Introduction

This module provides overview of socio-economic condition and introduce diverse forest ecosystems and biodiversity of Asia. This module set a stage to help you understand the rich society, culture, economics and development in Asia followed by introducing rich biodiversity, diverse forest ecosystems along with traditional knowledge and use of these natural resource and its consequences. Moreover, this module also introduces the key concepts of conservation and biodiversity such as ecological footprint, biodiversity hotspots, key biodiversity areas, its status and conservation approaches in Asia.

Outcomes

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

• Describe major bio-physical attributes, socio-economic status, and ecological footprint of Asia.
• Describe major globally relevant systems to identify areas of importance for biodiversity in Asia.
• Describe and discuss about status, distribution and ecology of key forest ecosystems and threats in Asia.
• Describe and discuss status, distribution and ecology of key flagship species, its conservation and threats in Asia.
• Describe and discuss about history of Conservation and Traditional Knowledge, Use and its consequence for Biodiversity in Asia.