest Products, Chapter 30: Genetic Resources and Their Importance, Chapter 31: Genetic Resources: Dilemma.

The pace, intensity, and scale at which humans have altered our planet in recent decades is unprecedented. We have dramatically transformed landscapes and waterways through agriculture, logging, mining, and fire suppression, with drastic impacts on public health and human well-being. What can we do to counteract and even reverse the worst of these effects? Restore damaged ecosystems. The Primer of Ecological Restoration is a succinct introduction to the theory and practice of ecological restoration as a strategy to conserve biodiversity and ecosystems. In twelve brief chapters, the book introduces readers to the basics of restoration project planning, monitoring, and adaptive management. It explains abiotic factors such as landforms, soil, and hydrology that are the building blocks to successfully recovering microorganism, plant, and animal communities. Additional chapters cover topics such as invasive species and legal and financial considerations. Each chapter concludes with recommended reading and reference lists, and the book can be paired with online resources for teaching. Perfect for introductory classes in ecological restoration or for practitioners seeking constructive guidance for real-world projects, Primer of Ecological Restoration offers accessible, practical information on recent trends in the field.

Discusses the ways in which we can continue to benefit from forests, while conserving their biodiversity.

One of the highest priorities for human societies in the 21st century, under the challenges of predicted great environmental changes, is to conserve all kinds of biodiversity across the planet. Among all the biota that exist on Earth, forest ecosystems demonstrate a high degree of biodiversity, being thought to comprise the most diverse ecosystems, as most of the terrestrial species in the world dwell in these ecosystems. Forest biodiversity is interlinked to a web of socio-economic factors, providing an array of goods and services that range from timber and non-timber forest resources to mitigating climate change and conservation of genetic resources; therefore, it is innately linked to ecosystems and human well-being. However, in recent decades, the decrease in forest biodiversity has been a crucial and ongoing environmental issue that needs special attention and adapted ecosystem management. This Special Issue book on forest biodiversity (FB) includes a selected number of research works from all over the world dealing with emerging issues, for understanding FB and its needs for conservation, ecological processes, disturbances, climate change and ecosystems resilience, structural complexity and ecosystem functions, ecological theories and silvicultural practices, and ecosystems stability. More specifically, it includes papers focused on the indicators and methods for assessing and monitoring forest biodiversity, evaluation of practices, planting and silvicultural treatments, and management and monitoring methods, with an overall goal to provide new insights on forest biodiversity conservation, conservation of forest biodiversity in protected areas, treatments of endangered or threatened forest habitats, and sustainable management of forest resources.

While most efforts at biodiversity conservation have focused primarily on protected areas and reserves, the unprotected lands surrounding those area—the "matrix"—are equally important to preserving global biodiversity and maintaining forest health. In Conserving Forest Biodiversity, leading forest scientists David B. Lindenmayer and Jerry F. Franklin argue that the conservation of forest biodiversity requires a comprehensive and multiscaled approach that includes both reserve and nonreserve areas. They lay the foundations for such a strategy, bringing together the latest scientific information on landscape ecology, forestry, conservation biology, and related disciplines as they examine: the importance of the matrix in key areas of ecology such as metapopulation dynamics, habitat fragmentation, and landscape connectivity general principles for matrix management using natural disturbance regimes to guide human disturbance landscape-level and stand-level elements of matrix management the role of adaptive management and monitoring social dimensions and tensions in implementing matrix-based forest management In addition, they present five case studies that illustrate aspects and elements of applied matrix management in forests. The case studies cover a wide variety of conservation planning and management issues from North America, South America, and Australia, ranging from relatively intact forest ecosystems to an intensively managed plantation. Conserving Forest Biodiversity presents strategies for enhancing matrix management that can play a vital role in the development of more effective approaches to maintaining forest biodiversity. It examines the key issues and gives practical guidelines for sustained forest management, highlighting the critical role of the matrix for scientists, managers, decisionmakers, and other stakeholders involved in efforts to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem processes in forest landscapes.

This book focuses on the diverse impact of forest history in general, and of forest continuity, fragmentation and past management in particular, on the diversity and distribution of species. The implications for the conservation of biodiversity in forests are also addressed. Chapters have been developed from papers presented at a conference held in Leuven in January 2003. The emphasis is on temperate forests in Europe and North America, but the information may also be applicable to other regions or biomes. The book will be of significant interest to researchers working within the areas of forestry, ecology, conservation and environmental history.

Fundamental changes have occurred in all aspects of forestry over the last 50 years, including the underlying science, societal expectations of forests and their management, and the evolution of a globalized economy. This textbook is an effort to comprehensively integrate this new knowledge of forest ecosystems and human concerns and needs into a management philosophy that is applicable to the vast majority of global forest lands. Ecological forest management (EFM) is focused on policies and practices that maintain the integrity of forest ecosystems while achieving environmental, economic, and cultural goals of human societies. EFM uses natural ecological models as its basis contrasting it with modern production forestry, which is based on agronomic models and constrained by required return-on-investment. Sections of the book consider: 1) Basic concepts related to forest ecosystems and silviculture based on natural models; 2) Social and political foundations of forestry, including law, economics, and social acceptability; 3) Important current topics including wildfire, biological diversity, and climate change; and 4) Forest planning in an uncertain world from small privately-owned lands to large public ownerships. The book concludes with an overview of how EFM can contribute to resolving major 21st century issues in forestry, including sustaining forest dependent societies.

This primer is divided into five chapters, focusing on: biological diversity and its value; the threats to biological diversity; conservation at the population and species levels; protecting and managing habitats and ecosystems; and human societies and sustainable development. Case studies demonstrate the controversies in the field. The choice of examples show the full range of species, habitats and geographic areas of the world.

For more information regarding the Sustainable Forestry Initiative please visit www.sfiprogram.org.