Climate change impacts on the higher altitude forests of Indian Himalayan Regions: Nature-based solutions for climate resilience and disaster risk reduction

The Indian Himalayan regions (IHRs) with a heterogeneous landscape and one of the largest elevational and climatic gradients on Earth, occupy a particular place among the global mountainous ecosystems. The IHRs stretch from West to East covering land areas of twelve Indian States and Union Territories that can be divided into Eastern, Western, and Central Himalayas. IHRs have all 16 forest types of India classified by Champion and (Champion HG, Seth SK (1968) A revised survey of the forest types of India. Manager of publications, Govt. of India, Delhi ?), having exceptionally rich biodiversity, a high level of endemism, and habitat loss, and housing two global hotspots, the Himalayas and Indo-Burma. These forests have many rare and endangered plant species, which face severe survival pressure due to the ongoing global climate change and invasion of noxious invasive weeds. Native people have come up with traditional remedies to safeguard this ecological treasure; however, the inclusion and implementation of nature-based solutions (NbS) and policies for sustainable development are necessary. Therefore, the present chapter is primarily focused on the phytosociological aspects of vegetation of the diverse flora of the higher-altitude forests of the IHRs, along with a further emphasis on the climate change adaptation strategies and nature-based solutions of disaster risk reduction (DRR). There is an urgent need to restore the balance between economic interest and ecological perspectives of the forests of IHRs to provide livelihood options to a vast forest-dependent population.