Where to grow “Green-Gold” to mitigate land degradation? Identifying appropriate habitat for three economically important bamboo species in eastern India

Bamboos are the most rapidly growing plants with numerous economic benefits and have great potential to reclaim degraded lands and mitigate climate change. Nonetheless, like all other tree species, climate and other abiotic factors significantly influence species distribution of Bamboos also. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the most suitable climatic zones and variables for survival and optimum proliferation of the species. The purpose of this study was to determine the ideal climate zone of Bambusa nutans Wall. ex Munro, Bambusa tulda Roxb., and Bambusa balcooa Roxb. depending on the historical climate data (1970–2000). MaxEnt software was used to analyze the distribution zone. Roughly 1.80, 0.88, and 0.80% of the entire research region fit into the category of highly suited for the species of B. nutans, B. tulda, and B. balcooa respectively. The study area has the greatest distribution of B. nutans followed by the other two species of Bamboo. The study indicated that soil is the most contributing factor and the Eutric Cambisols (Be) soil category is favorably suitable for all three species. The findings of our study are aimed to promote Bamboo plantations in degraded lands of eastern India, advocating sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems; therefore may prove to be very much beneficial to achieve the sustainable development goal (SDG) 15 of “Life on land” for the forestry practitioners in eastern India. Marginal farmers in this region can also be economically uplifted through implementing Bamboo-based agroforestry based on the results of our study.