Lantana Camara: implications on livelihoods of local communities in Solan district of mid-Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh
Student name: Ms Arushi Arora
Guide: Dr Sudipta Chatterjee
Year of completion: 2017
Host Organisation: GIZ HP-FES, Shimla
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Joachim Schmerbeck
Abstract: This study attempts to understand the interaction between L. camara and the livelihood (LH) of
local communities of Solan district in Mid-Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh under 3
L.camara cover categories-< 10%(control) (category 1), 40-60% (category 2)and >80%
(category 3) . The aim was to know the impact of L.camara establishment and spread on the
livelihoods of local communities using forest products and to know the response mechanisms of
local communities for the management of L.camara. The study was conducted for 15 villages of
Solan district falling under the 3 categories. In this study a comprehensive social survey was
carried out comprising of -Discussion Walks, Focussed Group Discussion, Household
interviews and Key person interview, for each village wherever it was applicable. The results
indicate that the main LHs-agriculture and livestock rearing, were affected due to L.camara and
the most used forest products - fodder followed by fuel wood, their collection had decreased in
category 2 and category 3 villages. Most of the people knew that L.camara was brought to India
by the British but had no clue for the reason behind its establishment in their forests. In
Himachal Pradesh L.camara is removed only by mechanical means by cut root stock method
(Love et al., 25 November 2009) ,but often the removal is by random cutting which results in
even more accelerated growth. Effectiveness of the mechanical mechanism -the answer to this
question was in negative for majority of the villages. A suggestion on the management of
L.camara by the people of the study area was- regular eradication for 3-4 years with proper
funding from the govt. They were not in support of the adaptive management strategy as opted in
Southern India. (Example: Lantana Craft centre by ATREE in 2010). The eradication and
rehabilitation programme of the forest dept is not cost-effective at current growth rates of
L.camara in Himachal Pradesh, hence new policies need to be devised.
Keywords: Himachal Pradesh forest department, livelihood impact assessment, Solan,
interaction, mechanism
