Challenges and future possibilities toward himalayan forest monitoring

Abstract

The Himalayan region is one of the most sensitive of the Earth's biodiversity hotspots. This chapter explores the environmental, cultural, and socio-economic importance of the Himalayan forest ecosystem, which is prone to rapidly increasing ecological deteriorations due to deforestation, forest fire, soil erosion, climate change, and various anthropogenic disturbances and challenges to monitoring these consequences for better management of the Himalayan forest. Satellite monitoring helps to identify and collect spatial data on land-use changes, emissions, and productions from forests as well other natural resources. Species distribution models are of paramount importance in the conservation and management of biodiversity, and are considered one of the spatially quantifiable essential biodiversity variables. Forest surveys in mountainous areas are particularly difficult due to variable topography and weather patterns. Seasonal taxonomic and floristic surveys are significantly more difficult and entirely dependent on nature's grace. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2023 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.