Publication: Forests: A valuable natural resource: Its degradation and restoration perspectives
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Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Conserving, Halting and Reinstating Degraded Natural Resources During the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Abstract
In general, forests are self-sustained wooden tracts dominated by trees forming a sort of canopy. Forests are a valuable resource both economically and ecologically, besides having aesthetic value. However, widespread deforestation of the world's forests has resulted in environmentally and aesthetically poor landscapes around the globe. This has resulted in forest degradation. A degraded forest is one where the forest cover has been affected by unsustainable exploitation of timber and non-timber products to such an extent that its capacity to recover completely from such alteration is compromised. The degradation of a forest may be evaluated based on three key elements, i.e., (1) a reference forest, (2) degradation indicators, and (3) a threshold value to determine the point at which a non-degraded forest becomes a degraded forest. FAO's Forest Resources Assessment (2018) estimated that the world's forest area decreased by about 3% between 1990 and 2015. This has resulted in widespread forest restoration and regeneration activities all over the world. However, a successful restoration faces many challenges, like high cost, a shortage of regeneration materials, and the usefulness of restoration for local and regional communities. However, a successful large-scale restoration should keep the following factors in mind: (1) learning from the past; (2) ecological knowledge supporting forest restoration; (3) advances in restoration and regeneration techniques and systems; (4) forest restoration following biotic and abiotic disturbances; and (5) restoring forest landscapes for the future. The concept of New Generation Plantations (NGP) is one promising way forward for successful restoration; however, such multipurpose approaches create new challenges for research and management. � 2023 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Description
Keywords
Deforestation, Degraded forest, Forest, Forest degradation, New generation plantation, Reference forest