Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T21:10:26.068Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Forest Degradation and the Structure of Biomass Utilization in a Himalayan Foothills Village

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Marcus Moench
Affiliation:
Energy & Resources Group, Building T-4, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.

Extract

The linkage between socio-economic change in the Uttar Pradesh (Indian) Himalaya and forest resource condition is investigated through a case-study of Munglori village. Research focused on the village biomass utilization system, particularly fodder- and fuel-flows, as the key link through which socio-economic conditions can be translated into actual forest-use patterns.

In 1984, agriculture and animal husbandry in Munglori was dominantly subsistence-oriented. Rain-fed rice, wheat, and various millets, were the main food-crops. Animal fodder and fuel were derived from a variety of sources near the village, and demand for these resources was dispersed via a seasonal migration-cycle which provided access to resources outside of the immediate village area. This basic pattern of resource use has prevailed in the area throughout historic time, and has led to gradual degradation of forest resources primarily through inhibiting regeneration of Camus Oak (Quercus leucotrichophora), the dominant fodder- and fuel-species.

Type
Main Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Asish, M. (1983). Agricultural economy of Kumaun Hills: threat of ecological disaster. Pp. 184204 in The Himalaya: Nature Man and Culture (Ed. Singh, O.P.). Rajesh Publications. New Delhi, India: xx + 379 pp.Google Scholar
Bajracharaya, D. (1983 a). Deforestation in the food/fuel context: historical and political perspectives from Nepal. Mountain Research and Development, 3(3), pp. 227–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bajracharaya, D. (1983 b). Fuel, Food or Forest? Dilemmas in a Nepali Village. Working Paper WP-83-1, Resource Systems Institute, East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA: 50 pp. (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Fox, J. (1984). Firewood consumption in a Nepali village. Environmental Management, 8(3), pp. 243–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, M.G. (1982). Grassland and livestock resources management. Chapter IX, pp. 305–64 in Integrated Natural and Human Resources Planning and Management in the Hills of Uttar Pradesh. G.B. Pant University, Pantnagar, India: mimeogr. [not available for checking].Google Scholar
MGVS (1985). Mussoorie Dairy Industry Survey: Development Potentials and Ecological Impacts. Mussoorie Gramin Vikas Samiti, CRSC, Mussoorie, India: 35 pp., illustr. (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Moench, M. (1985). Resource Utilization & Degradation: An Integrated Analysis of Biomass Utilization Patterns in a Garhwal Hill Village, Northern Uttar Pradesh, India. MS project, Energy & Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA: ix + 176 pp. illustr. (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Moench, M. & Bandyopadhyay, J. (1986). People-forest interaction: a neglected parameter in Himalayan forest management. Mountain Research and Development, 6(1), pp. 316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moench, M. (1988). ‘Turf’ and forest management in a Garhwal hill village. Pp. 127–36 in Whose Trees? (Eds Fortmann, L. & Bruce, J.). West view Press, Boulder, Colorado, USA: 341 PP.Google Scholar
Negi, P.S. (1981). Impact of money order economy on socio-economic development of Garhwal region. National Geographer, 16(1), pp. 71–6.Google Scholar
Negi, P.S. (1982). Trend of outmigration by caste, sex and age-group in Tehri Garhwal. The North Eastern Geographer, 14(1 & 2), pp. 4751.Google Scholar
Pandey, U. & Singh, J.S. (1984). Energy-flow relationships between agro- and forest ecosystems in the Central Himalaya. Environmental Conservation, 11(1), pp. 4553, 10 figs.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shah, S.L. (1982). Socio-Economic, Technological, Organizational and Institutional Constraints in the Afforestation of Civil, Soyam, Usar, and Waste Lands for Resolving the Fuel Wood Crisis in the Hill Districts of Uttar Pradesh. Vivekanand Laboratory for Hill Agriculture, Almora, UP, India: 25 pp.Google Scholar
Singh, G. & Kachroo, P. (1976). Microclimatic variations in Dachhigam Sanctuary, Kashmir. Indian Forester, 102(12), pp. 839–49.Google Scholar
Singh, J.S., Rawat, Y.S. & Chaturvedi, O.P. (1984 a). Replacement of oak forest with pine in the Himalaya affects the nitrogen cycle. Nature (London), 311(5981), pp. 54–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, J.S., Pandey, U. & Tiwari, A.K. (1984 b). Man and forests: a central Himalayan case study. Ambio, 13(3), pp. 80–7.Google Scholar
Singh, R.V. (1982). Fodder Trees of India. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi, Bombay & Calcutta, India: xv + 663 pp.Google Scholar
Troup, R.S. (1921). The Silviculture of Indian Trees. Clarendon Press, Oxford, England, UK: Vols I–III, lvii + 1195 pp.Google Scholar
Upreti, N., Tewari, J.C. & Singh, S.P. (1985). The oak forests of the Kumaun Himalaya (India): composition, diversity and regeneration. Mountain Research and Development, 5(2), pp. 163–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar