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cover changes in a typical micro watershed in the mid elevation zone of Central Himalaya, India
Forest Ecology and Management 213 (2005) 229–242 www.elsevier.com/locate/foreco
Forest management and land use/cover changes in a typical micro watershed in the mid elevation zone of Central Himalaya, India A. Wakeel a, K.S. Rao b,*, R.K. Maikhuri c, K.G. Saxena a a School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263643, India c Garhwal Unit, G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, P.B. No. 92, Srinagar (Garhwal) 246174, India b
Received 25 May 2004; received in revised form 8 January 2005; accepted 30 March 2005
Abstract In most developing countries, large-scale land use/cover changes are reported over the last few centuries. In most cases, it is attributed to the human population growth. To achieve conservation of biodiversity and ecological functions of natural ecosystem, large tracts were taken over by the Governments in many developing countries. This study analyses the spatial and temporal pattern of land use/cover change in a micro watershed in Central Himalaya, India, during 1967–1997 period based on interpretation of satellite data and using a geographic information system (GIS). During the last 30 years (i.e. 1967–1997) the forest cover was altered drastically with increasing population pressure (both human and animal), agricultural activities and raw material extraction activities. Agricultural expansion at the cost of loss of forest cover was the most prominent change in the forests managed by the people. In Government Reserve Forests, there was no agricultural expansion but changes in tree density and canopy cover were evident. Due to abandonment of large tracts of rainfed agricultural areas on slopping terraces in middle elevations, the area of culturable wastes increased while agricultural expansion at the expense of forests occurred and thus the total cultivated land stayed stagnant between 1971 and 1991. While environmental degradation resulted in low agricultural yields as well as poor fuelwood and fodder yields in most areas, diversification of agriculture in flood terraces in lower valleys due to Government development programmes improved agricultural participation. This study shows that while Government Forest Department is able to resist losses of areas under their control to agricultural expansion, change of vegetal cover indicates, they are not in a position to police the areas with broad leaved trees which are exploited by local inhabitants for their subsistence needs. This paper reiterates the argument that institutions play a crucial role in molding forested landscapes. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Forest management; Forest degradation and fragmentation; Government institutions; Himalaya; Land use/cover change; People’s institutions
* Corresponding author at: Centre for Inter-disciplinary Studies of Mountain and Hill Environment, University of Delhi, South Campus, Benito Juarez Road, New Delhi 110021, India. Tel.: +91 11 26888144; fax: +91 11 26888144. E-mail address: [email protected] (K.S. Rao). 0378-1127/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2005.03.061
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1. Introduction The classic approach to environmental management is state led and top–down, with strong emphasis on the rational exploitation of natural resources using scientifically founded methods (Blaikie, 1998). Such approach assumes the local inhabitants as being irrational and ignorant, and a major part of the ongoing environmental problems. In spite of all criticism and opposition, this classic approach is followed in most developing countries. The idea of popular participation and more community-based natural resource management is recent in origin. The concept of sustainable forest management seeks to achieve a balance between production and ecological functions of forest ecosystems. Underlying most contemporary human-environment interactions are institutions that legitimize systems of rights and rules governing how, and by whom, available resources are used (Bromley, 1991). In turn, property right regimes, embedded within institutional structures, organize behaviour patterns and produce resource use practices that invariably impact the quality and quantity of the resource itself (Stevernson, 1991; Robbins, 1998; Pavri and Deshmukh, 2003). Forest centered resource utilisation and conservation is the major land use recommended for mountainous regions such as Himalaya distinguished globally as a biodiversity hotspot (Myers, 1990). Increasing awareness about drastic and accelerated transformation of natural landscape, and its likely adverse effects on global climate and loss of biodiversity, led to adoption of several resolutions such as Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), Climatic Change Convention Framework and Kyoto Protocol by international community. The legal bindings have, by and large, failed to arrest deforestation or to restore forest cover in degraded forest lands on global scale (Pender, 1998; Doos, 2000). Though the Indian Forest Policy stipulates a dense forest cover over 66% area of the Himalaya and other mountain regions of the country, the actual forest cover is far below this stipulated limit. Participatory natural resource management has been argued to be a more effective strategy of forest conservation than protecting the resources using administrative instruments and policing (Gadgil et al., 1993; Borrini-
Feyerband, 1996; Kothari et al., 1996). However, objective analysis of forest resource dynamics in areas differing in respect of management regimes are lacking. The land settlements made during colonial periods in India ensured that ownership of all land not under individual ownership (i.e. habitations and cultivated area) was vested with Government agencies. Forests of Central Himalaya are classified as: (i) Reserve Forests, which are owned and managed by the Government Forest Department; (ii) Civil Soyam Forests, comprising small forest patches interspersed around settlements – the land ownership rights of these forests are vested with the Revenue Department and management responsibilities with the Forest Department; (iii) Panchayat Forests – the land ownership rights are vested with the Revenue Department and a local institution called Vanpanchayat (comprising 5– 10 individuals elected by the people) is empowered to regulate subsistence forest resource uses; (iv) Cantonment Forests which are owned and managed by military cantonments; and (v) Private Forests which are owned and managed by individuals. The area of private forest is negligible compared to the area of other classes of forests (Anonymous, 1980). The objective of the present study was to compare spatial and temporal patterns of land use/cover change between different forest management systems over a period of 30 years (1967–1997) in a micro watershed in the mid-elevation zone of Central Himalaya, India.
2. Methods 2.1. The study area The Kuchgad micro watershed is situated (latitude 298300 –298450 N and longitude 798150 –798300 E) in Almora district along the Haldwani–Ranikhet State roadway and falls in the agroclimatic region ‘hill zone’ in National Agricultural Planning Zonation (Anonymous, 1996). The area of the watershed is around 100 km2. The average annual rainfall is about 1100 mm and annual temperature 21 8C (Wakeel, 2002). Altitude varies from 900 to 2100 m amsl. From species distribution viewpoint, forests can be categorised as pine (Pinus roxburghii Sargent) forests mainly at lower elevations (900–1800 m), oak
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(Quercus leucotrichophora A. Camus)-pine mixed forests at middle elevations (1600–1900 m) and oak forests around hill tops (>1900 m). The soil is brown forest acid type (Anonymous, 1996a). Based on the thematic details available in small scale maps (1:6,000,000 to 1:1,000,000) prepared by National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organization, the watershed is covered in soil depth class ‘50– 100 cm’, texture class ‘loam’, soil reaction class ‘strongly acidic to moderately acidic’, topography class ‘rugged’ and land slope class ‘very steep to moderately steep’ (Anonymous, 1996b). There are 4336 households distributed in 92 settlements located mostly in lower half of the watershed. During the 1991 population enumeration, the population density was 250 persons per km2, average household/family size 5.33 individuals and sex ratio (number of females per 1000 males) 1025. Per capita agricultural land availability is about 0.2 ha, with more than 85% land holdings being <1.5 ha area. Area under irrigation increased from 1.23% of cultivated area (3412 ha) in 1971 to 3.31% of cultivated area (3420 ha) in 1991. Though the Central Himalayan region generally has higher females in comparison to males, the disparity of numbers between the sexes in the watershed decreased over the last 40 years (1951–1991) (Wakeel, 2002). The principal activity is basic grain production for selfconsumption as well as some horticulture and dairying for local urban markets. Female participation in agriculture is high in the entire region, as males from most households migrate for wage earning to plains. The principal crops are wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), rice (Oryza sativa L.), and finger millet (Eleusine coracana Gaertn.). Over the last two decades (i.e. 1980–1997), vegetables and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivation was taken up where irrigation facilities were available. More detailed accounts about the cropping patterns, crop rotations and, crop yields are given in Maikhuri et al. (1996, 1997c) and Wakeel (2002). Additional economic activities include offfarm employment, gathering of firewood and wild fruits. 2.2. Database development Survey of India (SOI) topographical maps on 1:50,000 scale were used to map land use/cover as in
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1967, elevation, slope (Wentworth, 1930), aspect and other features like metalled/unmetalled roads and footpaths. The Reserve Forest compartment boundaries were drawn from Forest Working Plan maps and village boundaries from maps available with Revenue Department. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Indian Remote Sensing Satellite – LISS-III Standard False Colour Composites at 1:50,000 scale were visually interpreted for mapping land use/cover in 1988 and 1997. All these layers were digitised in a PC based Geographic Information System (GIS) with a maximum root mean square (RMS) error of 15 m, using ArcInfo (ESRI, Redlands, USA) version 3.4 D. Intersection points of 1 km 1 km grid laid over the land use/cover map were checked to assess interpretation accuracy (Saxena et al., 1992). Interpretation accuracy was 100% for forest and afforestation areas, 95% for agriculture and settlements, and 90% for barren and degraded lands, with an overall interpretation accuracy of 97%. The maps were analysed using the overlaying and intersecting operations to derive land use/cover changes and spatial distribution of each land use/cover type in various elevation, slope and aspect classes. In order to study the landscape fragmentation processes, the land cover maps for 1967, 1988 and 1997 were used to determine the number, perimeter and area of forest patches using the Tables subprogram of ArcInfo. Shape complexity index (SCI), a measure of the degree of irregularity in land use plots, was calculated (Covich, 1976; Lovejoy, 1982; Luque et al., 1994; Kammerbauer and Ardon, 1999; Peralta and Mather, 2000; Rao and Pant, 2001). To determine socio-economic factors and development interventions influencing forest fragmentation, discussions/ interviews were held with officials of management institutions, viz., Forest Department and Vanpanchayat and the local inhabitants in village meetings during the course of the study (1997–2000). Archival records dealing with policies related to natural resources and land use in the region over the last 50 years after independence and about 200 years before (during Gorkha and British occupations) were also analysed to discern the impact of policies on land use/cover. Kuchgad micro watershed has four legal/administrative categories of forests, viz., Reserve Forests, Civil Soyam Forests, Vanpanchayat Forests and
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Cantonment Forests. Private Forests were altogether absent. The boundaries of Reserve Forests were georeferenced while those of Civil Soyam Forests, Cantonment Forests and Vanpanchayat Forests were not georeferenced. This lack of georeferencing delimited land use/cover change analysis to only two categories of forest, i.e. (i) Government Managed Forests (GMF), i.e. Reserve forests and (ii) People Managed Forest (PMF) in which Civil Soyam Forests, Vanpanchayat Forests and Cantonment Forests are merged together. As >90% of the area in ‘PMF’ category belongs to Vanpanchayat and Civil Soyam Forests managed by the people, comparison of changes in the GMF and PMF reflect the changes due to management by the Government and the people’s institutions.
3. Results 3.1. Forest landscape dynamics from 1967 to 1997 The land use/cover maps of 1967, 1988 and 1997 are given in Fig. 1 and the area under different land use/cover type in Table 1. Government Managed Forest (GMF) covered 84% and People Managed Forest (PMF) 16% of the total forest area of Kuchgad micro watershed. The agricultural land use decreased by 20% in GMF area but increased by 30% in PMF area. Area under barren and pasture land decreased by 73% in GMF and 33% in PMF. A comparative account of land use/cover changes in GMF and PMF is given in Table 2. Natural forest occupied about 96% of the total area under GMF as compared to about 6% of the total area outside GMF. During 1967–1988 period, deforestation took place largely in the PMF, resulting in 21% reduction in the total forest area of the watershed. Agricultural expansion was the prime reason for deforestation (Fig. 1). Discussions with people and forest officials indicated that material extraction and overgrazing contributed to deforestation. Between 1988 and 1997, the annual deforestation rate in PMF was 1/4th of that during 1967–1988 period (Table 2). On the other hand, the natural forest cover increased marginally in GMF. In GMF, about 70 ha area with negligible tree cover in the year 1988 (2.87% of total area) was turned to sparse/ dense tree cover as a result of enrichment planting.
3.2. Forest degradation and fragmentation The watershed was differentiated into two distinct land use zones in the year 1967: (a) the upper reaches of the watershed dominated by GMF and some contiguous patches of PMF; (b) the middle and lower parts of the watershed distinguished by the dominance of cultivated/barren/pasture land with isolated patches of PMF. Though dense and open forests (crown cover >60 and 30%, respectively) were not mapped as separate land use/cover classes in Survey of India map prepared in 1967, the archival records of Forest Department revealed that all land use/cover classified as forest at this point of time were dense forests. The visual interpretation of satellite data of 1982 and 1997 provided an opportunity to segregate degraded and dense natural forest areas, and afforestation in pasture/ barren land use. Due to limitations of resolution of remote sensing data used, identification of afforestation/enrichment plantings in forested areas was not feasible. The shape complexity index increased marginally in both GMF and PMF during 1967– 1997 period (Table 3). Higher shape complex index values indicate more irregular patch forms than lower values. Distribution of forests differing in respect of tree species composition (pine, oak and oak–pine mixed forests) in relation to degree of slope in GMF and PMF areas is given in Table 4. Areas with slopes >208 were devoid of any forest cover. On gentle slopes (<58), only pine forests were found. Thus, oak and oak–pine mixed forests were distributed mostly on 58–208 slopes. Only in 108–158 slope class, all the three types of forests were recorded both in GMF and PMF categories. Conversion of forests to other land uses over a 30year period is given in Table 5. While reduction of crown density (a change from dense to degraded forest) was the major change observed in GMF, conversion to annual crop cultivation was predominant in PMF. Conversion to agriculture was substantial in pine forests but occurred at negligible rates in oak– pine mixed forest areas and was totally absent in oak forests. Degradation of oak forest was observed only in GMF. Degradation of mixed forests was more prominent in GMF compared to PMF. Small-scale conversion of forest to pasture/forest blank was found only in pine forests.
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Fig. 1. Land use/cover map of Kuchgad micro watershed in 1967, 1988 and 1997. Government Reserve Forest boundaries, 1300 and 1700 m elevation contours are also shown.
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Table 1 Land use/cover characteristics of the area (in ha) managed by the Government Forest Department (FD) and other areas (OA) (i.e. other than that managed by Government Forest Department) in Kuchgad micro watershed, Central Himalaya, India Land cover type
1967
1988
1997
FD
OA
Total
FD
OA
Total
Natural forest Degraded forest Afforestation Agriculture Pasture/barren land
2427 ND ND 61 80
547 ND ND 3757 3142
2974 ND ND 3810 3222
2333 164 0.00a 49 22
421 12 5 4722 2286
2754 176 5 4771 2308
Total
2568
7446
10014
2568
7446
10014
FD
OA
2220 277 0.00a 49 22
390 33 91 4770 2162
Total 2610 310 91 4819 2184
2568
7446
10014
ND: no data. a Included in forest/degraded forest.
Table 2 Changes in natural forest cover between 1967 and 1997 in Government Managed Forests (GMF) and People Managed Forests (PMF) in Kuchgad micro watershed, Central Himalaya, India Year
Land use
Area (ha)
Changes
Afforestation/deforestation (% per year)
(%)
(ha)
(%)
In Government Managed Forests (GMF) 1967 Natural forest 2426.93 1988 Natural forest 2496.48 1997 Natural forest 2496.88
94.51 97.21 97.23
69.55 0.40a (69.95b)
2.87 0.02a (2.88b)
0.137 0.0022a (0.096b)
In People Managed Forests (PMF) 1967 Natural forest 547.26 1988 Natural forest 432.71 1997 Natural forest 423.27
7.35 5.81 5.68
114.55 9.44a (123.99b)
20.93 2.18a (22.66b)
0.997 0.242a (0.75b)
a b
Changes and annual deforestation between 1988 and 1997. Changes and annual deforestation between 1967 and 1997.
3.3. The relationship between human intervention and forest landscape The total population and number of households in the watershed increased with each census enumeration. Proportion of workers declined from about 40% of total population in 1971 to about 33% in 1991. The proportion of cultivators declined from 33% of total population in 1971 to 25% in 1981 and increased to about 28% in 1991. However, the percentage of cultivators in total workers was about 82% in 1971 and 1991 and 76% in 1981, indicating increasing dependence of the population on agriculture again after 1980. Though the average household size did not vary much, the arithmetic density of the human population increased from 1.67 to 1.89 during 1971– 1991 period. A negligible difference between agricultural density and arithmetic density confirms the fact that the population primarily depended on
agriculture. However, the increasing difference between physiological density and agricultural density or arithmetic density indicates increasing intensity of dependence of non-workers/unproductive work force on workers/productive work force. The ratio of forests to agricultural area drastically increased with time. Government provided irrigation facilities free of cost to people but such facilities were, by and large, confined to lower elevation/gently sloping flood terraces (Table 6). The important events in the Kuchgad micro watershed influencing land use/cover changes could be summarized as: (i) all natural forests in good condition were reserved before 1935; (ii) charcoal production was a major forest extraction from oak forests to meet the requirement of Contonment at Ranikhet till 1985; (iii) lopping of broadleaved trees in reserves for fodder was allowed to local inhabitants from the very beginning and this practice continues;
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Table 3 Changes in patchiness of the forest area (dense natural forest, degraded natural forest and afforestation) in Government Managed Forest (GMF) and People Managed Forest (PMF) between 1967 and 1997 in Kuchgad micro watershed, Central Himalaya, India Year
Forest type
Area (km2)
Number of patches (n)
Average
Maximum
Minimum
Average perimeter (km)
Shape complexity index (km/km2)
1967
Dense natural forest in GMF Dense natural forest in PMF Degraded natural forest in GMF Degraded natural forest in PMF Afforestation in GMF Afforestation in PMF
5 76 – – – –
4.85 0.07 – – – –
15.00 1.87 – – – –
1.34 0.28 – – – –
16.90 1.08 – – – –
3.49 15.43 – – – –
1988
Dense natural forest in GMF Dense natural forest in PMF Degraded natural forest in GMF Degraded natural forest in PMF Afforestation in GMF Afforestation in PMF
5 64 12 12 – 1
4.67 0.07 0.14 0.01 – 0.05
14.39 1.82 0.50 0.04 – 0.05
1.55 0.00a 0.04 0.00a – 0.05
16.92 1.15 1.95 0.69 – 1.11
3.62 16.43 13.92 76.67 – 22.20
1997
Dense natural forest in GMF Dense natural forest in PMF Degraded natural forest in GMF Degraded natural forest in PMF Afforestation in GMF Afforestation in PMF
8 58 18 26 – 15
2.78 0.07 0.15 0.01 – 0.06
13.26 1.82 0.74 0.08 – 0.25
0.00a 0.00a 0.01 0.00a – 0.01
10.23 1.14 1.09 0.71 – 1.01
3.68 16.29 13.93 71.00 – 16.83
–, no data. a Very low values (<0.004).
and (iv) logging of trees for timber trade was banned since 1976 in all forests, but collection of deadwood and felling of isolated trees with poor quality wood for fuelwood production was allowed in pine forest areas. Large tracts of forests under the control of Revenue Department (Civil Soyam Forests) were diverted to agricultural land use to meet the growing demands of population. As manure production decreased due to non-availability of sufficient leaf litter from forests, some of the cultivated fields were abandoned. Such changes are visible in terms of an increase in culturable wasteland (culturable wasteland is defined in local land records as agricultural land use currently under fallow for more than 5 years) during 1971–1991 period, while the total cultivated land increased marginally (Wakeel, 2002). The increased food requirements were largely met through intensification of agriculture which was possible due to introduction of irrigation facilities. The irrigated land area increased almost three times during this period. These improvements in irrigation and agriculture support services were the result of development programmes such as Integrated Watershed Development Programme, Drought Prone Area Development Programme, Model Watershed Development
Programme and Rural Landless Employment Generation Programme. When these time bound programmes implemented with national/international assistance were completed, the inputs (subsidies) also stopped suddenly. The influence of such schemes is clearly visible after 1980 as most villagers started growing vegetables using inorganic fertilizers for export to urban markets. The participation in agriculture also increased during this period. Government supported the modified agricultural practices with opening up of market yards and cold storage facilities just outside the watershed and in nearby urban market. The details of ecological and economic impacts of agricultural intensification are given in Wakeel (2002).
4. Discussion 4.1. Deforestation rates Deforestation rates in developing countries such as India during the 20th century are considered to be among the highest in the world (Wood and Baldwin, 1985; Meyer and Turner, 1992; Sehgal and Abrol, 1992;
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Table 4 Spatial distribution of area (ha) of various types of forests in slope classes in Kuchgad micro watershed, Central Himalaya, India Slope classes (in 8)
Pine forests
Oak forests
Oak–pine mixed forests
GMF
PMF
Total
GMF
PMF
Total
GMF
PMF
Total
1967 Less than 5 5–10 10–15 15–20 More than 20
40.16 1091.42 862.88 22.25 0.00
0.66 141.22 339.51 44.11 0.00
40.82 1232.64 1202.39 66.36 0.00
0.00 180.58 172.04 6.9 0.00
0.00 2.14 2.44 0.00 0.00
0.00 182.72 174.48 6.90 0.00
0.00 25.79 7.32 17.59 0.00
0.00 0.00 15.4 1.79 0.00
0.00 25.79 22.72 19.38 0.00
Total
2016.70
525.51
2542.21
359.52
4.58
364.10
50.70
17.19
67.89
1988 Less than 5 5–10 10–15 15–20 More than 20
39.15 1061.75 (4.42) 849.18 (5.52) 21.90 (55.39) 0.00
0.52 112.45 (1.05) 188.53 (0.52) 11.38 0.00
39.67 1174.2 1037.71 33.28 0.00
0.00 180.58 (0.88) 172.04 (10.50) 6.9 0.00
0.00 2.14 2.44 0.00 0.00
0.00 182.72 174.48 6.90 0.00
0.00 25.79 7.33 (44.93) 17.59 (55.09) 0.00
0.00 0.00 15.4 1.47 (58.50) 0.00
0.00 25.79 22.73 19.06 0.00
Total
1971.98
312.88
2284.86
359.52
4.58
364.10
50.71
16.87
67.58
1997 Less than 5 5–10 10–15 15–20 More than 20
39.15 1062.21 (5.81) 849.12 (14.98) 21.90 (55.39) 0.00
0.52 112.45 (2.36) 182.12 (1.60) 8.60 0.00
39.67 1174.41 1031.24 30.50 0.00
0.00 180.58 (1.03) 172.05 (10.60) 6.9 0.00
0.00 2.14 2.44 0.00 0.00
0.00 182.72 174.49 6.90 0.00
0.00 25.79 7.33 (44.75) 17.59 (55.09) 0.00
0.00 0.00 15.4 1.47 (58.50) 0.00
0.00 25.79 22.73 19.06 0.00
Total
1972.38
303.44
2275.82
359.53
4.58
364.11
50.71
16.87
67.58
Degraded forest area (%) is given in parentheses; GMF, Government Managed Forests; PMF, People Managed Forests.
Table 5 Forest cover loss (area in ha) in forests managed by the Government (GMF) and the forests managed by the people (PMF) in Kuchgad micro watershed, Central Himalaya, India Type of land use change
Between Forest Forest Forest
1967 and 1988 to agriculture to degraded forest to pasture/barren
Total Between Forest Forest Forest
1988 and 1997 to agriculture to degraded forest to pasture/barren
Total Between Forest Forest Forest
1967 and 1997 to agriculture to degraded forest to pasture/barren
Total a
Values less than <0.003.
Pine forests
Oak forests
Oak–pine mixed forests
GMF
PMF
Total
GMF
PMF
Total
GMF
PMF
Total
27.73 106.60 15.24
180.58 0.86 33.82
208.31 107.46 49.06
0.00 19.60 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 19.60 0.00
0.00 12.97 0.00
0.32 0.86 0.00a
0.32 13.83 0.00a
149.57
215.26
364.83
19.60
0.00
19.60
12.97
1.18
14.15
0.41 94.11 0.00
9.82 4.00 0.00
10.23 98.11 0.00
0.00 0.50 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.50 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
94.52
13.82
108.34
0.50
0.00
0.50
0.00
0.00
0.00
28.14 201.4 14.45
190.80 5.21 30.96
218.94 206.61 45.41
0.00 20.10 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 20.10 0.00
0.00 12.97 0.00
0.32 0.86 0.00a
0.32 13.83 0.00a
243.99
226.97
470.96
20.10
0.00
20.10
12.97
1.18
14.15
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Table 6 Agricultural dependence of inhabitants in Kuchgad micro watershed, Central Himalaya, India Parameter
1971
1981
1991
Household number Population
3124 16599
3904 20332
4336 23104
Total workers Cultivators Agricultural labourers Other workers
6583 5448 185 950
6636 5075 121 1440
7793 6402 101 1290
Non-workers Average house hold size Arithmetic density (individuals/ha) Agricultural density (individuals/ha) Physiological density (individuals/ha)
9998 5.31 1.67 1.65 4.86
12310 5.21 1.68 1.46 5.71
12745 5.33 1.89 1.9 6.75
Forest: agriculture ratio Without Reserve Forest Including Reserve Forest
1:5 1:0.95
1:7.14 1:1.05
1:14.29 1:1.09
Irrigation extent % of total area % of cultivated area
0.42 1.23
0.51 1.75
0.93 3.31
Negi et al., 1997). The rates of loss of tree cover reported for the Himalayan region are highly variable partly because of variation in definition of different categories of forest mapped, in socio-ecologicalhistorical background of the areas where changes were monitored and, variation in scale and methodology adopted for change detection (Saxena et al., 1993; Sen et al., 2002; Semwal et al., 2004). Agricultural expansion at the cost of deforestation seems to have drastically reduced in the study area after 1988, partly because of strict enforcement of forest conservation policy and partly because sites suitable for agriculture were no longer available. Loss of forest was more prominent in areas where management responsibilities vested with the people’s institution than in the areas managed by the Government Forest Department. This could be attributed to weaknesses of existing people’s institutions (Maikhuri et al., 1997a,b), policies discouraging forest resource based economic benefits to the people and people’s appreciation for economic development options rather than merely community property rights (Vandergeest, 1996). Deforestation was observed in areas controlled by Government Forest Department too but this forest loss was compensated by afforestation. Recuperation of forest cover is likely when forest resources become so scarce that livelihood of local people is threatened or when afforestation
policies are such that people derive substantial economic benefits from plantations. Subba (1992, 1993) reported an increase of 2.3% in forest area in Dhankuta district and of 8% in Dhran-Mulgat area in Nepal between 1978 and 1993. Virgo and Subba (1994) found an increase of 2.3% in forest area between 1978 and 1990, even though population increased by 19% during this period. Tamrakar et al. (1991) reported significant conversion of grassland and shrubland to pine plantations in Jikhu Khola watershed in Nepal. Jackson et al. (1998) reported land use changes between 1978 and 1992 in four sample areas covering an elevation gradient of 500–4000 m and found conversion of shrubland and grasslands to more productive categories of forest land at lower altitudes but expansion of shrublands/grasslands at the expense of forest cover depletion at higher altitudes. All these study areas were characterized by intervention of international funding agencies for strengthening participatory forestry programmes. Land use/cover needs monitoring at frequent intervals for precisely identifying the change driving factors (Ochoa-Gaona and Gonzalez-Espinosa, 2000). 4.2. Dynamics of land use changes Deforestation studies usually limit themselves to comparing the extent of forested areas at the start and
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end of a chosen period (Zipperer et al., 1990; Dirzo and Garcia, 1992; Grainger, 1992; Ghosh et al., 1996, 1997). This had led to a rather simplistic notion that forest loss and expansion of agricultural land use are positively correlated (Lele and Stone, 1989; Saxena et al., 1991; Collier et al., 1994; Brookfield, 1995; Turner and Ali, 1996; Kimothi and Juyal, 1996; Cuffaro, 1997; Pender, 1998; Tilman, 1999; Doos, 2000; Sunderlin et al., 2000; Zeleke and Hurni, 2001). Studies by some workers in the Himalaya and elsewhere indicated that oak forests were being replaced by pine forests and such changes sometimes formed intermediate stages before natural forests were converted to degraded areas or agricultural areas (Singh et al., 1984; Gibson et al., 1988; Singh and Singh, 1992; Thadani and Ashton, 1995). The needs of rural indigenous inhabitants in Himalaya are met largely from forests located around the settlements (Tiwari, 1983; Singh and Singh, 1991; Bawa and Dayanandan, 1997; Ghosh et al., 1997; Gopinath, 1999; Negi et al., 1999; Maikhuri et al., 2004) as in many other mountain areas in developing countries (Ludeke et al., 1990; Brown, 1994; DeJong et al., 1994; Turner and Ali, 1996; Brown, 1997; Landa et al., 1997; Schreier et al., 1998; Barbier, 2000; Weis, 2000; Islam et al., 2001). Bulk of the biomass from forests is obtained in the form of fuelwood, fodder and manure. Degradation of oak forest was observed in forests that were managed by the Government Forest Department but not in forests managed by people. Major part of the oak forest is present in the Government Reserve Forests in Kuchgad watershed. As per the existing policies, local inhabitants are allowed to lop broadleaved trees for fuel and fodder free of any cost even in the Government Reserve Forests. The Forest Department pays more attention to the protection and management of pine forests compared to the oak forests because the latter do not provide any revenue to the Government. Oak trees, especially in areas controlled by Forest Department are excessively lopped, often reduced to almost bare standing boles. Opening of canopy in oak forest gives way to early successional light demanding pines. As pine resin extraction is in the hands of Forest Department, the Department promoted conversion of oak to pine forests. Pine trees are also lopped severely by local people but for fuelwood and small
timber (Semwal et al., 2004). While occurrence of intermediate/seral stages following degradation of climax oak forests as reported by others (Singh and Singh, 1992; Sen et al., 2002) cannot be denied, the limitations of data sets did not permit quantification of this change in Kuchgad micro watershed. A degraded oak–pine mixed stand showed spectral reflectance patterns similar to that of fairly dense mono-specific pine stands. Land use is framed in an institutional and natural resources policy context, with property and land use rights, access to extension services and markets, and agricultural price policies being additional relevant factors influencing these decisions (Pant, 1922; Shah, 1986; Rawat, 1991; Kammerbauer and Ardon, 1999; Saxena et al., 1993; Rao and Pant, 2001). During 1988–1997 period, Government promoted intensification of agriculture by providing incentives for adoption of seeds of high yielding varieties of crops, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and funded reforestation and soil conservation interventions in under-utilized village common lands. Construction of a new road on the southern side of watershed and vegetable storage-cum-processing centre at Khairna by the Government, facilitated marketing of local produce and access to products from outside the region. Apart from conversion of forests and grazing lands to agriculture, a constant thinning in forest (i.e. conversion of dense forests to degraded/open forests) was observed within as well as outside the area governed by the Forest Department (Rao and Pant, 2001; Wakeel, 2002). This thinning all across the watershed was due to increased demand of fuelwood, fodder and manure. The changes in patch numbers and shape complexity index of land use/covers between 1988 and 1997 indicate the human intervention in terms of resource extraction and afforestation. 4.3. Deforestation and slope angles It is generally accepted that deforestation may be widespread in areas where slopes are relatively gentle (Ochoa-Gaona and Gonzalez-Espinosa, 2000; Rao and Pant, 2001; Thapa, 2001; Zeleke and Hurni, 2001; Chen et al., 2001; Semwal et al., 2004), but in the present study the forest loss was found to have occurred more on steeper slopes. The complete absence of deforestation on gentler slopes may be
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because such lands were largely under Forest Department, which resisted agricultural encroachment or large-scale fellings. 4.4. Deforestation and socio-economic factors High population density and growth have frequently been associated with forest loss and species extinction threats (Siebert, 1987; Lele and Stone, 1989; Collier et al., 1994; Sisk et al., 1994; Uitto, 1995; Frohn et al., 1996; Cuffaro, 1997; Pender, 1998). The basic aim of entrusting large areas of natural forests to Forest Department during the colonial period was to maximise the environmental and economic benefits from forest resources rather than from conversion of forest to agriculture and other land uses. The results of the present study indicate that the Forest Department was, by and large, successful in conserving and/improving natural tree cover in area under its command. However, degradation of forests, especially of oak dominated forests that were confined to Forest Department controlled areas, makes one suspect that the Forest Department indirectly encouraged the conversion of oak forest to pine forest as such a change provided more revenue to the Government compared to the option of maintaining oak forests. Felling of oak trees for charcoal production encouraged by the Government before 1980s contributed more to the large-scale conversion of broadleaved oak forests to seral stages than the traditional practice of collecting deadwood and lopping for fodder and fuel in these forests (Negi et al., 1997; Wakeel, 2002; Post and Snel, 2003). Conversion of oak to pines due to frequent intense disturbances is widespread in the Himalaya (Tiwari, 1983; Singh et al., 1984; Thadani and Ashton, 1995) and also elsewhere (Gibson et al., 1988).
5. Conclusions By providing an account of land use/cover change in Kuchgad micro watershed and examining the local inhabitants’ dependence on broadleaved forests for subsistence resources (fuel, fodder and other nontimber forest products), the present analysis identifies that both institutional arrangements, viz., Government Forest Department and people’s institutions failed to
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foster sustainable natural resource management. The area under forest cover of Kuchgad micro watershed decreased drastically in PMF. While conversion of forests to other land uses did not occur in GMF, forest quality was deteriorated. These losses in forest area and quality showed varied rates during the analysis period and generally tended to be slowed down during the last two decades (after 1990) perhaps due to effective intervention of Government institutions in providing alternate employment opportunities (offfarm employment) and improvements in agricultural production systems (irrigation, HYV seeds and inorganic fertilizers). Slope, forest species composition and institutional frameworks regulating natural resource uses are the main forces in mountain land transformation processes. Though these forces influence the course differently either individually or in combinations, institutional interventions and market access have provided increased economic welfare in the watershed. The work carried out in Kuchgad micro watershed shows that by integrating information about the physical attributes and changes (shape complexity, slope, land cover, etc.) over time, with demographic, legal and policy changes, one can formulate a cause and effect pattern. Such cause and effect patterns tend to vary with scale and region. Consequently, natural resource monitoring systems at various levels are a necessary tool to assess and evaluate the impacts. If institutions are to respond to contemporary civil society obligations (i.e. meeting subsistence requirements of local inhabitants), rights, rules, regulations, monitoring mechanisms and management arrangements need to be adapted to changing local contexts. This paper reiterates the argument that institutions play a crucial role in molding forested landscapes. Finally, there is a need to consider the spatio-temporal conditions underlying success across institutional settings; especially when resources have multiple users and uses, and where management is complex and fraught with difficult implications for long term ecological sustainability (Pavri and Deshmukh, 2003). This is not to concentrate on management regime type per se, but rather to examine how variations in context and institutional structure promote or hinder sustainable natural resource management. Lessons learned therein would improve our understanding of ways in which more productive environmental outcomes might be achieved.
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Acknowledgements We are thankful to Director, G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development for the facilities and encouragement. We acknowledge critical inputs provided by two anonymous reviewers that helped us in improving the manuscript.
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Forest management and land use/cover changes in a typical micro watershed in the mid elevation zone of Central Himalaya, India A. Wakeel a, K.S. Rao b,*, R.K. Maikhuri c, K.G. Saxena a a School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263643, India c Garhwal Unit, G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, P.B. No. 92, Srinagar (Garhwal) 246174, India b
Received 25 May 2004; received in revised form 8 January 2005; accepted 30 March 2005
Abstract In most developing countries, large-scale land use/cover changes are reported over the last few centuries. In most cases, it is attributed to the human population growth. To achieve conservation of biodiversity and ecological functions of natural ecosystem, large tracts were taken over by the Governments in many developing countries. This study analyses the spatial and temporal pattern of land use/cover change in a micro watershed in Central Himalaya, India, during 1967–1997 period based on interpretation of satellite data and using a geographic information system (GIS). During the last 30 years (i.e. 1967–1997) the forest cover was altered drastically with increasing population pressure (both human and animal), agricultural activities and raw material extraction activities. Agricultural expansion at the cost of loss of forest cover was the most prominent change in the forests managed by the people. In Government Reserve Forests, there was no agricultural expansion but changes in tree density and canopy cover were evident. Due to abandonment of large tracts of rainfed agricultural areas on slopping terraces in middle elevations, the area of culturable wastes increased while agricultural expansion at the expense of forests occurred and thus the total cultivated land stayed stagnant between 1971 and 1991. While environmental degradation resulted in low agricultural yields as well as poor fuelwood and fodder yields in most areas, diversification of agriculture in flood terraces in lower valleys due to Government development programmes improved agricultural participation. This study shows that while Government Forest Department is able to resist losses of areas under their control to agricultural expansion, change of vegetal cover indicates, they are not in a position to police the areas with broad leaved trees which are exploited by local inhabitants for their subsistence needs. This paper reiterates the argument that institutions play a crucial role in molding forested landscapes. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Forest management; Forest degradation and fragmentation; Government institutions; Himalaya; Land use/cover change; People’s institutions
* Corresponding author at: Centre for Inter-disciplinary Studies of Mountain and Hill Environment, University of Delhi, South Campus, Benito Juarez Road, New Delhi 110021, India. Tel.: +91 11 26888144; fax: +91 11 26888144. E-mail address: [email protected] (K.S. Rao). 0378-1127/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2005.03.061
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1. Introduction The classic approach to environmental management is state led and top–down, with strong emphasis on the rational exploitation of natural resources using scientifically founded methods (Blaikie, 1998). Such approach assumes the local inhabitants as being irrational and ignorant, and a major part of the ongoing environmental problems. In spite of all criticism and opposition, this classic approach is followed in most developing countries. The idea of popular participation and more community-based natural resource management is recent in origin. The concept of sustainable forest management seeks to achieve a balance between production and ecological functions of forest ecosystems. Underlying most contemporary human-environment interactions are institutions that legitimize systems of rights and rules governing how, and by whom, available resources are used (Bromley, 1991). In turn, property right regimes, embedded within institutional structures, organize behaviour patterns and produce resource use practices that invariably impact the quality and quantity of the resource itself (Stevernson, 1991; Robbins, 1998; Pavri and Deshmukh, 2003). Forest centered resource utilisation and conservation is the major land use recommended for mountainous regions such as Himalaya distinguished globally as a biodiversity hotspot (Myers, 1990). Increasing awareness about drastic and accelerated transformation of natural landscape, and its likely adverse effects on global climate and loss of biodiversity, led to adoption of several resolutions such as Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), Climatic Change Convention Framework and Kyoto Protocol by international community. The legal bindings have, by and large, failed to arrest deforestation or to restore forest cover in degraded forest lands on global scale (Pender, 1998; Doos, 2000). Though the Indian Forest Policy stipulates a dense forest cover over 66% area of the Himalaya and other mountain regions of the country, the actual forest cover is far below this stipulated limit. Participatory natural resource management has been argued to be a more effective strategy of forest conservation than protecting the resources using administrative instruments and policing (Gadgil et al., 1993; Borrini-
Feyerband, 1996; Kothari et al., 1996). However, objective analysis of forest resource dynamics in areas differing in respect of management regimes are lacking. The land settlements made during colonial periods in India ensured that ownership of all land not under individual ownership (i.e. habitations and cultivated area) was vested with Government agencies. Forests of Central Himalaya are classified as: (i) Reserve Forests, which are owned and managed by the Government Forest Department; (ii) Civil Soyam Forests, comprising small forest patches interspersed around settlements – the land ownership rights of these forests are vested with the Revenue Department and management responsibilities with the Forest Department; (iii) Panchayat Forests – the land ownership rights are vested with the Revenue Department and a local institution called Vanpanchayat (comprising 5– 10 individuals elected by the people) is empowered to regulate subsistence forest resource uses; (iv) Cantonment Forests which are owned and managed by military cantonments; and (v) Private Forests which are owned and managed by individuals. The area of private forest is negligible compared to the area of other classes of forests (Anonymous, 1980). The objective of the present study was to compare spatial and temporal patterns of land use/cover change between different forest management systems over a period of 30 years (1967–1997) in a micro watershed in the mid-elevation zone of Central Himalaya, India.
2. Methods 2.1. The study area The Kuchgad micro watershed is situated (latitude 298300 –298450 N and longitude 798150 –798300 E) in Almora district along the Haldwani–Ranikhet State roadway and falls in the agroclimatic region ‘hill zone’ in National Agricultural Planning Zonation (Anonymous, 1996). The area of the watershed is around 100 km2. The average annual rainfall is about 1100 mm and annual temperature 21 8C (Wakeel, 2002). Altitude varies from 900 to 2100 m amsl. From species distribution viewpoint, forests can be categorised as pine (Pinus roxburghii Sargent) forests mainly at lower elevations (900–1800 m), oak
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(Quercus leucotrichophora A. Camus)-pine mixed forests at middle elevations (1600–1900 m) and oak forests around hill tops (>1900 m). The soil is brown forest acid type (Anonymous, 1996a). Based on the thematic details available in small scale maps (1:6,000,000 to 1:1,000,000) prepared by National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organization, the watershed is covered in soil depth class ‘50– 100 cm’, texture class ‘loam’, soil reaction class ‘strongly acidic to moderately acidic’, topography class ‘rugged’ and land slope class ‘very steep to moderately steep’ (Anonymous, 1996b). There are 4336 households distributed in 92 settlements located mostly in lower half of the watershed. During the 1991 population enumeration, the population density was 250 persons per km2, average household/family size 5.33 individuals and sex ratio (number of females per 1000 males) 1025. Per capita agricultural land availability is about 0.2 ha, with more than 85% land holdings being <1.5 ha area. Area under irrigation increased from 1.23% of cultivated area (3412 ha) in 1971 to 3.31% of cultivated area (3420 ha) in 1991. Though the Central Himalayan region generally has higher females in comparison to males, the disparity of numbers between the sexes in the watershed decreased over the last 40 years (1951–1991) (Wakeel, 2002). The principal activity is basic grain production for selfconsumption as well as some horticulture and dairying for local urban markets. Female participation in agriculture is high in the entire region, as males from most households migrate for wage earning to plains. The principal crops are wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), rice (Oryza sativa L.), and finger millet (Eleusine coracana Gaertn.). Over the last two decades (i.e. 1980–1997), vegetables and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivation was taken up where irrigation facilities were available. More detailed accounts about the cropping patterns, crop rotations and, crop yields are given in Maikhuri et al. (1996, 1997c) and Wakeel (2002). Additional economic activities include offfarm employment, gathering of firewood and wild fruits. 2.2. Database development Survey of India (SOI) topographical maps on 1:50,000 scale were used to map land use/cover as in
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1967, elevation, slope (Wentworth, 1930), aspect and other features like metalled/unmetalled roads and footpaths. The Reserve Forest compartment boundaries were drawn from Forest Working Plan maps and village boundaries from maps available with Revenue Department. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Indian Remote Sensing Satellite – LISS-III Standard False Colour Composites at 1:50,000 scale were visually interpreted for mapping land use/cover in 1988 and 1997. All these layers were digitised in a PC based Geographic Information System (GIS) with a maximum root mean square (RMS) error of 15 m, using ArcInfo (ESRI, Redlands, USA) version 3.4 D. Intersection points of 1 km 1 km grid laid over the land use/cover map were checked to assess interpretation accuracy (Saxena et al., 1992). Interpretation accuracy was 100% for forest and afforestation areas, 95% for agriculture and settlements, and 90% for barren and degraded lands, with an overall interpretation accuracy of 97%. The maps were analysed using the overlaying and intersecting operations to derive land use/cover changes and spatial distribution of each land use/cover type in various elevation, slope and aspect classes. In order to study the landscape fragmentation processes, the land cover maps for 1967, 1988 and 1997 were used to determine the number, perimeter and area of forest patches using the Tables subprogram of ArcInfo. Shape complexity index (SCI), a measure of the degree of irregularity in land use plots, was calculated (Covich, 1976; Lovejoy, 1982; Luque et al., 1994; Kammerbauer and Ardon, 1999; Peralta and Mather, 2000; Rao and Pant, 2001). To determine socio-economic factors and development interventions influencing forest fragmentation, discussions/ interviews were held with officials of management institutions, viz., Forest Department and Vanpanchayat and the local inhabitants in village meetings during the course of the study (1997–2000). Archival records dealing with policies related to natural resources and land use in the region over the last 50 years after independence and about 200 years before (during Gorkha and British occupations) were also analysed to discern the impact of policies on land use/cover. Kuchgad micro watershed has four legal/administrative categories of forests, viz., Reserve Forests, Civil Soyam Forests, Vanpanchayat Forests and
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Cantonment Forests. Private Forests were altogether absent. The boundaries of Reserve Forests were georeferenced while those of Civil Soyam Forests, Cantonment Forests and Vanpanchayat Forests were not georeferenced. This lack of georeferencing delimited land use/cover change analysis to only two categories of forest, i.e. (i) Government Managed Forests (GMF), i.e. Reserve forests and (ii) People Managed Forest (PMF) in which Civil Soyam Forests, Vanpanchayat Forests and Cantonment Forests are merged together. As >90% of the area in ‘PMF’ category belongs to Vanpanchayat and Civil Soyam Forests managed by the people, comparison of changes in the GMF and PMF reflect the changes due to management by the Government and the people’s institutions.
3. Results 3.1. Forest landscape dynamics from 1967 to 1997 The land use/cover maps of 1967, 1988 and 1997 are given in Fig. 1 and the area under different land use/cover type in Table 1. Government Managed Forest (GMF) covered 84% and People Managed Forest (PMF) 16% of the total forest area of Kuchgad micro watershed. The agricultural land use decreased by 20% in GMF area but increased by 30% in PMF area. Area under barren and pasture land decreased by 73% in GMF and 33% in PMF. A comparative account of land use/cover changes in GMF and PMF is given in Table 2. Natural forest occupied about 96% of the total area under GMF as compared to about 6% of the total area outside GMF. During 1967–1988 period, deforestation took place largely in the PMF, resulting in 21% reduction in the total forest area of the watershed. Agricultural expansion was the prime reason for deforestation (Fig. 1). Discussions with people and forest officials indicated that material extraction and overgrazing contributed to deforestation. Between 1988 and 1997, the annual deforestation rate in PMF was 1/4th of that during 1967–1988 period (Table 2). On the other hand, the natural forest cover increased marginally in GMF. In GMF, about 70 ha area with negligible tree cover in the year 1988 (2.87% of total area) was turned to sparse/ dense tree cover as a result of enrichment planting.
3.2. Forest degradation and fragmentation The watershed was differentiated into two distinct land use zones in the year 1967: (a) the upper reaches of the watershed dominated by GMF and some contiguous patches of PMF; (b) the middle and lower parts of the watershed distinguished by the dominance of cultivated/barren/pasture land with isolated patches of PMF. Though dense and open forests (crown cover >60 and 30%, respectively) were not mapped as separate land use/cover classes in Survey of India map prepared in 1967, the archival records of Forest Department revealed that all land use/cover classified as forest at this point of time were dense forests. The visual interpretation of satellite data of 1982 and 1997 provided an opportunity to segregate degraded and dense natural forest areas, and afforestation in pasture/ barren land use. Due to limitations of resolution of remote sensing data used, identification of afforestation/enrichment plantings in forested areas was not feasible. The shape complexity index increased marginally in both GMF and PMF during 1967– 1997 period (Table 3). Higher shape complex index values indicate more irregular patch forms than lower values. Distribution of forests differing in respect of tree species composition (pine, oak and oak–pine mixed forests) in relation to degree of slope in GMF and PMF areas is given in Table 4. Areas with slopes >208 were devoid of any forest cover. On gentle slopes (<58), only pine forests were found. Thus, oak and oak–pine mixed forests were distributed mostly on 58–208 slopes. Only in 108–158 slope class, all the three types of forests were recorded both in GMF and PMF categories. Conversion of forests to other land uses over a 30year period is given in Table 5. While reduction of crown density (a change from dense to degraded forest) was the major change observed in GMF, conversion to annual crop cultivation was predominant in PMF. Conversion to agriculture was substantial in pine forests but occurred at negligible rates in oak– pine mixed forest areas and was totally absent in oak forests. Degradation of oak forest was observed only in GMF. Degradation of mixed forests was more prominent in GMF compared to PMF. Small-scale conversion of forest to pasture/forest blank was found only in pine forests.
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Fig. 1. Land use/cover map of Kuchgad micro watershed in 1967, 1988 and 1997. Government Reserve Forest boundaries, 1300 and 1700 m elevation contours are also shown.
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Table 1 Land use/cover characteristics of the area (in ha) managed by the Government Forest Department (FD) and other areas (OA) (i.e. other than that managed by Government Forest Department) in Kuchgad micro watershed, Central Himalaya, India Land cover type
1967
1988
1997
FD
OA
Total
FD
OA
Total
Natural forest Degraded forest Afforestation Agriculture Pasture/barren land
2427 ND ND 61 80
547 ND ND 3757 3142
2974 ND ND 3810 3222
2333 164 0.00a 49 22
421 12 5 4722 2286
2754 176 5 4771 2308
Total
2568
7446
10014
2568
7446
10014
FD
OA
2220 277 0.00a 49 22
390 33 91 4770 2162
Total 2610 310 91 4819 2184
2568
7446
10014
ND: no data. a Included in forest/degraded forest.
Table 2 Changes in natural forest cover between 1967 and 1997 in Government Managed Forests (GMF) and People Managed Forests (PMF) in Kuchgad micro watershed, Central Himalaya, India Year
Land use
Area (ha)
Changes
Afforestation/deforestation (% per year)
(%)
(ha)
(%)
In Government Managed Forests (GMF) 1967 Natural forest 2426.93 1988 Natural forest 2496.48 1997 Natural forest 2496.88
94.51 97.21 97.23
69.55 0.40a (69.95b)
2.87 0.02a (2.88b)
0.137 0.0022a (0.096b)
In People Managed Forests (PMF) 1967 Natural forest 547.26 1988 Natural forest 432.71 1997 Natural forest 423.27
7.35 5.81 5.68
114.55 9.44a (123.99b)
20.93 2.18a (22.66b)
0.997 0.242a (0.75b)
a b
Changes and annual deforestation between 1988 and 1997. Changes and annual deforestation between 1967 and 1997.
3.3. The relationship between human intervention and forest landscape The total population and number of households in the watershed increased with each census enumeration. Proportion of workers declined from about 40% of total population in 1971 to about 33% in 1991. The proportion of cultivators declined from 33% of total population in 1971 to 25% in 1981 and increased to about 28% in 1991. However, the percentage of cultivators in total workers was about 82% in 1971 and 1991 and 76% in 1981, indicating increasing dependence of the population on agriculture again after 1980. Though the average household size did not vary much, the arithmetic density of the human population increased from 1.67 to 1.89 during 1971– 1991 period. A negligible difference between agricultural density and arithmetic density confirms the fact that the population primarily depended on
agriculture. However, the increasing difference between physiological density and agricultural density or arithmetic density indicates increasing intensity of dependence of non-workers/unproductive work force on workers/productive work force. The ratio of forests to agricultural area drastically increased with time. Government provided irrigation facilities free of cost to people but such facilities were, by and large, confined to lower elevation/gently sloping flood terraces (Table 6). The important events in the Kuchgad micro watershed influencing land use/cover changes could be summarized as: (i) all natural forests in good condition were reserved before 1935; (ii) charcoal production was a major forest extraction from oak forests to meet the requirement of Contonment at Ranikhet till 1985; (iii) lopping of broadleaved trees in reserves for fodder was allowed to local inhabitants from the very beginning and this practice continues;
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Table 3 Changes in patchiness of the forest area (dense natural forest, degraded natural forest and afforestation) in Government Managed Forest (GMF) and People Managed Forest (PMF) between 1967 and 1997 in Kuchgad micro watershed, Central Himalaya, India Year
Forest type
Area (km2)
Number of patches (n)
Average
Maximum
Minimum
Average perimeter (km)
Shape complexity index (km/km2)
1967
Dense natural forest in GMF Dense natural forest in PMF Degraded natural forest in GMF Degraded natural forest in PMF Afforestation in GMF Afforestation in PMF
5 76 – – – –
4.85 0.07 – – – –
15.00 1.87 – – – –
1.34 0.28 – – – –
16.90 1.08 – – – –
3.49 15.43 – – – –
1988
Dense natural forest in GMF Dense natural forest in PMF Degraded natural forest in GMF Degraded natural forest in PMF Afforestation in GMF Afforestation in PMF
5 64 12 12 – 1
4.67 0.07 0.14 0.01 – 0.05
14.39 1.82 0.50 0.04 – 0.05
1.55 0.00a 0.04 0.00a – 0.05
16.92 1.15 1.95 0.69 – 1.11
3.62 16.43 13.92 76.67 – 22.20
1997
Dense natural forest in GMF Dense natural forest in PMF Degraded natural forest in GMF Degraded natural forest in PMF Afforestation in GMF Afforestation in PMF
8 58 18 26 – 15
2.78 0.07 0.15 0.01 – 0.06
13.26 1.82 0.74 0.08 – 0.25
0.00a 0.00a 0.01 0.00a – 0.01
10.23 1.14 1.09 0.71 – 1.01
3.68 16.29 13.93 71.00 – 16.83
–, no data. a Very low values (<0.004).
and (iv) logging of trees for timber trade was banned since 1976 in all forests, but collection of deadwood and felling of isolated trees with poor quality wood for fuelwood production was allowed in pine forest areas. Large tracts of forests under the control of Revenue Department (Civil Soyam Forests) were diverted to agricultural land use to meet the growing demands of population. As manure production decreased due to non-availability of sufficient leaf litter from forests, some of the cultivated fields were abandoned. Such changes are visible in terms of an increase in culturable wasteland (culturable wasteland is defined in local land records as agricultural land use currently under fallow for more than 5 years) during 1971–1991 period, while the total cultivated land increased marginally (Wakeel, 2002). The increased food requirements were largely met through intensification of agriculture which was possible due to introduction of irrigation facilities. The irrigated land area increased almost three times during this period. These improvements in irrigation and agriculture support services were the result of development programmes such as Integrated Watershed Development Programme, Drought Prone Area Development Programme, Model Watershed Development
Programme and Rural Landless Employment Generation Programme. When these time bound programmes implemented with national/international assistance were completed, the inputs (subsidies) also stopped suddenly. The influence of such schemes is clearly visible after 1980 as most villagers started growing vegetables using inorganic fertilizers for export to urban markets. The participation in agriculture also increased during this period. Government supported the modified agricultural practices with opening up of market yards and cold storage facilities just outside the watershed and in nearby urban market. The details of ecological and economic impacts of agricultural intensification are given in Wakeel (2002).
4. Discussion 4.1. Deforestation rates Deforestation rates in developing countries such as India during the 20th century are considered to be among the highest in the world (Wood and Baldwin, 1985; Meyer and Turner, 1992; Sehgal and Abrol, 1992;
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Table 4 Spatial distribution of area (ha) of various types of forests in slope classes in Kuchgad micro watershed, Central Himalaya, India Slope classes (in 8)
Pine forests
Oak forests
Oak–pine mixed forests
GMF
PMF
Total
GMF
PMF
Total
GMF
PMF
Total
1967 Less than 5 5–10 10–15 15–20 More than 20
40.16 1091.42 862.88 22.25 0.00
0.66 141.22 339.51 44.11 0.00
40.82 1232.64 1202.39 66.36 0.00
0.00 180.58 172.04 6.9 0.00
0.00 2.14 2.44 0.00 0.00
0.00 182.72 174.48 6.90 0.00
0.00 25.79 7.32 17.59 0.00
0.00 0.00 15.4 1.79 0.00
0.00 25.79 22.72 19.38 0.00
Total
2016.70
525.51
2542.21
359.52
4.58
364.10
50.70
17.19
67.89
1988 Less than 5 5–10 10–15 15–20 More than 20
39.15 1061.75 (4.42) 849.18 (5.52) 21.90 (55.39) 0.00
0.52 112.45 (1.05) 188.53 (0.52) 11.38 0.00
39.67 1174.2 1037.71 33.28 0.00
0.00 180.58 (0.88) 172.04 (10.50) 6.9 0.00
0.00 2.14 2.44 0.00 0.00
0.00 182.72 174.48 6.90 0.00
0.00 25.79 7.33 (44.93) 17.59 (55.09) 0.00
0.00 0.00 15.4 1.47 (58.50) 0.00
0.00 25.79 22.73 19.06 0.00
Total
1971.98
312.88
2284.86
359.52
4.58
364.10
50.71
16.87
67.58
1997 Less than 5 5–10 10–15 15–20 More than 20
39.15 1062.21 (5.81) 849.12 (14.98) 21.90 (55.39) 0.00
0.52 112.45 (2.36) 182.12 (1.60) 8.60 0.00
39.67 1174.41 1031.24 30.50 0.00
0.00 180.58 (1.03) 172.05 (10.60) 6.9 0.00
0.00 2.14 2.44 0.00 0.00
0.00 182.72 174.49 6.90 0.00
0.00 25.79 7.33 (44.75) 17.59 (55.09) 0.00
0.00 0.00 15.4 1.47 (58.50) 0.00
0.00 25.79 22.73 19.06 0.00
Total
1972.38
303.44
2275.82
359.53
4.58
364.11
50.71
16.87
67.58
Degraded forest area (%) is given in parentheses; GMF, Government Managed Forests; PMF, People Managed Forests.
Table 5 Forest cover loss (area in ha) in forests managed by the Government (GMF) and the forests managed by the people (PMF) in Kuchgad micro watershed, Central Himalaya, India Type of land use change
Between Forest Forest Forest
1967 and 1988 to agriculture to degraded forest to pasture/barren
Total Between Forest Forest Forest
1988 and 1997 to agriculture to degraded forest to pasture/barren
Total Between Forest Forest Forest
1967 and 1997 to agriculture to degraded forest to pasture/barren
Total a
Values less than <0.003.
Pine forests
Oak forests
Oak–pine mixed forests
GMF
PMF
Total
GMF
PMF
Total
GMF
PMF
Total
27.73 106.60 15.24
180.58 0.86 33.82
208.31 107.46 49.06
0.00 19.60 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 19.60 0.00
0.00 12.97 0.00
0.32 0.86 0.00a
0.32 13.83 0.00a
149.57
215.26
364.83
19.60
0.00
19.60
12.97
1.18
14.15
0.41 94.11 0.00
9.82 4.00 0.00
10.23 98.11 0.00
0.00 0.50 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.50 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
94.52
13.82
108.34
0.50
0.00
0.50
0.00
0.00
0.00
28.14 201.4 14.45
190.80 5.21 30.96
218.94 206.61 45.41
0.00 20.10 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 20.10 0.00
0.00 12.97 0.00
0.32 0.86 0.00a
0.32 13.83 0.00a
243.99
226.97
470.96
20.10
0.00
20.10
12.97
1.18
14.15
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Table 6 Agricultural dependence of inhabitants in Kuchgad micro watershed, Central Himalaya, India Parameter
1971
1981
1991
Household number Population
3124 16599
3904 20332
4336 23104
Total workers Cultivators Agricultural labourers Other workers
6583 5448 185 950
6636 5075 121 1440
7793 6402 101 1290
Non-workers Average house hold size Arithmetic density (individuals/ha) Agricultural density (individuals/ha) Physiological density (individuals/ha)
9998 5.31 1.67 1.65 4.86
12310 5.21 1.68 1.46 5.71
12745 5.33 1.89 1.9 6.75
Forest: agriculture ratio Without Reserve Forest Including Reserve Forest
1:5 1:0.95
1:7.14 1:1.05
1:14.29 1:1.09
Irrigation extent % of total area % of cultivated area
0.42 1.23
0.51 1.75
0.93 3.31
Negi et al., 1997). The rates of loss of tree cover reported for the Himalayan region are highly variable partly because of variation in definition of different categories of forest mapped, in socio-ecologicalhistorical background of the areas where changes were monitored and, variation in scale and methodology adopted for change detection (Saxena et al., 1993; Sen et al., 2002; Semwal et al., 2004). Agricultural expansion at the cost of deforestation seems to have drastically reduced in the study area after 1988, partly because of strict enforcement of forest conservation policy and partly because sites suitable for agriculture were no longer available. Loss of forest was more prominent in areas where management responsibilities vested with the people’s institution than in the areas managed by the Government Forest Department. This could be attributed to weaknesses of existing people’s institutions (Maikhuri et al., 1997a,b), policies discouraging forest resource based economic benefits to the people and people’s appreciation for economic development options rather than merely community property rights (Vandergeest, 1996). Deforestation was observed in areas controlled by Government Forest Department too but this forest loss was compensated by afforestation. Recuperation of forest cover is likely when forest resources become so scarce that livelihood of local people is threatened or when afforestation
policies are such that people derive substantial economic benefits from plantations. Subba (1992, 1993) reported an increase of 2.3% in forest area in Dhankuta district and of 8% in Dhran-Mulgat area in Nepal between 1978 and 1993. Virgo and Subba (1994) found an increase of 2.3% in forest area between 1978 and 1990, even though population increased by 19% during this period. Tamrakar et al. (1991) reported significant conversion of grassland and shrubland to pine plantations in Jikhu Khola watershed in Nepal. Jackson et al. (1998) reported land use changes between 1978 and 1992 in four sample areas covering an elevation gradient of 500–4000 m and found conversion of shrubland and grasslands to more productive categories of forest land at lower altitudes but expansion of shrublands/grasslands at the expense of forest cover depletion at higher altitudes. All these study areas were characterized by intervention of international funding agencies for strengthening participatory forestry programmes. Land use/cover needs monitoring at frequent intervals for precisely identifying the change driving factors (Ochoa-Gaona and Gonzalez-Espinosa, 2000). 4.2. Dynamics of land use changes Deforestation studies usually limit themselves to comparing the extent of forested areas at the start and
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end of a chosen period (Zipperer et al., 1990; Dirzo and Garcia, 1992; Grainger, 1992; Ghosh et al., 1996, 1997). This had led to a rather simplistic notion that forest loss and expansion of agricultural land use are positively correlated (Lele and Stone, 1989; Saxena et al., 1991; Collier et al., 1994; Brookfield, 1995; Turner and Ali, 1996; Kimothi and Juyal, 1996; Cuffaro, 1997; Pender, 1998; Tilman, 1999; Doos, 2000; Sunderlin et al., 2000; Zeleke and Hurni, 2001). Studies by some workers in the Himalaya and elsewhere indicated that oak forests were being replaced by pine forests and such changes sometimes formed intermediate stages before natural forests were converted to degraded areas or agricultural areas (Singh et al., 1984; Gibson et al., 1988; Singh and Singh, 1992; Thadani and Ashton, 1995). The needs of rural indigenous inhabitants in Himalaya are met largely from forests located around the settlements (Tiwari, 1983; Singh and Singh, 1991; Bawa and Dayanandan, 1997; Ghosh et al., 1997; Gopinath, 1999; Negi et al., 1999; Maikhuri et al., 2004) as in many other mountain areas in developing countries (Ludeke et al., 1990; Brown, 1994; DeJong et al., 1994; Turner and Ali, 1996; Brown, 1997; Landa et al., 1997; Schreier et al., 1998; Barbier, 2000; Weis, 2000; Islam et al., 2001). Bulk of the biomass from forests is obtained in the form of fuelwood, fodder and manure. Degradation of oak forest was observed in forests that were managed by the Government Forest Department but not in forests managed by people. Major part of the oak forest is present in the Government Reserve Forests in Kuchgad watershed. As per the existing policies, local inhabitants are allowed to lop broadleaved trees for fuel and fodder free of any cost even in the Government Reserve Forests. The Forest Department pays more attention to the protection and management of pine forests compared to the oak forests because the latter do not provide any revenue to the Government. Oak trees, especially in areas controlled by Forest Department are excessively lopped, often reduced to almost bare standing boles. Opening of canopy in oak forest gives way to early successional light demanding pines. As pine resin extraction is in the hands of Forest Department, the Department promoted conversion of oak to pine forests. Pine trees are also lopped severely by local people but for fuelwood and small
timber (Semwal et al., 2004). While occurrence of intermediate/seral stages following degradation of climax oak forests as reported by others (Singh and Singh, 1992; Sen et al., 2002) cannot be denied, the limitations of data sets did not permit quantification of this change in Kuchgad micro watershed. A degraded oak–pine mixed stand showed spectral reflectance patterns similar to that of fairly dense mono-specific pine stands. Land use is framed in an institutional and natural resources policy context, with property and land use rights, access to extension services and markets, and agricultural price policies being additional relevant factors influencing these decisions (Pant, 1922; Shah, 1986; Rawat, 1991; Kammerbauer and Ardon, 1999; Saxena et al., 1993; Rao and Pant, 2001). During 1988–1997 period, Government promoted intensification of agriculture by providing incentives for adoption of seeds of high yielding varieties of crops, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and funded reforestation and soil conservation interventions in under-utilized village common lands. Construction of a new road on the southern side of watershed and vegetable storage-cum-processing centre at Khairna by the Government, facilitated marketing of local produce and access to products from outside the region. Apart from conversion of forests and grazing lands to agriculture, a constant thinning in forest (i.e. conversion of dense forests to degraded/open forests) was observed within as well as outside the area governed by the Forest Department (Rao and Pant, 2001; Wakeel, 2002). This thinning all across the watershed was due to increased demand of fuelwood, fodder and manure. The changes in patch numbers and shape complexity index of land use/covers between 1988 and 1997 indicate the human intervention in terms of resource extraction and afforestation. 4.3. Deforestation and slope angles It is generally accepted that deforestation may be widespread in areas where slopes are relatively gentle (Ochoa-Gaona and Gonzalez-Espinosa, 2000; Rao and Pant, 2001; Thapa, 2001; Zeleke and Hurni, 2001; Chen et al., 2001; Semwal et al., 2004), but in the present study the forest loss was found to have occurred more on steeper slopes. The complete absence of deforestation on gentler slopes may be
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because such lands were largely under Forest Department, which resisted agricultural encroachment or large-scale fellings. 4.4. Deforestation and socio-economic factors High population density and growth have frequently been associated with forest loss and species extinction threats (Siebert, 1987; Lele and Stone, 1989; Collier et al., 1994; Sisk et al., 1994; Uitto, 1995; Frohn et al., 1996; Cuffaro, 1997; Pender, 1998). The basic aim of entrusting large areas of natural forests to Forest Department during the colonial period was to maximise the environmental and economic benefits from forest resources rather than from conversion of forest to agriculture and other land uses. The results of the present study indicate that the Forest Department was, by and large, successful in conserving and/improving natural tree cover in area under its command. However, degradation of forests, especially of oak dominated forests that were confined to Forest Department controlled areas, makes one suspect that the Forest Department indirectly encouraged the conversion of oak forest to pine forest as such a change provided more revenue to the Government compared to the option of maintaining oak forests. Felling of oak trees for charcoal production encouraged by the Government before 1980s contributed more to the large-scale conversion of broadleaved oak forests to seral stages than the traditional practice of collecting deadwood and lopping for fodder and fuel in these forests (Negi et al., 1997; Wakeel, 2002; Post and Snel, 2003). Conversion of oak to pines due to frequent intense disturbances is widespread in the Himalaya (Tiwari, 1983; Singh et al., 1984; Thadani and Ashton, 1995) and also elsewhere (Gibson et al., 1988).
5. Conclusions By providing an account of land use/cover change in Kuchgad micro watershed and examining the local inhabitants’ dependence on broadleaved forests for subsistence resources (fuel, fodder and other nontimber forest products), the present analysis identifies that both institutional arrangements, viz., Government Forest Department and people’s institutions failed to
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foster sustainable natural resource management. The area under forest cover of Kuchgad micro watershed decreased drastically in PMF. While conversion of forests to other land uses did not occur in GMF, forest quality was deteriorated. These losses in forest area and quality showed varied rates during the analysis period and generally tended to be slowed down during the last two decades (after 1990) perhaps due to effective intervention of Government institutions in providing alternate employment opportunities (offfarm employment) and improvements in agricultural production systems (irrigation, HYV seeds and inorganic fertilizers). Slope, forest species composition and institutional frameworks regulating natural resource uses are the main forces in mountain land transformation processes. Though these forces influence the course differently either individually or in combinations, institutional interventions and market access have provided increased economic welfare in the watershed. The work carried out in Kuchgad micro watershed shows that by integrating information about the physical attributes and changes (shape complexity, slope, land cover, etc.) over time, with demographic, legal and policy changes, one can formulate a cause and effect pattern. Such cause and effect patterns tend to vary with scale and region. Consequently, natural resource monitoring systems at various levels are a necessary tool to assess and evaluate the impacts. If institutions are to respond to contemporary civil society obligations (i.e. meeting subsistence requirements of local inhabitants), rights, rules, regulations, monitoring mechanisms and management arrangements need to be adapted to changing local contexts. This paper reiterates the argument that institutions play a crucial role in molding forested landscapes. Finally, there is a need to consider the spatio-temporal conditions underlying success across institutional settings; especially when resources have multiple users and uses, and where management is complex and fraught with difficult implications for long term ecological sustainability (Pavri and Deshmukh, 2003). This is not to concentrate on management regime type per se, but rather to examine how variations in context and institutional structure promote or hinder sustainable natural resource management. Lessons learned therein would improve our understanding of ways in which more productive environmental outcomes might be achieved.
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Acknowledgements We are thankful to Director, G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development for the facilities and encouragement. We acknowledge critical inputs provided by two anonymous reviewers that helped us in improving the manuscript.
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