Monitoring Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for Ecosystem Enhancement under the Green India Mission (GIM)

In this project we focus on evaluating the potential for achieving Green India Mission (GIM) objectives in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The broader objectives of GIM at the national level are (i) increasing tree cover or forest cover in forest and non-forest lands, (ii) improving ecosystem services including biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and hydrological services, and (iii) increasing forest-based livelihoods for millions of households.

Achieving these broad goals at the national and state levels would require careful and rigorous ecosystem assessments based on which interventions would be planned. The data from such assessments need to be obtained at the appropriate scale for management planning, which in most cases would be the data from Forest Divisions (FDs). These datasets would further substantiate the initiatives taken for GIM Missions and Sub-Missions, particularly two Sub-Missions which are to “enhance quality of forest cover and improve ecosystem services” and “ecosystem restoration and increase in forest cover”. The geographical focus and the specific activities planned under these Sub-Missions are based on the condition of forest cover i.e. Moderately Dense Forest or Open Forest. The viability and attainment of such missions are closely related with the corresponding scientific long term monitoring efforts.

We are carrying out extensive field assessments of biodiversity in watershed areas in 18 Forest Divisions that have been earmarked for GIM interventions. We will examine the background biodiversity in these sites, evaluate recent decadal-scale land changes, current above-ground biomass density, and finally quantify the potential for ecological restoration through afforestation and ecosystem service enhancements. This will be achieved through extensive comparative analyses with matched well-protected sites and landscape ecological analyses.