Local Socio-Economic Dynamics Shaping Forest Ecosystems …
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4.3 Increasing Population
According 2011 Census of India, state population has reached approximately 1.01
crore with an increase of 19.17% from the past decade from 8,489,349 and has
increased manifold in last seven years till 2017. High population pressure zones
reside in valley towns and districts of the state that are centres of education, livelihood
and medical health care facilities (Census 2001, 2011). Emigration rates were 0.4 per
100 persons for the region in 1991–2001 (Census 2001). These rates have increased
in last more than a decade because of lack of livelihood and other opportunities.
Women are mostly involved with resource collection from forests to support daily
subsistence requirements. Locals in villages with no community forests encroach
other forest legal categories for various resources demands. Nepal border is close
to state boundaries and ease of livelihood brings a lot of poor Nepalese in the state.
They work as daily wages, porters and also as servants in local villages and towns
and are involved in illegal harvesting of MAPs along with poaching of threatened
fauna. Increasing Nepalese migrants in the state has also resulted in illegal resource
exploitation and biodiversity loss. Changing rainfall and snowfall patterns, increased
frequency of extreme weather events along with unsustainable forest extraction was
reported by local informants as key to loss of biodiversity. This was common information gathered from informants in all study sites. A large chunk of vegetation
riparian fringes on the banks of rivers and tributaries are either submerged or will be
submerged to facilitate functioning of many hydropower projects in the state. Some
common observations are emergence and accentuation of cumulative environmental
changes, leading to unsustainability of previously sustainable subsistence systems
(Misra et al. 2009; Jodha 2001).
4.4 Biomass Dependency of Local Communities on Forests
in Central Himalaya
Resource dependency of locals has always been demand-driven rather than supplydriven. Due to insufficient yield from agriculture and less availability of fuelwood and
fodder from agro-forests traditional arrangements in the study areas are changing.
Due to lack of economic incentives, resource rights and ownership for conservation
of natural forest ecosystems, locals are less motivated to protect the forests. Although,
study area villages spread in different valleys of Central Himalayas have their large
area under forests still these forests are under stocked and have low tree density. As a
result of degradation and deforestation that is now prominent in many areas are facing
denudation of trees, reduced stock density coupled with loss of surface soil, leaching of nutrients and decreased crop production from forest dependent marginalized
agriculture. Forests in Central Himalayas as observed during field survey are under
continuous pressure due to unregulated and illegal encroachment of fragile forests,
alpines and pastures for NTFPs and MAPs, frequent man-made forest fires leading
45
4.3 Increasing Population
According 2011 Census of India, state population has reached approximately 1.01
crore with an increase of 19.17% from the past decade from 8,489,349 and has
increased manifold in last seven years till 2017. High population pressure zones
reside in valley towns and districts of the state that are centres of education, livelihood
and medical health care facilities (Census 2001, 2011). Emigration rates were 0.4 per
100 persons for the region in 1991–2001 (Census 2001). These rates have increased
in last more than a decade because of lack of livelihood and other opportunities.
Women are mostly involved with resource collection from forests to support daily
subsistence requirements. Locals in villages with no community forests encroach
other forest legal categories for various resources demands. Nepal border is close
to state boundaries and ease of livelihood brings a lot of poor Nepalese in the state.
They work as daily wages, porters and also as servants in local villages and towns
and are involved in illegal harvesting of MAPs along with poaching of threatened
fauna. Increasing Nepalese migrants in the state has also resulted in illegal resource
exploitation and biodiversity loss. Changing rainfall and snowfall patterns, increased
frequency of extreme weather events along with unsustainable forest extraction was
reported by local informants as key to loss of biodiversity. This was common information gathered from informants in all study sites. A large chunk of vegetation
riparian fringes on the banks of rivers and tributaries are either submerged or will be
submerged to facilitate functioning of many hydropower projects in the state. Some
common observations are emergence and accentuation of cumulative environmental
changes, leading to unsustainability of previously sustainable subsistence systems
(Misra et al. 2009; Jodha 2001).
4.4 Biomass Dependency of Local Communities on Forests
in Central Himalaya
Resource dependency of locals has always been demand-driven rather than supplydriven. Due to insufficient yield from agriculture and less availability of fuelwood and
fodder from agro-forests traditional arrangements in the study areas are changing.
Due to lack of economic incentives, resource rights and ownership for conservation
of natural forest ecosystems, locals are less motivated to protect the forests. Although,
study area villages spread in different valleys of Central Himalayas have their large
area under forests still these forests are under stocked and have low tree density. As a
result of degradation and deforestation that is now prominent in many areas are facing
denudation of trees, reduced stock density coupled with loss of surface soil, leaching of nutrients and decreased crop production from forest dependent marginalized
agriculture. Forests in Central Himalayas as observed during field survey are under
continuous pressure due to unregulated and illegal encroachment of fragile forests,
alpines and pastures for NTFPs and MAPs, frequent man-made forest fires leading