Significance of provisioning ecosystem services from moist temperate forest ecosystems: lessons from upper Kedarnath valley, Garhwal, India

Abstract

Forests have been very important natural resource for rural subsistence lifestyle providing variety of and provisioning ecosystem services. Study was carried out in six villages of upper Kedarnath valley at an altitudinal gradient of 1400–2800. Paper examines the nature and extent of provisioning services from forests to hill locals living in nearby villages. Frequent field survey of 151 households from five villages in proximity to forest was conducted using semi-structured questionnaires followed by field surveys. Primary data were collected for basic household’s attributes, fuelwood, fodder, leaf litter and NTFP collection pattern. Simple descriptive methods were used for data analysis. The result shows that fuelwood contributes more than 95 % of total domestic fuel requirement in the study area with more collection during summers but more consumption during winter months due to extensive drop in day and night temperatures. Fodder collection is a major practice adding a lot to women drudgery, and winter fodder deficit is a major issue that leads to dry fodder collection from remote locations. Similarly the average seasonal collection figures were also high for leaf litter ranging from 120 to 89 kg/household/day. Collection of wild edibles is moderate, while for medicinal plants is low in the study area. Resource availability, collection and consumption depend on the family size, distance from forest area and economic condition of the household. More than 95 % of the household’s biomass demands and requirement in the study area are fulfilled completely from forests, while rest are procured from various sources such as agroforests and agriculture.

Keywords

Provisioning ecosystem services / Moist temperate forests / Kedarnath valley / Garhwal / Biomass

References

[1] Adhikari B, Di FS, Lovett JC. Household characteristics and forest dependency: evidence from common property forest management in Nepal. Ecol Econ, 2004, 48(2): 245-257

[2] Awasthi A, Uniyal SK, Rawat GS, Rajvanshi A. Forest resource availability and its use by the migratory villages of Uttarkashi, Garhwal Himalaya India). For Ecol Manag, 2003, 174: 13-24

[3] Blaikie PM, Muldavin JSS. Upstream, downstream, China, India: the politics of environment in the Himalayan region. Ann Assoc Am Geogr, 2004, 94: 520-548

[4] Champion HG, Seth SK. A revised survey of the forest type of India, 1968 New Delhi Manager of Publications, Government of India

[5] Dhyani S, Maikhuri RK, Dhyani D. Energy budget of fodder harvesting pattern along the altitudinal gradient in Garhwal Himalaya, India. J Biomass Bioenerg, 2011, 35(5): 1823-1832

[6] Donovan DG. Fuelwood: how much do we need? Newsletter DGD 14, 1981 Hanover Institute of Current World Affairs

[7] Fisher B, Turner RK, Morling P. Defining and classifying ecosystem services for decision making. Ecol Econ, 2009, 68(3): 643-653

[8] Gaur RD. Flora of the district Garhwal, Northwest Himalaya (with ethnobotanical notes), 1999 Srinagar Garhwal Trans Media

[9] Gautam MR, Timilsina GR, Acharya K (2013) Climate change in the Himalayas: current state of knowledge. Policy research working papers. The World Bank Development Research Group Environment and Energy Team. WPS6516

[10] Gokhale Y, Pala NA. Ecosystem services in Sacred Natural Sites (SNSs) of Uttarakhand: a preliminary survey. J Biodivers, 2011, 2(2): 107-115

[11] Haines-Young R, Potschin M (2012) Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES): Consultation on Version 4, August–December 2012. Prepared for the European Environment Agency. University of Nottingham, UK: Centre for Environmental Management. ICEM

[12] Joshi G, Negi GCS. Quantification and valuation of forest ecosystem services in the western Himalayan region, India. Int J Biodivers Sci Ecosyst Serv Manag, 2011, 7(1): 2-11

[13] Mahapatra AK, Tewari DD. Importance of non-timber forest products in the economic valuation of dry deciduous forests of India. For Policy Econ, 2005, 7: 455-467

[14] Maikhuri RK, Semwal RL, Singh A, Nautiyal MC. Wild fruits as a contribution to sustainable rural development: a case study from the Garhwal Himalaya. Int J Sustain Dev World Ecol, 1994, 1: 56-68

[15] Martin GJ. Ethnobotany methods manual, 1995 London Earthscan Publishers Ltd

[16] MEA (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment) Ecosystems and human well-being: the assessment series (four volumes and summary), 2005 Washington Island Press

[17] Misra S (2009) Impact of natural and man-made disturbances on vegetation structure and diversity in Guptakashi Range of Kedarnath Forest division, Uttarakhand. Ph.D. Thesis Forest Research Institute University, Dehradun, p 150

[18] Misra S, Dhyani D, Maikhuri RK. Sequestering carbon through indigenous agriculture practices. Leisa India, 2008, 10(4): 21-22

[19] Mitchell R. An analysis of Indian agroecosystem, 1979 New Delhi Interprint

[20] MoEFCC & GIZ (2014) The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity TEEB India initiative: interim report—working document

[21] Murthy IK, Bhat PR, Ravindranath NH, Sukumar R. Financial valuation of non-timber forest product flow in Uttara Kannada district, Western Ghats, Karnataka. Curr Sci, 2005, 88: 15731579

[22] Narendran K, Murthy IK, Suresh HS, Dattaraja HS, Ravindranath NH, Sukumar R. Non-timber forest product extraction, utilisation and valuation: a case study from the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Southern India. Econ Bot, 2001, 55(4): 528-538

[23] Nautiyal S. A transition from wood fuel to LPG and its impact on energy conservation and health in the Central Himalayas, India. J Mt Sci, 2013, 10(5): 898-912

[24] Nautiyal S, Kaechele H. Adverse impacts of pasture abandonment in Himalayan protected areas: testing the efficiency of a Natural Resource Management Plan (NRMP). Environ Impact Assess Rev, 2007, 27: 109-125

[25] Negi GCS, Semwal RL. Valuing the services provided by forests and agroecosystems in the Central Himalaya. Mt Forum Bull, 2010, 10(1): 44-47

[26] Purushothaman S, Viswanath S, Kunhikkannan C. Economic valuation of extractive conservation in a tropical deciduous forest in Madhya Pradesh, India. Trop Ecol, 2000, 41(1): 61-72

[27] Ram HY, Tandon R. Bamboos and rattans: from riches to rags. Proc Indian Nat Sci Acad, 1997, B63(3): 245-267

[28] Ramakrishanan PS. Management of biosphere reserves with people’s participation. Biosphere Reserves, 1987 New Delhi Ministry of Environment and Forests 220-226

[29] Reddy AKN. An Indian village agricultural ecosystem-case study of Ungra village. Biomass, 1981, 1: 77-88

[30] Roy PS, Roy A, Joshi PK Development of Decadal (1985–1995–2005) Land use and Land Cover Database for India. Remote Sens, 2015, 7(3): 2401-2430

[31] Sarmah R, Arunachalam A. Contribution of non-timber forest products (NTFPS) to livelihood economy of the people living in forest fringes in changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Indian J Fundam Appl Life Sci, 2011, 1(2): 11-15

[32] Sastry CB (2001) Bamboo: Timber for 21st century. Draft paper for International Network for bamboo and rattans (INBAR). 10 pp

[33] Sharma D, Chandrakar K A Study on Consumption Trends of Fuel Wood & their Impact on Forest in Kanker Forest Division of Chhattisgarh State (India). Int J Sci Res Publ, 2014, 4(1): 55-68

[34] Singh V (1989) Energetics of agroecosystem and its relation to forest ecosystem in the Central Himalaya. Ph.D. Thesis, Kumaun University, Nainital, India

[35] Singh JS, Singh SP, Ram J. Fodder and fuelwood resources of Central Himalaya: problems and solutions. Report submitted for study group on fuel and fodder, 1998 New Delhi Planning Commission, Government of India

[36] Singh G, Rawat GS, Verma D. Comparative study of fuelwood consumption by villagers and seasonal ‘‘Dhaba owners’’ in the tourist affected regions of Western Himalaya, India. Energy Policy, 2010, 38: 1895-1899

[37] Sundriyal RC, Sharma E. Anthropogenic pressure on tree structure and biomass in the temperate forest of Mamlay watershed in Sikkim. For Ecol Manag, 1996, 81(1–3): 113-134

[38] Varughese G, Ostrom E. The contested role of heterogeneity in collective action: some evidence from community forestry in Nepal. World Dev, 2001, 29(5): 747-765

[39] Wijesinghe LCA. A sample study of biomass fuel consumption in Sri Lanka households. Biomass, 1984, 5: 261-282

Funding

DST SYSP(SP/YO/024/2008)

RUFFORD SMALL GRANTS(10326)