Perception of local people towards conservation of forest resources in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, north-western Himalaya, India

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1 Biodivers Conserv (2007) 16: DOI /s ORIGINAL PAPER Perception of local people towards conservation of forest resources in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, north-western Himalaya, India Chandra Shekhar Silori Received: 9 August 2006 / Accepted: 9 August 2006 / Published online: 27 October 2006 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V Abstract This article examines the perception of the Bhotiya tribal community on the use and conservation of natural resources in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR), north-western Himalaya in India with an objective of identifying the bottlenecks in the sustainable management of forest resources of NDBR through people s participation. Despite, 85% of the respondents supporting the concept of conservation of forest resources, management decisions such as ban on mountaineering activities by creation of the Nanda Devi National Park (NDNP) in 1982 and NDBR in 1988, developed negative attitude among local people towards NDBR management, mainly because of restricted access to the forest resources for their livelihood. Promotion of some alternative income generating activities to reduce the dependence on natural resources was responded positively by the local people. Keywords Biodiversity conservation Æ Chipko movement Æ People s perception Æ Nanda Devi Æ Resource management Æ Sustainable development Introduction The Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR), created in 1988 and placed on the list of World Heritage Site of UNESCO in 1990, is an important protected area in the Indian Himalaya owing to its rich biological and cultural diversity. However, during last few decades the Nanda Devi region has undergone the radical changes in its social, political and environmental set-ups. The cross border trade with Tibet, largely based on the barter system, not only helped in the economic development of the region, but also enriched the cultural diversity through exchange of various items of day to day need (Prasad 1989). C. S. Silori (&) The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Southern Regional Centre, 4th Main, 2nd Cross Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bangalore , India cssilori@teri.res.in

2 212 Biodivers Conserv (2007) 16: However, the indo-china war of 1962 disrupted the trade and also initiated a process of socio-economic transformation in the region. In the following years, the fast growth of adventure tourism to the Nanda Devi peak (7817 m), the second most popular peak after Mount Everest in the Himalayas, emerged as alternative source of income to the local residents. However, in the long run, the unorganized mountaineering activities seriously threatened the biological as well as cultural integrity of the region. On one hand the incidences such as frequent forest fires, large scale deforestation, poaching of wild animals and plants and environmental pollution were on the rise while on the other cultural vandalism was proving to be another major problem (Kandari 1982). Therefore, in a bid to reverse the loss of biological wealth, the mountaineering activities were banned and the entire Rishi Ganga river basin was declared as Nanda Devi National Park (NDNP) in 1982 (Fig. 1). While, in the long run, the ban on mountaineering activities improved the biodiversity of the area, from socio-economic viewpoint, it was another economic blow to the region after the ban on cross border trade. The consecutive loss of income sources, coupled with lack of alternate employment opportunities initiated the socio-cultural and economic transformation in the region. The marginal agriculture became major occupation, which so far was a subsidiary occupation, while some of the families opted to migrate from the area in search of employment to the lower plains. Amidst all these developments, it is important to mention that during 1970s Nanda Devi region figured on the international conservation map, when a women s group of Nanda Devi region launched a movement called Chipko (hug) to oppose the felling of green trees of oak (Quercus spp) and deodar (Cedrus deodara) along the catchment of Rishi Ganga River (Joshi 1981). All these political, socio-economic and environmental developments helped to frame peoples perception towards biodiversity conservation, their dependence on the natural resources, the managers of these resources, and the potential of socioeconomic development. The present article is an attempt to document and examine such a perception of local people in the light of above mentioned developments in Nanda Devi region. Study area The total area of NDBR (79 40 and 80 5 E and and N) spreads over km 2 across three districts -Chamoli, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh in the state of Uttaranchal in north India. The reserve is divided into two distinct zones: the inner core zone of km 2, also designated as NDNP, and encircling this, an outer buffer zone of km 2 area (Fig. 1). Prominent natural features such as rivers and mountain peaks form the boundaries of the buffer and core zones. The Nanda Devi west peak (7817 m), after which the reserve is named, is located in the core zone. Large altitudinal variation ( m) and the varied topography support rich biological diversity in NDBR. About 27% of the total area of the reserve is covered by forest and alpine meadows, 66% under perpetual snow and the rest under human settlements, agriculture and wasteland (Sahai and Kimothi 1996). The reserve is floristically diverse with about 793 species of plants while the faunal diversity is composed of about 17 mammals, 112 species of birds and 27 species of butterflies (Baindur 1993; Sathyakumar 1993; Shankaran 1993; Hajra 1995). Snow leopard

3 Biodivers Conserv (2007) 16: Fig. 1 Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in the western Himalaya, showing the location of the villages, including surveyed, in the buffer zone (Panthera uncia), Himalayan black bear (Selenarctos thibetanus), Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos), Himalayan musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster), blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), serow (Capricornis sumatrensis) and Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jamlahicus), are some of the globally endangered species that are found in the reserve.

4 214 Biodivers Conserv (2007) 16: The human habitation is distributed in 19 villages in the buffer zone, of which 12 are located in district Chamoli, 5 in district Pithoragarh and the remaining 2 in district Bageshwar sector of the reserve (Fig. 1). The Bhotiya, a Scheduled Tribe community, dominates the human population. Due to harsh inhospitable climatic conditions during winter (October April) local people migrate to their winter settlements down in the lower altitude regions, outside the buffer zone, and return to their summer settlements inside the buffer zone in May. Agriculture, animal husbandry and trade in woolen crafts are major sources of income for these tribal communities. More than 93% of the families are landowners, though the majority of them are marginal farmers, while about 75% of the families own about 8500 livestock, more than 65% of which is composed of sheep and goats. Methods The major objective of this study was to understand the people s perception on various issues related to the conservation of forest resources in and around NDBR and examine the potential of sustainable management of these resources with the people s participation and generation of better livelihood opportunities for the resource dependent communities. Considering the fact of impact of major management decision on the livelihood of local people and their perception, three villages viz., Reni, Lata and Malari in district Chamoli sector of NDBR were selected for the present study (Fig. 1). Reni was the origin of the Chipko movement and also the centre of adventure tourism along with Lata, prior to the ban. The third village, Malari, located about 35 km north of Lata, was sampled to represent the community, which suffered relatively less economic loss due to the ban on adventure tourism. Besides these economic criteria, the study villages also represented three different modes of seasonal migration viz., sedentary (Reni at 2000 m), locally migrating (Lata at 2400 m) and distantly migrating (Malari at 3050 m). Further the variation in the modes of seasonal migration determined the resource use pattern in the region. While the human and livestock population of Reni and Lata village used the resources of the reserve for almost 10 months of a year (apart from 2 months of winter), the villagers of Malari depended on the reserve for their livelihood needs only for 6 months of the year between May and October. Adopting stratified random sampling method, 20% of the total households of each of the three villages, totalling 45 households (10 from Reni, 15 from Lata and 20 from Malari village), were sampled for detailed study on the perception understanding of local people. The participatory meetings were organized in the study village to become appraised with the views of the local people on different aspects of biodiversity conservation such as the importance of natural resources from livelihood, conservation, aesthetic values, religion and philosophy points of view. Informal discussions and participant observation helped documenting the socio-economic and cultural history of cross border trade and adventure tourism. Once we gained the confidence of the villagers, structured and semi-structured questionnaire interviews were conducted to document the perception of individual respondents. A series of questions on various aspects of natural resource use and conservation were asked with the option to agree or disagree, which helped easy interpretation of the recorded perception. Besides the attitude on a few hypothetical situations pertaining

5 Biodivers Conserv (2007) 16: to the availability and use of natural resources in NDBR, the questions were also asked to seek the perception of the local people towards the NDBR management. To ensure the overall sustainable development of the region by striking a balance between conservation of forest resources and better livelihood opportunities for the resource dependent population, the opinion of the respondents was sought on some alternative income generating activities such as promotion of agriculture based enterprise through sericulture, cultivation of medicinal plants, mushrooms, and promotion of eco-tourism. Results Attitude towards forest resource and their conservation All the respondents of the study villages regarded the surrounding forests as the source of their livelihood needs such as fuelwood, fodder, non-timber forest products (NTFPs), timber and aesthetic values (Table 1). Besides meeting biomass needs, a sizeable proportion of the respondents also admitted to their economic dependence on the buffer zone forest. For example, some of the families of the study villages collect morel mushroom (Morchella esculenta), locally called as guchchhi during April June to sell in the local market. It was estimated that on an average, each family earned about Rs ± per year from the sale of morel mushroom. Similarly the leaves of pharan (Allium humalii) and jambu (A. wallichiana) are also collected to sell in the foothill markets as spices and condiments. Significantly, a large proportion of the respondents stressed the importance of nature and its elements in their religious customs. It is important to mention here that the Nanda Devi peak is worshipped as Goddess of Joy in the entire Uttranchal region. Almost every village in the buffer zone of NDBR has sacred groves, which are preserved and worshiped on special occasions. As a result a substantial Table 1 Dependence of the local people on the natural resources and attitude towards conservation in the buffer zone of NDBR Questions Reni Lata Malari No. % No. % No. % What benefit do you derive from the forest? Fuel wood Timber Grass/Fodder Cash Water Religious Aesthetic Is the conservation of plants and animal is good thing? Yes No Do not know Is there a need to protect the forest? Yes No

6 216 Biodivers Conserv (2007) 16: proportion of the respondents (100% in Reni, 87% in Lata and 85% in Malari) supported the concept of conservation of plants and animals. They opined that the conservation of natural resources is directly linked to the livelihood of present as well as future generations. On the other hand there were a few respondents who were reluctant about the concept of conservation, citing the imposed restriction on the use of natural resources by the forest department as one of the major reasons of not supporting such a concept. Biomass needs and people s perception In the study villages, wood was the main resource of energy for cooking as well as for room heating during winters (Table 2). Reacting to a hypothetical situation of banning wood collection from the surrounding forests, a sizeable proportion of respondents (60% from Reni, 67% from Lata and 70% from Malari) preferred to adopt illegal ways by stealing wood to meet their energy needs, while a few others opted to protest any such move (Table 2). The response of adopting the illegal methods and strongly protesting any such decision indicate the traditional dependence of locals on fuel wood, especially to fulfill the energy needs during the harsh climatic conditions of winter and also the lack of any alternatives. Perception towards livestock rearing and fodder needs Animal husbandry is an important livelihood activity in the study villages. Animals are reared for draught (for farming), milk, manure, wool, meat and carrying baggage during seasonal migration (Table 3). Similar to the hypothetical situation of banning fuelwood collection, the banning of fodder collection also prompted a similar response of stealing it from the forest, while a few other respondents opined that Table 2 Attitude of local people towards use of fuelwood in the buffer zone of NDBR Questions Reni Lata Malari No. % No. % No. % Why do you use fuel wood? Can t afford other fuel alternates It is freely available Other alternates are not available Have you adopted following alternate fuel devices? Fuel efficient earthen stoves 7* 70 7* Solar cookers LPG Dung cakes Crop residues If wood were not available from surrounding forest, how would you meet your fuel demand? Buy from market Steal from the forest Agitate against any such move Switch over to other source Grow fuelwood Do not know * In Reni and Lata village, the use of fuel-efficient stove and LPG was recorded by the same families

7 Biodivers Conserv (2007) 16: Table 3 Attitude of local people towards livestock rearing and fodder demand in the buffer zone of NDBR Questions Reni Lata Malari No. % No. % No. % Why do you keep livestock? Milk Dung Draught Wool Meat Baggage animal Social security Fodder/grass requirement of livestock is filled from Forest Agriculture fields Purchase from market If fodder is not available from forest how would you meet the fodder demand? Steal from the forest Agitate Do not know Would you accept the following alternates to reduce the grazing pressure on the forest? Reduce the number of livestock Grow fodder Purchase from the market Are you willing to exchange the present livestock with less number of high milk yielding stall-fed animals? Yes No If No, reasons Lack of fodder Lack of manpower Not interested Have you availed the facility of artificial insemination to improve the breed of your cattle? Yes No If No, reason Facility is not available nearby Was not aware of the facility Do not consider it good agitation against any such move would be the right approach (Table 3). Reduction of livestock population as an alternative to fodder shortage was agreed upon by very few respondents (20% from Reni; 27% from Lata and 10% from Malari village), while growing fodder on agriculture lands to meet the shortage was responded positively by even fewer respondents. It was encouraging to note that 80% of the respondents from Reni and 87% from Lata village were ready to exchange the traditional breed with high milk yielding breeds of cows. In Malari village the proportion of such respondents was very low at 25%. The rest of the respondents cited the reasons such as lack of manpower, need for greater care and better quality fodder, harsh climatic conditions and hardship involved in the seasonal migration as major bottlenecks to such a proposition. The proportion of respondents opting to increase milk production of traditional

8 218 Biodivers Conserv (2007) 16: Table 4 Attitude of local people towards the alternate income generating sources in the buffer zone of NDBR Question Reni Lata Malari No. % No. % No. % Have you taken up following subsidiary occupations? Sericulture Apiculture Mushroom cultivation Handicraft Cultivation of medicinal plants breed of cows through artificial insemination was on the low side in all three villages. The reason for this could be the lack of awareness among the villagers and also the social taboo, as recorded in Malari village. The lack of awareness is indicated because of the fact that despite having a veterinary care centre in Lata, the majority of the villagers are unaware of such facilities. Response to the alternate livelihood sources All the respondents from the study villages responded positively to promote the alternative livelihood sources (Table 4). Among these, the revival and promotion of wool based handicraft activities ranked on the top of the list. This is a traditional activity of Bhotiyas, primarily in practice to meet their own needs of harsh climatic conditions by making traditional attires such as woolen sweaters, shawls, coats and carpets. Recently because of migration of youths to the lower plains in search of employment and other socio-economic development, this tradition is largely limited to the women of older generation. Promotion of apiculture and medicinal plant cultivation as important livelihood alternatives was responded to positively by a sizeable proportion of the respondents. In view of the rich traditional wisdom and dependence of local communities on the medicinal herbs, it has the potential of becoming an economically sustainable endeavor. Recently the government of the newly formed state, Uttranchal, is also promoting medicinal plant cultivation as one of the major revenue earning sources for the whole of the state, because Himalya is the store house for a variety of medicinal herbs, being used by several pharmaceutical companies all over the country. The idea of sericulture and mushroom cultivation were responded to negatively by the villagers, citing the lack of technical know-how, financial assistance and related infrastructural development as major bottlenecks to such livelihood alternatives (Table 5). Perception towards NDBR management The decision of the park management to ban mountaineering activities to the Nanda Devi peak generated a strong negative feeling among the local people, especially from Reni and Lata villages, which were major centres of mountaineering activities prior to the ban. The failure to provide alternative income generating packages in the post ban

9 Biodivers Conserv (2007) 16: Table 5 Reasons for not taking up alternate income sources in the buffer zone of NDBR Alternate occupations Reni Lata Malari No. % No. % No. % Sericulture Lack of technical know how Lack of finance Lack of marketing Lack of raw material Lack of man power Apiculture Lack of technical know how Lack of initial finance Lack of marketing Lack of raw material Lack of man power Mushroom cultivation Lack of technical know-how Lack of finance Lack of marketing Lack of raw material Lack of man power Medicinal plant cultivation Lack of technical know how Lack of initial finance Lack of marketing Lack of raw material Lack of man power scenario, followed by imposing restrictions on the traditional user rights of the villagers to use forest resources, particularly against sheep and goat grazing in alpine pastures, lead to strong negative feelings among villagers towards NDBR management. The respondents also raised the issue of lack of mutual consultation prior to imposing so called management decisions, further adding to the anguish of the villagers. However, it is important to mention that, the NDBR management has responded positively to the long standing demand of the villagers to lift the ban and more recently the eco-tourism has been initiated in the buffer zone area of the reserve. The eco-development activities initiated after decades of imposing a ban also drew the negative criticism from the respondents, especially from women, who raised the issue of involvement of middlemen in the implementation of ecodevelopment packages, unequal distribution of the economic benefits of such programmes and lack of employment for locally educated youths, who otherwise can be given seasonal employment by involving them in various conservation programmes for the reserve. Discussion The present study has attempted to highlight the tradition of natural resource conservation being practiced for many generations by the local people and the

10 220 Biodivers Conserv (2007) 16: unfortunate failure of management authorities to capitalize on such tradition to achieve conservation goals in NDBR. This situation raises some fundamental questions in view of the changing approach of biodiversity conservation in recent decades. The basic question that is more pertinent here is, if the management agencies working in the area of Chipko Movement failed to value the people s wisdom for resource conservation, then where will they do so? The resultant failure of doing so, as demonstrated by this study, is an example of lack of cooperation between resource users and managers. It has often been recorded that such a situation arises mainly due to ignorance of the human needs and aspirations in the initial planning of protected areas, often leading to the conflicts between indigenous people and managers. Unfortunately this is an all too common phenomenon of the majority of PAs in third world countries (Durbin and Ralambo 1994). In the case of present study, all major management decisions such as a ban on mountaineering activities and notification of NDNP and NDBR were taken without taking in to account the views and winning the confidence of local people whose very survival was dependent on the natural resources of the reserve. Prior to the notification of NDNP, local people enjoyed unrestricted customary rights of collection of forest resources and livestock grazing, which were restricted in the post-notification scenario. Migrant sheep and goat grazers were affected the most by such a restriction. It is important to emphasize here that more than 65% of the total livestock population consisted of sheep and goats and thus contribute significantly to the economic well being of the family since they not only provide wool for traditional handicraft attires, but also earn cash for the owners through sale of animals for meat and act as a means of transportation of household luggage during seasonal migration. Management practices such as these emphasise the need for people s participation in order to strike a balance between the biodiversity conservation and meeting the basic socio-economic needs of the resource dependent communities (Berzetti 1993; Dhar et al. 1994). This can be achieved by bringing out multi-sectoral dimensions of the socio-economic and ethical aspects of natural resource conservation, following an integrated approach (Toman and Ashton 1995). Fortunately there is growing acceptance of the fact that the success of PAs depends on the extent of support from local people towards such establishments (McNeely and Miller 1994). Importantly for NDBR, the local villagers have enriched the conservation ethics through their traditional wisdom and religious beliefs and the elements of nature such as trees, lakes, rivers, mountain peaks and alpine meadows are worshipped as the Abodes of God and Goddess. Such attitudes of locals has also helped to restrain the level of anthropogenic pressures in the reserve (Silori 2001). In view of such situation, the local communities should be involved in developing the conservation programme for NDBR, as well as addressing the issue of meeting their biomass needs in a sustainable way. Generating a sense of trust and cooperation between resource users and the managers by frequent dialogues will be key to the success of such efforts. An employment alternative such as medicinal plant farming has been ascertained as a potential source of income-generating (Farooquee and Saxena 1996; Silori and Badola 2000). The promotion of medicinal plant cultivation by Uttranchal government is an important step in this direction, which needs to be supported by providing assistance to the farmers. Also the development of horticulture and wool craft trade could help to generate amicable cooperation

11 Biodivers Conserv (2007) 16: between resource users and the managers of the NDBR. Though the long standing demand of lifting the ban on tourism has been accepted by the NDBR management, the economic benefits of such a move to the local communities still remains to be seen. In conclusion, this study further supports the need to change the top-down approach of nature conservation (Moench and Bandyopadhyay 1986) in the NDBR by involving the resource users at every stage of management to ensure the win win situation of sustainable conservation of biodiversity of NDBR and better livelihood opportunities for the locals. This, after all is the basic theme of biosphere reserve concept (Batisse 1982). Therefore, understanding the perception of resource dependent population must be considered as an important step of notification and management of protected areas (Infield 1988; Wells and Brandon 1993; Fiallo and Jacobson 1995). Acknowledgements This study was conducted while I was associated with Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun. I wish to thank the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India for financial support to this study. The co-operation of the villagers extended during survey is sincerely appreciated. Thanks are also due to two anonymous referees to improve the quality of the article. References Baindur AK (1993) The butterflies of Nanda Devi. In: Scientific and ecological expedition on Nanda Devi. Army H.Q., New Delhi, pp Batisse SM (1982). The biosphere reserve: a tool for environmental conservation and management. Environ Conserv 9: Berzetti V (1993). Parks and progress. IUCN The World Conservation Union, Washington DC Dhar U, Rawal RS, Samant SS, Airi S, Upreti J (1994) People s participation in Himalayan biodiversity conservation: a practical approach. Curr Sci 76:36 40 Durbin JC, Ralambo JA (1994) The role of local people on successful maintenance of protected areas in Madagascar. Environ Conserv 21: Farooquee NA, Saxena KG (1996) Conservation and utilisation of medicinal plants in high hills of the central Himalayas. Environ Conserv 23:75 80 Fiallo EA, Jacobson SK (1995) Local communities and protected areas: attitude of rural residents towards conservation and Machalilla National Park, Equador. Environ Conserv 22: Hajra PK, Balodi B (1995) Plant wealth of Nanda Devi biosphere reserve. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, India Infield M (1988) Attitudes of a rural community towards conservation and a local conservation area in Natal, South Africa. Biol Conserv 45:21 46 Joshi G (1981). Chipko: a means of environmental conservation. Environ Conserv 8:3 4 Kandari OP (1982) Nanda Devi- India s highest national park. Cheetal 24:29 36 McNeely JA, Miller KR (1994) National Park conservation and development. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C Moench M, Bandyopadhyay J (1986) People forest interaction a neglected parameter in Himalayan forest management. Mountain Res Dev 6:3 16 Prasad RR (1989) Bhotia tribals of India: dynamics of economic transformation. Gian Publishing House, New Delhi Sahai B, Kimothi MM (1996). Remote sensing for surveying, mapping and monitoring of conservation areas in Himalaya. In: Ramakrishnan PS, Purohit AN, Saxena KG, Rao KS, Maikhuri RK (eds) Conservation and management of biological resources in Himalaya. Oxford and IBH Publication, New Delhi, India, pp Sathyakumar S (1993) Status of mammals in Nanda Devi National Park. In: Scientific and ecological expedition on Nanda Devi Army H.Q. New Delhi, pp 5 15 Shankaran R (1993) An Ornithological Survey of Nanda Devi National Park. In: Scientific and ecological expedition on Nanda Devi. Army H.Q. New Delhi, India, pp 16 34

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