Long-term impact of transhumant pastoralism on forest cover : a case study from northern liddar valley of kashmir himalaya

Transhumance involves cyclic movements from lowlands to highlands to make use of resources like high mountain pastures. This kind of phenomenal activity has been in tune with nature in Himalayas, since long it has become a problem, severity of which has been increasing in the recent past. Thus the region is presently under heavy stress on account of a large-scale exploitation for fuel wood, timber and fodder on one hand and mismanagement of forest resources and frequent fires due to transhumant activities on the other. Northern Liddar valley from Kashmir Himalayas has been selected to investigate impacts of long-term transhumant activities on land use and land cover at regional level. A detailed ground truthing has revealed that the camping sites used by transhumant pastoralists are exploited for various resources. The camping sites act as spheres of deterioration, the effects of which change the landscape at regional level. Thus, to find out the assessment of transhumance in the study area, combination of spatial and non-spatial data has been combined to carry out spatial forest change analysis.

Transhumance ,

Forest resources ,

Land use and Land cover ,

Mountain pastures ,

Liddar valley ,