Ecology & Bio-diversity Conservation Division

Great attitudinal variations coupled with the occurrence of rugged topography and varied vegetation types has made Western Himalayan Region a very rich source of floral bio-diversity and many of these species are endemic to this region and hence, need intensive management measures for their long-term conservation. With this gigantic task of conserving the Himalayan Ecosystem and at the same time thinking about the agrarian economy of the plains, Division of Ecology & Bio-diversity Conservation was carved out recently within Himalayan Forest Research Institute enabling the institute to devise useful strategies for achieving this end objective to a considerable extent.

Objectives:

• To study the bio-diversity status and floristic associations of different forest ecosystems.
• To develop suitable strategies/means for the conservation of threatened plant taxa.
• To study the productivity of different sites and species in terms of different components of biomass.
• To identify suitable species for Eco-restoration of Cold Deserts and standardize their nursery and planting techniques.
• To develop models for rehabilitation of degraded forests and mined areas.
• To study the effect of monocultures and mixed crops on soil properties and fertility.
• To study the ecological aspects of mortality/drying of trees.

Head of the Division : Dr K.S.Kapoor