A note on transhumant pastoralism in Niti valley, Western Himalaya, India

Monideepa Mitra,Bhupendra S Adhikari,Gopal S Rawat,Amit Kumar

doi:10.1186/2041-7136-3-29

Abstract

Abstract Pastoralism plays an important role in the ecology of alpine habitats and the economy of rural people in some regions of India. The pastoralists move from lower altitudes of the Himalayas to higher alpine regions in summer and return back to lower altitude villages with the onset of autumn. The forested areas along the routes of transhumant pastoralists are affected by anthropogenic pressures, viz. grazing by livestock and tree lopping by the herders for fuelwood. To demarcate such areas and evaluate the effect of anthropogenic disturbances, a preliminary documentation of the routes is needed. Interviews were conducted using semi-structured questionnaires to elucidate the information from herders visiting Niti valley, Western Himalayas. The interviews found that most of these herders had common stopovers following a similar route to the valley from their respective villages. More than 70% of herders made their transit camps at Niti village and adjoining areas. They stay there for a few days and then the majority move on to higher alpine pastures of Geldung. The rest either stay back at alpine areas near Niti or in the alpine areas adjoining Gamsali village. These stopovers are areas which experience maximum anthropogenic pressure during livestock migrations, and the vegetation is the most affected. Documentation of migration routes will help identify such areas of high pressure and develop management plans to minimize the disturbances.

Highlights

Pastoralism plays an important role in the ecology of alpine habitats and the economy of rural people in some regions of India
Transhumant pastoralism Transhumance - derived from the Latin word transhumare, trans meaning traverse and humus meaning earth was a term originally used to describe the pattern of human movement in the mountainous areas of Europe’s alpine regions (Johnson 1969)
Our findings suggest that Tapovan and Kuari pass are preferred stopovers for pastoralist groups migrating to the Niti valley during summer

Summary

Introduction

The forested areas along the routes of transhumant pastoralists are affected by anthropogenic pressures, viz. Grazing by livestock and tree lopping by the herders for fuelwood To demarcate such areas and evaluate the effect of anthropogenic disturbances, a preliminary documentation of the routes is needed. More than 70% of herders made their transit camps at Niti village and adjoining areas They stay there for a few days and the majority move on to higher alpine pastures of Geldung. The rest either stay back at alpine areas near Niti or in the alpine areas adjoining Gamsali village. These stopovers are areas which experience maximum anthropogenic pressure during livestock migrations, and the vegetation is the most affected. Documentation of migration routes will help identify such areas of high pressure and develop management plans to minimize the disturbances

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion