**5. Conclusions**

The possibility of a future without healthy forests is a question that looms large and uncertain given the ambiguities in assessing and tracking the changes in forest systems. Deciphering the causes, predicted recovery trajectories and understanding the consequences of forest degradation would be crucial in restoring the lost services of forest systems. As the climate predictions indicate that most of the world forest systems will have to experience CO**2** and temperature levels outside their adaptable ranges, it has become very critical to define the tolerance thresholds and improve our efforts to monitor and restore forest systems. Many of the natural forests across the world have already survived a wide range of climatic conditions during their life span and have developed inherent ways to tide over the degradative forces of climate change. Human concerns of forest degradation reflect our dependence on the system for its products and services. Strategies to tide over the climate-induced changes are imperative for our survival on planet Earth.

## **Acknowledgements**

We are thankful to KSCSTE – Kerala Forest Research Institute for providing support for developing the manuscript.

## **Conflict of interest**

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

*Forest Degradation under Global Change*
