Askot Landscape Indicative Plan (Chapter 1 - 4)

Biodiversity Conservation and Rural Livelihoods Improvement Project Final Report Askot Landscape - Indicative Plan
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ASKOT LANDSCAPE INDICATIVE PLAN CHAPTER 1: LANDSCAPE CONFIGURATION 1.1 Description of the Landscape
The Askot Conservation Landscape is located in Eastern Kumaon, in the state of Uttaranchal, and lies between the coordinates 80 to 81 5 E Longitude, and 29 5 to 30 N Latitude. The Conservation/Project Landscape is bounded by the international border with the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China in the North. This runs along the high nival ridge that is also the waterdivide between the Indian Sub-continent and the Tibetan Plateau. The passes of Lowe Dhura, Lampiya Dhura and Lipu Lekh, all above 5500 meters above the sea, straddle this high ridge, and prior to hostilities with China in 1962, were the access routes between communities on either side. The Kali river forms the boundary in the South-East of the landscape till Jauljibi, which also constitutes the border of India with the Kingdom of Nepal. The lower half of this South-Eastern boundary runs low along the sub-tropical zone, with human habitations on both sides of the river, which like the Northern boundary too, has had social, economic and genetic exchange between nations over time. Marriages across the Kali are still common. The Western and North-Western boundary of the landscape runs along the true left bank of Gori river, till close to the latitude 3011' N, and then follows the ridge on the true right of the Poting sub-basin (on the true right bank of the Gori) to Silwa Dhura. From here the boundary of the landscape runs along the high ridge of the Gori basin in a North-Westerly direction, to the peaks Dang Thyal, Laspa Dhura, Nandakot, and along the eastern rim of the Nandadevi basin and the Nandadevi National Park, past Nandadevi East, and on to Hardeol. The boundary then turns East at the head of the Gori basin, and follows the waterdivide, past Trishuli and Nanda Gond and Unta Dhura, where it meets the existing boundary of the Askot Sanctuary close to the international border with Tibet, and the boundary already described in the North of the landscape. Maps are appended for reference. Encompassing an area of 4463 square kilometers, the entire project landscape is about 120 km long and on average, about 51.5 km wide. It comprises two entire river basins, those of the Kuti Yangti and the Lissar-Darma Yangti rivers (also known as Dhauli after their confluence), and also major portions of the true left bank of the Gori river, and the true right bank of the Kali river till Jauljibi. The first three rivers mentioned are the first tributaries of the Kali river within the Indian territory. The Kuti Yangti river is 51. 65 km long, the Lissar-Darma river is 139.58 km long, and the Gori river is 100 km long.
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Map: Landscape Configuration
1.2
Process and Methodology
The Askot Project Landscape has been defined after a multi-level consultative process, first proposed by Mr. S. Chandola, Chief Wildlife Warden at the preliminary Landscape Consultation, and later modified taking into account suggestions at various levels, including those of the former Chief Wildlife Warden Mr. A.S.Negi, and Dr. G.S. Rawat, Professor WII, and Dr. B.S. Burfal, the PCCF, Government of Uttaranchal. 1.3 About the Landscape
There is a great altitudinal range within the landscape, from 560 meters a.s.l at Jauljibi, to 7434 meters at the summit of Nandadevi East, apart from two other 7000 meter peaks. The location of the landscape is where the bio-geographic elements of the Western Himalaya, the Central Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau converge. Resultantly, the landscape is very bio-diverse, containing 2607 species of vascular plants, 265 species of birds, 37 of mammals, many of which are endemic, rare or endangered. The landscape contains 129 Revenue Villages, spread from sub-tropical to alpine altitude zones. falling within the Dharchula and Munsiari Tehsils. Van Panchayats or Village Forests cover about 46.5% of the land area, Civil and Soyam Revenue 2 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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land about 45.2%, Reserve Forests 5.9%, and Agriculture land 2.3% of the landscape. A list of villages that fall within the Askot Conservation Landscape as well as maps showing their locations and land-use configurations are also appended. 1.4 Justification
The landscape demarcation links the Nandadevi National Park and the Askot Wild Life Sanctuary, even after the proposed re-demarcation comes into effect, by a large and biodiverse territory that is contiguous to both these valuable Protected Areas, where conservation action and livelihoods enhancement can be prioritized for, compounding benefits to a much larger landscape. Large swathes of wildernesses also exist between and in the upper reaches of both the international boundaries with Nepal and with Tibet (China), where the influence of floral and faunal exchange are current, evident and significant. The landscape configured as it is, therefore also offers an opportunity for transboundary cooperation between neighbouring countries.
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CHAPTER 2: BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT 2.1 Physical Environment
A brief description of the biophysical features Because of the great compression of Life-zones in a small geographical area, this project landscape presents a great diversity of landscape and ecosystems. From about 590 metres above sea level at Jauljibi, at the confluence of the Gori with the Kali, to 7434 metres a.s.l at the summit of Nandadevi East, amongst a multitude of high, ice-bound mountain massifs, including some others over 7000 meters such as Hardeol and Trisuli. High 6000 meter peaks such as Suitilla, Chiringwe, Chikulawe, Bambhadhura, Rajrambha, Ngalaphu, Ngangling and Adi Kailash are some of the other spectacular and high mountains in the area. These high mountain precipices slope down to progressively warmer valleys, yield altitudinal gradients and climatic conditions that range from frigid arctic conditions to the warm and humid sub-tropical. Climate Sharp variation in altitudes in the tract plays a greater role in determining climatic factors in the landscape, and in combination with terrain, shapes peculiar micro-climatic attributes in different locales. To add to the diverse conditions that such a range of altitudes produce, is the landscape's special bio-geographic location on the east-to-west (longitudinal) transition zone of the flora and fauna of Himalaya, and its proximity to Tibet, that enables it to share characteristic elements and affinities of all three. The Askot landscape is the converging point of the Western Himalaya, the Central (Nepal) Himalaya, and the Trans-Himalaya (Tibetan-Pale arctic) transitions. All three bio-geographic zones represent distinct habitats. The very diverse climate types that such a range of altitudes yield are: Life Zone Distribution in the Askot Conservation Landscape Area Altitudinal Corresponding Altitude range Area (Sq Percentage belts climate types (meters asl) Km) of total area Nival Polar > 5500 504.05 11.30 (permanent snow) Alpine Sub Polar 3500 to 5500 2781.69 62.37 Sub-alpine Cool Temperate Temperate Subtropical Boreal Cool Temperate Temperate Sub tropical 3000 to 3500 2200 to 3000 1200 to 2200 < 1200 356.72 423.23 329.07 65.06 8.00 9.49 7.38 1.46
(FES GIS data 2006) With every successive ascent of 1000 metres elevation there is a significant drop in air pressure, availability and tension of oxygen and in temperature. In higher 4 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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elevations humidity drops as well. As a rule of thumb, mean temperature is known to drop at an average rate of 1 degree centigrade for every 270 metres of ascent, the drop being steeper and more rapid above 1500m altitude (Ali & Ripley, 1983) 1 . The varied combination of altitude and aspect of each mountain slope, also expose it to different number of hours of sunlight and intensity of solar radiation. Unique combinations of these, and other factors such as severity of slope, varying soil depth and moisture regimes, produce very diverse habitats within a small geographic area, for both plant and animal species that have specialized to occupy specific niches. Rainfall is quite variable in this area. Averaging below 200 cm annually in the lower reaches of these valleys, the areas in the Greater Himalaya zone here, for example the Panchachuli basin on the western flanks receives as much as 300 cm of torrential rain. The upper Trans-Himalaya reaches of these valleys, on the other hand, are in the rain-shadow, and comprise an arid cold-desert area that receives less than 15 cm of rain annually. This is excluding the precipitation in the form of snow in winter. Snow at the high altitudes is heavy and wet, and unlike other places in the trans-Himalaya where dry snow is blown away by strong winds, it accumulates up to the roofs of the alpine habitations, making it necessary for people to migrate with their livestock to lower villages in the montane belt in early October. Avalanches are a regular phenomenon, as witnessed by the huge compacted cones of avalanche debris along many gorges, forming snow bridges across the rivers at many points that can sometimes remain un-melted till the following winter. Land use Categories
Land Use (area sq.km.) < 1200 La nd Use Ca t e gorie s in t he Askot Conse rva t ion La ndsa p 1200-2200 2200-3000 3000-3500 3500-5500 (warm t emperat e) 60.12 104.95 112.13 51.88 329.07 (cold t emperat e) 16.06 169.70 127.14 110.34 423.23 (subalpine) 10.11 175.29 111.40 59.91 356.72 (alpine) 0.38 1320.99 1424.51 35.73 2781.61
(sub t ropical) Agricult ure land Civ il & Soy am Van Panchay at Reserv e Forest s Tot a l 16.26 22.24 18.31 8.53 65.35
Source: FES data 2006 The land tenure and land-use configuration in the landscape is interesting. Reserve Forests cover only 5.9% of this very bio diverse landscape. Van Panchayats, or Village Forests managed by Village Forest Councils cover 46.42% of the landscape, and hold some of the most pristine areas of highest biodiversity values. Just three high-altitude villages; Kuti, Shipu and Ralam together hold 799.39 square kilometers of Sub-alpine, Alpine and Nival landscape, way exceeding the notified area of the Sanctuary. Agriculture land comprises only 2.31% of the landscape. Significantly Civil and Soyam Revenue lands comprise 45.30% of the landscape. The RF Blocks in the Sanctuary, and in the landscape (5.9%) as well are fragmented, and lie within the Sub-tropical and Warm temperate life-zones with only a very small proportion of them falling within the Cold-temperate and Alpine zones. The implications of this in conservation
1
Salim Ali and Ripley 1983. 5
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planning and prioritization are discussed in the section on locating biologically significant areas (BSAs) in the landscape. Drainage There are about 38 glaciers located within the project landscape that feed the rivers within the landscape. The Kali herself is the largest trunk river in Kumaon with a Mean Annual Discharge of 23.2 million cubic metres half way down the river. The Mean Annual Discharge at Bungapani, a point two-thirds down the Gori, is estimated to be about 3.8 million cubic metres (Murty et al 2000) 2 . The elevation difference, and therefore the range of terrain that the river runs through, is 2700 metres, in a distance of a hundred kilometres, from about 3500m above the sea at the snout of Milam glacier, to 560m above sea level at its confluence with the Kali at Jauljibi. The river is then known as the Sarda, on the Indian side, and lower down as Ghagra and goes on down to its confluence with the Ganga in Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh. Eventually, it meets the ocean at the Bay of Bengal. The Kuti Yangti is at the head of the Kuti basin which is along the border with Tibet, and is a glacial river meeting the Kali after Gunji. The length of the Kuti Yangti is 51 kilometers. The Lissar-Darma Yangti is the longest river in the landscape, measuring 139 km from glacial snout to its confluence with the Kali at Tawaghat. 2.2 Process and Methodology
Many aspects of the biological diversity of the Askot landscape have not been studied or documented in any detail. A few excellent forays however, have been made on floral elements by Duthie (between 1846-48); Strachey and Winter bottoms (in 1852); W J Lambert (who collected for O.E. Osmaston, between 1913 and 1925); T.A. Rao and Bipin Balodi of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) made collections between 1991 and 1992. We also have benefit of G.S.Rawat's listings and repeated deep taxonomic forays in the area. We have relied on an enumeration and description of the biodiversity values in the Askot Wildlife Sanctuary by Ranbeer Rawal and Uppeandra Dhar, as a base to describe some of the biodiversity values of the project landscape. This has been further supplemented in places, from other sources. The listing of mammalian taxa is the preliminary list of Dr. G.S.Rawat and Dr. Satyakumar, supplemented by Himal Prakriti. The preliminary herpetofauna and avian fauna lists are by the Himal Prakriti team, the latter being supplemented by additions by Rashid Raza, the list by Dr. G.S.Rawat and Dr. Satyakumar, the list by the Department of Wildlife Sciences, AMU 3 and by further additions by Abhijit Menon-Sen, Tom Forward and K.Ramnarayan. The floral listing is primarily by Gopal Rawat and Y.P.S. Pangtey and SS Samant for the angiosperms, the gymnosperms by Himal Prakriti, the pteridophytes from the base lists of Strachey and Winter bottom, as well as the enrichment by YPS Pangtey. The whole flora list was got together with
2 3 S.K. Murti, D.K. Singh and Surendra Singh, 2000. Higher Plants of Indian Sub Continent, Vol. 10: Plant Diversity in Lower Gori Valley Pithoragarh, U.P. (Hydro Electric Project area)/. Dehra Dun
A study of threats to biodiversity conservation in the middle-altitude oak- forests in Kumaon Himalaya. Hussain,M.S, Aisha Sultana and Jamal A Khan, (2000)
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the help and guidance of Dr. G.S.Rawat, who has also contributed an initial analysis on phyto-geographic affinities. 2.3 Biological values of Landscape
2.3.1 Vegetation / Forest type Major Vegetation types in the Askot Conservation Landscape S.N . 1. Vegetation Type Sal Forest Corresponding C&S Category 5B/C1a: Dry Sal Bearing Forests 9/C1b: Himalayan Chir Pine Forest Not Described 12/C1a: Banj oak forest Characteristic Species Shorea robusta Terminalia tomentosa Litsea monopetala Mallotus phillippensis Pinus roxburghii Glochidion velutinum Woodfordia fruticulosa Toona ciliata Macaranga pustulata Engelhardtia spicata Quercus leucotrichophora Myrica esculenta Dendrobium spp. Lyonia ovalifolia Sinarundinaria falcata Quercus floribunda Symplocos chinensis Chimonobambusa falconerii Sorbus vestita Quercus semecarpifolia Taxus wallichiana Prunus cornuta Chimonobambusa spathiflora Alnus nepalensis Pilea umbrosa Debregeasia hypoleuca Cupressus torulosa Lespedeza gerardiana Pogonatherum paniceum Themeda anathera Chrysopogon gryllus Cymbopogon distans Andropogon munroi Tsuga dumosa
2. 3. 4.
Pine Forest Sub-tropical Riverine Forests Banj Oak Forest
5.
Moru (Timsu) Oak
2/C1b: Moru oak forest
6.
Kharsu Oak
12/C2a: forest
Kharsu oak
7. 8. 9.
Alder Forest Cypress Forest Temperate Grassy slopes Hemlock (Tansen) Forest
12/1S1 Alnus nepalensis Forests 12/E1 Cupressus torulosa 12/DS3: Himalayan Secondary Grasslands Not Described
10.
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11. Temperate Secondary Scrub 12/DS2 Temperate Parkland C1/DS1: Oak Scrub C1/DS2:Himalayan temperate secondary scrub 12 / C1 West Himalayan Temperate Forests Quercus leucotrichophora Berberis asiatica Prinsepia utilis Rubus niveus Acer villosum Betula alnoides Juglans regia Aesculus indica Pinus wallichiana Juniperus communis Rhododendron campanulatum Betula utilis Lonicera spp. Rosa macrophylla Rhododendron anthopogon Cassiope fastigiata Salix denticulate Salix lindleyana Lonicera myrtillus Juniperus communis Juniperus indica Danthonia cachemyriana Potentilla argyrophylla Kobresia spp., Trachydium roylei
12.
13. 14.
Temperate Broadleaf Forests (Moist Deciduous) Blue Pine (Kail) Forest Sub-alpine Forest
15.
Alpine Scrub
13/C4:West Himalayan High-level Dry Blue Pine Forest 14/C1:West Himalayan Sub-alpine Birch/Fir Forest (Betula/Abies) Birch-Rhododendron Scrub Forest 15/E1:Dwarf rhododendron scrub 16/E1:Dwarf juniper scrub
16.
Alpine Pastures
15/C3: Alpine Pastures (Dry and moist types)
Source: G.S. Rawat 2.3.2 Flora and Fauna Habitat and community representation in flora. As described earlier the special location of the project landscape in the east to west (longitudinal) transition enables it to share biodiversity elements of both the eastern and the western Himalaya. The significant features of the habitat and community representation are:
While the landscape shows a predominance of typical west Himalayan forest communities 4 , (like the Chir pine and west Himalayan Oaks) it also represents the western-most limit for the occurrence of East Himalayan communities such as Tsuga and Macaranga.
Ranbeer Rawal and Uppeandra Dhar, 2001, Protected Area network in Indian Himalayan Region: Need for recognizing values of low profile protected areas, CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 81, NO. 2, 25 JULY 2001
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The great vertical altitudinal gradients, from 560 m to over 7000m yield an exceptionally high habitat and community diversity such as: a) Habitats ranging from subtropical shorea robusta, to alpine meadows locally called bugyals b) The landscape possesses more than 85% of the reported forest communities of Kumaon in the West Himalaya
The occurrence of Tsuga dumosa and Macaranga pustulata communities in the Gori basin are exclusive for the entire West Himalaya (Rawal, R and Dhar U 2001). A very large portion of the landscape falls under alpine conditions, about 57.57% (FES GIS data 2006), and while it is characterized by moist alpine habitats in the Greater Himalaya band, it is also represented by dry alpine habitat in the Trans Himalaya sections of the landscape. Representative elements of both conditions are therefore present. Species richness and form diversity. The range and habitat and community representation yield rich species diversity. The inventory of vascular plants lists the presence of over 2359 species (Angiosperms 2258 spp, 891 genera, 170 families; Gymnosperms 7 spp, 7 genera, 4 families, and of pteridophytes 94 spp, 38 genera, 25 families). The list contains 2359 spp, 936 genera and 199 families. (Compiled list by FES in NBSAP document 2004). The distribution in forms indicate the presence of 209 trees, 284 shrubs, 1427 herbs, 130 climbers (especially important being the 8 species of dioscorea that the Banraji depend on) and 268 ferns. The species richness does vary across the great elevational range, with its maximum diversity in the alpine life-zone (3500 to 5500 asl). Among taxonomic groups, species richness in the family Orchidaceae (120 species) is exceptionally high, and represents 62.5% of those found in Kumaon (Uniyal and Ghosh, 2000) and 50.8 % of the entire Northwest Himalaya. The sub-alpine forests of Betula utilis and Abies spectabilis were found to be by far the richest in mycoflora. No exhaustive and reliable documentation of the faunal species richness in the area is available today. We have the preliminary listing by Dr. G.S.Rawat and S.Sathyakumar 5 , which has been relied on. This list, supplemented by Himal Prakriti lists the presence of 37 species of mammals. The birds list is a compilation and lists 265 bird species. The preliminary herpetofauna list is by Himal Prakriti, which bears 5 lizards, 17 species of snakes and one skink. Only those taxa confirmed against Malcolm Smith's keys, from specimens found dead, or caught alive and released after taxonomic confirmation are included in the snakes list, and a few are pending confirmation.
Anon, Report on Panchchuli Multidimensional Expedition 1998, Sapper Adventure Foundation, the Corps of Engineers, Indian Army, 1998
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Biological integrity and sensitive elements Over 40% of the representative floristic elements present in the basin are native or Himalayan in origin. It has been found that richness and relative dominance of native species, in all growth forms, increase significantly with elevation, and in a landscape where over 60% of the area is under high elevations where plants can grow, the area is rich in native elements. This is significant in view of the fact that biological integrity been accorded the status of the most comprehensive norm in conservation, and native species populations with their natural interactions in naturally structured communities are considered as the best indicator of such integrity. With 234 near-endemic and 24 endemic species (Rawal,R and Dhar, U 2001) 6 in the landscape representing Himalayan endemics, conservation efforts here require to be given high priority. In the biological integrity and sensitive elements in the fauna of the landscape, twelve of these are listed as endangered Himalayan taxa. The area is also home to three endangered bird species: the Tragopan Satyra, the Lophophorus impejanus and the Catreus wallichi pheasants. Over and above considerations of species sensitivity, the critically important habitats and communities that exist in the landscape require mention. While considering the cumulative biodiversity values, the sub-alpine Timber Line Zone (TLZ) of the Panchachuli sub-basin and the Ralam sub-basin, both constituents of the landscape are identified among the ten top-ranking priority sites in the Western Himalaya (Rawal, R and Dhar, U 2001) 7 . Even amongst the top ten, these two sites score the highest uniqueness scores in terms of naturalness, endemicity and use value of biodiversity elements. In terms of biological integrity or nativity, these areas support a high proportion of native plant species- trees, shrubs and herbs 8 . In view of the overall value of the West Himalayan TLZ in maintaining the regional pool of biodiversity, and in view of its sensitivity to anthropogenic influences, the existence of these most unique sub-alpine sites in the landscape are significant to be prioritized for conservation, and for conservation oriented or sensitive livelihoods strategies. Orchid Diversity in landscape India is known to have around 1229 species of orchids, of which about 255 species occur in the North-West Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttaranchal. 150 of these are found in the Kumaon Himalaya. The Gori basin is said to be an orchid hot-spot in the Western Himalaya (Uniyal, B.P and Ghosh, B, 2000) The Gori Valley alone, of which the areas richest in orchid taxa fall within the project landscape, is host to about 121 species of orchids belonging to 44 genera 9 . These include 78 species epiphytic, 42 ground and one saprophytic
6
Ranbeer Rawal and Uppeandra Dhar, 2001 , Protected area network in Indian Himalayan Region: Need for recognizing values of low profile protected areas, CURRENT SCIENCE, Vol. 81, No. 2, 25 July 2001 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 The data here is from D.K.Singh in Orchid Diversity in the Gori Valley-Proceedings of the SSC, IUCN Workshop, WII
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species. The Gori basin is said to represent a hyper diversity centre for over 47 % of the NW Himalayan Orchid flora in just about 0.67 % of its geographical area. Bulbophyllum with 14 species is the largest genus in the area, followed by Dendrobium (10), Habenaria (9), Eria (9), Cymbidium (7), Oberonia (5), whereas 19 genera are represented by a single species. Ascocentrum ampullaceum (Roxb.) Schltr, Pteroceras suveolens (Roxb.) Holtt. and Vandopsis undulata (Lindl.) Reichb. f. are endemic to this valley. Dendrobium normale, Eria occidentalis, Flickingeria hesperis and Nervillia mackinnonii, frequent in this valley, are endemic to Uttaranchal. The most favoured phorophytes in the Gori basin is the Toon (Toona serrata). There are reports of a single toon branch bearing as many as 30 species of orchids 10 . Engelhartia spicata and Quercus luecotrichophora are also significant host species. Agriculture related biodiversity Although agriculture land covers just 2.3% of the project landscape 11 , and though landholdings are marginal and fragmented, there is rich crop diversity in the landscape. 211 different local varieties of food crops were identified as grown in the landscape 12 , of which 105 can be classified as cereals or pseudo-cereals, 21 pulse crops, 10 oil-yielding plants, and 10 spices. 41 varieties of paddy (Oriza) are grown here, of which 31 are upland varieties not requiring field flooding. 20 varieties of wheat and barley (Triticum) are grown and 14 varieties of Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) apart from 5 other millets from the Panicum and Pennisetum genus. Almost 31 different vegetables and 31 fruits plants are grown (refer lists attached). Many plants from the wild are also eaten and are mentioned in the list of plants of economic value that is also attached. Villages located above 1800 meters do not cultivate more than 7-8 varieties of vegetables in a year due to the short growing season but they use 10 to 12 different wild plants as vegetables. Liquor is made from 4 types of cereals namely koni (Setaria italica), barley, millets and buckwheat. The equivalent of staple cooked as rice are paddy, setaria, amaranth and roti and its equivalents are made from wheat, maize, barley, triticum, millets and buckwheats. Some varieties of crops existing in the project landscape are of particular interest in the context of forest dwelling or forest-proximate communities. Varieties are sometimes progressively selected for considerations such as productivity, resistance to uncertain rainfall, but also for pest resistance (a species of wheat, for example, that macaques and langurs find difficult to eat because of a very spikey ear-head), taste, colour, nutritive value, suitability to climate and maturing time. Setaria, amaranth, barley, triticum and the millets are gradually being cultivated and eaten less by local populations, often driven by the perception that eating such traditional crops is socially and economically inferior, and to be looked down upon or dissociated from. The narrowing genetic base of traditional agriculture crops in the landscape is a matter of concern. Fewer varieties of Triticum, of beans and peas and of paddy are grown now. The diversity of crops grown by each agrarian family is steadily declining. The loss is not even documented. Discussions during consultations
10
11 12
B.P. Uniyal and B.Ghosh. Orchid Diversity in the Gori Valley 2000 FES GIS data 2006. A Biodiversity Log and Strategy Input Document for the Gori River Basin. Western Himalaya Ecoregion. FES 2003.
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indicated that the diversity of the food basket, and subsequently the food security of families in the landscape is diminishing. Project interventions can begin to stem this erosion. Riparian habitats Rivers are, in many ways, the sutradhar or the central narrators of their entire river basins. They physically link the entire landscape together, right from the glaciers, the alpine meadows, on down past the krummholz, the temperate forests, and down to the warm sub-tropical gorges and riparian forests along their courses. Aquatic biological communities are sensitive reflections of the relationships between organisms and their environment; of the physical and chemical components of their environments and landscape features such as landuse, land cover, geology, physiography, mineral availability, and potential natural vegetation (Omernik and Gallant 1988). Rivers reflect the health or state of the entire landscape that they link. These rivers and their tributaries constitute critical aquatic corridors and highways that link the entire landscape. There are extensive variations in environmental gradients and the interactions of rivers with the landscape. The glacial or fluvial sources, temperatures that affect them, topography, soil types, land use, and riparian conditions, and the presence of ponds, marshes and other wetlands result in a wide range of stream flows and water quality conditions, all have a direct effect on the distribution of fish and other forms of life in the various rivers in the landscape. Mycoflora washes off leaf-litter in the quiet oak forests, which is scraped off rocks in the substrate by larval insects in mountain torrents, which in turn form part of the food of fish in the streams and rivers. Fish that interact with all the riparian landscape, swimming up from the turbid river to the dark limpid pools in upstream branches, or to sand and shingle-beds to spawn. The flushing of silt, humus and gifts of nutrients down from high mountain forests and ravines down to river banks enroute, along its entire length, links distant landscapes and all the life therein. The Kuti Yangti, the Lissar-Darma Yangti and the Gori rivers are primarily glacial rivers, whereas the Kali is fluvio-glacial. The rivers themselves are dynamic, and reflect the forces at work on the entire landscape. Every five years or so there seem to be very significant spates and flooding along these rivers, compounded by major landslides upstream. Ancient river-beds and glacial deposits are washed away, while new deposits are formed to restart succession cycles all over again, and contributing to the biological diversity that such changes engender. Almost all human habitations in the landscape are either along the main rivers or their many tributaries, or next to springs that emerge from an impermeable layer, and eventually flow down to the river (See map showing human habitations). As in all other such places, the lives of the people living here are deeply tied-in with the rivers in very many ways, in life and in death. The people who live along these rivers partly depend on fish for food through the year. A few villages low down near the river that have their crop fields on ancient river-beds, irrigate their paddy-fields.
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People are cremated at various points along the river, dead infants are just submerged and weighed down by rocks, and the obvious symbolism perhaps serves to wash away the immediate trauma of such separation. No serious listing of the fish fauna in the various rivers in the landscape has been undertaken so far. There has been a limited listing by the Kumaon University as well as by the FES team in the Gori river and its tributaries in the warm temperate and sub-tropical zones. There does however, exist very extensive documentation of the fish fauna of the main trunk river Kali, downstream by scientists in Nepal. A list of the fish fauna studied in the main trunk of the Kali by Dr. T.S. Shrestha in Nepal, indicates the presence of 73 species 13 . All the rivers and streams in the landscape, are really parts of each other, and whichever of these species swim up above 600 metres altitude, could be found in the tributaries, depending on the physical and chemical parameters of those waters. The long term study initiated by FES in 2004 and continued by Himal Prakriti in the Gori and its tributaries, sought essentially to understand species richness as well as the longitudinal succession of fish populations co-related to stream order. Gill-nets were cast over two years in different seasons in all the tributaries, not from head-water reaches to stream mouth, but from where fish were known or expected to be found, even above a waterfall over 80 meters high, to the stream mouth. The findings so far confirm that species richness and diversity increased downstream, as a function of stream order, as well as the continuum of biotic and abiotic factors. It was also seen that species richness increased in a downstream direction, with most changes in species composition due to the addition, rather than the replacement of species. This factor would change after the confluence with the Kali at 560 meters a.s.l, becoming inhospitable for species such as Schizothorax, with rapidly rising water temperatures and subsequent decrease in dissolved Oxygen. At this stage in the long-term study, the data of Himal-Prakriti (unpublished) also indicates that abiotic factors regulate diversity of upstream fish communities, and that in downstream reaches where fish communities were stable and diverse, they were more controlled by biotic factors such as predation and competition. The presence of benthic macro-invertebrates especially the larvae of the May Fly, the Caddis Fly, the Stone fly, and Dragon Flies in large numbers indicates the presence of high levels of oxygen. These aquatic insects also form the main food for the fish. The smaller streams play an essential role in the life cycles of all benthic fauna. Many insects spend all but their adult stage in water. For fish migrating upstream in the main basin rivers, the smaller streams serve as spawning grounds because they are less turbid and the velocity of the water is not as high as the bigger glacial rivers. In spring, the waters of the bigger glacial rivers rise and the fish that have lived in the small streams in winter migrate downstream into the main basin rivers. Fish from the big rivers migrate upstream into the smaller streams to spawn and by autumn return downstream, while some fish also spend their entire life-cycle in the same stream. There are some use-practices along the course of these rivers that are greatly affecting the fish-fauna, and the associated ecology. Fishing methods that employ
13
Shrestha, Tej Kumar 1995. Fish catching in the Himalayan waters of Nepal.
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the use of plant-poisons such as agave, caustic soda, and explosives (can be had from any friendly neighborhood road-contractor) are causing major depletions in fish populations. Commercial mining of sand and shingle-beds, where fish may spawn, greatly affect habitats and populations of the many species of fish that inhabit different segments of these corridors in different seasons. 2.3.4 Protected Area(s) The Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary in Pithoragarh District of Uttarakhand was set up in 1986, vide Notification No. 96(1)/14-3-30/84 dated 30.7.1986. The Askot Sanctuary was unusual in at least two respects. One, that it encompassed a very large range of altitudinal gradients, from about 560 m asl to 6,904 m at the summit of Panchachuli II. Two, that it included a very large number of villages (111villages), a town (Dharchula), and a Militiary Cantonement within its boundaries. There is another aspect that is worthy of mention here. While the area notified under the Askot Sanctuary is 600 square kilometers, the actual area that is demarcated as per the boundary description in the notification covers about 2,901 square kilometers. This was discovered and highlighted by the Himalaya Region Project of the Foundation for Ecological Security after they had done a largescale exercise mapping the configuration of Van Panchayat Forests, Reserve Forests, Protected Areas, and Civil and Soyam land in the Greater and TransHimalaya areas of Uttarakhand. On investigating as to how this could have happened, it was discovered that niether the Van Panchayat Forests, which comprise about a third of the area under the Santurary, nor the Civil and Soyam land, which comprise almost 57% of the area, had actually been mapped to scale in the cadastral mapping system, and that the area in the land records (Non-ZA Khatauni) was a notional figure. These figures seem to have been used from the Tehsil land records. It is also interesting to note the distribution of land-use categories under the 2,901 sq km presently being administered as the Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary: Reserve Forest Area: Van Panchayat Forest Area: Civil and Soyam Land Area: Agriculture Land Area: Rivers and water bodies: 9.86% 29.54% 56.88% 3.55% 0.17%
Niether prior to the setting up of the Sanctuary, nor since 1986 have the Rights of the village communities who reside in the Sanctuary Area been settled. While the Sanctuary has not been provided with an exclusive complement of staff as the administration of any Sanctuary are provided for all these years, sporadic but repeated incidences of restrictions imposed on the village communities, on the use of forest produce even from their own Village Forests have led to an increasing sense of alienation described elswhere in this document. There is however, one hydro-electricity project that has come up within the Sanctuary during the last five years, and 25 more hydro projects are under 14 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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various stages of planning, allotment and execution in the four main rivers that drain the Sanctuary area. There is also a gold, siver and copper mine near Askot, where large deposits have been surveyed, and mining is due to commence. In view of the resentment expressed by local people of the inclusion of their villages and Village Forests in the Sanctuary, and in view of the hydro and mining prospects of the area, the State government has proposed the re-alignment of the Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary, with an attempt to keep as many villages as possible out of the Sanctuary, while keeping some areas of high biodiversity values within a newly proposed 600 square kilometers intact. The proposal is under process. 2.4 Biologically Significant Areas 2.4.1 Identification Locating Biologically Significant Areas (BSAs) in the landscape The Askot Project Landscape is indeed both physically and biologically complex. As described earlier, altitude gradients within the landscape range from 560 m asl to 7434 m and climate types from Sub-Tropical to Polar. In addition, the three bio-geographic zones of the Western Himalaya, the Central (Nepal) Himalaya and the Trans-Himalaya converge at the landscape, each contributing their distinct influences in the flora and fauna of the area. The 'process' of locating and ascribing biological significance, as a means to help plan and prioritize, (since such real-time location has not been done so far for this landscape, and other studies on ecological attributes are also rather scanty), would require more time and effort than is available in this pre-project phase. This could well be included as an integral part of the Project processes. It would however, be important to outline here a possible approach to such finerfocusing and prioritization, not only to aid planning for what to do, but also to measure progress on tasks and processes undertaken under the Project. In view of the long standing association with the landscape, and relative familiarity of people associated with the planning process, a preliminary prioritization could be proposed as an informed lead, to be confirmed and put into a larger methodological framework during the project period. While describing the threat-status can be useful, it has been widely agreed to be insufficient by itself. Such a singular focus on threats can lead to a zerotolerance approach to threat activities in human-influenced landscapes, such as those we are looking at, and would therefore be unrealistic in the context of this exercise.
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Method used by The Nature Conservancy for biological prioritisation Key or focal ecological attributes are identified for the broad sub-divisions or zones that comprise the landscape, and a practical framework for an assessment worked out. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has evolved and used some form of score-cards that tabulate and synthesize diverse scientific information about the focal biodiversity of an area into a small number of measurement categories, which are standardized for use across multiple areas. The ecological scorecard for assessing ecosystem integrity and species viability developed by TNC has four main components: (1) Selecting a limited suite of focal biodiversity targets than can serve as a coarse-filter or fine filter framework for protecting the whole; (2) identifying a limited suite of key ecological attributes for each target, along with specific indicators for each, that provide the information for measuring status; (3) identifying an acceptable range of variation within which the key ecological attributes must lie in order to persist; and (4) assessing the current status of each key attribute with respect to their acceptable ranges of variation, and integrating the measure of this status into a measure of the status of biodiversity overall. Such a framework can help focus strategy development along ecological rather than jurisdictional boundaries- for example the interaction and flows between Van Panchayats and contiguous Reserve Forests. It could also provide consistency and specificity in setting conservation objectives and strategies, and promote focused and efficient monitoring in future.
Rather than look just at and prioritize certain sites and certain species alone, perhaps a good way to proceed would be to work with the notion of the ecological integrity of the landscape, even in relation to the larger landscape that it is located in. Trans-boundary issues and downstream dimensions would also assume relevance here. By looking at ecological integrity we are not just looking at say species composition, but at whether the ecological systems, communities, and (at least focal-) species occur or remain with sufficient size, and with a sufficiently natural composition, structure and function to persist within their natural range of variation,. in order to withstand and recover from perturbations imposed by natural dynamics or human disruptions (Parish J. Braun, D and Unnasch,R.) 14 . A most interesting and useful analysis, in the context of understanding the ecological attributes of the landscape, would be to map and understand the assemblage of forests, alpine grassland wildernesses and steep-terrain wildernesses in the landscape. To analyze them for connectivity or fragmentation due to topographical or human-driven reasons. To truly understand and value contiguity at a larger scale in this part of the Himalaya, one would of-course have to analyze it in the context of the wildernesses that are contiguous across the river in Nepal, and across the ridge in Tibet. However, it would also be very useful to understand contiguity and connectivity even at a reduced landscape level
14
Are we conserving what we say we are? Measuring Ecological Integrity within Protected Areas. Jeffery Parish, David Braun and Robert Unnasch.
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scale, and how it interacts with the immediate landscapes adjoining it. This analysis overlaid with a mapping of land tenure regimes, such as forests and wildernesses in Reserve Forests, in Village Forests, and on Civil and Soyam lands would yield strategy implications not just for the project or management of the PA, but also policy implications for development projects in the state at large. Commonly, isolates of habitats, such as those found in mountain areas, are viewed in the context of island-biogeography, where forest fragments and nature reserves are islands in a sea of unfavorable habitat. Such perspectives can tell us more about the distribution and dynamics of fauna in fragments of habitat, than any total figures or averages of area under reserves or other categories of forests. At the scale of the project landscape however, we see that fragmentation or separation of habitats in the entire landscape is negligible, and are due more to topography, altitude and physical features rather than actual land-use by humans, or tenurial separations. For example, Van Panchayat lands constitute 34.48% of the landscape, and along with Civil and Soyam Revenue land (54.59%), comprise over 89% of the landscape. Add to this Reserve Forests covering another 8%, you have 97% in one contiguous swathe. Agriculture land comprises less than 3% of the landscape. If we look at the altitude frequency in the context of such tenure, we find that Van Panchayat land and Civil and Soyam Revenue land would hold almost all the most critical breeding and dispersal areas (Sub-alpine and Alpine) for the populations of the Snow Leopard as well as the Bharal and Musk Deer, as well as habitat for a host of birds and plants. The RF blocks within the present Sanctuary area, and in the proposed landscape are in fact fragmented by themselves, and therefore the designation and prioritization of RF blocks within the Sanctuary as Core or Central Areas, and the rest of the area, i.e. Van Panchayats and Civil and Soyam land as Buffer Areas in the Management Plan of the Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary would need to be revisited. Neither would feasibility of administration be addressed by such division along jurisdictional lines, nor representation of species or habitat. Understanding connectivity at different scales, the nature of linkages in terms of stepping stones or corridors, and understanding the effects of such configurations would also be important considerations while discussing any development project or activity in any specific area, now or in the future, or its impact on the landscape and its biodiversity. This would have very significant policy implications in terms of conservation value as well as prioritization of areas for any development activity in the state. Preliminary proposal for prioritization of certain breeding and dispersal habitat sites, as well as certain focal species We know that the greatest concentration of human habitations in the landscape is in the Sub-tropical and Warm-temperate zones. We therefore find that apart from the RF areas in this altitudinal zone, forest and grasslands are relatively degraded due to heavy anthropogenic pressures, and faunal populations similarly affected. The Van Panchayat areas in these zones are by-and-large very small, and insufficient to meet the requirements of local communities, as well as retain their regenerative capacities. It is the Cold-temperate and Sub-alpine human 17 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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settlements that are sparse, and have relatively large Van Panchayat areas, where forests and associated fauna are in better condition. Local consultations as well as scientific literature all point overwhelmingly to the TLZ, and the Sub-alpine Krummholz scrub as perhaps the most important area to consider for prioritization for conservation efforts. Not only are these critical breeding habitats and refugia for a host of endangered and threatened animals and birds, they also constitute critical winter habitats for many species. The TLZ, which ranges between 2,800m asl to 3,500 m, coincides approximately with the 10 degree summer isotherm (Wardle 1965, Ohsawa 1990), the upper and lower limits varying with exposure to the order of plus-minus 150m, dropping on the shaded northerly slopes and rising on the warmer southerly slopes that are exposed to greater radiation by the sun. Timberlines represent an ecological boundary of great complexity 15 , forming a mosaic of forest-meadow communities, consisting of forest edge, tree limit and Krummholz, and representing the dynamic relationships of elements of all three within the eco-tone. The potential of sensitive plant species was analyzed for the TLZ in Kumaon (Rawal and Dhar 1997), whose findings indicate that over 35% of the total timberline floras are endemic, and more importantly, of these 20% are narrow range endemics. Rarity, richness in diversity and representativeness are among the major attributes contributing to the conservation values of the TLZ in Kumaon, a large proportion of which falls within the project landscape. The altitudinal range for the Musk Deer, which is the umbrella species for the Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary, and indeed for the landscape as well, is between 2,500m asl in winter, to 3,800m in summer. The lower range falls within the upper reaches of Cold-temperate, which also contain the very valuable floral composition of mixed oak-rhododendron Quercus semecarpifolia-Rhododendron arboreum tree cover, and the valuable Chimnobambusa jaunsarensis in the understorey. This lower range is also the habitat for another endangered ungulate, the Serow and the upper limit for the Goral. Steep cliffy terrain and escarpments in the sub-alpine zone are also prime habitat for another mountain ungulate, the Himalayan Tahr. The TLZ is also the prime breeding habitat for the Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus), and the Satyr Tragopan (Tragopan satyra). A study in a similar area in Garhwal, the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary (S. Sathyakumar, S.N. Prasad, G.S.Rawat and AJT Johnsingh) estimated density of Musk deer populations that ranged from 1.0 to 4.1 per square km. The Mean Density for the KWLS was 2.81 per sq km, which was also considered representative for the Uttaranchal Himalaya. The potential Musk deer habitat then (area between 2500m and 3800m) in the Project Landscape is over 700 square kilometers (FES GIS cell). This is a broader range that not only includes the critical TLZ as already described, but also the very rich upper reaches of the Cold temperate that form winter dispersal ranges.
15
Prioritization of Conservation Sites in the Timberline Zone of West Himalaya. Uppeandra Dhar, BCPP process document.WWF India 2000.
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It would be proposed that the Musk Deer be placed as a 'flagship species' in the conservation strategy for the area, since the entire altitudinal range of the MuskDeer, from Cold Temperate to Alpine requires to be considered under the project as a biologically significant areas, and prioritized for conservation efforts for the whole range of biodiversity that they harbour. The Alpine zone within the landscape is another very important area for consideration. The floral richness of the alpine zones of the Greater Himalaya is well documented (eg Rawat 1984; Ram et al 1988; Kala et al 1997), and within the landscape, contain the highest species richness compared to all the other lifezones Pie chart. About 90 species of alpine flora are listed in the Red Data Book of Indian Plants, (Nayar & Shastry 1990) many of which also occur in the project landscape. Species such as the Snow leopard (Panthera uncia), its main preyspecies the Bharal (Pseudois nayaur) , the Musk Deer (Moschus chrysogaster), the Tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) , the Himalayan Black Bear (Selenarctos thibetanus) the Bobak Marmot, as also the Monal (Lophophorus impejanus) depend substantially on alpine habitats, along with the Snow-cock (Tetraogallus himalayens), the Snow Partridge (Lerwa lerwa), and a host of bush warblers, pipits and accentors that are exclusive to alpine habitats. Alpine habitats are also home to many plants and animals of very high commercial value, and are therefore under serious threat due to unregulated and over-intensive extraction. This is also compounded by over-intensive grazing by livestock in alpine meadows by a very large number of animals. The transmission of disease from domestic livestock to wild ungulates, which compete for the same pastures in summer (even seeking out salt put out by shepherds for their flocks) is also a grave threat, as described earlier. In the prioritization of areas for biodiversity conservation within the Alpine zone in the Greater Himalaya and the Trans Himalaya under the BCPP process of the WWF India (Singh et al, 2000) 16 also highlighted areas within the presently proposed project landscape as important for conservation efforts. The Nival zone above the Alpine are also dispersal areas for the Bharal, the Snow Leopard, and the Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), and are the least disturbed areas in the landscape. In view of the above discussion, and in view of the need to have a connected landscape that is also possible to administer with graded protection measures, it is proposed that the entire Sub-alpine (9.20%), Alpine (57.57%) and Nival (9.16%) areas in the landscape be prioritized for conservation efforts. Together, they constitute 75.93% of the entire landscape, and are in one large contiguous swathe. To this can be added real-time habitat sites and locales that can be identified during the project period, based on focal-species identified. The three main river basins, the Kuti, Darma and Gori, that fall under the project landscape have also been identified and designated by BNHS and Birdlife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) in India. The IBA Criteria is A1 (for
16
Prioritization of Areas for Biodiversity Conservation of Alpine Zone in the Trans and Greater Himalaya in India, A.J.T.Johnsingh, G.S.Rawat, S.Satyakumar, P.V.Karunakaran and Jatinder Kaur in BCPP Vol II 2000
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threatened species) and A2 (Endemic Bird Area 128: Western Himalaya). The IBA Site Code is IN-UT-02 (Islam, M.Z. and Rahmani, A.R. 2004). This is significant and the project could collaborate with the Indian Bird Conservation Network to further assess the landscape for critically important sub-sites and build up local action for conservation there. 2.4.2 Description Based on existing knowledge of important local sites, the following real-time sites and focal species are proposed for consideration. Areas: 1. The Kanar basin starting up from the Sub-tropical zone near the Gori at Baram right upto Chipplakot. This includes the Daphiadhura and Majtham RF Blocks, the Tejam-Kanar Van Panchayats and towards, the alpine ridge, Civil and Soyam land. Apart from representing life-zones from Sub-tropical to Alpine, this area is still very rich in both flora and fauna, in particular the only (perhaps relic) populations of Cervus unicolor in the Gori basin, good populations of Serow, and the largest known winter congregations of the Tragopan Satyra. The Sub-tropical zone here, most surprisingly, supports a seemingly isolated population of the Assamese Macaque (Macaca assamensis) (pers comm Dr. G.S.Rawat) as well as Himal Prakriti's findings of the King Cobra (Ophiophagus hanna) in the forests of the area. In addition to these values, the Gosi gadh, the main fluvial river of the basin that flows into the Gori has by far the largest populations of all five species of fish found in the area, and all year round. Temperatures, pH, and riffle-pool ratios are apparently more favourable here than in any other river in the entire landscape. The riparian belt in the Kanar basin, as well as the adjoining stretch of the Daphiadhura RF block that runs within the Sub-tropical belt along the Gori river is also extremely rich in orchid flora, and was long proposed as an Orchid Sanctuary. 2. In the Alpine and Nival zones the relatively undisturbed areas above Jolingkong and Adi Kailash in the Kuti Yangti basin as well as the large glacier-basin to the west of Kuti, leading up to the Nama Pass. The only populations reported in India of Duthiea nepalensis a rare grass species, have been reported from one location above Kuti, and a few individuals near Burfu glacier (Manoj Chandran 2005). All these are also prime areas for the Snow Leopard, the Bharal, even the Musk deer and the Tahr. The areas above Dawe in the Darma Yangti basin, and the areas above Shipu in the Nipchigang glacier area, as well as the Lissar Yangti. In the Gori basin, the Panchachuli, the Kwalgang and the Shallang basins are the least disturbed, and amongst the most biodiverse. They variously represent moist-alpine, and dry alpine biomes. Pilthi gadh and Rajrambha gadh are also among area in the landscape of high biological significance both for their floral as well as faunal diversity values.
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3. It is proposed that the rivers and the immediate riparian zones that fall within the warm-temperate and sub-tropical zones also be considered for designation as Biologically Significant Areas, for the fish fauna and the orchid diversity that they harbour. The value of these areas is undeniable from the biodiversity angle, but the feasibility from the political angle seems slim in view of the hectic pace of build-up of hydro-electric projects, and the need to build roads along the river as a consequence. Specific studies could highlight specific stretches of high diversity and critical interlinkages, and these sites could be prioritized for conservation and the locations, the design and the scale of hydro-electric projects modified in the entire river concerned, in order to mitigate harmful influences to these specific BSAs. Species: Among the fauna proposed as focal-species are Panthera uncia, Moschus chrysogaster, Nemorhaedus sumatraensis, Tragopan satyra and the Ophiophagus hanna. Among the floral species Sinarundinaria anceps stands out. In its entire range in the Indian territory this species is only found in Uttaranchal. Species such as the Musk Deer, the Serow, the Satyr Tragopan and the Monal pheasant all depend critically on this species for winter forage. Competing human use for staking crops of runner-beans and as fodder for livestock has greatly endangered this species. The great diversity of orchids in sub-tropical riparian belt in the Gori basin is also proposed for prioritization. While four species of orchids are endemic to the state of Uttaranchal, three species are endemic to the Gori basin itself, thereby imparting very high biodiversity values to it. Several species of orchids found in this valley have great potential to become ornamental species and have horticultural importance e.g. Dendrobium normale, Dendrobium chrysanthum, Coelogyne cristata and Dendrobium hookerinum. While species like Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Habenaria intermedia, Malaxia acuminata, Satyrium nepalense etc. are highly valued medicinal plants, a number of them like Aerides spp., Ascocentrum ampullaceum, Cymbidium species, Kingidium taenialis, Rhynchostylis retusa, Thunia alba, and Vanda species have horticultural potential, and could contribute towards the livelihoods of some people in the area. A number of species that are found in the area are rare or threatened because of loss of habitat, and in the case of some terrestrial species, over-exploitation. The orchid populations in the valley are dwindling rapidly due to depletion of riverine forests owing to several ill planned developmental activities and resultant loss of riverine forests. Local people are not aware of conservation significance of these rare plants. Two critical sites have been identified and proposed for the establishment of Orchid Sanctuaries at Kaflani and Dafiadhura RF blocks. However, since these two RF blocks are already within the Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary, they could be prioritized as BSAs and conservation efforts focused on specific orchid taxa in this area. 21 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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2.4.3 Baselines Biological Benchmarks Systematic biological studies within the landscape that can be used as Benchmarks for monitoring changes in future do not exist, and such data gathering and analysis will need to be done over time during the project and beyond. While fairly serious listing has been done of plant species, mammal and bird species, as well as of fish, there is no data with regard to populations and distribution dynamics, and can therefore only serve more specific purposes, that be treated as a Baseline. A study of orchids in the Gori basin by J. Jalal and G.S.Rawat of WII did undertake some population estimates (unpublished) for certain species of orchids and this could be used as a baseline for estimating changes in the sampled area. G.S.Rawat also undertook a rapid survey of many alpine pastures (bugyal) in the basins of the landscape, and this initial identification and rapid assessment should be taken up as leads to sites to prioritize for gathering baseline data for changes in alpine meadows due to anthropogenic use. Following write up is an extract from Rawat G.S., 2005: Bugyals Bugyals derived from the local word Bug or Bugi in Uttaranchal, refer to the lush green herbaceous vegetation located between the treeline and snowline. These are of immense ecological, cultural, aesthetic and economic significance, especially for nutritious forage and high value medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). It is estimated that Bugyals occupy nearly 4250 sq km are in Uttaranchal that forms about 8 % of the geographical area and 50 % of the total alpine vegetation in the state. General classification of Bugyals and associated vegetation types in Uttaranchal based on altitude and aspect: Major Types Altitude zones Low (<3500 m asl) Mid (3500 4000 m ) Moist Pastures of Greater Himalayas N/N-W Aspect S/S-E Aspect Tall forbs; alpine Danthonia Moist Scrub Grassland Matted Shrubs; Mixed Herbaceous Formation (short Forbs) Rheum moorcroftianum (Tanturi), Saussurea graminifolia (Bus bug), Sedum spp. 22 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007 Kobresia Sedge Meadows Dry Alpine Types of TransHimalaya Alpine Dry Scrub Alpine Dry Scrub, Arid Grassland
High (>4000 m)
Dwarf kobresia, Cushioned vegetation, Arenaria Spp., Saxifraga spp.
Scree and desertic formations except in marshy and wet places
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Botanical hotspots and sites of high conservation significance in the Askot landscape: S.N. 1 Name of the Bugyal Chhiyalekh (Byans) Altitude (m) 3350 Latitude (N)/ Logitude (E) 30 80
0 0
Characteristic features Type locality for 2 endemic orchid viz., Herminium kumaonensis and Ponerorchis renzii; religious site, rich in floral diversity and MAPs Good population of Rheum australe, Onosma bracteatum, Podophyllum hexandrum, Hippophae tibetana and Juniperus indica at one site. Fallow fields protected from livestock grazing Excellent regeneration of Atis. High abundance of Podophyllum hexandrum (>500 individuals within 1 ha patch). This could be a totally different provenance of Podophyllum. Rich in very high altitude MAPs, 20 species of Saxifraga (out of 32 in WH) are reported from this pass and adjacent slopes in Ralam. Rich in MAPs especially Jatamansi, Mitha, Atis, Hathpanja and Laser / Gokul Dhoop Best site for MAPs in Johar Valley, Well protected by the village Panchayat.
06 31.7 N 50 04.7 E
Nampa (Byans)
3650
30 80
0 0
16 21.5 N 47 56.3 E
Chhodang (Byans) Bedang (Darma)
3845
30 80 30 80
0 0
80 11.2 N 45 56.3 E 20 30.5 N 34 02.9 E
3985
0 0
Barjikang (Ralam)
4776
30 80
0 0
18 04.7 N 15 15.0 E
Laspa / Sirti (Johar) Kwalganga (Johar)
4000
30 80 30 80
0 0
16 35.0 N 10 03 E 80 11.2 N 12 50 E
4200
0 0
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Indicative Baselines Results of Rapid Mapping Exercise (RME) Transects were laid for quantification of MAPs in different Bugyal types and valleys. Pooled information on the density of selected MAP species based on RME data analyzed so far, and random sampling general status of MAPs (availability, density and frequency) in different alpine valleys / blocks of Uttranchal is discussed below: i. Byans: Within the trails selected for RME 16 woody (shrubby) and 25 herbaceous MAPs were recorded in Byans Valley. Prominent woody MAPs were Betula utilis, Rhododendron anthopogon, Juniperus indica, Hippophae salicifolia, and Ephedra gerardiana. , Hippophae salicifolia formed a large stand (about 25 ha) among the fallow fields below Garbyang village (3250 m). among herbaceous MAPs Aconogonum tortuosum, Bistorta affinis, B. vivipara, Fritillaria roylei, Taraxacum officinale and Euphrasia himalaica had higher density and frequency within the RME trails. Species of high commercial importance such as Aconitum heterophyllum, Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Picrorhiza kurrooa and Podophyllum hexandrum were localized in distribution and largely found in the pastures around Kutti village. Highest density of woody MAPs were obtained for Berberis jaeschkeana (904.47 per ha) and Rhododendron anthopogon (162 per ha). Among herbs Bistorta vivipara (9.41 per m2) and Taraxacum officinale (4.18 per m2) had high density. In terms of frequency Juinperus indica (63.6 %) and Rheum australe (9.1 %) were high within the RME trails. Jeolingkong area had low abundance of all the MAPs except Rheum moorcroftianum. ii. Darma: In Darma valley the abandoned fields and hill slopes upto 4000 m asl are largely dominated by shrubby species such as Rosa sericea, R. macrophylla, juniperus communis, J. indica. Berberis jaeschkeana and Rhododendron anthopogon. In all, 10 woody and 15 herbaceous MAPs were recorded within RME trails. Among medicinal shrubs Rhododendron anthopogon (178.35 per ha), J. indica (163.48 per ha), Rosa sericea (112.53 per ha), and Hippophae tibetana (33.97 per ha) had the higher densities. Among herbaceous MAPs Rheum australe, Podophyllum hexandrum, Bistorta vivipara, Allium carolinianum, Taraxacum officinale, Thymus linearis and Swertia ciliate had high abundance. Arnebia benthamii had high frequency (16.7 %) in Lissar Valley. Overall frequency in the valley was highest in case of J. indica (50 %). Two localities recommended for the MAP conservation are lower Dawe for Podophyllum hexandrum and Danga pasture in Lissar Yangti for Arnebia benthamii. iii. Ralam: Compared to Byans and Darma valleys Ralam is very moist. The north facing slopes (across Ralam river) is dominated by Rhododendron campanulatum and R. anthopogon, which support good populations of Mitha, chhipi and Rooki or Burmol. Dominanat woody MAPs within RME trails were Berberis jaeschkeana and Juniperus indica. Within RME trails 9 species of herbaceous MAPs were recorded, of which Taraxacum officinale, Bistorta vivipara, chaerophyllum villosum, Iris kumaonenesis and Jurinea dolomiaea had the highest densities. Juniperus indica was most frequent (60 -100 %) towards inner valley (Kal Billan). During an earlier survey of MAPs in Ralam valley by WII FES 24 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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it was observed that matter shrubberies (moist rocky slopes) and all tall forbs on north facing slope had highest density and frequency of various MAPs (Table below). In Ralam Kutki (Picrorhiza kurrooa) was in high density in selected habitats followed by Jurinea macrocephala. Allium stracheyi, Rheum australe, D. hatagirea and Nardostachys grandiflora had patchy and localized distribution. According to the villagers, Kal Billan is considered the best locality for overall diversity and richness of MAPs. iv. Johar: In Johar valley 13 woody and 21 herbaceous MAPs were encountered within the RME trails. Highest densities were observed in case of Hippophae tibetana (1916 per ha; 20% frequency), Astragalus candolleanus (790 per ha), and Rhododendron anthopogon (446 per ha). However, H. tibetana was restricted to terminal moraines of Burphu and Milam glaciers. Best sites for herbaceous MAPs in johar are Laspa (A. benthamii, A. heterophyllum, D. hatagirea and P. hexandrum), upper rocky slopes of Martoli (B. stracheyi, N. grandiflora and P. kurrooa), Kwal Ganga (A. heterophyllum, P. angelicoides), Tola (J. macrocephala, A. benthamii and D. hatagirea), and Timphu roli (A. atrox, P. kurrooa and allium stracheyi). Towards Lassar valley and Dung populations of Pleurospermum densiflorum and P. candollei were higher as compared to other species. Table: Mean Density of medicinal and aromatic plants (woody species) across various alpine sites in the landscape based on RME S.No. Name Byans Darma Ralam Johar 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Artemisia gmelinii Astragalus candolleanus Berberis jaeshkeana Betula utilis Chesneya nubigena Ephedra geradiana Hippophae salicifolia Hippophae tibetana Juniperus communis Juniperus indica Rhododendron anthopogon Rhododendron campanulatum 181.82 24.32 904.47 200.35 ++ 57.90 68.33 + 52.11 137.81 162.13 + + + 38.22 29.72 + 121.02 + 33.97 91.30 163.48 178.35 61.57 611.47 ++ + + ++ 414.02 ++ ++ 132.96 790.61 + 35.83 68.47 15.13 + 1916.42 42.99 70.86 446.66 52.55
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13 14 Rosa sericea 31.27 112.53 + 79.62 Urtica + 8.76 hyperborean Total woody MAP 14 13 9 14 Species [density: Number of individuals per ha; + = Present in the transects outside the RME plots, ++= Frequent in the valley outside the trails; - = Not seen]. High Standard Deviation indicates patchy distribution]
Table: Mean Density of herbaceous MAPs (Plants per m2) across selected alpine valleys in landscape: S.No Name Byans Darma Ralam Johar 1 Aconitum + + + + heterophyllum 2 Aconitum + + + + violaceum 3 Aconitum atrox + ++ + 4 Aconogonum 0.09 + + tortunosum 5 Allium stracheyii + + + + 6 Allium wallichii + + 0.30 0.04 7 Angelica glauca 8 Arnebia benthamii 0.03 + + 9 Arnebia euchroma 10 Bistorta vivpara 9.41 4.43 12.91 3.30 11 Carum carvii 0.33 + + 0.09 12 Chaerophyllum + + ++ 0.43 villosum 13 Corydalis + + + 0.01 govaniana 14 Dactylorhiza + 0.02 + 0.03 hatagirea 15 Fritillaria roylei 0.01 + + 16 Iris kumanensis 0.47 + 3.70 + 17 Jurinea dolomiaea + + 2.93 18 Nardostachys ++ + grandiflora 19 Nomocharis nana 0.01 0.12 + 20 Origanum vulgare 0.38 + 2.93 0.01 21 Parnassia nubicola 0.03 0.02 + 0.05 22 Picrorhiza kurooa + ++ 0.33 0.24 23 Pleurospermum + + + 0.01 candollei 24 Pleurospermum + + + 0.23 densiflorum 25 Podophyllum + 0.05 + + hexandrum 26 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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S.No 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Name Polygonatum verticillatum Polygonum rumicifolium Prunella vulgaris Rheum australe Rheum moorcroftianum Roscoea alpine Selinum tenuifolium Swertia ciliate Tanacetum dolichophyllum Taraxacum officinale Thymus linearis Byans + + 0.18 + 0.01 0.22 + 0.04 0.19 4.18 0.37 + + + 0.01 + + + 0.23 0.03 1.52 0.56 Darma + + + ++ + + + 1.05 + 11.71 0.48 Ralam Johar 0.06 + 0.25 + 0.05 + + 0.10 5.50 1.68
[+= Present in the transects outside the RME plots, ++= Frequent in the valley outside the trails; - = Not seen]. From the above Tables following broad generalizations can be made: Among woody species mainly Juniperus indica, Rhododendron anthopogon and Rh. Campanulatum had uniform and higher (harverstable) populations within certain valleys. Other shrubby species had low densities and patchy distribution. Among the herbaceous MAPs only Bistorta vivpara, Origanum vulagre, Iris kumaonensis, Swertia ciliate, Taraxacum officinale and Thymus linearis had uniform and sizeable populations within RME trails. Other species exhibit patchy distribution. Status of mammals and their habitats i. Byans Valley: The mammals sighted in Byans Valley within two weeks of survey include Himalayan Musk deer (1), blue sheep (two groups 6, 3), Himalayan marmot (8) amd pica (frequent). In addition, occasional droppings of red fox were also encountered en route to Jeolongkong. Beyond Jeolingkong (on way to wilsia dhura) 2 droppings of snow leopard were encountered. Local people reported presence of goral, Himalayan tahr, serow, Himalayan black bear and common leopard around budi (2700 3300 m asl) and snow leopard towards Tibetan border (>4000 m asl). Till recently, byans Valley has been under heavy poaching of threatened species viz., Himalayan black bear and musk deer. Two villages across Kali river namely, Chhangru and Tinker in Nepal and Taklakot, an important trade centre in Shahtoosh wool, musk pod, gall bladder and bones of large cats. Gradually the villagers have come to know that poaching of animals is a serious offence and that Byans falls under ascot Wildlife Sanctuary. However, the fact that this valley has been brought under sanctuary is not liked by most of the villagers.
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Habitat conditions in heavily grazed areas are obviously not congenial for large mammals. Best localities for viewing blue sheep are around Kalapani, Nabedhang and Jeolingkong. According to a few villagers the side valleys which meet Kutti Yangti from western slopes e.g., Napalchu Nala, Rongkong, Nehal and Ghankang Nallas have shown indications of wildlife recovery. It was evident in one of the trails where in a walk of about 3 kms we encounterd 4 piles of musk deer pellet. Entire stretch from Nalpachu to Sela Yangti on the west bank and interior areas of Jeolingkong have better habitat conditions. With the help of local watchers, volunteers as well as cooperation from defence personnel, Byans Valley could regain its wildlife wealth which could be managed in the form of a conservation reserve adjacent to Askot wildlife Sanctuary. ii. Darma: Wild mammals reported from the valley are goral, serow, Himalayan tahr, Himalayan black bear, common langur, Himalayan yellow throated martern, common leopard and porcupine. Rarer ones are Himalayan musk deer, snow leopard and blue sheep. Livestock killing by common leopard and crop raiding by black bear, porcupine and common langur are frequent at lower altitudes i.e., below Sela. Towards upper end of Dhauli i.e. Dawe plains and Lissar Yangti there are extensive pastures which support populations of blue sheep and snow leopard. We sighted one groups of blue sheep (11 nos.) near Dawe and three groups in Lissar valley on way to Nipchikang or Ralam pass (6,11, and 3). Shepherds around Dawe and Lissar vally report that these areas are rich in blue sheep and herds often comprise 25 30 animals. The alpine scrub and meadows around Baun, Philim, Goe and way to Bedang appear to be less degraded and have higher cover of vegetation. These slopes are reported to be important wintering areas for blue sheep and associated predator (snow leopard). Like Byans valley, Most of the Darma also falls under Askot Wildlife Sanctuary. However, in the absence of clear zonation, boundary demarcation and intensive management inputs the level of wildlife protection is very low in this valley. The local people showed resentment over inclusion of their summer villages under sanctuary. With a slight modification in the sanctuary boundary and establishment of conservation reserve, parts of upper Darma would continue to support populations of blue sheep and snow leopard if pressure of livestock (especially huge flocks of Gaddis) and poaching are controlled. iii. Panch Chuli Basin: Though this basin could not be surveyed during present expedition, the earlier experience of the investigator and interviews with the local people indicate the presence of several high altitude mammals in this area e.g., Himalayan tahr, blue sheep, goral, serow, Himalayan musk deer, Himalayan black bear, common langur, common leopard, wild pig, porcupine and common langur. There are no habitations in the alpine region and livestock grazing is only for short duration i.e., early summer (May-Mid June) and autumn (October November). The shepherds do not prefer to graze in this basin during rainy season due to limited pastures, high rainfall and rugged terrain. These factors have been advantageous to wildlife. However, poaching especially for musk deer and black bear continues to be a big threat. The alpine ridge dividing the eastern Dhauli Ganga and Lower Gori watersheds extends up to Balchhi Dhura and Chhiplakot. These areas fall under Askot Wildlife Sanctuary and overall status of wildlife protection and habitat conditions are much better compared to Darma valley and parts of Panch Chuli basin. 28 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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iv. Ralam: The sub-alpine forests and grassy slopes on way to Ralam support small populations of Himalayan Tahr and Goral which are difficult to see during summer due to human disturbances. Towards western flank of Ralam valley a massive mountain slope i.e., Hansling (contiguous with Khelanch and Sumtu of Johar valley) is reported to have good population of Himalayan tahr. This are is not grazed by livestock due to steep terrain. There exists equally rugged and less traversed valley on the east of Ralam river known as Raj Rambha which, according to the local people, have good populations of Himalayan tahr, nusk deer, serow and pheasants. But no faunal surveys have been conducted in this area so far. Raj Rambha is contiguous with Panchchuli basin. The central are of Ralam i.e., between Kiltam and Ralam village being packed with migratory graziers and livestock during summer is not used much by the wild animals. However, towards the lateral moraines near Ralam glacier, base of Suitila peak and Shibu Gwar small groups of blue sheep do occur. Entire valley lies within Ralam Van Panchayat. The local people depend heavily on the medicinal and aromatic plants for their subsistence. Poaching of black bear and musk deer was frequent till recently. Ralam is also hotspot for the collection of caterpillar mushroom or Yartsa Gombu (Cordyceps sinensis). v. Johar: Best places to find wild mammals in Johar valley are Laspa Poting, Shallang Gwar beyond Martoli, Burphu Bhadel Gwar, Pachhu Gwar, Latu Dhura (towards Longstaff Col), Kwal Ganga and Dung. Major species include Himalayan tahr and Himalayan musk deer at lower altitudes (<3600 m asl) and blue sheep, red fox and snow leopard towards higher ranges and interior valleys (>4000 m asl). Wild mammals sighted in Johar valley were Himalayan tahr (I group near Laspa) and blue sheep (2 groups of 7 and 12 around Dung). Indirect evidences of Himalayan musk deer, snow leopard and red fox were seen around Shallang Gwar, Burphu Bhadel Gwar, Lwan and Ganghar pastures. In Shallang area the shepherds informed that there would be about 250-300 blue sheep and a couple of snow leopard in this area. Since part of Johar valley falls under Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve and local people are conscious of laws pertaining to wildlife protection, the future of wildlife conservation in some areas e.g., base of Traills pass, eastern basin of nanda Devi and Kwalgange Dung areas appears to be better. The local people, however, complained that during winter months poachers from outside sneak into Johar valley and cause considerabl3e damage to rarer species especially musk deer. A birch patch above Martoli village has been protected by the villagers as they have high reverence for birch wood. This forms excellent habitat for musk deer. Unfortunately, even this patch is reported to have come under cunning eyes of poachers during recent years because there is no resident in the village during November to April.
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Table: Wild Mammals Recorded English Scientific Local Names Name Name Common Semnopithecus kholi (d), guni (g) Langur entellus Him. Musk Moschus fassi (m) / yala (f); deer chrysogaster d, bin (j), kasturi (g) Sambar Goral Serow Himalayan tahr Blue sheep *Tibetan Sheep Wild Yak Wild pig *Tibetan Wild Ass Himalayan Brown Bear Asiatic Black Bear Tibetan Wolf Red Fox Snow Leopard Common Leopard Himalayan plam civet Himalayan weasel H. Ythroated marten *Tibetan wooly Cervus unicolor Nemorhaedus goral Nemorhaedus sumatraensis Hemitragus jemlahicus Pseudois nayaur Ovis ammon Bos grunniens Sus scrofa Equus kiang Ursus arctos Ursus thibetanus Canis lupus chanco Vulpes vulpes Uncial uncial Panthera parduus Paguma larvata Mustela sibrica Martes flavigula Lepus oiostolus 30 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007 jarao (g) khosar (d), ghoorar (g) yakfu (d), sarao (g) vyuh (m)/gefu (f) d; jhalar, thar/ tharin (g) var (m) /namo (f) d barar (j, r) nyan (ja) dong (ja) suwar (g) kiang (ja; ma) rikh, lal bhalu (g) wom (d), bhalu (g) chyanku (j) gonu (d), haji (j) tharru (d) wah (d), kukri bag (j) oud (j) kokro (d) joganchu (d), chitraul (j) chhans (ma)
S.N. 1. 2.
Evidence & Locality S: Darma, Khatling S: Nampa (Byans) I: Byans, Darma, Ralam, Lang Payar, Khatling I: Kush Kalyani, Darma S: Darma, Kedarnath I: Darma S: Johar I: Khatling S: Jeolingkong, Dawe, Dung, Topidhunga I (horn): Nilang I (local info): Nilang I: Khatling S: Lapthal I (dung): Lapthal I (dropping & track): Gidara I (droppings): Kushkalyan, Khatling I (local info): Topidhunga, Lapthal S: milam, Burphu (Johar) I: Topidhunga, Lapthal I: Khatling, Govind PV I: Johar S: Satopanth, Martoli S: Gidara S: Lapthal, Sangcha malla
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.
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S.N. English Name hare Pika Himalayan Marmot Mountain Vole Lesser bat Scientific Name Ochotona roylei Marmota himalayana Local Names Evidence & Locality
22. 23. 24.
rongzo (d), gulli mus (r, j) fea (b, d, j)
Alticola dhur mus (j) argentatus 25. Hipposideros baipya (d) S: Sipu sp? [(S = Sighted, I = Indirect Evidences and Local Information along the survey route. Local Name: B = Byans, D = Darma, J = Johar, Ja = Jad, Ma = Malari; G = General (Garhwali and Kumaoni). M = Male, F = Female.] *Being reported for the first time from Uttaranchal
S: All valleys except Lapthal and Nilang S: Lipulekh, Jeolingkong, Topidhunga S: Ralam, Johar, Niti
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CHAPTER 3: SOCIAL & LIVELIHOOD ASSESSMENT 3.1 Context
Demographics: A total of 68,939 17 humans inhabit the Askot Project Landscape. They live in 14,010 households spread over 129 inhabited Revenue Villages. The average family size is 5 people. 11,727 people are designated under Scheduled Castes (17.01%) and 11,220 (16.28%) are designated Tribals 18 , among which are 318 people from the tribe called the Banraji, and grossly designated by the mainstream and the State as a 'Primitive Tribe'. Most villages have mixed ethnic compositions. 68% of all villages in the landscape also have Scheduled Tribe (ST) populations, whereas 78% of villages also have Scheduled Caste (SC) populations. Apart from the ST and SC populations mentioned, the rest comprise of the Jimdaar or Thakur caste, who are essentially agriculturists, and the Pandit or Brahmin. Other than the Ban Raji, whose total population in the four villages in the landscape is 318 individuals. While the Ban Raji has been influenced by the Hindu religion, they have not been fully assimilated yet. The population of people from other religions in the landscape is negligible. Over the last decade, the rise in populations in the landscape has been on average 6.3% (District Statistical Handbook 2003) Human habitation patterns in the landscape: The 129 human settlements in the landscape are spread along the relatively hospitable parts of the landscape ranging in altitude from 560 meters asl at Jauljibi to 3700 meters at Ralam village, occupying life-zones that range from Sub-tropical to Alpine. Large and urbanized settlements include Dharchula, Balwakot and Jauljibi, and these are all low in the Kali basin, in the Sub-tropical zone. The altitude frequency of the villages in the landscape is as follows. 10.85% of the villages lie in the sub-tropical altitudes, 50.39% in the Warm Temperate zone, 17.05%in the Cold Temperate zone, 5.43% in the Sub-alpine zone and 16.28% in the Alpine zone. Population density for the landscape is 15.45 people per square kilometer, but a more useful density to consider is the ratio of population to agriculture land. Per capita availability of agriculture land in the landscape is 0.15 hectares, which is roughly equivalent to the average in the rest of the state, and is less than the
17
18
Primary Census Abstract 2001. Most publications present SC and ST figures together as SC/ST. This is not useful in our context as the economic and politically powerful apex (the tribals, other than the Banraji) and the bottom (the SC) of the economic classes are clubbed together.
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average for the rest of the Himalaya (0.16 hectares) and far less than the national average of 0.20 hectares. Land Use Area (in Ha.) 10293 202045 207005 26639 445982 Per Capita Land Availability (in Ha.) 0.149 2.931 3.003 0.386 6.469
Agriculture Land Civil and Soyam Land Van Panchayat Reserve Forest Total Source: FES GIS data, 2006
Infrastructure and service support by the State is as under:

Very few of these habitations are connected by motorable roads. There is a total of 147 kilometers of roads within an area of 4,463 sq km. Figures for the year 2003 indicate that only 55% of villages were electrified. 'Literacy' rates are said to be as high as 67%. However, the quality of education becomes clear with the proportion of students that actually pass their first external Board Examination. For a population of 100,000 people there are just 3.13 Primary Health Centers (PHCs) and this in a place where access is difficult already.
3.2 Process and Methodology In order that the 'process' be adequately participative, both on principle, as well as to foster the sense of ownership of the project and its outcomes, village communities as well as other key-actors in the landscape were sought to be enjoined right from the planning and design processes. The principles for conducting the consultations over the landscape were the following: fThe landscape was sub-divided into four main watersheds; the Byans basin, the Darma basin and the Gori basin, forming the three major tributaries of the Kali. The fourth comprises the upper reaches of the right-bank of the Kali itself, holding the Chaudans as well as the lower reaches along Dharchula, Balwakot and Jauljibi, also part of the landscape. However, in order that consultations be held in more socially cohesive and representative groupings, we grouped clusters of villages and communities that were also bound by other longstanding similarities and dependencies based on geographical location, ethnic composition as well as economic inter-linkages. In order to enable intensive consultations, we therefore sub-divided the entire landscape into 12 clusters, which were as under: 1. Byans basin 2. Darma basin 3. Chaudans 4. Sumdum Khola 5. Tawaghat-Dharchula 6. Balwakot-Jauljibi 33 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007 7. Ban Raji villages 8. Kanar-Baram basin 9. Paina basin 10. Madkanya basin 11. Basantkot-Bui 12. Ralam-Paton
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Himal Prakriti, the partners with PEACE in this process, conducted meetings in a total of 31 villages during this consultation phase that also included the cluster meetings. Senior Forest Department Officials also participated in many of these consultations. Household level surveys on forest dependence and livelihoods trajectories were conducted in 15 villages, and this was combined with such micro-level data already with Himal Prakriti of some other villages in the landscape. In places where we felt that the project would be of greatest relevance, and where very detailed information would help, such as the Ban Raji cluster containing the most affected Indigenous Tribal people, all four villages within the cluster were surveyed. Prior to conducting the cluster and village level consultations, Himal Prakriti also wrote a letter to all Gram Pradhans, all Sarpanches of the Van Panchayats, and to all the Kshetra Panchayat Members and to the Kshetra Pramukhs of the landscape. The letter briefly introduced the Project and the process underway, informed them about the time-band within which meetings would be held in their area, and also elicited their inputs in writing. The Press was also briefed, and news of the project preparation process and the eliciting of inputs also featured in the regional Hindi newspapers. A second landscape level consultation was held at Dharchula on 4.9.2006, where the objective was to share with all the village communities, their representatives, including the Block Pramukhs, the MLA and the other key actors in the landscape, the outcomes of the consultations held within the landscape, the perspective gained so far, and some ideas on the project elements and design. The meeting was also attended by the District Magistrate and officials from the various government departments. Secondary data was consulted and incorporated from a range of sources, all of which have been cited and listed in the References. Scientists from WII and relevant research institutions were also consulted and their suggestions incorporated. 3.2 Profile including Baselines
The ethnicity of communities resident in the landscape The ethnicities of the communities that inhabit the landscape are very diverse. Five different and distinct languages are 'local' to the area, in additions to two other local dialects. This is the most obvious indicator to the diversity of origins of the communities in the landscape, as well as their ethnicity. In the Byans basin, two distinct languages are spoken; one in Kuti village, which is quite distinct from the language in the rest of the Kuti Yangti basin, but is identical to the language used in Changru village at the end of the basinand across the river, in Nepal. The communities in Darma basin also have a distinct language. The Ban Raji has an entirely distinct language that is said to have
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affinities with the Burmese-Tibetan family of languages 19 . Nepali is spoken by many families who live along the Kali and intermarry across the river into and from Nepal. A dialect of Nepali and Kumaoni is also spoken along the Balwakot stretch of villages in the Kali basin. The Gori basin has a different language that is spoken by the Jimdaar of area, and is akin to the Kumaoni spoken in the lower hills of Kumaon. The Shaukha bhotia community in the Gori basin however speaks a dialect that is somewhat different. There are four different Tribal groupings in the landscape. The Rang (which are really a broad grouping of multiple kinships) who live in Darma, Byans and Chaudans, the Juhari Bhotia or Shaukha of the Gori basin, the Barpattia also of the Gori basin, and the Ban Raji, who inhabit both the lower Gori basin as well as part of the Kali basin. The Jimdaar, are essentially agriculturists, the Shaukha (a progressive distortion from the Tibetan Shok-pa 20 ) and Rang were mostly traders and pastoralists. The Barpattia tribals were also essentially agriculturists. The Scheduled Castes or Shilpkar, have always been engaged in a range of subaltern roles, ranging from performing arts, to being feudally attached to families as agriculture and domestic labour, to skilled labour such as carpenters and masons. After the Banraji, the Shilpkar would constitute the poorest and subaltern community in the landscape. Before 1964, The Rang of Darma and Byans basins, and the Shaukha of the Gori basin were involved in the trade from this area with Tibet, and in tradedependent ancilliary activities, such as rearing and running the caravans of packgoats, horses and Yaks, as well as growing food-grain for trade. Of all the adjoining valleys that had Bhotia inhabitants, such as Darma, Byans, Chaudans or even the Niti valley, those of the Gori valley, referred to as the Juhari Bhotia, were by far the most politically powerful and influential traders. With the cessation of trade with Tibet in 1964 however, the Shaukha of the Gori valley practically abandoned the practice of seasonal migration to the alpine villages. While the Rang communities in Byans, Darma and Chaudans were also severely affected, many continued to migrate up to the alpine villages. With the subsequent abolition of Zamindari (feudal land ownership) and the Land Settlement by 1965, and land being legally handed over to the tiller, the extensive land holdings of a few Saukhas, which till then were administered through feudal relationships, especially in the middle and lower altitudes, was greatly reduced. Today, a substantial number of Rang and Shaukha Bhotia families have people in the bureaucracy and in other government jobs, and are economically and socially at the apex of the local power structure. But even among the Bhotias, while there are the few family groups who have done well, a large segment of them, especially the Barpattia, continue to practice marginal agriculture and live off what they can from the landscape. There exists at the other end of the spectrum, a tribe of people called the Banraji. They live in the sub-tropical forest area of the lower Gori and Kali river valleys, and have, till recently, had little to do with mainstream settlements. Their social
19
20
The Forest Dwellers of Middle Himalayas (Rajis-a primitive tribal group of U.P.) Hira Singh Bora. Himalayan Gazetteer. E.T. Atkinson
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organization is still basic, unstratified, and tribal. They were discovered only a few decades ago by academia. The total population of the Ban Raji within the landscape is 318 individuals, spread over four hamlets namely Chipaltara, Genagaon, Bhaktirwa and Kimkhola. The Ban Raji has been essentially collectors and foragers from the wild, and till about 65 years ago, were not sedentary or settled in permanent habitations. While they were not nomadic, they were a moving community, itinerants, in small clusters, that changed where they lived periodically. 'The perennial state project' (James Scott 1998), of sedentarizing mobile peoples was also played out here in 1939, when they were 'settled' in certain locations, on land leased to them from Reserve Forests, and later inducted into revenue and local government constituencies of non-tribal, stratified, agriculture dependent, valley communities. In the past, the The Banraji have depended for food mostly on 8 species of tubers from the forests (Pers Comm. G.S.Rawat), as well as fish from nearby rivers. With their entire forest area being declared a PA, and subsequent restrictions on all use, this community is in dire straits. The tiny fragments of land that the Ban Raji have been settled on is very steep and degraded, and unfit for agriculture. This is discussed further in the livelihoods profile section. Gender and Caste As described earlier regarding the mainstream communities as well, most landholdings in the basin are small and fragmented, and are able to meet only a part of a familys food requirements. Dependence on forests for production from these small holdings as well as domestic needs make transfers very labourintensive. The image of the Kumaoni male at large, who is fabled to knit and gossip at tea shops, is rather generalized, and is not an appropriate description of the men of this landscape. The business of staying alive requires all able hands to contribute. However, without a doubt, the overwhelming burden of agriculture, of tending cattle, of fetching fuelwood, fodder and sometimes water from great distances over difficult terrain, as well as cooking and rearing children, lies with the women. Though village communities and hamlets are quite small, and not as socially stratified as one would find in more densely populated areas, systems of discrimination are however, still firmly in place. While the pervasive feudal relationships have substantially dissipated after Zamindari Abolition, caste, ethnic grouping, economic class and gender are all existing lines of division, as even gender itself is divided along lines of caste and class. As a generalization, it could be said that women in Byans, Darma and Chaudans have a far more equal status with men, than do their counterparts in the Gori basin, or the Jimdar communities along the Kali Gori basins. However, while reservation for ethnic groups, caste and gender is being competitively asserted for and negotiated at Panchayat Raj and State levels and most evidently for reservation quotas in employment, at the village and at home, change is not so evident.
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Livelihoods Profile The landscape is located in a remote part of the country, where access by roads is very limited, and where many communities live in distant high altitude and alpine settlements that require days of walking over difficult terrain to reach. While there is a typically deep penetration of the market with regard to valuable plant and animal resources of this frontiers area, only a few of the more accessible village communities are integrated in relatively mainstream economies. The overwhelming majority continues lives at the subsistence level. Permanent human habitations occupy the lower altitudes up to the temperate zone more densely. There are only a few settlements in the Cold-temperate areas and villages in the Alpine zone are only seasonally occupied, and form part of the transhumant land-use practices common in high mountain areas. The landscape being described renders little land suitable for agriculture. Of a total land area of about 4,463 square kilometers, only about 103 square km or just 2.31% of the area is cultivated land. For about 68,939 people in 14,010 households, who live in 129 villages in the landscape, highly fragmented holdings in this 2.31 %of land do not suffice even for subsistence. An estimation of the proportion of food-grain produced locally in 80 villages in the Gori basin indicated that only close to half the food-grain requirements of humans and their livestock are met from local agriculture. The rest is required to be bought, for which the people need cash incomes. The marginal and scattered holdings here are far insufficient to even meet subsistence requirements, and local populations therefore have no choice, but to depend so heavily on their surrounding forests and alpine grasslands, for animal husbandry and for extractive use. The mountain soils in the valley are poor in nutrients, and to produce crops at all require to be constantly supplemented with humus and manure. This is possible only through a heavy nutrient cycling from surrounding forests and grasslands, by conversion through animal husbandry. In the project area, at least four to six tonnes of farmyard manure are applied to agriculture fields per cropping, depending on the crop and frequency of cropping (normally 3 crops in 2 years). For crops like potato as much as 17 tonnes per hectare can be applied. In order to be able to do this, in terms of forest area and grasslands from which leaf-litter and fodder is collected, it is estimated (and these are the most modest estimates we have come across) that a support area to the ratio from 1:4 to 1:6 is required, to support agriculture alone. A hamlet of 50 households, it is estimated, would require about 206 hectares of support area to meet their needs of fodder, fuel-wood and leaf-litter from. Very few villages, as per the compiled list of the Forest Department, possess such a positive ratio. This however, is just a simplistic math, as mountain landscapes are far from uniform in terms of what they produce and how much. Almost every village in the basin has to depend on other village forests (both near and far) for different produce and at different times of the year. It is not just area of production but production capability that is determined by variables such as altitude and aspect.
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The point being illustrated here is that human survival needs, as well as those of their domesticated species, both plants and animals make them heavily dependent on their forest areas. The animal holdings far outnumber the human population of about 70,460 in the landscape. The existence of local communities is essentially biomass-based, and they must rely heavily on their landscapes for their pastures, hayfields and fodder, and for fuel-wood, fibre, and timber. Animal, bird and fish food, as well as seasonal pickings of shoots and tubers and honey only supplement their food sources marginally. The economy is essentially agriculture-based, and their agriculture and animal husbandry is forest-dependent. The majority of the land holdings are small and marginal, and they are highly fragmented between successive generations. It is largely a subsistence economy that is propped up by money-order remittances by those who manage to land jobs elsewhere, notably the armed forces, and a few government jobs. Agriculture and Food Security: patterns and diversity. The adaptation of mountain communities to uncertainty, and to the harsh climate and terrain on the one hand, and to the very diverse conditions due to altitude gradients require versatile responses. Today, this diversity and versatility, and the accompanying stability of livelihoods is clearly declining. As mentioned earlier, only about 2.31% (or 103 square km) of the landscape comprises agricultural land. An estimation of cropping intensity and fallows in 88 villages in the Gori basin in 2003 indicated that about 88 % of the crop land is actually cultivated 21 . The communities however, do depend substantially on agriculture to meet their basic survival needs. The per capita availability of agriculture land is poor, mountain soils are poor in nutrients, and holdings are severely fragmented, not even sufficing for year-round subsistence for most households. Some characteristic features of the agriculture in this landscape are:
A strong livestock-farming-forest linkage, whereby agriculture fields draw substantial inputs from forests either directly in the form of leaf litter, soil nutrients (from run-off), or through livestock which provide farmyard manure. A high degree of micro-climatic variability based on slope, aspect, humidity, rainfall, temperature and the resulting diversity at different altitude and aspect gradients, in species and varieties being cultivated. In quite a few villages, farmers have small holdings both at their lower settlements, as well as in settlements at higher altitudes. This enables farmers to utilize different niches, grow a variety of crops, and also to minimize risk by harnessing different production systems, without overintensive cropping. Except for a few crops, agriculture is largely for subsistence use.
21
Data collated by FES from Patwari records in the Gori basin 2003.
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The traditional methods of farming here incorporate some techniques to maintain and improve the fertility of the fields: These include a high input of compost manure, the cultivation of legumes or nitrogen fixing crops, fallowing fields for a season, and changing crops in rotation (taking a low nutrient-demanding crop after a high nutrient demanding crop). The productive capacity of different fields are kept in mind, e.g. prime or irrigated fields are used for growing wheat and paddy and the relatively degraded and gravelly land is used for growing pulses, and oil-seed crops. Cropping Systems Since most landholdings are small and fragmented, there exists a very practical categorization and use of land. A farmer will assess and decide the intensity of use and type of crop for each fragment based on the various characteristics of the field, such as soil texture, soil moisture and location. Three broad categories of croplands are: a) Main agriculture fields: With light loamy soil, with high humus content, and surrounded by other fields. Such fields are less subject to damage from wild animals, and grazing by stray livestock. Varieties with higher productivity, better taste and requiring more intensive labour, and those that are more susceptible to damage from wild ungulates and bears, such as wheat, paddy, and finger millets are grown here. b) Intermediate fields: These lie between main and marginal fields. Types of crop sown depend on type of soil as well as the availability of labour. c) Marginal lands: More sloping lands with hard or gravelly soils and low humus content, located in the periphery of the villages croplands. Hardy varieties of horse-gram, wheat, and finger millets which have well developed awns and are less prone to damage by wild birds and animals are grown here. Seed is broadcast in the field after a single ploughing, no weeding is done. The weeds that do come up are used as fodder. Women play a central role in the agricultural economy. From the collection of leaf litter for bedding, and grass for fodder, to the transport of these products to the household, this work is handled by women. They look after livestock needs entirely, while providing the agricultural system with compost, which women carry to the fields and work into the agricultural land. Most farm work such as weeding, manure application and harvesting of crops is done by women. The responsibility for meeting daily subsistence needs through the collection of forest produce, the maintenance and tending of crops is also done by women. Patterns of land distribution Since figures on land-holding were not available in a disaggregated form for the villages in the landscape, we analyzed primary data collected by FES in 2003 from the 88 villages in the Gori basin. Since the proportion of villages falling within the Gori basin sections of the landscape constitute well over a third of the villages in the entire landscape, the patterns are indicative for a significant portion thereof: 25.71% of the households are officially classified as Landless, or those who have either no land, or possess less than half an acre. 39 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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69.44% of the households are Marginal landowners, or those who own between half an acre to 2.5 acres. 4.34% are classified as Small landowners, or those with between 2.5 to 5 acres of land. 0.51% are Big landowners, owning more than 5 acres. Cropping cycles Through the year, two cycles of planting, growth and harvesting are followed. Winter crops wheat, barley, mustard and peas. The summer crops are corn, kidney beans, paddy, potatoes, millets, lentils, soybean, amaranth and a range of vegetables. Though the larger harvest is from the Kharif, the presence of the winter crops ensures food year round. Paddy and wheat are produced yearly as staple food grains in lower and mid valleys. Every third year the land is kept fallow during the Rabi season. In the high altitude or alpine villages, agriculture is only possible in summer, with a six-month cycle at most. Not all who now migrate up actually own agricultural land in the alpine villages. Most of them cultivate abandoned fields owned by others who have jobs in the plains, or shops and business in between. Crops like buckwheat, barley, potato, mustard, some vegetables, caraway and chives are grown here. There is only one cropping cycle a year in the alpine villages. There are several crop combinations that are useful because of several practical considerations. For instance finger millets are planted with pulses of different types because: The mixed crops mature 15 days before the main crop, which helps in spreading out the workload at harvest. Mixed-cropping is done with a combination of millets and pulses that have roots at different depths, as that means less competition for nutrients between the crops. The stowers of the millets also provide support to the pulses which are climbers and are sown together. Pulses have mycorhizal associations that benefit the millets.
The traditional strategies adopted to minimize damage to crops from pests include crop rotation or growing different crops in the same field. These prevent the spread of pests to the entire field. Growing tree along field boundaries also act as nesting and perching places for birds - the natural predators of insects and rodents, is another strategy. Farmers have been also able to develop high diversity in crops and within crops, some known to be more resistant than others. To prevent food grain from infestation by insects during storage, several methods are used. Pulse seed are treated with mustard oil, and certain food grains with cow dung ash. Growing several crops in the same field helps reduce competition from weeds. Many weeds are also used as fodder and some are even eaten, either as green vegetables (Bathua or Chenopodium album) or as fodder for cattle (all the species of grass and Urtica dioca to name a few), or the seed is used as oilseed (Bhanyur or Perilla frutescens). Weeding, whenever necessary, is done manually. 40 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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Replacing old or weak seed-stock with new stock from neighbouring villages is still a common practice. It is significant that seed is actually selected from the previous harvest by women, who do all the harvest and post harvest processing. Seed is held and exchanged most freely amongst women. While reciprocal communal labour is dying out in certain aspects such as house building, there still is evidence of such reciprocity in agriculture, and here again, more so in those tasks that involve women. The carriage of compost from the village to the fields, which involves hard labour is often done by the entire village; the transplanting of paddy, and the planting of seed potato is also done communally, as is the harvest of certain crops. The sharing of bullocks for draught is also still common and ploughing is done exclusively by the men. Transhumance A significant feature of the livelihoods of the village communities in the landscape is transhumance. In the three river basins there are 27 villages that are inhabited for six to seven months of the year, from late April to October. As mentioned earlier, this was in the past the major livelihoods strategy of the Shaukha and the Rang Bhotia community, who combined some seasonal agriculture in their alpine villages with livestock herding, and with trade with Tibet. After hostilities with China in 1962, the borders were closed to trade in 1964, and this coincided with the abolition of Zamindari in the 1960s, leading to the fuedal landholding and social structures greatly altered. Subsequently in the Gori basin, the alpine villages were almost entirely deserted, and over time, poor and often landless households resumed seasonal migration, and tilled unoccupied fields belonging to others who were not migrating or using the fields. In Darma and Byans however, the situation differed substantially, where trade was of a lower intensity, and social organization less stratified, and property holding less fuedal. Moreover, unlike the Johari Shaukha who had much land in villages in the mid and low altitude settlements, the people from Darma and Byans did not have agriculture fields in their lower altitude winter settlements, due to restrictions placed by the Rajwar of Askot. They therefore remained dependent on their holdings in the alpine villages to tide them through the entire year, in terms of food-grain and earnings, and therefore, even today migrate seasonally to the alpine settlements in large numbers and use the entire landscape more intensively. Changing trends in agriculture Over the past two decades, various government programmes have been promoting high-yielding varieties especially in wheat and paddy. These varieties are normally more prone to infestation by pests, and often require external and expensive inputs. With the introduction of chemical fertilizers in the landscape, especially the subtropical areas, their use in combination with organic manure is becoming more common. Experiences with the use of chemical fertilizers have not been all positive, and after two cycles people often realize that productivity has stagnated or even reduced. The most visible effect of the use of chemical fertilizers identified by the farmers has been the consequent decrease of humus in the soil thereby decreasing the moisture retaining capacity of the soil. 41 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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During consultations, people frequently spoke of an increase in the incidence of pest and insect infestation. The reasons identified by the people are: change in climatic conditions rising temperatures and progressively less snowfall in the region, reduction in certain birds that eat insects during ploughing, and the introduction of new pests with the HYV seed from outside. As a result, the use of chemical pesticides is spreading in many villages in the landscape. There are numerous incidences of careless use of insecticides e.g. being used for killing termites and houseflies in their homes. In some villages people have linked up reduction in population of honeybees with the indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides. In Bona village, which once boasted modern horticulture and by far the largest production of apples in the district, complete with the heavy use of pesticides, now has no bees, and practically no apples either, due to recurrent scab disease. In recent years exotic weeds like Eupatorium, which has traveled up from the terai, are encroaching on private as well as common lands. Strangely, Eupatorium seems to travel up along motorable roads for some reason. The plant is very noxious, causing illness in cattle, and farmers are unable to find any effective solution to check the spread. Eupatorium is an aggressive colonizer, and is visibly crowding out other herbaceous and grass species wherever it grows, and in places even away from roads. There has been an increase in incidences of damage to standing crops in the field by wild animals such as rhesus macaques, wild pigs, and porcupines, in the past few years. The farmers even understand that this is due to the reduction in the leopard populations, which normally predate on such animals. The decrease in leopard populations is largely due to them being deliberately poisoned with agricultural pesticides. Damage by bears have drastically reduced, but that perhaps due to a marked decrease in the cultivation of finger millets, a favourite of the bear, as well as the overall decrease in bear populations 22. The dependence on subsidized food grains through PDS, mostly wheat and rice from the plains, has also affected food preferences of the people. Rather than purchase and sell local food-grains, only wheat and rice is dispensed at PDS outlets. This has been a major reason for the decline of nutritious cereals and crops like millets, amaranth 23 and buckwheat. There is also an aping of diet preferences of urban middle-class folk in the plains, rendering the best food crops such as the many millets, buckwheat, and barley being progressively less preferred. In their common perception, these are a poor mans diet, which they would rather not be seen eating, whether they are poor or not. Subsidized wage labour, especially those to be had through development schemes such as JRY, are sometimes more lucrative than agriculture. Subsidized fertilizers and pesticides, and distribution of free high yielding seeds to help farmers get into the cycle of growing for the market, has meant intensive cultivation with external inputs. This, in the opinion of many farmers, is affecting
22
23
Bear populations have not been scientifically censused in the area, and the information is from informal sources. In the years1852 and 1876, during the plague epidemics in Kumaon, people in villages noticed a co-relation between those villages that grew more amaranth and the start-up of the disease. They also noticed the incidence of dead rats, but strangely, did not put the two together. They thought that both the people as well as the rats were dying of poisoning from the Amaranth, much as in the ergot-of-rye. (The Himalayan Gazetteer. Vol III.2)
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the ability of the land to regenerate its fertility in the long-run. While it may have meant higher incomes for some, it has also increased their vulnerability and risk. Herb cultivation There is talk about the endless possibilities of herb cultivation in the Himalaya. This is bandied about mostly in workshops and such congregations, and can serve to generate a false optimism that further promotes the loosening of restrictions on the trade of many valuable but threatened species of medicinal plants. The Byans, Darma and Gori basins contain populations of some medicinal plant and animal species, whose parts are highly valued in the market, fetching as much as Rs. 95 thousand per Kg for Cordyceps sinensis, to the price of gold in weight for the musk of Moschus crysogaster for the collector. This price multiplies may fold at retail. The lower-value plants which fetch from Rs. 60 a kilo to Rs. 1000 a kilo, are collected and traded in large volumes from these valleys, no matter they figure in Red-Data books. Since the volumes available in nature are limited, and since collection from the wild is illegal for most of the high-value species, people in these valleys have tried for years to cultivate some of these species. They have however, suceeded in cultivating only a couple of them. They have succeeded, in fact, where research organisations have failed, but for inescapably specific reasons such as mycotic associations, and niche-specific conditions, cultivation at a commercial scale for any medicinal species has not succeeded here. It is however, desirable to promote the cultivation of the few species that do grow, because their cultivation is labour-intensive, and their remuneration good enough to absorb a part of the population that is involved in its cultivation, to keep them off intensive extraction from the wild. The cultivation of herbs to sell, be they spices such as Carum carvi and Allium strachii, as is the case in the Gori valley, or even food-grain such as Fagopyrum esculentum grown in the Darma valley, can provide alternative livelihoods (or a steady portion of it) to a good number of people. In a different context, the high altitude villages of the Gori basin have often been cited in literature as a place where much cultivation of medicinal plants is taking place. This is really a rather fuzzy and generic reference to a range of not so familiar spice and aromatic plants. There is infact, no commercial-scale cultivation of medicinal plants in the Gori basin, or any other basin in the landscape. There is however, a huge-scale extraction of medicinal plants from the wild (discussed in the section on threats to biodiversity). The plants that are being cultivated are: a) Jambu- Allium stracheyii, chives, dried and used as spice in local seasoning. b) Thoya- Carum carvi, caraway, used locally as a spice. a) Chipi- Pleurospermum angelicoides, spice, and a minor ameliorative home remedy. These are all essentially aromatic plants. Tonnage would be very low, but their cultivation can be said to be on a commercial scale, and sold largely within Kumaon. Farmers have experimented with the translocation of wild specimens as well as germination from seed of a few high value medicinal plants, but have not succeeded in any, other than very recently in atis, (Aconitum heterophyllum) of which so far, not more than 10 kilos would have been extracted from their fields 43 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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and sold. The medicinal plants attempted to be cultivated 24 (mostly through transplanting from the wild to their fields) are:

Podophyllum hexandrum Dactylorhiza hatagirea Aconitum heterophyllum
In the past five years or so, there has been much discussion on the great possibilities of herb cultivation in the alpine and sub-alpine villages, and a few government schemes offering grants and loans for cultivation have been bandied in the landscape. While those who have honestly attempted to cultivate some of the high value medicinal species are clearly aware that the scope as of today is rather limited, and that money is not what is required to cultivate such plants, during consultations people have frequently raised their desire to cultivate medicinal plants under the project. However, on deeper discussion on the economics and true scope of such cultivation, the assertion falters, and they acknowledge that it is really the possibility of subsidies and grants that is the motivation. Livestock rearing (a) Sheep and goat rearing This activity still forms an important part of the nomadic pastoralism practiced today. A very large number of sheep and goats are reared in the landscape, in addition to which flocks are brought in from neighboring basins as well as from the neighboring state. The genetic stock of sheep however, has degraded with unsystematic breeding with Merino and another exotic breed with an exotic name, Ramboulette. While exotic rams were introduced into local herds by the government with the good intention of producing sheep with softer, more valuable wool, the breeding was not systematic and has successively bred out all distinction of either genetic line. Moreover, these sheep dont graze well on precipitous slopes (they stampede off cliffs when panicked), are not wildernesssavvy in terms of alertness to predators, or in discriminating between poisonous species such as aconites, from plain nutritious ones. They are also much more vulnerable to ungulate disease such as Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Peste de Petit Ruminants (PPR) and Contagious Pleuro-pneumonia (CPP). Not only is mortality high amongst them, they also carry these afflictions to the grazing lands they share with wild high-altitude ungulates, for whom these epidemic diseases are also fatal, sometimes decimating entire herds in a range. We are told by people in the landscape that in the year 1972, when a large number of livestock died of a contagious disease, they came upon large numbers of dead Sambar (Cervus unicolor) in their forests. The Veterinary department here confirms that in 1972 there was an epidemic of CPP. In the year 1999, there was an epidemic of PPR amongst sheep and goats while they were in the seasonal
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Wild Plants as 'Resource': New opportunities or last resort? An analysis of the collection, cultivation and trade of medicinal plants in the Gori basin, Western Himalaya, India. Malika Virdi for WII and FES.
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alpine grazing ranges. During the contagion, it is reliably estimated that over 40% of the entire stock grazing in the basin that year died. During consultations, shepherds also mentioned that they have seen the coinciding of the deaths of wild ungulates with epidemics amongst their domestic herds. There are a very few perceptive herders who wish to breed back good indigenous genes, but are unable to do so because there are no high quality rams left of the species they desire in the valley. They are still some good stock of the Tibetan Balphu sheep in some very remote parts of western Nepal, which could enable them to be bred back into their stock. The animal is robust in every sense, can carry loads of as much as 15 kilos, and the economics of it more viable in this terrain. Aesthetics plays a significant role too. Shepherds will combine herds of sheep with a good number of lakhi goats. The lakhi goats are tall, long-haired and majestic, and when the billy leads the flock while on the move, it adds, as the shepherds put it, show. These goats are sturdy pack animals too, and assist in carrying the salt required for the whole stock, as well as carrying in foodgrain not just for the shepherds, but also for earning on carriage for the high villages. Almost all the contraband medicinal plant parts are carried out on pack-goats, who unlike horses, do not need to stick to the bridal path, and therefore yield many options to where they can be safely off-loaded. Goats and sheep are readily eaten throughout the year. They are also ritualistically slaughtered at times of puja such as Nanda Ashtami, and even during sacrifice as propitiation of devtas and chhal (revered spirits and ghosts respectively). Every part of the carcass is eaten here, including the clotted blood, except the inedible hide (which is used for insulation under bedding), the larger bones and teeth. Related to the rearing of sheep and goats in the area is the cottage handicraft skills of wool-work. Women amongst the Bhotia communities, both the Rang and the Shaukha do have the craft of weaving carpets, blankets and shawls from wool. While local wool is used for carpets and blankets, Tibetan wool and pashmina are preferred for the weaving of shawls. From the techniques, equipment and design, it is apparent that this skill has been assimilated from over the border in Tibet. However, design sense and the traditional use of colour seems to have deteriorated in quality, and therefore the market remains local, and of low value. (b) Cows and buffaloes: Most of the cows are non-descript, and of an undiscernable mix or degeneration of breeds. What is largely characteristic though, is that they are very short, and small-bodied. This has two advantages. One is that because of their small size and lightness, they are able to conduct themselves better on the steep slopes that they are put out to graze upon. Two, they require less feeding and housing space, which makes it possible for many more poor families to own and, well rear them. It is almost like having a goat, but goats are expensive because they sell for meat. On the other hand, these cows produce more manure. 45 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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The milk production from a typical small cow is not in litres, but in millilitres. However, milk is not what these cows are primarily kept for. Cattle here are reared mostly for the dung they produce, for converting biomass otherwise unusable by humans, into nutrients for their croplands. Leaf-litter put down as bedding in the cow-shed, is swept out with the dung and urine and composted for a season. Cow and buffalo dung is preferred over all others for manure, since it provides nutrients for two or even three years in decreasing succession. Goat or sheep manure, while known to be garam, provides no nutrients in the second year. Poultry manure is negligible, since the number of fowl kept per household are very few and are always free-ranging. Poultry, like donkeys, have in the past been considered lowly here, and were only reared, or eaten by Scheduled Caste families. Ofcourse this is rapidly changing, and many a village headman or Gram Pradhan finds it useful to rear at least a few, to gratify the visiting Patwari. Lower in the valley, Veterinary Stockman Centres held Jersey bull studs, which have produced some better milk-yielding crossbreds, but only a very few people have such cows now, and even so, the milk production rarely exceeds domestic requirements. These centres with bull studs have been closed down, to the dismay of local populations. The bigger milk yielders are buffaloes, which have been progressively introduced into the valley through Integrated Rural Development Programmes (IRDP). These buffaloes are brought from the plains and are given to poor households on a partgrant and part-loan basis. The past two decades have seen a substantial increase in the number of buffaloes in the basin. Buffaloes are large animals, and require large quantities of fodder. With the kind of land-holdings most people have, it is impossible to sustain them on cultivated fodder or agriculture residues alone. Almost all buffalo owners therefore have to move with their buffaloes to chaumasi chappars or monsoon encampments in cold-temperate or montane forests, to meet the huge demand for fodder while the animal is in milk, which is in its peak during the monsoon. The buffaloes range freely and extensively around these monsoon encampments, mostly on Reserved Forest land, and sometimes in Van Panchayat land as well. Buffaloes are not the most discerning feeders, and will eat most vegetation. Forest regeneration pays a heavy price, as over successive years all young saplings and young trees are grazed off. Montane bamboo (both Thamnocalamus spathiflora and Sinarundinaria anceps) for example, which flowers once in thirty and ten years respectively, and will regenerate from seed all together in any given forest, are in many places grazed to oblivion by buffaloes. These two species of bamboo, we know are also critical for species such as the Musk deer, the Serow and the Satyr tragopan. Cows and buffaloes are not eaten by local populations any more. Just across the Kali river though, beef is eaten by village communities, even Hindu communities, and unproductive cattle sometimes find their way across. In the lower Gori basin, however, there is also the practice of driving old and unproductive cattle across relatively shallow flows of the Gori river onto stranded shingle-beds in the middle of the river just before the monsoon. The animal may scrounge a few days of forage on grass and pioneer vegetation on these shingle beds, and as soon as the river rises many-fold during the rains, the animal is either washed away, or is 46 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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stranded and starves to death. (c)Yaks: Yaks are extremely hardy and formed perhaps the most valuable component of the trade caravans to Tibet, being good pack and draught animals suitable to very precipitous terrain as well as deep crevassed snow and ice. While most of the local herds were decimated successively by avalanches, when they were abandoned to winter in the high altitudes after cessation of trade, the last herd of four animals was lost in a forest fire only two decades ago. People in the area are very keen to breed yaks again, for inter-species breeding with cows, as milch animals, pack animals, and for draught. Almost all populations of Yak in India are highly inbred. This is partly due to the nature of the terrain where they live, such as the Himalaya. This terrain is characterized by very high and cliffy north-south ridges, uncrossable laterally at high altitudes, even by the sure-footed Yaks, and partly due to the hostile reiterations of international boundaries over the past fifty years, where the movement of livestock and people to traditional pastures and markets is restricted. Like the Pashmina goat, you cannot bring the yak down to the lower crossings below ca 3000 meters in the valley, because of their great susceptibility to heat and to the large cattle-leech, which while only causing morbidity in cattle, is a fatal affliction for the yak. This unfortunate assemblage of conditions and subsequent isolation of yak populations due to disruption in crossboundary transhumance is not likely to change in the near future, and could spell doom for the species, especially in Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh. Today Uttaranchal has just 32 yaks left; 27 in a herd being bred in Ralam, 2 in a government farm in Chamoli, and 3 yak bulls in villages in Darma and Byans25 . Cross-breeding between Yaks and cattle has been practiced traditionally for long. The F1 male hybrids produced are sterile, but very valued draught and packanimals. The female hybrids milk yields greatly exceed those of pure-bred female yaks, and while they are greatly valued in these valleys, they are also in very great demand in Tibet, both for their milk yield and for meat. Since F1 males are infertile, back-crossing with them is not possible, but back crossing with a Yak bull is what is most desirable. With the great shortage of Yak bulls, it is not uncommon for bulls to sire and then breed with offspring upto F2 generations. In order to prevent genetic inbreeding in their livestock, the rule of thumb followed by most sheep and goat breeders here is to change rams in a herd between four to seven years. This has not been possible with Yaks so far. Because of the versatility of the hybrid at different altitudes, and for multiple uses, as well as its hybrid vigour, the hybrid is a much valued animal among transhumant communities. It is important to help build back the stock, and keep the experience and knowledge of husbanding this most valuable animal of highaltitudes alive.
25
Estimated by Himal Prakriti 2006.
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(d) Horses and Mules These are greatly valued as pack animals in these valleys, where roads have very limited access, and where villages are many days distance from the road-head. Having good pack-animals also provides frequent and reliable employment for many local people, unlike places where there are motorable roads, and where vehicle owners from distant towns hold sway. Enough people with pack animals help broad-base earnings and discourage the clamour for motor-roads in the area, a phenomenon that can also intensify extraction from forests. A good mule is most highly valued, and can fetch from Rs. 20,000 to even Rs. 50,000. Those who get together the money, need to go to the distant plains in order to buy mules, since there are very few stud asses here. Part of the reason could be that the practice of rearing donkeys is still considered a low-caste occupation. Being at the border itself, people have seen the enormous mules bred by the army, deployed in the area. These mules are too large and bumbling for the mountain paths here, and often nudge each other or stumble over precipices. They also require the kind of feeding that would be un-affordable by local mulefreighters. They prefer a smaller, hardier breed. The Jumla steed is a smaller equine, known for its hardiness on rough terrain and cold weather, and would breed well to produce suitable mules for the area. (e) Bee-keeping Bee keeping in log-hives has been customarily practiced in these valleys. While this has been a customary method in many parts of the world, it is a somewhat inefficient method in which extraction involves robbing the entire honeycomb, with all its larvae and young, and a great number of bees are either killed or chased away. There are an over 900 (NBSAP, FES 2003) such log-hollows kept by people in the Gori valley itself, and while honey is not sold at a commercial scale here, it forms a valuable nutritional supplement for children and for the infirm, and can be bartered, volume to volume, with ghee. The very same Apis cerana has recently been practically been wiped out by some epidemic affliction in the neighbouring region of Jumla in Nepal. Bees are also valued for their pollination service, which helps manifold, in the seed-setting or fruit-setting of all their crops. It also encourages the harbouring of a diversity of trees in their forests, that provide forage for bees on the one hand, and on the other, due to enhanced seed-setting, strengthens the regenerative capacity of forests. Not in the least, it helps assuring abundance of food seasonally, to the myriad fruit and seed-eating beings in the forests. A livelihoods profile of the Banraji This is being written about exclusively because this community is entirely different from all the rest in the landscape, and because their problems are unique, and must be viewed in the context of their special significance. While the Banraji community in the landscape comprises only 318 individuals, who constitute tiny fraction of the population of the project landscape, they are an endangered race, with very high cultural values and significance, to human adaptation to wild spaces. 48 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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Their interactions and exchange with the farming communities in the past included their catching and selling fish from the rivers, and bartering vessels made from the wood of Oogenia and turned on water-run lathes. They were especially known for the excellent mill-stones they prepared (pers. comm. Pradeep Pathak). All this has changed today. On 30th July 1986 their entire range was included in the Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary, and with the Supreme Court order of February 2000, which prohibits even the removal of dead-wood or grass from all protected areas, their entire way of life has been rendered illegal. The felling of Oogenia for wood is prohibited, and water-mills are progressively falling to disuse due to diesel-run mills. The Banraji has now taken to selling head-loads of wood as fuel to the bazaar at Jauljibi, as well as selling sawn-timber to nearby villages, and at road points. The women also work as agriculture labour in neighbouring villages. The poverty of the Banraji is by far the most desperate of any of the communities that inhabit the landscape. The Government Notification that declared their forests as part of the Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary, bore no mention of their existence, let alone provide for rights of subsistence within the forest. The Supreme Court Order of February 2000, while intended to put an urgent halt to illegal and large-scale felling of timber from the countrys Protected Areas, has amputated the Banraji from their only source of livelihood; the forests. Their trajectory seems to be identical to those of other indigenous tribes who have found themselves fenced out by law, and enclosed from the forests that were their frugal sustenance, (the very name of the tribe means forest people) or else ridden in traps of debt and exploited as cheap labour and sex workers by the human flows on the motor road, in mainstream villages and in urban eruptions along the margins of the Sanctuary. The Ban Raji tribal settlements within the Landscape are all on tiny fragments, of steep, degraded Reserve Forest Lands, and on Lease to them. Extent of landholding among them is on average 0.15 hectares per capita. While the Ban Raji were till recently a reclusive and non-settled community, moving locations over the years, they were compelled to 'settle' in the locations where they presently are, on RF land around the year 1939, when about 48 hectares was transferred from RF to the Revenue Department to settle the Rajis on. Not only are these lands, steep, rocky and entirely unsuitable for agriculture, the tenure is also not secure for most to wish to invest sufficient labour and time for improving it. Except for a few households in Genagaon hamlet, no one had any papers proving ownership, or Lease title. All four hamlets are today included in the larger non-tribal Gram Sabhas near them; Genagaon, Bhaktirwa and Kimkhola in Dutibagad, and Chipaltara in Basuada. While the Van Panchayat of Dutibagad, the gram sabha of which they are a part of, lies right next to their hamlets, they are denied any rights of use on them. The Raji in Chipaltara are constantly threatened about their habitations being on Forest Land. This insecurity feeds into the poverty cycle. In terms of their been inducted at being from their them is still very interface with the larger society around them, the Banraji have the very bottom rung of the division of labour. The current MLA community notwithstanding, even the public infrastructure for poor. There is no primary school in any of the hamlets, and no 49 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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Balwadi. There is however a residential school in Jauljibi run by a nongovernment organization for Banraji children which is struggling to feed and educate a handful of children till the primary level of class V. While some funds have been pledged to them by the Department of Tribal Affairs, actual fund flow is extremely erratic and delayed, forcing them to borrow food supplies from a trader for the children at the school. Further, the designation of the Banraji as a 'Primitive Tribe' is gross and demeaning, and is a view that is ignorant of their complex social arrangements, and places them at the bottom of a hierarchy in their interactions with larger society outside their ethnicity. It also devalues perhaps the last relics of smallscale society who were primarily a forest foraging society, with the least impact on the biodiversity of the region. Rather than valuing this and restoring their rights to forage, while also providing for the articulation of their aspirations with regard to the society at large that they interact with, there have been very weak attempts by the state to co-opt them into the mainstream hill society. As a result, the Ban Raji is the poorest community in the entire landscape, ridden by disease and alcoholism, and inducted in the bottom rung of labour. From all accounts (pers. comm. Hira Singh Bora), the Banraji is said to be facing extinction, from malnutrition and from disease and very high infant mortality. This is a matter of very grave concern not just for their unique genetic representation of humanity, but also for the cultural heritage, of humans compatible with nature in their unique way, that is at stake. While on the one hand we have the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, (Nov 2001) that argues for a new understanding of the value of human difference, all efforts afoot by government, and even Civil Society with the Ban Raji, attempt to obliterate the 'difference' in terms of bio-cultural diversity. The declaration is designed to protect and enhance the intellectual, economic, spiritual and moral value of cultural diversity, and affirms this diversity as vital resource to protect not only cultural rights, but bio-diversity, individual self-value, social harmony, and cross-cultural communication. There was consensus across the board, during the consultations, that the Ban Raji could be prioritized, even as Biologically Significant People (as in BSAs) for special attention under the project. The significance of Village Commons in land-use The Commons, in this case the Van Panchayat lands, are quite simply the most significant dimension of land-use in landscape. Van Panchayat areas comprise over a third of the entire area of the landscape, contain some of the most biologically significant areas within it, and even the most pristine wildernesses of the area. Their significance in the context of land-use, in the context of the governance of remote mountain areas, the political economy of local livelihoods, and various dimensions of the biodiversity of the area requires to be recognized appropriately. Among the first Van Panchayats or Village Forest Councils that were formed in the landscape were constituted in the year 1947, about sixteen years after the first ones were formed in the lower hills of Kumaon. A look at the dates of the 50 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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constitution of Van Panchayats in the area shows that the build-up was slow, sporadic and irregular. Sometimes just three or four Van Panchayats were constituted in a year, and never exceeding eleven. In 20 years between 1947 and 2002, none were organized at all. The only pattern that is discernable is that in some cases, immediately neighboring villages (which were often contesting customary use-boundaries) applied together for and accessed land for their Van Panchayats concurrently. There is no doubt that the decision in 1931, to give back some lands to villages to own and manage as their commons was good common sense. Looking at similar situations in other parts of the country, it seems path-breaking. Under the circumstances it happened though (the large-scale protests in the region), the government may have had little choice. However, if we look at the distribution of land to Van Panchayats, any principled basis or rationale to guide the allocation of land to villages, of equity between villages, or even rationality of governance and use, in terms of endowment and multiplicity of users, seems to be absent. The human population of a village, its animal holding and the extent of its agriculture would normally guide any determination of how much land as support-area they would require. Some margin for growth perhaps, in those rare cases where there may be sufficient land for such future considerations. The location, (in terms of aspect, altitude and steepness of land) and the consequent land capability and use-regimes, would be further determinants. Inevitably, the constellation of other villages nearby, and their competing use of forest and grazing areas, would surely be another practical consideration. At another level altogether, would be considerations that could take into account the interaction of the forest area with its surrounding forests and the integrity of the multiple interactions that would determine its productive capacity, both located and mobile. There is no evidence of even the simpler considerations being taken into account. There are serious disparities in Van Panchayat land-holding, even between neighboring villages. There are over 23 Van Panchayats in the four basins of the landscape that have thousands of hectares of land under Van panchayats, while there are those with either no Van panchayat whatsoever, or those that are a travesty of the Van Panchayat system, with just 2 hectares of land as a village forest. Then there is a single village Kuti that has 391.67 square kilometers as a Van Panchayat forest, and Shipu with 147.51 square kilometers. Such disparities also lead to recurrent and intense conflicts between villages, often expressed in offence and retaliation through damage of the Van Panchayat and the biodiversity therein. Appropriation by villages or sections within communities, of land for Van Panchayats from the government seems to have been largely opportunistic. On the one hand, this is quite understandable and may even be universal. Till not very long ago, the year 1815, the basin was overrun by Gorkha invaders from Nepal who appropriated land and levied crippling taxes and fines to raise revenue, in addition to selling people as slaves from the area 26 . A British
26
In the year 1811-1812 over thirty thousand slaves were sold from Kumaon (Ref A.K.Mittal, Kumaon during Gorkha and British Rule). However, this seems to have been a bit of a home-grown tradition, for even till the year 1837, well after the Gorkhas had left, the practice of buying and selling children and adults as slaves in Kumaon was not uncommon. The sale of wives by husbands, of widows by relatives of the deceased, and of children and females for prostitution was legally proscribed in 1819, but continued for years thereafter. The sale of children and adults by parents continued to be legal, and
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multinational trading corporation, the East India Company, forced the Gorkhas into retreat across the Kali, and later, in the name of the Crown appropriated all the commons and every inch of land that was not measured as croplands. Being a very remote part of Kumaon, where the logistics of effective administration in remote areas being impossible at that time, there was little tangible day-to-day effect of this appropriation, and no peoples struggle against it among the villages of the project landscape, as was witnessed in lower Kumaon. However, for the local people to negotiate land back from their own government, and in competition with neighboring villages, it unfolded gradually and opportunistically. In stages, the British administration encouraged the extension of agriculture onto cultivable wastelands under a provision for Nayabad Grants. After independence from the British, and subsequent build-up of hostilities with China came the big shock in 1962: the closure of the border with Tibet. This was a severe blow to the Shaukha traders. This was closely followed by a Land-Settlement between 196265, where the Shaukhas, who owned most of the lands in the Gori basin, lost them to the real tillers, who were Jimdaars or Rajputs. The only legal avenue then, to negotiate with the government for more land was through the procedures of applying for the constitution of Van Panchayats on Civil land. In rare cases, Reserve Forest lands could be given to them to be held as common property under Van Panchayats. And this they did, progressively, in every way they could. Such dealings were often at the expense of the neighboring villages, and wherever possible, exclusive even within the village. In cases, membership even restricted to clans, or the earlier settlers, or more powerful families. While the first Van Panchayat Niyamavali of 1931 broadly laid down some rules for governance at the village level, and its connections with the district administration, it was far from evolved to specify any detailed provisions that could ensure equitable or democratic functioning. Even today, some Van Panchayats are being formed and run as collective private property of a few, rather than as common property with its attendant characteristics. In many villages today, membership to the Van Panchayat is restricted, and relatively recent settlers in some villages are refused membership. Many of these new settlers are from villages progressively destroyed in landslides, and they have had to move, or some that have moved to a village closer to higher-secondary education for their children. There are also numerous villages where such exclusion is practiced, and those where the grass-stands for hay have been permanently parceled to particular families. Another interesting aspect of land holding in this area, and one that is relevant to how people perceive collective ownership is the existence of almost all private land-holding in large joint-accounts called Gol Khata. Almost all land in this basin is registered with the revenue Department in joint-holdings of many families. Sometimes clans are joint holders, and sometimes even unrelated families are. Sometimes almost the entire village is joint holders of the land. There is a record however, of how many hissas or what share or proportion of land belongs to which family, but actual kabza or persistent holding is determined by old divisions
was accompanied by a deed of sale and was recognized by court, which heard claims of servitude or freedom like any other suit till 1837. Ref. The Himalayan Gazetteer, E.T.Atkinson Vol III.2.
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and long-standing possession and use, and can be contested by any joint holder at any point. This administrative arrangement may have seemed convenient to the British, but has resulted in the following: Recurrent squabbling between joint-holders, resulting in a level of insecurity of tenure, more so for the less powerful. The near-impossibility of being able to sell land independently, or being motivated to invest in land improvement, because of lack of cohesion, and almost perverse contestation. The point being made, however, is that Gol Khata land is truely private property that is collectively held by a few, unlike their commons. While commons do have some definitional elements that are identical to private property held collectively by a few, there are additional intrinsic elements that apply to commons universally, and that would distinguish them forming plain private property. These would include, among others, equal rights to benefits between co-owners, primacy of use-values, and wider circles of identification to other life-forms, as well as human society at large. Joint holdings of private agriculture land, or Gol Khata land, which comprises almost all private land in the high alpine villages, and most agriculture lands in much else of the basin, does seem to be somewhere in the conceptual transition between collectively held private land and common land, and influences the way joint holdings of common property are also perceived. With about 97.70% of the land being under Van Panchayats, Reserve Forests, and Civil and Soyam land (more recently referred to in Forest Department parlance as Civil Forests), it may seem that the area is overwhelmingly under forest cover. On the contrary about 8% of the landscape is nival, or under permanent (year-round) cover of snow and ice. Another 54% is alpine, which is under snow for at least six months, with practically no tree vegetation. 9% is sub-alpine with some dwarf and krummholz vegetation. Only 29% of the entire landscape comes under the range of cold-temperate, temperate and sub-tropical life-zones which could support tree vegetation, or forest cover in the general sense. Even here, there are steep cliff and rocky areas, and also areas where tree cover and the regeneration of it is deliberately retarded by humans through the use of fire for the extension and maintenance of certain areas as pastures. Then there are the open-access areas such as some Civil and Soyam lands that are subject to unregulated and over-intensive use, and are degraded. Many Van Panchayat forests that are too small to meet even subsistence needs or those that are violently disputed are also subject to sudden or progressive deforestation. Most of the Van Panchayats that are located in the alpine and sub-alpine areas are not visibly deforested. The term deforestation however is a many-layered notion, where degradation, fragmentation, forest decline, forest loss and conversion require to be specified 27 . In the alpine and sub-alpine areas of the landscape, where 90 % of all plant species listed by us are herbs or grass, and therefore have no visible or above-ground biomass for more than half the year, deforestation or even degradation cannot be easily seen. Some of these Van Panchayats however, such as Shipu and Golfa, contain forests and alpine
27
The Economics of Deforestation: The example of Ecuador. Sven Wunder 2000.
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wildernesses comparable to those found in the best Reserve Forests anywhere in the State. Being under Van Panchayat ownership and control has contributed to a certain level of protection. There is an important distinction though that is appropriate to make here. The protection is, by and large, from an open-access situation, which would not have changed the nature of use, but would perhaps have increased the intensity of present use. Whatever can reasonably be extracted, whether for domestic consumption or for sale to international markets, is still being done even under some of these Van Panchayats. Protection of Van Panchayat lands from encroachment is quite outstanding in the area. Almost no Van Panchayat lands are encroached by individuals. Van Panchayat lands are viewed in this respect as commons and attempts at encroachments are dealt with by the community themselves. It is however, in the Civil and Soyam lands that are viewed and used as State Property and used as open access areas, that encroachment is rampant. There is one recent exception, which is also being resorted to under exceptional circumstances. Kultham village was seriously affected by a severe landslide in the year 2000. Many families lost their homes and some, all their agriculture fields. After repeated representations to government for help and possible relocation, and no positive response forthcoming, some of the families just moved into some suitable areas in their own village forest, demarcated sections for their homesteads and for agriculture, and set up residence there. After an initial period of waiting for a response, either from the village or from the state, many more families from the village moved in, including those not affected by the landslide directly. The small populations that now inhabit the high alpine villages have a relatively small requirement of fuel-wood. The requirement is high per capita because of the low air-pressure due to high altitude, cooking takes much longer and therefore more fuel. The cold climate requires fire for heating living spaces as well. But populations are very small, and the total requirement is relatively low. This is met from whatever juniper stands there are. In most villages, the stands that were close to villages have been decimated, and the further ones are being progressively degraded. Another characteristic aspect of the use and appropriation of benefits from these Van Panchayats is the complex patterns and multiplicity of users. In the midaltitude and lower villages there are numerous arrangements whereby villages either mutually share particular advantages of their particular village forests or grass stands. A village for example may have a south or east facing cliffy slope where there are no trees and where the production of grass, particularly Chrysopogon gryllus, a good grass for thatch, is abundant and of high quality. The slope could have much more grass than they would use themselves every year, and so they will permit a few neighboring villages to cut and carry away, either on payment or on mutual exchange, loads of grass every year. In return, they may be permitted to enter a broad-leaf forest of the closest village to sweep and carry away leaf-litter in autumn for their compost needs. Even more common than mutual exchange, is the wide-spread prevalence of multiple users in almost every village Van Panchayat, which is often not mutual. As described earlier, the landscape has been parceled with no consistent logic at 54 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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the village or watershed levels, to different villages. Mountain landscapes and their very diverse forests, also described earlier, are the result of the complex and continuous interaction of larger units of the landscapes. If we parcel them off, disturbing these interactions and imposing exclusive strategies, we will not only unhinge the productive capacities of the forests, but also lose the diversity of elements that it is composed of. Village communities know this, and because their village forests, like the rest of their village, are located at a particular altitude and aspect, it can only meet a part of their year-round requirement of diverse forest products. A few villages do have entire sub-watersheds as village forests, that can meet all their requirements and more, but they are only a few, and they also share with other villages. So whether villages are predisposed to share or not, people will enter their forests at different times of year, for different produce, be it leaf-litter or be it grass or fuelwood, or a particular sort of timber or bamboo. They have little choice. The cost of being able to protect village forests from such pressures is high and most villages cannot afford the cost of such intensive protection, since one watcher cannot possibly monitor such forests that are distant from the village, and where visibility is poor 28 . So most villages settle for agreeing to allow some formally accepted use by neighboring villages, on some payment, whether they have enough for themselves or not. The alternative is fierce and violent confrontation, which may not be worth their while. Within village boundaries, and as per the last Settlement of the 1960s, are patches of Revenue Land that are remnant patches from land appropriated for cropping, and from those larger patches that have been constituted as village forests. These are often adjoining agriculture fields. While this falls within village boundaries, villages do not have formal rights over it as they do over their commons, and subsequently, these patches of land that are often in open-access conditions, are over-used and most degraded. In some cases they are in various stages of encroachment, which is always done in stages. In other villages they have been customarily parceled to particular families. Where such encroachment is sufficiently common, and many people are doing likewise, they are all expected to, and do keep the matter away from the law. Such land is eligible to be added on the existing Van Panchayats as village commons, or for the creation of a new Van Panchayat, but very few villages are keen to see this happen. It will displace informal appropriations in many cases, which they hope will be formalized in the next Settlement. In some cases, land has also been allotted to landless households from such Civil Land, and as long as there is some such land in the village, the hope of getting some of it allotted to more hopeful families is always alive. It is relevant to add here that there are practically no encroachments on Van Panchayat land or on Reserve Forest lands by individuals, within the landscape. There are some long-standing arrangements too, whereby the landscape is shared by people from distant valleys, even different states, and in one particular aspect, even people from different countries. Grazing of sheep and goats is one such arrangement. Herders graze their sheep even in adjoining river basins, and even from as far as Palampur and Kangra in Himachal Pradesh. This has to do
28
The cost of watch and ward forms the greatest burden on Van Panchayats today. For aspects such as cow herding, villages commonly employ children, or old people, or most often people born with physical or mental handicaps that make it impossible for them to get any other employment.
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with the contiguity of these alps over high passes in their own valley, and with long-standing alliances with families in the adjoining valley. Sheep belonging to herders from villages other than the village they are grazing their stock in, are required to pay a surprisingly small fee of one rupee per sheep for a whole seasons worth of grazing. Till a few years ago, it was just 50 paise per animal. Informal and personal gratification of the village leader is often resorted to. In some villages, where the Van Panchayats have large areas under alpine pastures, and where the grazing is good, which fall in the transition zone between the Greater Himalaya and the Trans Himalaya, the largest number of herders are to be found. Other considerations such as a well-stocked village where they can visit for replenishing their rations or drop-in during the evening for a drink, and in rare instances, for the company of a woman, are also determining factors. More often than not, the shepherds that take the herds up to the alps are hired hands, who are required to stay away from their families, except for brief periods, for most of the year. While carrying capacity is another complex and layered concept, systems of regulation based on any such notion, seems to be quite absent. Past history of having grazed a certain number of animals in one area (even if overgrazed) can sometimes be the basis for negotiating a consolidated fee from a grazier for the entire area, rather than a per animal fee. Certain areas in some villages seem over-intensively grazed, whereas some alps are left alone because of a predominance of poisonous aconites. The older Balphu stock of Tibetan origin were able to distinguish, but the newer stock cross-bred with Merino and Ramboullette die in large numbers should they be mistakenly grazed there. But regulation by volition or any system to determine how many sheep will be allowed to graze in a particular Van Panchayat seems to be influenced by other considerations. In terms of the governance of the area as a village commons, exclusion of others in case of over-crowding, and priority to benefit sheep-owners from the village itself also seem absent. The only advantage that shepherds from the village that owns the grazing land do exercise, is that they graze their sheep as a matter of right, and do not pay the per-animal fee, while they are in their village area. On their way up, as well as on their way down during seasonal migration, they would have to pay-up whatever is required, to Van Panchayats and to the informal leaders in villages enroute. There are other extended layers of use that have links with distant markets. Almost every year in winter, small teams of five or six men come to the village forests in the cold temperate montane belt, to extract the galls formed on maple trees (Acer acuminatum). These people are physically and culturally of Tibetan stock, but come from the high border areas in Humla in Nepal. They are Buddhists and call themselves Limia, and continue to be called Kham-pa by the local people, even though they are not from the Kham province of Tibet. Not many villages have forests that contain such maple trees, and so they will revisit a village in cycles of four or five years. They negotiate a fee with the village for being allowed to remove the knots from maple trees that infected by a particular virus that stimulates the growth of the galls. They will remove anywhere between 500 to 3000 such galls from the trunks of standing trees, (chop them off with an adze) and having boiled them overnight to prevent cracking, will set up a waterturned wood-lathe in the forest itself, and turn these knots into semi-finished 56 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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vessels used by Tibetans for drinking salt-tea and chang. They will then carry out these semi-finished vessels on their backs from the valley, and across the river into Nepal, from where they will make their way back to their high mountain dwellings, at the border with Tibet in Humla. There, these vessels are finished to smoothness, dyed a beautiful brick-red, and suffused with oil from the small seeds of the Impatiens, (often taken by them from here itself) and some of them trimmed with ornate silver. In spring, when the snow on the passes has melted enough to allow them over into Tibet, they will sell these vessels at different trading points. While this does form a flow to a distant market, the scale of extraction of these knots is limited by the size of the traditional market, the simple technology used, and by the fact that they can only take out as much as they can carry on their backs. If any tree is over-extracted from, and it happens to die, the Van Panchayat will normally levy a punitive fine. Villages often welcome these small groups of men. The arm of the larger, high-value and global market, however, has a deep penetration in the Van Panchayats of the area. The rising rhetoric by both government and NGOs with regard to the area being a storehouse or bhandar of medicinal plants, and the broad and undiscerning momentum being given to its commercialization, all in the name of livelihoods for the poor, is a Trojan-horse bearing vested interests. The wild-animal parts and the wild-plant parts trade is one such penetration. The greatest volumes of all the commercially traded plant and animal parts, especially the high value ones, are from Van Panchayat areas in the higher altitudes. Insignificant quantities (other than of lichens) come from Reserve Forest areas. Whether it is legal or not, is not the deciding consideration for the collector at all. Plant and animal parts extraction at the primary level is clearly market-driven (pull) as well as poverty-driven (push), and an increasingly desperate act. The intermediate traders are local, and are either office-bearers in the Van Panchayat or are right-holders in it. They are often owners of the largest herds of sheep and goats, which also serve as pack animals in the carriage of contraband out of the area, and are also able to supply through such carriage, food-grain at the high villages, as advance payment to the collector 29 . Collection is not regulated, and while it has been episodic for some species, the highest value ones are extracted every year. The volumes of a particular species collected are limited only by a) the external market demand and prices from year to year, and b) to the availability of people, which is determined by alternate labour-absorption factors ranging from the success of last years crop, to the inflow of government funds for labour employment in the village (JRY), to other seasonal, or fortuitous employment opportunities (such as afforestation work). The priority and sequence accorded to any particular species for collection, is not determined so much by appropriate season, but more by higher price, and by urgencies created by competition. That the scale of collection of plant parts is entirely unsustainable is abundantly clear, even to the collectors, who speak of a significant decline in availability.
29
Cost of carriage alone to the alpine villages ranges from Rs.8 to Rs.12 per kilo.
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They just have to go farther, to reach there first, and collect everything they can reach. What this means to the entire ecosystem, and what domino will knock down the others, is farthest from the minds of those who are there to earn enough to feed their families. With practically no employment alternatives, they have to contend with increased competition from other collectors, adapt to the changing demands of the market, from one species to another, and from one year to the other. They must operate and negotiate between bans and the law on the one hand, and the intractable fluxes in market demand and subsequent price negotiations on the other. With the recent entry of Yarsa Gombu in the trade market in the region, the value and contestation on Van Panchayats that lie in the Alpine zone has multiplied many-fold. The combination of such Van Panchayats bearing high value plants, high value fauna as well as being critical gazing ranges makes them one of the most interesting arenas to watch in the landscape. While there are numerous villages where governance is somewhat broad-based and actively participated in, democratic functioning is not inherent in Van Panchayats. Not in the way they are presently structured, and neither as reflections of democracy at large in their greatly stratified everyday village lives. However, in those Van Panchayats that are of reasonable size relative to that of the village they belong to, and where the dependence on the village forest for agriculture and for subsistence is high, the use within the village is not usually contested, and therefore undemocratic exclusion within the village, has little scope for play. Wherever the resource is scarcer, and more vied for, both from within the village and from neighboring villages, the larger power profiles manifest themselves clearly in their own interest. In many villages, the interpretation of what a commons is, is based not so much on any moral conception of democratic land-use, but is more simply a form of institutionalized aggression, that sometimes seeks to exclude even sections within the village. Recent amendments in the Van Panchayat rules have made it mandatory for 4 positions on the Village Forest Council to be reserved for women. While some villages have included a few women on their Councils as Panch, women Sarpanches in the entire landscape could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and most often in villages that were encouraged to constitute a Council comprising entirely of women, that would then make their Van Panchayat eligible for more funds from the government. By and large, women here are hardly included in any real decision-making in their Van Panchayat. In a few cases women manage to prevail to get themselves heard, sometimes on decisions that may affect them adversely. Their level of involvement is only a reflection of how seriously they are taken in other decision-making aspects, either at the village level, or at home. Here again, in villages where the commons are large enough and where the dependence on it has customarily been high in the context of agriculture and other subsistence needs, it is most seldom that new or fundamental decisions are required to be taken that could affect womens interests; such as continued access to fuelwood, leaf-litter and fodder. It is in the small, insufficient Van Panchayats, those closer to urbanizing settlements and bazaars, the more contested areas, and those closer to motor roads, that new and more frequent decisions are required to be taken on access, control and flows from the Van Panchayat. It is here that we can sometimes see the stark effects of 58 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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excluding women from decision making, or even see women enjoined in decisions of unfair exclusion, based on caste or clan. The government has over the past five years enacted two major legislative changes in the Rules that govern Van Panchayats, first in 2001 and later again in 2005. These changes in the Van Panchayat Rules will, in effect, result in two major changes. a) It fundamentally dismantles the longstanding and very progressive arrangement of the Van Panchayat as a Commons by re-interpreting and breaking up the community or 'owners' of the Van Panchayat into various other designations such as self-help-groups, the general body, and right-holders (the latter from terminology for prevailing or unsettled rights in Reserve Forest areas, where the owner is the state), and also by re-designating the 'Panchayat' or governing body as just a 'management committee', and b) sets up communities to change the land-use of the Panchayat Forest from one only for local and subsistence use, to business enterprise, between even sub-sets of the community with outside commercial entities. Van Panchayat lands cover 46.5% or almost half of the entire landscape, and hold some of the most biodiverse and pristine areas within this landscape, so the implications for inclusive participation and on land-use trajectories can be very significant. 3.3 Prioritised settlements/villages in the LS A list of all the villages in the proposed landscape have been appended, with reference to their basin-wise location. It has not been considered appropriate to undertake a prioritization among them, since during the consultations anxiety was frequently expressed about whether the boundaries of the Sanctuary would be redrawn or not. For many villages, the assurance of the Chief Wildlife Warden that all villages would be excluded from the re-drawn boundary, was a pre-condition for them to be willing to join their efforts with the project. They have not mandated us after our discussions, to either suggest their names or not. The decision will be taken by them when the project is underway, and it is clearer to them what is being offered, and what is being expected of them. Our suggesting names of villages in abstraction would therefore be inappropriate. However, one community who did not express such doubt during the consultations, and who clearly are the poorest and whose livelihoods are most affected by the Sanctuary are the Ban Raji, and we would have no hesitation in recommending them on priority. On principle, we would also recommend that the higher altitude villages, and those more remote from roads and access be prioritized for involvement in the project. A propose that the first year of the project be utilized for a more specific village level planning with village communities, where the Forest Department, who will be the implementing organization, make manifest the actual terms and commitments of the project, and receive responses and commitments from village communities in return. Traditions of prudence, or culturally significant elements for conservation There are two such elements in particular. The first is the traditional lifestyles and livelihoods strategies of the Ban Raji, who were earlier primarily a foraging Tribe that gathered a good proportion of their food from forests and rivers. From all accounts and from the extremely frugal existence that they still live, their use of forests was only for subsistence, and very light in its foot-print. They were also 59 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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not a sedentary community, and moved their settlements periodically throughout their range, exerting little pressure on their landscape, and also providing for rest and regeneration of the species they used for their survival. However, over the past 60 years or so, the Ban Raji have been 'settled' on small fragments of Forest land on lease, and subsequent restrictions due to their range being declared a Sanctuary, and restrictions on the use of any forest produce, they have no option but to collect and sell whatever they can from these forests. The second is the existence of forest patches and groves dedicated to certain deities in some high altitude villages. Here, people are not permitted to enter the forest with any metal implement or tool, and may at most collect dry and deadwood that they can break off with their hands only. These are often subalpine birch forests, and in one location a large stand of Junipers. There are only about six such locations in the landscape, and except in the forest above Napalchu in Byans, there is progressive degradation of these stands, wrought by people within the communities as well as visitors (shepherds, hunters, porters from expeditions) who do not adhere to the restrictions placed by the community. It is however, noteworthy, and a prime example of cultural capital that needs to be revived and strengthened wherever possible, if only for the propagation of sustainable use practices, and coordinated community action.
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CHAPTER 4: LAW, POLICY, GUIDELINES REVIEW PART A: A LEGAL MAPPING OF THE ASKOT LANDSCAPE The legal and policy mapping of the landscape under BCRLIP needs an extensive and liberal approach without which it may not be possible to understand how the existing regime could impact conservation and livelihoods in the landscape in varied ways and forms. Generally speaking, the major areas of law and policy that could be identified in this regard across all the landscapes include Forest and Wildlife Laws and Policies, the Panchayats/local Self Governance Laws and Policies, the Land Revenue Code and Rules/Notifications, the Agricultural and Water Laws and Polices and the Employment Guarantee and related laws. There is a deliberate need for casting a wider net to capture the provisions in law and policy for two reasons: (a) The Projects territorial expanse goes much beyond the Protected Areas and thus cannot be restricted to merely examining the Forest and Wildlife laws (b) The concerns on enabling convergence of all government line departments under BCRLIP means that working of these departments under their own/specific laws and policies also deserve to be understood. With the above approach a review of the laws and policies that potentially impact the Askot landscape in the State of Uttaranchal has been carried out and this is presented below. Early Legal Foundations of the Van Panchayats The Van Panchayat lands comprising over a third of the entire area of the landscape represents a significant dimension of landscape and this is natural, as Van Panchayats have been shaping relations between the forest and the local people in the Uttaranchal for over seventy-five years now. The formal genesis of the Van Panchayats can be traced to The Forest Council Rules 1931 which contained provisions relating to formation of Van Panchayats, defined the limits within which the Van Panchayats were to govern forests including the relationship of Van Panchayats to provincial government and the powers that the Van Panchayats could exercise over the members and forests. Most importantly it enabled the village people to seek demarcation of specific forest areas for reestablishing management of forest communally. The State government modified the Forest Council Rules comprehensively in 1976 aiming to regulate the internal functioning of the Council more strictly. The Panchayat Forest Rules 1976 were seen as substantially cutting into Van Panchayats authority, autonomy and entitlements. Through these Rules the Revenue department exercised dominant control over the formation of the Van Panchayats and the term of office of the Panchayats governing committee, the authority of the Van Panchayats was tightly circumscribed especially where potential conflicts between interests of the village people and that of the state interest existed and finally, the forest department retained its commercial interest in the land that came under the Panchayats jurisdiction. 30 Significantly, the Rules restricted the area eligible for new Van
30
For a comprehensive recent analysis of these Rules see Aggarwal Arun, Environmentality: Technologies of Government and the Making of Subjects, Oxford University Press 2006.
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Panchayat formation to that falling within the new village boundaries drawn under the revenue settlement of the early 1960s instead of the sal assi boundaries. 31 There has been however substantial new thinking on Van Panchayats lately and this is evidenced by Rules that have been created afresh for them first in 2001 and then again in 2005 which are separately discussed in a subsequent section. Forests Produce, Private Forest and Transit Rules There were other processes historically including nationalization of forest produce leading to control of the forest corporation on resin and even salvage timber, the coming of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the role of the higher courts impacting legal policy on forest and especially the ban on felling that was playing a larger role in influencing both forest conservation and forest-based livelihoods. The Uttaranchal Tendu Patta (Vyapar Viniyaman) Adhiniyam, passed in 1972 restricted the sale, purchase and transport of Tendu leaves to the state government or an authorised officer of the state government or an agent in respect of the unit in which the leaves have grown. The Act also defines the grower of Tendu leaves and includes the state government in respect of the RF and the PF, the Gaon Sabha and tenure holder on whose land such leaves are grown. 32 The Uttaranchal Resin and Other Forest Produce (Regulation of Trade) Act came into force in 1976 and under it regulation of Resin was done in a similar manner in which Tendu leaves are regulated. 33 These legislations have had definitive impacts on the livelihoods within and outside Van Panchayats in the landscape - an aspect that perhaps merit a close study in itself. In addition to the above, several rules have been enacted under the Indian Forest Act as applied to Uttaranchal These ranges from rules regarding protected forests, transit of timber and other forest produce, collection and disposal of drift and stranded wood and timber to regulation and establishment of saw mills and grazing rules. The Uttaranchal Transit of Timber & Other Forest Produce Rules, 1978 under the Indian Forest Act regulates the transit of timber and other forest produce within the state of U.P. by means of transit passes. However any forest produce that is removed for bonafide consumption in exercise of a privilege granted by the state or through a right recognised under this Act does not require a transit pass. The Uttaranchal Establishment & Regulation of Saw Mills Rules, 1978 provides that no person would establish or operate any saw mill or machinery for converting or cutting timber and wood without a license from the concerned Divisional Forest Officer. 34
31
As they excluded class I reserve forest from village boundaries, this amounted to a steep reduction in the forest area available for Van Panchayat control. While the villagers continued to depend on these areas, they no longer permitted to manage them. This is a major reason for the degraded state of Reserved Forests near villages. Saxena,N.C 1995,Towards Sustainable Forestry in the U.P Hills, CSD-LBS,Mussourie as quoted by Sarin, 2001,Supra. 32 The State Government is empowered to fix the price of the Tendu leaves and also register growers and manufacturers of bidis and exporter of Tendu leaves The rules under the above Act prescribes the manner in which agents are appointed, the manner in which Tendu leaves would be collected, the authority who would issue transport permit etc.
33
Detailed penal provisions have been provided for offences by persons or companies. The rules under this Act provide for the application for issue of permit, tapping of trees, registration of tappers etc. and the officers authorized to implement the Act. 34 It has been clarified by the Allahabad High Court that these Rules in no way interferes with the freedom of trade or business as contemplated under Article 19(1) of the Constitution Shri Baleshwar Singh and ors vs State of U.P and ors 1991 All. L.J. 529
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Mention may also be made here of the Uttaranchal Private Forests Act, 1948 which was enacted immediately after independence and continues to be in force to check the denudation of tree growth in private forests. 35 Although, the Act aims at conserving private forest which is not the property of the government the forest department can exercise control over such forest by means of approved working plans as well as restriction on rights to cut, collect or remove timber even for domestic or agricultural needs. The Act further, provides that in the public interest any private area or forest whether notified or not may be vested in the state government after following a due procedure and extinguishment of right of a right holder. 36 A significant aspect of the 1948 legislation is that as opposed to other forest-related laws it defines the right holder as well as wasteland and working plan. 37 The State of U.P. had also formulated rules regulating the grazing of cattle in the reserved forest of the land management circle and to other forests or lands that Conservator of Forest may direct 38 . Under the said Grazing rules areas that are open to grazing have been earmarked. Further, grazing is prohibited in certain blocks in accordance with the working plans of the said area. The rules also provide for grant of permit for grass cutting and the conditions on felling or lopping of any tree. The concerned DFO is required to publish at his office the area open to grazing in each block, according to the schemes of grazing regulation for the time being in force. Whether such regulation is based on adequate understanding the carrying capacity of the forest is a moot question. These rules nevertheless assume significance in the context of the finding that certain areas in some villages in the landscape seem over-intensively grazed. Recent Developments on Van Panchayats, Forest Policies and JFM In the backdrop of the above mentioned legal history and enactments there have been a series of some more recent developments, which are fraught with far reaching implications for the biodiversity and livelihoods in the landscape. These are discussed below. It has been pointed out above that while there are over 23 Van Panchayats in the four basins of the landscape that have thousands of hectares of land under Van panchayats there are others with just 2 hectares of land as a village forest! This is coupled by the fact that across the State there has been a sudden spurt recently in creation of Van Panchayats. The fast rising numbers suggest that Van
35
36 37
Private Forests exclude (a) any land which is vested in the government, (b) any land in respect of which notifications and orders issued under the Indian Forests Act, 1927, are in force, and (c) any land where the Kumaun Forest Panchayat Rules apply. See Section 16 to 25 of the Act. Right-holder means a person who has by custom a right of cutting or collecting in, and removing from, a forest timber, fuel and other forest produce for his domestic and agricultural purposes and of pasturing his cattle in a forest. wasteland means any land which the State Government may, by notification, declare to be a wasteland for the purposes of this Act; working plan means a written scheme for the management and treatment of a forest The Rules Regulating the Grazing of Cattle in the Land Management Circle, Uttar Pradesh 1954. For details of this notification on Grazing Rules of Forest Blocks See Forest Department Notification No. 23/XIV dated October 13, 1954.
38
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Panchayats are being formed not through a demand driven process but a supply driven one and their reducing sizes other parts of the State even have Van Panchayats less than 1 ha and many of the Panchayats have less than 10 ha are puts a big question mark on their sustainability. A close evaluation on this phenomenon can throw light on the impact of this trend on both conservation of forest and needs of the locals for the landscape. In 1997 Village Forest Joint Management Rules 1997 were also introduced. The Rules made under Section 28 and Section 76 of the Indian Forest Act 1927 by doing so the erstwhile Uttar Pradesh became one of the first States to provide a legal basis to the JFM scheme - provided that a Village Forest shall be managed jointly by a Village Forest Committee and nominated officers of the Forest Department on specific terms and conditions (specified in a format appended to the Rules). This Joint Management of Village Forests was subject to the supervision, direction, control and concurrence of the Divisional Forest Officer. These rules for JFM in the state of U.P. provide for three tiered JFM committees for conservation and protection of forests. These include the committees at the village level, range level and divisional level. The Rules also say that the management of village forests would be jointly done by village forest committees and nominated officers of the Forest Departments. 39 They also lay down that if the forest Panchayat so decides a Panchayati forest could also be governed under the JFM rules. Under the Rules the village committee is required to prepare microplans, annual implementation plans, prevent destruction of trees, ensure that no encroachment takes place and further ensure the preservation of wildlife among other things. Notably, the power vested with the village committee is that of a forest officer. Further, the funds are required to be arranged by the village committee from government and non-government organizations including contributions from the village community. However, the control over the same is in the hands of the DFO who releases funds in accordance with the order of the government. Finally, the benefits accruing from the sale of forest produce, fees and permits etc. are fifty percent subject to a maximum of Rs. fifty thousand a year, after deducting the cost of investment. The Indian Forest Act in its application in the state of Uttaranchal provides that the state government may constitute any forest land and waste land or any other lands excluding the land comprised in any holding or grove or in any village abadi and over which government has proprietary rights, as reserved forest in the state. 40 An Indian Forest (Uttaranchal Amendment) Act was passed in 2001 that introduced some significant new features in the Indian Forest Act, 1927 as applicable to the state of Uttaranchal. The 2001 Amendment Act made certain grave forest Offences non bail-able while making clear that forest offences committed under the Act could lead to imprisonment and/or imposition of fines. Besides, legal rights are accorded to the Divisional Forest Officer to deal with forest offences. The Forest Department has been strengthened through the Amendment Act giving the powers to use force to remove encroachments and to remove things and crops forcibly, if needed. The Amendment Act thus has given
39
40
Village forest committee means a committee constituted under sub-section (6) of section 29 of the Utttarachal Panchayati Raj Act, 1947 for the purpose of these Rules; See Section 3 of the Act. The expression holding has the same meaning as under the U.P. Tendency Act, 1939 and the expression Village Abadi has the same meaning as assigned under the U.P. Village Abadi Act, 1947.
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strong powers to the Forest Department for policing the forests. A new State Forest Policy 2001 has also been adopted in the State. The Policy gives primacy to the environmental stability and social balance while it puts economic benefits from the forest in a second category. It also says that extraction of Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFPs) shall be in accordance with sustainable practices while taking care that it allows the NTFPs to regenerate. Further, the task of extraction of forest produce has been vested with the Forest development Corporation (Van Vikas Nigam) The Policy also asserts that accountability for effective forest management rests with the forest department especially when, according to the Policy, Van Panchayats have been given powers and financial autonomy to manage local forest affairs. Other features of the policy include - prudent use of fuel wood and other forest produces, reconciling the need for forest resources with their availability and participation of the local people especially women in forest management. On the 14th of August 2001 the Uttaranchal Medicinal Plants Board was constituted which has been mandated to carry out inter-departmental coordination at the state level for better regulation and management of medicinal plants. New Rules for regulation of medicinal plants in the State has also been passed and for collection, marketing and sale of medicinal plants three Mandis have been set up in Rishikesh, Ramanagar and Tanakpur in the state. The Uttaranchal Panchayati Forest Rules 2001 and 2005 While the 1997 Village Forest Joint Management Rules did not repeal the Panchayat Forest Rules of 1976, The Panchayat Forest Rules 2001 superseded the 1976 Rules. These Rules were made under section 28(2) and under Section 76 of the Indian Forest Act. As per the Rules, Forest Panchayat means a committee constituted for the management of a Panchayati Forest and Panchayati Forest includes any area constituted as such and shall have the same meaning as has been assigned to the phrase village forest under Section 28 of the Indian Forest Act. The Planning Provisions under the Rules are especially notable. The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) shall prepare a Composite Management Plan for all Panchayati Forest under his control for a period of five years and the Conservator of Forests would approve such a plan. The forest Panchayat is then obligated to prepare a Micro Plan for five years on the basis of guiding principles in the Composite Management Plan with the assistance of the Ranger of the forest department. The Micro Plan would be placed before the general meeting of all the right holders for its approval before it is finally sanctioned by the DFO. The Rules add here that the Micro Plan would give due consideration to the requirements of the right holders and ensuring the ecological balance of the region. 41 In addition to the Plans above, the Van Panchayat is mandated under the Rules to prepare an Annual Implementation Plan with the help of a forester especially deputed by the State Government (Panchayat Van Vid) on the basis of sanctioned Micro Plan and then get it approved by the Forest Ranger. 42 It is
41
42
Rule 12 of The Uttaranchal Panchayati Forest Rules, 2001 Rule 13 of The Uttaranchal Panchayati Forest Rules, 2001
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obvious from the provisions above that the Forest department has tightened its control for planning in a Van Panchayat at all levels. There is also the recurrent issue of transparency in administration of their funds. Studies in the past has shown that many of these Van Panchayats do not know how much money has been credited in their account. For financial empowerment of the Van Panchayats it is imperative that there should be transparency regarding funds and that they are vested with sufficient authority for utilizing their money for community projects. In course of the teams visit to one of the villages in the landscape the Sarpanch observed that Ab to Van Panchayats aap ke under main ho gayi hain (Now the Van Panchayats are under you (Forest Departments control). Although the officials from the Department quickly clarified that this was not the case and that in fact recent amendments are supposed to vest greater powers with the local people and the Sarpanch, the conversation hinted at the larger question of the efficacy of the Van Panchayats as an enabling institution for the project activities. There have been recent radical alterations in the Van Panchayat governance mechanisms that are setting the stage for altered land-use within Van Panchayats. The changes from the 2001 and now the 2005 Van Panchayat Rules in effect will result in two major changes. a) It fundamentally dismantles the longstanding and very progressive arrangement of the Van Panchayat as a Commons by re-interpreting and breaking up the 'owners' of the Van Panchayat, and by re-designating the Panchayat or governing body as just a 'management committee', and b) sets up communities to change the land-use of the Panchayat Forest from one only for local and subsistence use, to business enterprise, between even sub-sets of the community with outside commercial entities. The existing support area for agriculture and other subsistence needs is already scarce in many villages, and altered priorities within Van Panchayats, favouring business enterprise over survival needs of the poorer sections of the villages is likely to lead to serious livelihoods implications. Van Panchayat lands cover almost 35% of the entire landscape, and hold some of the most biodiverse and pristine areas within this landscape as well, so the implications for conservation are also very significant. It has been pointed out at the outset that the landscapes territorial expanse goes much beyond the Protected Areas and the mandate for both conservation and livelihoods under BCRLIP means that any exercise in legal and policy mapping cannot be restricted to merely examining the Forest and Wildlife laws. We now turn to some other elements of the legal regime relevant to the landscape. Legal Framework on Water Rights and Management Access to water both for drinking and for irrigation is one area of concern. Some of the early formal initiatives to establish government rights over water and rights of cultivators over irrigation channels can be see in the two Water Rules in 1917 and 1930. The Kumaon Water Rules 1917 laid down that The beds and water of all rivers and natural streams and all lakes, natural ponds, and other collection of still water within the hill tracts of the Kumaon division are the property and 66 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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subject to the control of the state 43 These Rules also made clear that no water mill or irrigation channel shall be constructed or worked without the sanction of the collector. 44 The Kumoan Water Rules of 1930 modified the 1917 Rules and importantly the first of these Rules laid down that government will have no objection to the construction of new irrigation channels by any landholder but such channels must not reduce or otherwise be injurious to an existing right of the user of water belonging to any other party. While both the 1917 and the 1930 Water Rules did not apply to the drinking water, following independence the need to provide drinking water to the Uttarakhand hills assumed priority. The enactment of Kumaon and Uttarakhand Zamindari Abolition Act 1950 confirmed that ownership of a private well i.e a pond naula or nauli vested in the owner of the land in which it was located. 45 The Rules also made clear that tanks, ponds ferries, water channels belonging to the state shall be managed by the Gram Sabha or any other local authority. 46 However it was the Kumaon and Garhwal Water (Collection Retention and Distribution) Act 1975 that sought to redefine the water law framework for the State. The Act was passed to regulate and control in public interest the water resources in the mountain tracts of the Kumaon and Garhwal divisions and for this purpose empowered the State government to regulate and control, by rules under the Act, the collection, retention and distribution of water and water resources. While doing so quite astonishingly the Act also declared that all the existing rights (whether customary or otherwise and whether vested in any individual or in village communities) of use of water, if any in the areas to which this Act extends, shall stand abolished. 47 It empowers the State government to demarcate areas for protection of water resources and to declare the same as protected area 48 It then specifically prohibits cutting of trees, bushes, shrubs, or burn dried grass in any protected area without the permission in writing of the Sub Divisional Officer. 49 However these provisions has not been of much consequence simply because the Government has failed to demarcate any protected area and this in turn has happened because no rules has been no rules made under the Act. 50 The year 1975 also saw the enactment of The Uttaranchal Water Supply and Sewerage Act, 1975 which was an Act to provide for the establishment of a corporation, authorities and organizations for the development and regulation of water supply and sewerage services 51 . Accordingly, the Act provided for the constitution of the Uttaranchal Jal Nigam and then vested wide ranging powers
Note to Rule 1 Kumoan Water Rules 1917 Further the Rules said that when the construction and working of a water mill is sanctioned the collector shall assess it for such rent as he may think fit.
44 45
43
Rules framed under the Act established this by giving the right of transfer of the pond to the owner of the land who will not be liable to be ejected and shall have the right to use the (site of the pond) for any purpose. This was clear vesting of water rights for the landowners and in respect of water sources and water bodies falling within their lands. 46 Thus the Act affirmed the ownership of a water source within ones land and also provided modalities for managing any state owned water channel or pond through local authority. 47 Section 3 of the 1975 Act. 48 Section 4(1) (b) of the Act. 49 Section 7 of the Act. 50 Indeed, despite a specific requirement of regulation of water and water resources by State by rules under the Act it is remarkable that no rules have been made under the Act for over three decades now. 51 As per the Preamble of the Act.
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and functions with the Nigam. It also laid down that if local conditions so required the State Government could constitute a Jal Sansthan for any area that required improvement of water supply and sewerage services. 52 Under the Act the state government could also give directions to ensure co-ordination between activities of Jal Sansthan with local bodies in the area. Finally, on water management one may also mention here that a Government Order of August 18th 2004 specifically mentions that a new legislation on Ground Water Extraction, Control, Regulation and Recharge is on the anvil and should be brought into effect by the end of 2006. 53 Land Management and the Legal Regime Land management and effective regulation on land use can be critical in shaping initiatives for both conservation and livelihoods and the legal regime addressing these also deserve mention. The control of reserve forest land, civil and soyam land, and Van Panchayat land has historically been vested with the Forest Department, The Revenue Department and Van Panchayats respectively. There has always been a felt need to streamline different regulations and approaches to forest management under various categories of land vested with different authorities. Experiences from recent history in the State also suggest that a comprehensive land use planning and management policy is fundamental to conservation and regeneration of forest areas in the State. Some elements of the legal regime that can shape better land use in the landscape may be noted below. Soon after the coming of the Zamindari Abolition Act, in 1954 the undivided state of Uttar Pradesh through legislation demonstrated and recognized the importance of soil conservation research in order to conserve and improve the resources of the State. 54 However, a more comprehensive Act to consolidate the laws relating to conservation and improvement of soil and water resources was enacted only in 1963 and this was The Uttaranchal Bhoomi Evam Jal Sanrakshan Adhiniyam, 1963. For the purposes of this Act the administrative machinery constituted includes a Bhoomi Evam Jal Sanrakshan Board, the Zila Samiti and also the Bhoomi Sanrakshan Adhikari. On a resolution passed by The Zila Samiti, the Bhoomi Sanrakshan Adhikari is required to prepare a detailed soil and water conservation plan. 55 The said plan is required to be approved by the Zila Samiti. 56 The Act further prohibits any person to do any act on any land, which is prejudicial to the interest of soil and water conservation. The idea of treating water together with land suggested well over four decades ago is critical for a project like BCRLIP and thus the implementation of the Act including the existing and potential utilization of the institutional mechanism created under it is an aspect that deserves to be closely examined.
52
53 54 55 56
See Section 18 of the Act. This commitment is laid down in G.O No. 2120/Twenty Nine/04-2(22-Pey) 2004. The Uttar Pradesh Soil Conservation Act, 1954 As per Section 9 of the Act. In case the authorities (e.g. Collector) are satisfied that for the purposes of executing the plan it is necessary that temporary possession of any land should be taken he may direct the Bhoomi Sanrakshan Adhikari to take temporary possession of such land for a period which should not exceed five years.
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It may also be noted here that under the Panchayat Raj Act 1947 the Gram Panchayat could also function as a Land Management Committee (Bhumi Prabandhak Samiti) on behalf of the Gaon Sabha and this Samiti is charged with the general superintendence, management, preservation and control of all land entrusted to a Gaon Sabha. More specifically the function of the Samiti include setting and management of land, development of agriculture, preservation, maintenance and development of forest and trees, maintenance and development of abadi sites, development of cottage industries, a maintenance of fisheries and tanks and finally consolation of holdings. 57 Just the sheer range of functions with it suggests that the Bhumi Prabandhak Samiti can institutionally underpin activities under BCRLIP. Irrigators Associations and Co operative Farming Societies A new window for forming Irrigators associations has been opened up in the State due to some new thinking in the Minor Irrigation Department to involve the water users and the farmers in water management. In fact the Department is reporting to the Centre periodically on the progress it is making in promoting Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) in the state. However, there is a need for caution here. While the idea of involving the water users and the farmers themselves in Irrigation Management is right, there is a need to think through the institutional design carefully and take into account the ground realities of the state including most critically the historical experience of locally constituted Sinchai Samitis in various parts of Uttaranchal. Finally, for organizing the cultivators in the landscape the potential of Cooperative Farming Society also needs to be explored. The purpose of forming the Society under the Uttaranchal Co-Operative Society Act 1965 may be agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, pisciculture, poultry farming or animal husbandry. Along with one or more purposes of the co-operative farming society the development of the cottage industry subsidiary to any such purpose may be included in the purpose of the society 58 Not only the landed farmers but also such persons who do not have any bhumidari land can also form such a society. Notably under the Act any such Cooperative Farming Society is entitled to a host of concessions, facilities and priorities including reduction in land revenue, reduction in irrigation charges, reduction in tax by local bodies, priority in supply of water for irrigation, seeds, manures fertilizers and other articles necessary for farm production and finally priority in marketing of farm produce. 59 PART B: ISSUES IN LAW AND POLICY AND GAP ANALYSIS The merits of legal mapping apart, it also needs to be emphasized that the law and policy regime need to respond to the ground realities and the felt needs of the people rather than just being overlaid on the landscape from above. Such an approach also helps in identifying the most critical/ key legal issues emerging from the landscape and is useful to carryout the Gap Analysis effectively. Some such critical issues and themes are mentioned below.
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58 59
See Section 28-B of the Panchayat Raj Act. See Section 77 (1) of the Act. See Section 87 of the Cooperative Society Act, 1965.
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Sanctuary Notification and Alienation of the local people The ongoing process of de-notification of part of the Askot Sanctuary has been an overriding concern of the people in the landscape. The problem had been compounded by the nature of notification of Sanctuary itself that had failed to demarcate the precise Sanctuary area. Even while the Sanctuary was intended to notify an area of 600 sq. km the digitization and mapping of the PA area actually done has shown that the notified area is over 2,900 sq. km. This is because as it stands today the Sanctuary includes the entire Dharchula Tehsil and all the 111 villages in it and restrictions on access and use in the Sanctuary under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and the Supreme Court judgments interpreting it has meant that there are large areas where developmental works came to a near complete halt for close to two decades! There is a now progressive policy shift worldwide that broadens the definition of 'displacement' beyond its usual acceptation as geographic relocation, to include also occupational and economic dislocation, not necessarily accompanied by the physical (geographic) relocation of the users 60 . The definition of 'restriction of access' to certain resources in protected areas as a form of involuntary population displacement finds place in the resettlement policy of the World Bank (OP/BP 4.12) as far back as 2002, for the development and conservation projects it finances, and also affects programmes financed by GEF, the two partners for the BCRLI Project. This has far-reaching implications for the Askot LS, where not only has there been no Settlement of Rights as required under law, but the further restrictions placed by the Supreme Court in February 2000 to even collecting grass or deadwood from all PAs, on an agrarian and forest dependent communities. Since there has not been any geographical dislocation of homes and agriculture land, this issue has not been taken seriously. This is involuntary displacement as per the wider prevailing definition, and has led to very serious alienation of local communities from anything to do with the state and conservation, and is perhaps one of the most critical issues here. The legal position under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 need to be closely understood in the above context. The Act says that any activity in a Sanctuary that may cause damage or divert a habitat of any wildlife stand prohibited unless there is a permit granted by the Chief Wild Life Warden. 61 The permission has to be granted after a satisfaction is recorded by the State Government in consultation with the State Government Board for wildlife as constituted under the said Act. The position under the law is that certain activities can be permitted even inside the sanctuary but not without a permit. Prior to 1.4.2003, i.e., prior to the amendment of Section 29, the permission was required with regard to entry in any sanctuary and carrying out any other activity. After the amendment some more prohibitions have been specifically imposed including removal or exploitation of forest produce. The power conferred on the wild life authorities to grant a permit is to be exercised which sub serves the interest of protection of wild life.
60
61
Population displacement inside protected areas: a redefinition of concepts in conservation policies. Michael.M. Cernea: Policy Matters 14, March 2006. See Section 29 of the Act.
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In light of such a strict and restrictive legal regime it is incumbent on the authorities to rationalise the Sanctuary boundaries at the earliest and the position today when even flourishing hill-towns come under it is simply unsustainable. The problem has been aggravated by the fact that settlement of rights process itself has not been inclusive with the Sanctuary notification not even alluding to these. The fact that reportedly only 18 villages (out of 111 villages in the Sanctuary) have recorded rights further suggests the gravity of the problem. All this has accounted for a growing disenchantment of the local people against the Sanctuary itself, especially over the last two decades. In light of the proposal of the Government of Uttaranchal to the Central Empowered Committee and the NBWL for removal of all areas that fall under agriculture lands from the Askot WLS and reported recommendation of the NBWL for settling the rights of the village people things are going to change hopefully for the better and this potentially serves the project an opportunity to begin interventions on the right note. Need to Revisit Resource and Property Rights Regime The new Uttaranchal Panchayati Forest Rules, 2001 mention that only Rights of users would be granted in Panchayati Forests constituted from reserved forests and that such rights would extend to only those persons whose rights are recorded in the list of rights within whose settlement boundary such forests lie. Considering the fact that the Settlement process had its own inadequacies and limitations historically in the State, the provision under the rules could significantly curtail the number of people who could avail of the already limited rights of user. 62 Besides the basis of demarcation of Van Panchayat lands is one area that needs close examination and this has been referred to above. In addition to the points above one critical aspect of the record of rights of people in the landscape is that almost all-private land-holding are recorded in large jointaccounts called Gol Khata. While most land are formally registered with the revenue Department in joint-holdings actual kabza is based on long-standing possession and use and can be contested by any joint holder at any point. This position in the land records can be a source of recurrent conflicts between joint holders apart from restricting the defacto landholders from free enjoyment of their lands. It is imperative that quite apart from the larger concerns on diminishing CPRs in Van Panchayat lands, where private property rights need to be strengthened it should be done and revisiting of Gol Khatas is an important case in point. This is especially so as field and social assessments have shown above that Gol Khata land is truely private property that is collectively held by a few, unlike their commons. It has also been pointed out that as per the last Settlement of the 1960s within village boundaries there are patches of revenue land wherein villages do not have formal rights over it as they do over their commons. This results in patches of land that are often in open-access conditions, are over-used and most degraded. This is also an aspect that merits correction.
62
The positive aspect here is that the Rules add that These rights will also be exercised by landless people who have been residing in that village for long, where Panchayati Forests have been constituted.
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Exploring/Utilizing existing Legal Spaces for Integrated Resource Management A larger point that comes through in the review above is that the legal regime applicable to the landscape need not be understood in different subject compartments but in way that helps in utilizing the inevitable linkages in forest, water and land management. The jurisdiction of Van Panchayats in the State and their control over forests is tied up to the extent of forest land that is made available to them and the institutions control over forest and forest land has historically been a function of land settlement policies and laws. In fact land settlements and the rights of the people coming out of it has had a direct impact on the shaping of both the forest and the water rights. A good example here is The Kumaon and Garhwal Water (Collection Retention and Distribution) Act 1975 regulating water and water resources also has specific provisions that trees and vegetation in the catchment of the resources needs to be protected and that such areas could be demarcated as Protected Areas. More specifically, the idea of treating water together with land as demonstrated by The Uttaranchal Bhoomi Evam Jal Sanrakshan Adhiniyam, 1963 suggests that the thinking of integrated resource management existed even over four decades ago. At another level integration of conservation with livelihood needs are also suggested by more recent Rules like The Uttaranchal Panchayati Forest Rules, 2001 which say that the Micro Plans prepared the Van Panchayats would give due consideration to the requirement of the right holders and ensuring the ecological balance of the region. 63 Remarkably, if one is just searching for the right words an integral perspective combing conservation goals with livelihood needs are not difficult to see. However most of such legal spaces do not get utilized and remain on paper. Positively put, there is a need to recognize and then utilise these legal spaces for effective integrated management of resources. Collaborative Decision Making and the law-policy frame The need for interdepartmental coordination got highlighted in the inception workshop at Dharchula and there examples like the Drinking Water Supply Projects not being able to lay down pipelines in the notified forest areas were given to emphasize this aspect. In the subsequent field visits in the villages the issue surfaced repeatedly as for instance in one village where the efforts of the minor irrigation department in laying down the Guls ended up having an unintended effect with the local people not being happy with its location and also because they felt that the entire exercise was undertaken without taking into confidence the local Gram Panchayat or the Van Panchayat. This in fact provoked a representation from the Sarpanch to the Minor Irrigation Department who then passd the same to the Forest department. It was obvious that the issue would be resolved only if the communication gap between the two departments gets bridged and the village level entities come together to think it through. On this last aspect of exploring complementarities between existing village entities some new Rules deserve a closer look. It has been pointed out in a previous section that Village Forest Joint Management Rules 1997 provide for three tiered JFM committees for conservation
63
Rule 12 of The Uttaranchal Panchayati Forest Rules, 2001
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and protection of forests. These include the committees at the village level, range level and divisional level. The Range Committee for village forests in each range was to consist of a significant number of representatives from the Kshetra and the Gram Panchayat with the Pramukh of the concerned Kshetra Panchayats as the ex-offcio chairman. The Committee is to ensure that the Village Committees were discharging their duties and exercising their powers properly, equitably and justly. On the other hand the over all effect of the 2001 Panchayat Forest Rules is the fact that as against an active involvement of the Gram Sabha or Gram Panchayat, the establishment, planning, supervision and control of the Van Panchayat is all through the Forest department. As opposed to the 1997 Rules that aimed at establishing a village committee, and therein included the Village Forest Committee as a committee of the Gram Panchayat (under the United Provinces Panchayat Raj Act) and also sought to introduce Panchayats control through Range Committees, no such effort has been made under The Uttaranchal Panchayati Forest Rules, 2001 and in 2005. In this regard one may also mention that under The Uttaranchal Water Supply and Sewerage Act, 1975 the state government could also give directions to ensure co-ordination between activities of Jal Sansthan with local bodies in the area. This again represents a useful space that has not been given any operative effect, as the co-ordination between activities of Jal Sansthan with local bodies has not been thought through. Decentralization leading to fragmentation: Implications While the formal law and policy instruments for decentralization of natural resource management has come thick and fast in recent years by the state and applicable to the landscape their implications both in the short and long term needs to understood. There has been amendments in the Panchayat Raj Act giving watershed committees a legal status and the committees of the Panchayat on one hand while detailed Government Orders have been issued recently vesting functions and powers for rural water supply in Panchayats. Here two Government Orders passed on two successive days in August 2004 perhaps are the most important in terms of how the Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) are being empowered under the Swajal Programme in the State. One of these Orders lay down the functions, functionaries and funds available with all the three tiers of the Panchayats in this regard. 64 There is a distinct policy and legislative activity in the state today that are creating formal village level entities like the Watershed Committees, Village Water Supply Committees and perhaps Water User Associations all of which will come into play in the landscape. Their activities may overlap with one another and perhaps with the Van Panchayats too and this is a concern that needs to be addressed at policy level sooner than later. One feels that while instruments promoting decentralization is in pursuance of a Constitutional mandate and responds to a felt need, it may inadvertently be leading to greater fragmentation -and not Integration of institutional entities at the local level.
64
This is a positive step and in the right direction because not only does the Government Order detail the administrative and executive functions that the Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and the Zila Panchayat are to perform, but aims at empowering these Panchayat with financial powers and then places the official functionaries of the Peyjal Nigam and the Jal Sansthan within the administrative control of the Panchayats. G.O No. 2121/TwentyNine/04-2/2004 dtd. 17th August 2004.
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The shifting positions in the law and Policy. The regime of the Van Panchayats in Uttarnchal has been subjected to repeated changes in the last ten years during which Village Forest Joint Management Rules, 1997, The Uttaranchal Panchayati Forest Rules, 2001,The Uttaranchal Forest Corporation Act, 2001 and the Uttaranchal Panchayati Forest Rules, 2005 have all come into being. It has just not been possible for the lay person to keep pace with the shifting positions in law. While the merits of substantive changes need evaluation for the project needs, but quite apart from that, the fact that these changes happen so quickly mean that the central features of any robust legal frame- its certainty and predictability - has simply not been there. The shifting positions in the law and Policy could impact project objectives and interventions both in the short and long term. Involuntary displacement of Village Communities within the Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary. This issue needs to be interpreted and placed significantly. There is a progressive policy shift worldwide that broadens the definition of 'displacement' beyond its usual acceptation as geographic relocation, to include also occupational and economic dislocation, not necessarily accompanied by the physical (geographic) relocation of the users 65 . The definition of 'restriction of access' to certain resources in protected areas as a form of involuntary population displacement finds place in the resettlement policy of the World Bank (OP/BP 4.12) as far back as 2002, for the development and conservation projects it finances, and also affects programmes financed by GEF, the two partners for the BCRLI Project. This has far-reaching implications for the Askot LS, where not only has there been no Settlement of Rights as required under law, but the further restrictions placed by the Supreme Court in February 2000 to even collecting grass or deadwood from all PAs, on an agrarian and forest dependent communities. Since there has not been any geographical dislocation of homes and agriculture land, this issue has not been taken seriously. It has led to very serious alienation of local communities from anything to do with the state and conservation, and is perhaps one of the most critical issues here. This is further compounded by the fact that while the Notified Area of the Askot MDS is 600 sq km, the actual area under such restrictions are 2,901 sq km (area actually administered as the Sanctuary). Dismantling Commons and preparing the ground for altered land-use within Van Panchayats. The changes from the 2001 and now the 2005 Van Panchayat Rules in effect will result in two major changes. a) It fundamentally dismantles the longstanding and very progressive arrangement of the Van Panchayat as a Commons by re-interpreting and breaking up the 'owners' of the Van Panchayat, and by re-designating the Panchayat or governing body as just a 'management committee', and b) sets up communities to change the land-use of the Panchayat Forest from one only for local and subsistence use, to business enterprise, between even sub-sets of the community with outside commercial entities. Van Panchayat lands cover almost 35% of the entire landscape, and hold some of the most biodiverse and pristine areas within this landscape, so the implications are very significant.
65
Population displacement inside protected areas: a redefinition of concepts in conservation policies. Michael.M. Cernea: Policy Matters 14, March 2006.
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Policy of the Government of India to progressively roll back subsidies on food-grain through the PDS, as well as on education and health services at large, in favour of services through markets Specifically for this landscape, this has very serious implications for remote, marginalized and predominantly subsistence level communities, and has been one of the most critical issues raised repeatedly in village level consultations. For a landscape where less than 3% of the area is agriculture land, and where over 90% of the holdings are marginal, food security is a serious issue. In one part of the landscape (the Gori basin) it was estimated that on average, just about half the food-grain requirement of local communities and their livestock was grown locally, and the rest was imported and had to be bought. The average for the entire landscape will be even less. While the percentage of the population estimated by the surveys to be living below the Poverty Line is 47% of the total population of the District, there is a scramble for families to be actually designated by officialdom as 'BPL' (Below-Poverty-Line) so that they can continue to get subsidized food-rations from the PDS system. The quantity of food-grain allotted even to those who are declared eligible, is a fixed quantity, irrespective of size of family, often leading to severe scarcity. This is a serious situation as far as the poor are concerned, and for conservation of biodiversity within the landscape. A study in the Gori basin on the collection and trade in medicinal plants (largely illegal) revealed that the road-head traders and village level intermediaries give loans and advances in the form of food-grain to the collectors, and are paid back through their collections. This is the predominant method, and insecurity on the food front sets people up for such illegal and over-intensive extractive use. The extremely poor, and for distant villages non-existent facilities in the fields of education as well as curative health services are like-wise very serious issues. All have far-reaching implications on the agrarian and forest dependent livelihoods, food security and on the possibilities for alternate non-extractive livelihoods, and therefore impact seriously on the possibilities of biodiversity conservation in the Landscape. The insecurity of tenure, and the designation of the Ban Raji as a 'Primitive Tribe' by the Government of India The Ban Raji tribal settlements within the Landscape are all on tiny fragments, of steep, degraded Reserve Forest Lands, and on Lease to them. While the Ban Raji were till recently a reclusive and non-settled community, moving locations over the years, they were compelled to 'settle' in the locations where they presently are, on RF land. Not only are these lands small fragments, steep, rocky and entirely unsuitable for agriculture, the tenure is also not secure for most to wish to invest sufficient labour and time for improving it. Most of the Banraji do not have documentation of their leased land. Of four Banraji villages in the landscape, only one hamlet has access to the Van Panchayat of its larger revenue village. The other three have no Van Panchayat, and no rights within the adjoining forests. Not even to forage for the eight odd varieties of dioscorea tubers from the forest that they heavily depend on for food. This feeds into the poverty cycle. While the Banraji were essentially forest foragers, their livelihoods have been rendered entirely illegal by the Supreme Court Order of Feb 2000. Further, their 75 PEACE ELDF Samrakshan NR International September, 2007
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designation as a 'Primitive Tribe' is gross and demeaning, and is a view that is ignorant of their complex social arrangements, and places them at the bottom of a hierarchy in their interactions with larger society outside their ethnicity. It also devalues perhaps the last relics of small-scale society who was primarily a forest foraging society, with the least impact on the biodiversity of the region. Rather than valuing this and restoring their rights to forage, while also providing for the articulation of their aspirations with regard to the society at large that they interact with, there have been very weak attempts by the state to co-opt them into the mainstream hill society. As a result, the Ban Raji are the poorest and the most 'hopeless' community in the entire landscape, ridden by disease and alcoholism, and inducted in the bottom rung of labour. They are facing extinction, and this is a matter of very grave concern not just for their unique genetic representation, but also for the cultural heritage of least-impact human coexistence with nature, that will go with them.

Askot Landscape Indicative Plan (Chapter 1 - 4)

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Biodiversity Conservation and Rural Livelihoods Improvement Project Final Report Askot Landscape - Indicative Plan

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Process and Methodology

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Salim Ali and Ripley 1983. 5

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Pine Forest Sub-tropical Riverine Forests Banj Oak Forest

Moru (Timsu) Oak

2/C1b: Moru oak forest

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15/C3: Alpine Pastures (Dry and moist types)

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Dwarf kobresia, Cushioned vegetation, Arenaria Spp., Saxifraga spp.

Scree and desertic formations except in marshy and wet places

Chhodang (Byans) Bedang (Darma)

80 11.2 N 45 56.3 E 20 30.5 N 34 02.9 E

Laspa / Sirti (Johar) Kwalganga (Johar)

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22. 23. 24.

rongzo (d), gulli mus (r, j) fea (b, d, j)

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CHAPTER 3: SOCIAL & LIVELIHOOD ASSESSMENT 3.1 Context

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Infrastructure and service support by the State is as under:

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Podophyllum hexandrum Dactylorhiza hatagirea Aconitum heterophyllum

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Estimated by Himal Prakriti 2006.

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The Economics of Deforestation: The example of Ecuador. Sven Wunder 2000.

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