Forests for Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth

Forests for Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth addresses all major issues surrounding forest resources, also including global examples, case studies, literature reviews, latest developments, and future research prospects. To enhance understanding, the content is enriched with maps, figures, tables, and colorful illustrations, making it accessible to a broad readership. Students specializing in forest ecology and researchers will discover a wealth of knowledge on critical topics such as major ecological disturbances, the role of forests in poverty reduction and livelihood security, as well as participatory forest management techniques, landscape restoration, forest policies, and nature-based solutions.Importantly, this comprehensive volume highlights the pivotal role of forests in fostering employment, income generation, and food security to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Dr. Purabi Saikia is working in the broad areas of plant ecology including phytosociology, population and regeneration ecology, conservation of rare, endangered plant species, plant-soil interactions, plant population and invasive species mapping, and biomass estimation. She is presently working as Assistant Professor in Department of Environmental Sciences, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi. She is an active member of IUCN-Commission on Ecosystem Management, South Asia as well as Global Forests Biodiversity Initiatives (GFBI), USA. She is recipient of PHSS-Foundation Young Women Leadership award 2018-2019, SERB-Young Scientists Scheme, UGC-start-up grant, international travel support scheme from SERB, and DBT Research Associate. She is engaged with various R&D projects including NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR), and Airborne Hyperspectral Sensing (AVIRIS-NG) missions for vegetation monitoring as well as DBT sponsored mapping and quantitative assessment of plant resources of Central India. She has published several articles in various journals and books including one in Nature as well as in Science. Dr. Amit Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geoinformatics, Central University of Jharkhand, India. He is involved in interdisciplinary research with a focus on man-environment interaction, disaster risk and resilience, and climate change implications primarily in the urban milieu. His main areas of research are improving urban ecology through physio-socio-economic-hazard-risk investigations and methods to augment ecological quality using geoinformatics and machine learning techniques. He is engaged with various research projects including state-of-the-art LTEO projects of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; NASA-ISRO SAR; GISAT; and Airborne Hyperspectral Sensing missions. Dr Kumar has published over 60 research articles in various journals and books of international and national repute. He is a member of various academic societies including IUCN-Commission on Ecosystem Management (South Asia), National Association of Geographers India, and Global Forest Biodiversity Initiatives, USA. Dr. Mohamed Latif Khan is a Professor of Forestry and Coordinator of Scientific & Industrial Research Cell and also Deputy Coordinator of Bioinformatics Centre at North Eastern Regional Institute of Science & Technology (Deemed University), NIRJULI, Arunachal Pradesh. He is a plant ecologist and conservation biologist, obtained his doctoral degree from North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India. His research interests have gradually expanded from tree regeneration to the fields of biodiversity conservation and eco-restoration. Dr. Khan is presently engaged in the studies on conservation and regeneration of endangered and medicinal plant species, inventory and analyses of biodiversity of sacred groves, exploration of germplasm of bamboo and cane species. Dr. Khan is also trained to study the phylogeny and genetic diversity of plant sp