Impact of agriculture intensification on forest degradation and tree carbon stock; promoting multi‐criteria optimization for restoration in Central India

Forest conservation entails both halting destruction and protecting the state of the forest's vegetation. Monitoring forest cover and restoring degraded forests are critical ecological aspects for India's forestry sector's long‐term growth. Cropland expansion and intensification are the primary approaches for increasing agricultural productivity in response to increased biomass demand, but they are also major drivers of biodiversity loss. We evaluated the ecosystem carbon (C) stock and sequestration potential for dry deciduous forests while assessing the drivers of forest degradation in Central India to advance scientific knowledge and minimize the anthropogenic C emissions from prevalent agriculture intensification in the region. A multi‐criteria optimization approach was used to identify the priority areas forrestoration and quantify the magnitude of drivers of biodiversity loss in the region by investigating the links between forest carbon stock, agriculture intensification, and altering forest structure at various degrees of forest disturbance. The total existing carbon stock of trees in study area during March 2020, was 199.12 Mg C ha−1. Overall carbon stock of these forests showed a significant correlation with disturbance levels (r = 0.50). Changes in vegetation especially to intensive agriculture practices have resulted in loss of carbon stocks and will cause large‐scale forest decline if not addressed immediately. Considering the rapid loss of forests in situation where India has to fulfill Nationally Determined Contributions to UNFCCC, Forest Landscape Restoration becomes priority and needs specialized efforts with enhanced funding to reduce and halt loss of forests.