Temporal Changes in Livelihood and Land Usage Patterns: Case Study of a Primitive Tribe, Van Raji, from Uttarakhand, India (original) (raw)
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2021
The present study highlights augmentation of livelihood and natural resource management in the Central Himalayan region by promoting community-specific strategies, adoption of appropriate technologies, diversification of on-farm and off-farm activities, cash-crop production, and supporting ecological restoration and natural resource management. A cluster of eight villages having 470 households was targeted and actions related to community mobilization, micro-planning, technology demonstration and dissemination, the establishment of market linkages, capacity-building and formation of self-help groups were undertaken. Farmers adopted nine technology packages that diversified agriculture in waste/abandoned lands. Management of forests and use of Chir-pine needles for making by-products not only provided an additional source of livelihood but also helped in controlling forest fire. Facilitating linkages with line departments helped to acquire benefits of government schemes. It is recomm...
The living of man in all societies is largely guided by the availability or otherwise of natural bio-resources. However, the tribal people who are regarded as in the primitive stage and experiencing slow pace of development have a high degree of dependence on the natural resources for their livelihood. Bio -resources consist of all biotic components of environment, which have utility and function in satisfying the individual wants as well as social wants of man. Recently, the importance of the study on man and nature relationship has gained momentum globally and has emerged as main concern for both the developed and developing nations worldwide. As such, the tribal dominated areas by virtue of having the higher percentage of forest cover have become prime area for research in the world context for sustainable use of bio-resources.
Mountains host high biological and cultural diversity, generating ecosystem services providing benefits over multiple scales but also suffering significant poverty and vulnerabilities. Case studies in two contrasting village communities in the Indian Middle Himalayas explore linkages between people and adjacent forest and river ecosystems. Interviews with local people and direct observations revealed low food availability and decreasing self-sufficiency, under the combined pressures of increasing foraging by wildlife (primarily pigs and monkeys) coupled with seasonal to permanent outmigration by younger men seeking more secure income and alternative livelihoods. Much of the income remitted by migrants to their villages was not retained locally but flowed back out of the Himalayan region through purchases of food produced and marketed in the plains. This threatens the economic viability of villages, also placing asymmetric pressures on resident female, elderly and young people who concentrate labour on local livestock production to the neglect of crop agriculture, further compounding land abandonment and wildlife foraging. Significant traditional knowledge remains, along with utilitarian, cultural and spiritual connections with the landscape. Many beneficiaries of locally produced ecosystem services are remote from village communities (particularly water flows downstream to the plains), but no recompense is paid to stewards of the forested Himalayan landscape. Although local people currently perceive high biodiversity as a constraint to agriculture and other economic activities, the Himalayan landscapes could potentially constitute an asset with appropriate institutional development through promotion of managed bioprospecting, guided ecotourism and payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes for water supply and under REDD+.
Forest Resources Use for Building Livelihood Resilience in Ethnic Communities of Jharkhand
The study documents forest resources use for building livelihood resilience among ethnic communities (Munda, Oraon and Lohara) of Bundu block in Ranchi district of Jharkhand, India. The findings revealed that the ethnic households make extensive use of 11 different plant parts namely, fruit (28 species), leaf (32 species), bark (2 species), flower (6 species), seed (9 species), twig (5 species), stem (30 species), tuber/ root (7 species), floss (1 species), exudates (4 species) or whole plant (6 species) of about 64 important plant species belonging to 54 genera and 36 families to meet their daily livelihood needs from forests. The plant resources utilized by the ethnic people were mostly represented by trees (37 species) followed by herbs (9 species), shrubs (8 species), climbers (6 species), bamboos (2 species) and fungi (2 species). The ethnic people in the area frequently consume animal resources, viz., red ants, termites, rats/ mouses, fishes, frogs, toads, snakes, small wild animals, birds, crabs, slugs, snails, wild honey and bee wax as food to supplement their nutrition and health needs. The traditional knowledge on the use of forest resources by the tribes is dwindling due to urbanization and fast development. Hence, the findings of the study will be helpful in strengthening the forest resources based livelihoods for socioeconomic improvement and poverty alleviation of the ethnic communities of Bundu block in Ranchi district of Jharkhand.
Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2020
Mountains host high biological and cultural diversity, generating ecosystem services beneficial over multiple geographical scales but suffering significant vulnerabilities. A case study in Lileng village (Arunachal Pradesh, Indian north-east Himalayas) explored linkages between a community with protected tribal rights and the forest and river ecosystems within which they are situated. Evidence was gathered through interviews and literature review about ecosystem service benefits, using the Rapid Assessment of Wetland Ecosystem Services approach. Subsequent analysis using the social, technological, environmental, economic, political framework found close, synergistic relationships between local people and the ecosystems for which they have protected tribal rights. Authoritative local governance arrangements prioritise community subsistence needs, limiting the influence of external state government and private actors on natural resource exploitation. Further sustainable economic development could stem from recognition of the value of ecosystem services produced by intact and functional habitats, and the potential for development of 'payment for ecosystem services' markets in addition to ecotourism and cultural tourism. Low food sufficiency and poverty observed in a previous study conducted in Uttarakhand state of the central Indian Middle Himalayas, principal drivers of out-migration and gender/age inequalities, were not evident in Lileng or surrounding areas, apparently linked to tribal rights and authoritative local governance in Arunachal Pradesh leading to greater resource security. Better understanding of ecosystem-community relationships in areas with protected tribal rights can highlight sustainable policies and practices that may be translated into wider geo-political areas, especially in the wake of projected climate change stresses.
Growth and expansion of the human civilization throughout the world has often been occurred at the expanse of the destruction of natural green cover. Destruction of virgin forest through human intervention is now became an important global environmental issue. 50% of world's original forests has been vanished by 2011, majority being in the last 50 years (FAO, 2011). The present study is an attempt to appraise the present status of forest resource base of Purulia District, West Bengal along with its spatio-temporal changes in distribution. The prime factors/causes of forest destruction, its consequences upon the tribal life and the probable management strategies for conservation have also been discussed in this context. Near about 12 percent geographical area of the District is under forest cover (State Forest Report, West Bengal, 2011-12) that provides the life supporting system of the tribal people. Recent degradation of forest resources now poses a severe threat to the existing biotic resources and tribal livelihood. RS and GIS techniques have been used to assess the current state and trend of the temporal change of the forest resource.
Promoting "Nature-based Solutions" through Biodiversity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement
2022
This project aims at restoring a contiguous degraded land extent, designing and implementing participatory restoration (Green Protector) models, where ecosystem services, climate change impacts and area based livelihoods are connected to above restoration efforts. This will be achieved with full participation of the community through education led multiple socio-economic development activities, which include food-forest home gardens, analog forests, educational and advocacy efforts beneficial to the selected vulnerable communities from Thuppitiya and Siyambalagaswewa villages. These two villages namely Thuppitiyawa and Siyambalagaswewa in the Thuppitiyawa GN Division of Mahawilachchiya DS Division in the Anuradhapura District were selected for the project interventions. These two villages belong to Mahakimbulwewa tank cascade system found in the Malwathuoya river basin. The selected farmer population consists of 32 and 38 farm families from Thuppitiyawa and Siyambalagaswewa villages respectively. The IUCN as the implementing agency has planned to implement the present project.
2018
The North Eastern region of India consisted of eight states. The region is home to over 200 indigenous tribal communities of India. The hills constituted about 70 percent of the total land area, where shifting agriculture, locally called ‘Jhum” is the chief land use. The main sources of agricultural land in the hills constitute Common Property Resources (CPR), mainly forest land. The difficulties of storing water due to hill slopes have compelled farmers to depend for their livelihood mostly on jhum or shifting cultivation The region has a strong advantage in forest based activities and biodiversity, given its high percentage of forest land than the country as a whole. It is observed that there is higher livelihood dependency of the region on CPR over the period. There is evidence of environmental impact as indicated by changes in rainfall and temparature over the last 60 years. The ageold practice of agriculture in trditional tribal societies has been the natural way of life since ...
Proceeding International Conference on Science and Engineering
Forests are essential ecosystems that support biodiversity, regulate climate, and provide critical resources for local communities. However, forest-dwelling communities face numerous challenges, including poverty, lack of access to education, healthcare, and basic infrastructure, and conflict with wildlife conservation. The Kanha-Kisli Protected Area (KKPA) in Madhya Pradesh, India, is one such forest landscape where tribal communities have been living for generations. Despite efforts to integrate forest conservation and community development, forest dwellers in KKPA continue to struggle with various issues.