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Map showing Niti valley (Upper Dhauli Valley) in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (map not to scale). DEM, digital elevation model; values are given in metres.
Source publication
Pastoralism plays an important role in the ecology of alpine habitats and the economy of rural people in some regions of India. The pastoralists move from lower altitudes of the Himalayas to higher alpine regions in summer and return back to lower altitude villages with the onset of autumn. The forested areas along the routes of transhumant pastora...
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Context 1
... valley (Figure 1) is situated in the Trans- Himalayan zone of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR) in Uttarakhand state, containing seven migra- tory villages (Kailashpur, Mahergaon, Gurgutti, Farkia, Bampa, Gamsali and Niti). The migratory villagers have two permanent settlements: one winter settlement in the lower elevation and one upper-altitude summer settlement, i.e. ...
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Located in the Himalayas, and situated at the highest altitude worldwide, the subalpine forests have come under human pressure through means of timber logging, livestock farming and tourism, which has brought about the progress of degradation. Thus, it is essential to quantify how forest structure is determined by environmental factors over the ran...
Citations
... Adapting to the evolving circumstances has meant reconfiguring social networks, herd management and mobility patterns through shrinking and increasingly fragmented landscapes and inconsistent institutional settings, with a view to successfully negotiating access to and use of critical resources (Mitra et al. 2013;Maru 2022). Therefore, in Asia, different revolutions have contributed to reshaping pastoral landscapes. ...
Policies and governance arrangements are relevant in shaping livelihoods in the pastoral regions of the world. Institutions and rules that enable access to land, markets and investment for pastoralists and those that regulate their participation in the political arena are critical in fostering or constraining livelihoods and the capacities to respond adaptively to uncertainties. Decades of misconceived narratives leading to distorted policies around pastoralism have significantly undermined the capacity of formal institutions, state agencies and development organisations to deal with the complexity of pastoral systems and eroded their legitimacy vis-à-vis herding communities. Despite more recent scientific and policy debates, new generations of civil servants, local authorities and development agents firmly believe that dismissing the pastoral lifestyle is the necessary prerequisite for a transition to modernity. This in turn nurtures patterns of marginalisation, grievance and instability. As pastoral regions have become the focus of new economic interests and competing socio-political agendas, these tensions can be easily manipulated. This paper assesses the political framework in pastoral areas in four regions, with the aim of understanding how this affects the livelihoods of local communities and the implications for local decision-making and the broader political arena.
... In the Hindu Kush Himalaya, rangelands constitute around 60% of the land use, and Yak herding, Angora goat and sheep rearing form the basis of food systems in large parts of the Tibetan Plateau and the higher altitudes (Miller and Craig 1996;Miller 1999). On the southern slopes, transhuman pastoral communities carry out seasonal migrations, their animals grazing in the high-altitude Bugyals (pastures) during summer and descending to lower altitudes during the cold winter months (Mitra et al. 2013). The food system of these communities is linked to mixed farming systems across their migratory routes, and food grains are predominantly obtained from farmers in exchange for milk products. ...
Marginal environments are characterized by constrained agricultural potential and resource degradation attributable to biophysical and politico-socio-economic factors. These environments and the indigenous people who cultivate them rarely attract academic interest, policy studies or investment. The agricultural expertise of indigenous communities is often overlooked by decision-makers. Interventions based on mainstream crops and external technologies may fail indigenous communities where a vast range of crops are cultivated in diverse production systems and in marginal environments. Hunger, malnutrition, and poverty in indigenous communities are high. The challenges should be approached from the perspectives and resources of indigenous people. In this chapter, we discuss four biogeographical regions, arid, semi-arid, humid and mountainous, representing large parts of marginal lands and innovations, investment opportunities, and proposed action for the transformation of food systems in these areas. Marginal areas and indigenous people can benefit from improved linkages between formal and indigenous knowledge systems, participatory and demand-driven technologies, integration of indigenous knowledge in research, improvements in local crops, integrated management and access to markets. Our recommendations for the transformation of food systems in these areas include (1) Efforts to mainstream diverse value chains, (2) Development of evidence-based policies (3) Awareness of under-utilized and forgotten crops (4) Collective action and (5) Coordinated public and private investment in research and development for the empowerment of indigenous people and the development of their land.
... In the Hindu Kush Himalaya, rangelands constitute around 60% of the land use, and Yak herding, Angora goat and sheep rearing form the basis of food systems in large parts of the Tibetan Plateau and the higher altitudes (Miller and Craig 1996;Miller 1999). On the southern slopes, transhuman pastoral communities carry out seasonal migrations, their animals grazing in the high-altitude Bugyals (pastures) during summer and descending to lower altitudes during the cold winter months (Mitra et al. 2013). The food system of these communities is linked to mixed farming systems across their migratory routes, and food grains are predominantly obtained from farmers in exchange for milk products. ...
Abstract: Marginal environments are characterized by constrained agricultural potential and resource degradation attributable to biophysical and politico-socio-economic factors. These environments and the indigenous people who cultivate them rarely attract academic interest, policy studies or investment. The agricultural expertise of indigenous communities is often overlooked by decision-makers. Interventions based on mainstream crops and external technologies may fail indigenous communities where a vast range of crops are cultivated in diverse production systems and in marginal environments. Hunger, malnutrition, and poverty in indigenous communities are high. The challenges should be approached from the perspectives and resources of indigenous people. In this chapter, we discuss four biogeographical regions, arid, semi-arid, humid and mountainous, representing large parts of marginal lands and innovations, investment opportunities, and proposed action for the transformation of food systems in these areas. Marginal areas and indigenous people can benefit from improved linkages between formal and indigenous knowledge systems, participatory and demand-driven technologies, integration of indigenous knowledge in research, improvements in local crops, integrated management and access to markets. Our recommendations for the transformation of food systems in these areas include (1) Efforts to mainstream diverse value chains, (2) Development of evidence-based policies (3) Awareness of under-utilized and forgotten crops (4) Collective action and (5) Coordinated public and private investment in research and development for the empowerment of indigenous people and the development of their land.
... While from the cultivators' perspective integrating livestock into their farming systems provides opportunity for enhancing access to family milk and directly avails farming inputs, it also represents integrative forms of insurance and investments. In the Sahel, where conditions are enabling, either farmers´ livestock is incorporated into pastoralists herds or herders from pastoral communities are contracted to take care of these animals (Thébaud and Batterbury, 2001;Kreutzmann and Schütte, 2011;Mitra et al., 2013). On the other hand, from the herders' perspective, setting up farming activities links to their need to supply themselves or their animals or both with products they would otherwise source through market purchases. ...
... Examples can be seen in many cases such as Fulani cattle herders in the Sahelian region or Somali camel herders in the Horn (Toulmin, 1986;Coppock, 1994;Al-Najim, 1991;Moritz et al., 2011;Manoli et al., 2014;Kima et al., 2015;Volpato and King, 2018). Cases are also reported in India where members of pastoral castes who do not own livestock sell their services by tending and grazing others' animals (Provenza and Ralph, 1990;Mitra et al., 2013;Singh et al., 2013). ...
... Following the Green Revolution in India, herders have less access to extensive rangelands, although animals may now feed on the residues of irrigated crops throughout the year. This has important consequences for the economy and drought-coping capacities, as well on their mobility patterns as some groups have extended their transhumance routes in search for available natural grazing, while others have been reducing or changing movements to enhance access to farm residues and fallow lands (Agrawal, 1998;Gooch, 2004;Mitra et al., 2013). While on the one hand opportunities for natural grazing have been severely limited by agricultural expansion and encroaching farming, on the other, farmlands have offered important alternative sources to livestock feeding. ...
PASTRES exploring the uncertainty * pastoralism interfaces:
Herding through uncertainties – principles and practices, analysing pastoralists’ strategies to cope with and adapt to the uncertainties embedding their livelihoods.
available at: https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/64228
... In most areas the reconfiguration of pastoral mobility represents a good indicator of the evolving interactions between farmers and herders. For several groups in specific regions, extensive transhumance remains a strategic practice for pursuing pastoralism through shrinking and increasingly fragmented landscapes with a view to accessing both rangelands and natural grazing as well as increasingly diversified marketing opportunities, including the larger regional and national trade of animal fibres (Rangnekar, 1994;Gooch, 2004;Mitra et al., 2013). Likewise, extended networks and evolving relationships with farming communities, market agents, and state agencies represent important pillars on which pastoral livelihoods hinge, albeit with different degrees of collaboration, cooperation, and conflict (Agarwal, 1998;Kassam, 2010;Gentle and Thwaites, 2016). ...
... Broader aspects related to environmental change include increasing competition from wildlife such as rodents and the growing presence of predators like wolves, leopards, feral dogs, and jackals. As their habitats change, these species-many of which are protected under international wildlife conventions and national laws-increasingly prey on domestic livestock, thus redefining uncertainty for local pastoralists who rely on dwindling range territories and changing biodiversity (Nori, 2008b;Singh et al. 2013;Mitra et al., 2013). ...
... Furthermore, pastoral groups in India cannot be easily identified with one specific territory, as most are spatially integrated and interdependent with other land use systems (Sharma et al., 2003). In many cases, pastoral groups or castes do not just own livestock: many members might follow non-pastoral occupations, while others might sell their services as hired herders (Provenza and Balph, 1990;Köhler-Rollefson, 1994;Mitra et al., 2013;Singh et al., 2013). An adequate understanding of pastoral resource management and livelihood systems should be set into the Indian social and cultural context in order to properly assess and analyse the specificities of local herding systems. ...
PASTRES - exploring the uncertainty * pastoralism interfaces:
Herding through uncertainties – regional perspectives, analysing the drivers of uncertainty for herders in six pastoral regions in the globe;
available at: https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/64165
... Globally, pastoral systems are increasingly appreciated as an economically viable and environmentfriendly practice due to its crucial roles in food security and the provision of ecosystem services (Moktan et al. 2008). Mobility of herds helps increase soil fertility in addition to seed dispersal, thereby increasing biodiversity (Olea et al. 2009;Mitra et al. 2013;Enri et al. 2017). ...
... The continuous seasonal mobility of pastoral families and their livestock is based on annual cyclic movement between upland and lowland pastures (Kreutzmann 2012), where pastoralists are exploiting diverse ecological niches to graze their livestock (Basset 2006;Mitra et al. 2013). This seasonal livestock mobilty has a significant role in controlling monoculture of plants and other omni present plants, and also provides sufficient time for regrowth of fodder plants (Mitra et al. 2013). ...
... The continuous seasonal mobility of pastoral families and their livestock is based on annual cyclic movement between upland and lowland pastures (Kreutzmann 2012), where pastoralists are exploiting diverse ecological niches to graze their livestock (Basset 2006;Mitra et al. 2013). This seasonal livestock mobilty has a significant role in controlling monoculture of plants and other omni present plants, and also provides sufficient time for regrowth of fodder plants (Mitra et al. 2013). Mobility is critical for the survival of pastoral communities that play a key role in the livestock production (Swallow 1993;Boone et al. 2008;Behnke et al. 2016). ...
This study identified and explored the changes in traditional trekking routes of pastoral communities between upland and lowland pastures. Data about trekking routes were collected by field surveys through constant trekking accompanying the herders and participatory meetings. Results show that landless herders resonated between lowland and upland pastures by moving along approximately 220 km long corridors seasonally. They were travelling through mountain trekking routes (Timbri-Kund Bangla and Makra-Gatti Galli) and road-based route to reach their seasonal pastures. Around 43% of the herders followed the Timbri-Kund Bangla route (TKB route) with 20 resting places, 41% herders followed the road-based route with 28 resting places, and 16 % herders followed Ghari-Makra-Gatti Galli route (GMGG route) with 26 resting places. Although there were more resting places on the road-based route, only about half of the resting places on this route were actually availed during mobility. Thus, time spent on the road-based route (20-25 days) was significantly less than on the mountain routes. Significantly less time (on average 1.72 days) was spent at each resting place along the road-based route. The early arrival and late departure of the herds at the upland pastures caused pasture degradation due to their consumption of vegetation which was still washy and not suitable for grazing then. The study concludes that closure of resting places and trekking routes is the main cause for changes in mobility patterns. Reopening resting places and trekking routes, accompanied by provision of veterinary care, mobile education and grazing rights, is recommended to safeguard this economical and environment-friendly traditional transhumance system.
... As population is growing fast, the demand for agricul-tural land is increasing. This process has led to a high rate of deforestation, which is continued till todate (Mitra et al., 2013;Gurarni et al., 2010). Further, this has led to decrease in ground water level, crop production and productivity, fuel, and fodder. ...
This research paper aims to develop a model that select an adequate area for potential forest plantation for sustainable planning in the Himalaya belt of Pasol Gad watershed, Pauri Garhwal District in the state of Uttarakhand, India. The model includes the combination of Analytical Hierarchy Process with the integration of Geographical information system based on the multi-criteria evaluation techniques to analyse the potential site for future forest plantations. Different criterions were selected based on DEM, drainage, landslide, soil erosion and land use and land cover. Erdas imagine and ArcGIS software was used for the detail analysis. This framework focuses on the sustainable planning for solving the problems of forest loss, its management, forest-based activities and its importance for cultivation layout for future restructuring. Results demonstrate that about 10.3 percent area is classified into very high suitable level, 20.39 percent in highly suitable level, 23 percent in the moderate suitable level and 14.13 percent in low suitable level and around 32.36 percent fall under very low suitable level for forest plantation. After identification of the potential site for forest plantation, a demonstrative sustainable forest plan has been made based on locally available natural resources. The result of the study can be helpful and effectiveness to assess the suitable sites for forest plantation in the mountain regions.
... Tiwari and Joshi (2013) found highest moisture holding capacity in composite leaf litter (19.73%) and lowest in the Cedrus leaf litter (8.20%). Based on a study conducted in Niti Valley, Mitra et al. (2013) found that pastoral stopovers experience maximum anthropogenic pressure which adversely affects the vegetation. predicted that the forest vegetation of Pindari-Sunderdhunga-Kafni exhibited progressive structures suggesting long term persistence of the communities. ...
... Stopovers of transhumant pastoralists experience tremendous anthropogenic pressure during livestock migrations, affecting the vegetation of the area adversely (Mitra et al. 2013). Documentation of migratory routes of pastoralists will help in identifying such areas for the development of management plans to minimize disturbances. ...
Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR) was declared as the first Himalayan Biosphere Reserve owing to its unique biological and cultural wealth. Its core zones, Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers National Park, are a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. In spite of lying at a high altitude, interplay of factors such as unique geographical location, climate, topography and wide altitudinal variations have endowed NDBR with a rich and diverse flora. Proportionately high percentage of endemic and near endemic plants makes NDBR a very important protected area from conservation point of view. However, its floristic wealth is facing unprecedented threats in the form of climate change and growing anthropogenic pressure. Hence, a need was felt to assess the directionality, quality and sufficiency of past and ongoing research for the conservation of floral and ethnobotanical wealth of NDBR in the absence of any such previous attempt. Based on an extensive review of more than 150 plant studies on NDBR, this communication provides a detailed account of the current state of knowledge and information gaps on flora, vegetation ecology, rare, endangered, threatened (RET) and endemic plants and ethnobotany. Priority research areas and management measures are discussed for the conservation of its unique floral wealth. Incomplete floral inventorization, lack of biodiversity monitoring, meagre studies on lower plant groups, population status of medicinal plants, habitat assessment of threatened taxa and geo-spatial analysis of alpine vegetation were identified as areas of immediate concern.
... The anthropogenic pressure significantly increased the rate of deforestation and forest degradation (Mitra et al., 2013;Gurarni et al., 2010;Negi, 2009;Awasthi et al., 2013). One such reason is forest fire which has captured the attention worldwide due to the large-scale devastation in the forests of South East Asia, Amazon and the Rocky Mountains of the USA. ...
Background
The livelihood of mountainous communities of Himalayan region closely knotted with forest related activities. However, forest degradation especially forest fire significantly affects the mountainous livelihood and hence, there is an urgent need to describe, evaluate and understand specificity of mountainous areas to forest fire.
Methods
In this view, a study on livelihood vulnerability with forest fire of High Altitude Zone (HAZ) and Low Altitude Zone (LAZ) was assessed with Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI). It uses 35 indicators, reduced to six components to create an overall index. Each component is composed of set of indicators and they are function of observable variables. The framework uses primary data and employs maximum-minimum normalization to restrict the value range of indicators between 0 to 1.
Results
The value near to 0 shows lower vulnerability. The overall vulnerability of HAZ region is higher, that might be attributed to higher dependency on forest; live in proximity of forest; unstable socioeconomic condition; less infrastructural development and higher exposure to climatic extreme events.
Conclusion
Therefore, the adaptive capacity of HAZ should be strengthened in a cross cutting manner for reducing livelihood vulnerability to forest fire. The sectors specific developmental policies/programmes should also be rationalized through bottom up adaptation planning with special reference to forest fire vulnerability.
... Migratory livestock grazing is widespread in the Indian Himalaya and Trans-Himalaya Mitra et al, 2013). The ecological effects of migratory livestock grazing on rangeland vegetation and wildlife, especially wildungulate populations have been debated for long . ...
Understanding patterns of species occurrences and how their distribution and abundance are affected by abiotic and biotic factors have been a major theme of ecological research. The range and changes in the distribution of a species are important parameters to assess conservation status. Robust assessment of factors affecting species distribution and abundance contribute to the identification of conservation issues, appropriate scale(s) for species conservation and key stakeholders.
Through this thesis, I have attempted to understand how distribution and abundance of a large-ranging and difficult-to-sample carnivore and its primary wild-prey species are affected by topographic, vegetation and land-use variables, at wide and fine spatial scales. I have focused on the snow leopard (Panthera uncia), the elusive, rare and endangered apex predator of the Central and South Asian mountain systems, and its main prey, blue sheep or bharal (Pseudois nayaur) and Asiatic ibex (Capra sibirica) for the work. I have utilized tools from quantitative ecology and social sciences through the thesis.
The presumed snow leopard, blue sheep and ibex habitats are cliff- and pasture-dominated areas between 3,200m-5,200m amsl in the Indian Himalaya and Trans-Himalaya. However, robust estimation of snow leopard and prey distribution across vast areas has rarely been attempted and hence remain poorly understood. The Himalayas also support resident and transhumant or migratory livestock grazing. Owing to limited arable lands and modern livelihood options in the rugged and remote mountainous terrain, livestock grazing has been a major livelihood. Although considered ‘traditional’, resident and migratory livestock grazing practices have been evolving in response to environmental, socio-economic and geo-political changes. The rangelands or pastures grazed by livestock are often overstocked, compromising livestock productivity, forage availability and wild-ungulate densities. This, in turn, impacts snow leopard densities, since snow leopard density is directly related to prey abundance.
The results based on occupancy surveys across an area of 14,616 km2 of potential snow leopard habitat suggest snow leopard and wild-prey were widespread, not restricted to protected areas. A considerable proportion (25%) of surveyed area was not likely to be used by snow leopards. Blue sheep and ibex had distinct distributions within the study area. Snow leopard and wild-prey (blue sheep and ibex combined) site-use were best explained by altitude and ruggedness. Blue sheep was likely to occur in areas without migratory livestock grazing, while ibex occurred in areas with intensive migratory livestock grazing. At a finer scale, effects of migratory livestock grazing on vegetation cover and biomass, and ibex population density and young:adult female ratios were tested in a grazed and ungrazed area across spring, summer and autumn seasons of 2015 and 2016. Graminoid and herb biomass were significantly lowered by migratory livestock grazing owing to humongous forage removal by livestock during two months of peak summer. Palatable species biomass was 2.25 times lower in grazed than that of ungrazed area. Ibex population density was 1.8-7 times lower in grazed than that of ungrazed area across two years, with six times lower yearling:adult female ratios in grazed area during peak summer. Significantly reduced forage availability led to exploitative competition between ibex and migratory livestock. Given the severe impacts of migratory livestock grazing on vegetation and wild-prey, the changes in migratory livestock grazing practice over the past decade were assessed. Additionally, perceptions of migratory herder and local communities on effects of grazing on pasture quality were examined. Herd size nearly doubled over the past decade, along with precipitous rise in prices of goat, sheep and wool. Pasture quality was perceived to be degrading by migratory herder and local communities and availability of palatable forage declining as a result of pasture degradation.
This work contributes to empirical understanding of snow leopard and wild-prey distributions across a vast landscape of the Indian Greater and Trans-Himalaya. It points to the importance of landscape-scale science-based participatory conservation planning for effective snow leopard and wild-prey conservation in the Indian Himalaya, rather than a protected area-centric approach. At a finer scale, this work establishes prevalence of exploitative competition between ibex and migratory livestock owing to palatable forage depletion by livestock. The findings on palatable forage reduction by migratory livestock grazing in Trans-Himalayan rangelands is in line with perceptions of the key stakeholders, providing a platform to engage with migratory herder community. The results provide insights for conservation management of the Indian snow leopard habitat and Himalayan rangelands at regional and local scales.
