Forests contribute to global climate change through their influence on the global carbon (C) cycle. The world's forests store an estimated 536 Giga tons of Carbon (GtC) in biomass, 1104GtC in soils (to a depth of 3m) and additional amounts in dead organic matter pools, including fine and coarse woody debris.
An extensive survey was carried out to locate breeding colonies and nests of vultures in Rajasthan. A total of 5,080 vultures of 7 different species were counted in 23 districts of Rajasthan.
Ecotourism in India is approached through generic guidelines that lack definite standards and judging their compliance is difficult. The solution lies in preferably quantified benchmarks for different components of nature in ecotourism areas. The discussion on the common benchmarks brings out their role in promoting eco-tourism in true spirit.
Entomophagy (i.e. use of insects as food) is practiced in many parts of the world including India but the use of insects, as medicine is done in very few parts of the world and we are fortunate that North-East people of India are rich in this traditional medicinal knowledge. Tribes of North-East India have been using several insect based traditional drugs to cure several diseases.
The socio-religious practices prevalent among Gond, Murias, Halba and Maria tribes of Bastar region of Chhattisgarh state are helpful in conservation of plants. This practice of nature conservation is a very ancient tradition and indigenous culture in Bastar as well as in other parts of the country.
Arunachal Pradesh has been identified as one of the "Biodiversity Hotspot" areas in the world. The tribes inhabiting the state recognize over 500 species of plants as having medicinal properties. The authors have conducted field trips in different areas of Arunachal Pradesh covering six western districts during March 2004 - October 2005.
The Satpura plateau regionof Central India is home of numerous herb species. The agro climatic conditions prevailing in the region provides an ideal habitat for the natural growth of variety of plants and herbs, which provide raw materials for pharmaceutical, phytochemical, food, flavoring and cosmetic industries.
Forest cover assessment in India is being carried out using satellite remote sensing for more than two decades. In the present study an attempt has been made to map forest cover of Central India on 1 : 50000 scale using satellite data of 1970s.
The species diversity and richness indices in JFM managed and adjacent scrub forests of Doni indicates the success of JFM approach in Karnataka. The Importance Value Index, Shannon and Simpson's diversity indices were analyzed for both JFM managed and adjacent scrub forests.
A study was undertaken in three villages of Bhiwani District in Haryana to assess the value of habitat function of planted forests. These villages were located at varying distance from a Blackbuck (Gazella gazella) Breeding Farm, which is a planted forest.
