Indian Forests in Comatose

Abstract

India has 2.5 percent of global earth share which supports 7.8 percent of global biodiversity and 18 percent of the world population (Ministry of Environment and Forests, 2009). India is one of the 17 mega biodiversity countries with a very rich flora and fauna. There are 55048 recorded plant species which constitutes 11.8 percent of the world flora (Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, 2022). Out of the 55048 recorded plant species, 18,500 plants are recorded as angiosperms of which 32 % are endemic to India. India is very rich in faunal biodiversity also and has 1,03258 animal species which accounts for 6.45% of the world’s recorded fauna (Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, 2022). India being one of seventeen megadiverse countries, is home to 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of all avian, 6.2% of all reptilian, 11.7% of all fishes, and 4.4% of all amphibians (Stephen et al., 2015). The biodiversity in Indian forests has not been fully identified as yet therefore, therefore, its loss cannot be assessed in terms of its contribution and function in an ecosystem in case the forest area is shrinking on account of multiple reasons.