Biodiversity Loss Due to Forest Diversion
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15622472Keywords:
Biodiversity loss, forest diversion, fragmentation, non-forestry, habitat lossAbstract
Forests, constituting 31% of Earth's surface, are crucial ecosystems vital for regulating ecosystem functions. Despite their ecological sensitivity and diverse contributions, such as food and water supply, biodiversity habitats, and climate regulation, global forests face escalating threats from industrialisation, urbanisation, and population growth. Development activities like urban expansion, transport, and hydroelectricity generation exacerbate the loss of ecological diversity, resulting in forest disappearance, habitat fragmentation, and altered land use. Forest diversion, involving clearing for agriculture and non-forestry purposes, poses a significant menace, with 80.30% of such diversions concentrated in Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Odisha. In 2017 alone, 11,596.18 hectares of forest land were approved for non-forestry use. These diversions have far-reaching negative impacts on biodiversity, habitat loss, species extinction, invasive species, forest employment, wildlife corridors, food chains, and human-animal conflicts.
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