34
S. Dhyani and D. Dhyani
2 Study Area
Uttarakhand state of India falls under the geographical boundaries of Central
Himalayas and has two administrative provinces viz. Garhwal and Kumaon part.
Primary information to support the study was carried out in Garhwal part of Central Himalayas. Important sites and village settlements surveyed for the study were
situated in upper Kedarnath valley (1600–2500 m amsl) in district Rudraprayag;
Kanchula Kharak (1800–2000 m amsl) in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Tolma and
Suraithota village (2000–2800 m amsl) in Niti valley, Langasu village cluster (900 m
amsl), Ghes and Van village (2400 m amsl) in Pinder valley of district Chamoli, Doodhatoli and Binsar (2000–2400 m amsl) in Pauri Garhwal; Deoprayag (600 m amsl)
in district Tehri and Harsil and Gangotri (2400–2900 m amsl) in district Uttarakashi.
Geographical locations of the study sites were situated with in latitude 29° 30
to
31° 30
N and longitude 77° 30
to 80° 15
E of the state. Climate of the study area
is varied according to the altitude but in general warm dry months of summers
are followed by warm wet months of monsoon and later in the year-end cool dry
months. The climatic condition of the study sites are largely altitude dependent.
Mean annual rainfall of the study area varies from 1300 to 25,000 mm while mean
yearly temperature ranges from 23 °C at 300 m amsl (meters above mean sea level)
and 13 °C and less above 2000 m amsl. Snowfall in the region is prominent climatic feature above 1800 m amsl altitudes and many of the study sites experience
snowfall. Study area is endowed with diverse vegetation types, ranging from tropical
moist deciduous to temperate and sub-alpine forests, grasslands, alpine scrub and
meadows (Champion and Seth 1968). All the sites are home to lush green forests and
are rich in terms of species diversity distributed across altitudinal gradients. Varied
topography, climatic variability, migration routes from adjacent phyto-geographical
zones are responsible factors for this richness in diversity with important timber
species occupying the higher canopy, fuelwood, fodder and minor forest products
in the middle and lower layer of canopy, with the ground flora rich in economically
important species including medicinal herbs. Total recorded forest area of the state
is 34,651 km
2 , that is 64.79% of its total state geographical area. Reserve forest constitutes 71.01%, Protected areas 28.52% whereas; a large part of forest is also under
Van Panchayats/ Community Forests in the state. Per Capita Forest Area (Hectare)
is 0.376 ha (FSI 2015; Uttarakhand Forest Statistics 2015). As per 2011 census the
total population of the state is 10.09 million of which rural population is 69.77% and
scheduled tribe population accounting to 0.29%. There are 16,000 villages in the
state with many close to forests, dependent on forests following a natural resource
based economy (Misra 2009). Population density in the study area is on an average
of 189 persons/km
2 . The livestock population of the state is 5.14 million as per 18th
livestock census. Landholdings are meager and 49% of land holdings are >0.5 ha,
21.51% ranging 0.5–1.0 ha. Around 70% holdings are marginal with an average
size of around 0.37 ha. Small land holding in undulating and fragile terrain makes
S. Dhyani and D. Dhyani
2 Study Area
Uttarakhand state of India falls under the geographical boundaries of Central
Himalayas and has two administrative provinces viz. Garhwal and Kumaon part.
Primary information to support the study was carried out in Garhwal part of Central Himalayas. Important sites and village settlements surveyed for the study were
situated in upper Kedarnath valley (1600–2500 m amsl) in district Rudraprayag;
Kanchula Kharak (1800–2000 m amsl) in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Tolma and
Suraithota village (2000–2800 m amsl) in Niti valley, Langasu village cluster (900 m
amsl), Ghes and Van village (2400 m amsl) in Pinder valley of district Chamoli, Doodhatoli and Binsar (2000–2400 m amsl) in Pauri Garhwal; Deoprayag (600 m amsl)
in district Tehri and Harsil and Gangotri (2400–2900 m amsl) in district Uttarakashi.
Geographical locations of the study sites were situated with in latitude 29° 30
to
31° 30
N and longitude 77° 30
to 80° 15
E of the state. Climate of the study area
is varied according to the altitude but in general warm dry months of summers
are followed by warm wet months of monsoon and later in the year-end cool dry
months. The climatic condition of the study sites are largely altitude dependent.
Mean annual rainfall of the study area varies from 1300 to 25,000 mm while mean
yearly temperature ranges from 23 °C at 300 m amsl (meters above mean sea level)
and 13 °C and less above 2000 m amsl. Snowfall in the region is prominent climatic feature above 1800 m amsl altitudes and many of the study sites experience
snowfall. Study area is endowed with diverse vegetation types, ranging from tropical
moist deciduous to temperate and sub-alpine forests, grasslands, alpine scrub and
meadows (Champion and Seth 1968). All the sites are home to lush green forests and
are rich in terms of species diversity distributed across altitudinal gradients. Varied
topography, climatic variability, migration routes from adjacent phyto-geographical
zones are responsible factors for this richness in diversity with important timber
species occupying the higher canopy, fuelwood, fodder and minor forest products
in the middle and lower layer of canopy, with the ground flora rich in economically
important species including medicinal herbs. Total recorded forest area of the state
is 34,651 km
2 , that is 64.79% of its total state geographical area. Reserve forest constitutes 71.01%, Protected areas 28.52% whereas; a large part of forest is also under
Van Panchayats/ Community Forests in the state. Per Capita Forest Area (Hectare)
is 0.376 ha (FSI 2015; Uttarakhand Forest Statistics 2015). As per 2011 census the
total population of the state is 10.09 million of which rural population is 69.77% and
scheduled tribe population accounting to 0.29%. There are 16,000 villages in the
state with many close to forests, dependent on forests following a natural resource
based economy (Misra 2009). Population density in the study area is on an average
of 189 persons/km
2 . The livestock population of the state is 5.14 million as per 18th
livestock census. Landholdings are meager and 49% of land holdings are >0.5 ha,
21.51% ranging 0.5–1.0 ha. Around 70% holdings are marginal with an average
size of around 0.37 ha. Small land holding in undulating and fragile terrain makes