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Forests are amongst the most biologically-rich terrestrial systems. Tropical, temperate and boreal forests together offer diverse sets of habitats for plants, animals and micro-organisms, and harbour the vast majority of the world's terrestrial species. In the past, timber production was regarded as the dominant function of forests. However, in recent years these perception has changed towards recognizing and acknowledging the diverse ecological services and functions offered by forests. Today, it is understood that forest biodiversity underpins a wide range of goods and services for over all human well-being. Ecologically intact forests store and purify drinking water, mitigate natural disasters such as droughts and floods, help store carbon and regulate the climate, provide food and produce rainfall and provide a vast array of goods and services for medicinal, cultural and spiritual purposes. The health of forests and the provision of forest ecosystem services depend on the diversity between species, the genetic diversity within species, and the diversity of forest types.

Vegetative biodiversity, heretofore referred to forest biodiversity of the country is under severe threat due to various factors such as increasing population, environmental degrada‐ tion, indiscriminate resource utilization etc. Social, economic and spatial constraints have made the value of biodiversity irredeemable. The alarming rate of loss of biodiversity particularly in terms of ecological, genetic, economic and evolutionary consequences became a matter of universal concern when the eventful Earth Summit work place at Rio de Janiero in 1992. This later culminated in 1993 in the ratification of a global agenda on biodiversi‐ ty, now referred as the UN Convention on Biodiversity. India being signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), is committed not only to the conservation of its biodiversity but also to sustainable and equitable utilization of its genetic resources. With long history of conservation in India, the conservation of forest biodiversity becomes an integral part of the development process. Over the years, India has developed a strong legal and policy framework along with a number of programmes promoting biodiversity

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conservation in the country. In this paper the intrinsic nature of biodiversity and multi‐ ple nature of its stakeholder are explored in order to explore the inextricable link be‐ tween human welfare and conservation biodiversity. The paper is a compendium of practice, a synthesis of insights into biodiversity conservation related research and technology in the country, and a source of ideas for way forward.
