Biodiversity in Indian Forests
Indian forests are more than trees and an economic resource. They are home to some of earth's unique flora and fauna.
Indian forests represent one of the 12 mega biodiverse regions of the world. India's Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas are amongst the 32 biodiversity hotspots on earth.
India is home to 12 percent of world's recorded flora, some 47000 species of flowering and non-flowering plants. Over 59000 species of insects, 2500 species of fishes, 17000 species of angiosperms live in Indian forests. About 90000 animal species, representing over 7 percent of earth's recorded faunal species have been found in Indian forests. Over 4000 mammal species are found here. India has one of the richest variety of bird species on earth, hosting about 12.5 percent of known species of birds. Many of these flora and fauna species are endemic to India.
Indian forests and wetlands serve as temporary home to many migrant birds.
Read more about this topic: Forestry In India
Famous quotes containing the words indian and/or forests:
“Every New Englander might easily raise all his own breadstuffs in this land of rye and Indian corn, and not depend on distant and fluctuating markets for them. Yet so far are we from simplicity and independence that, in Concord, fresh and sweet meal is rarely sold in the shops, and hominy and corn in a still coarser form are hardly used by any.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The forests are held cheap after the white pine has been culled out; and the explorers and hunters pray for rain only to clear the atmosphere of smoke.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)