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Forests are one of the most important natural resources available to mankind as they provide ecological, economic, socio-cultural, and aesthetical services to society. However, the demands of an increasing population have placed a great strain on forests and environment. This is more evident in the Himalayan region, where forest resources are an integral part of the landscape and are cucial for sustenance of a majority of the population. With this background, the present thesis attempts to study changes occurring in the forest resource distribution in a part of central Himalaya, alongwith the resource utilization patterns of local communities. In addition, the study focuses on mapping of ecosystem services (ESs) at different scales and critically examines the ESs provided by the forests in the study area.
The present study was carried out in the Central Himalaya covering an altitudinal transect of 400–2400 m in Nainital district, Uttarakhand state, India in an area of about 400 sqkm characterized as an agro-silvicultural ecotone. The study follows an integrated approach by using: (i) satellite remote sensing data, (ii) socioeconomic data (collected, as well as analyzed from the field); and, (iii) available secondary literature on the subject. The first objective of the research assessed the spatial and temporal changes in forest distribution over a period of thirty years (1979, 1990, and 2009) through interpretation of satellite data, ground verification and validation in the field. The results confirmed the hypothesis that increasing anthropogenic pressures leads to opening of forest cover, as change detection analysis showed dense forest cover being converted to open forest cover. The study also showed that areas under scrub are being cleared for agricultural activities and for settlement. An intensive and extensive fieldwork indicated the extent and distribution of invasive alien species namely Lantana and Eupatorium. The second objective studied the resource utilization patterns of the local communities, both at varying altitudes and road accessibilities. The study indicated that the resource utilization patterns of the villages are not uniform. Villages at higher altitudes show more dependence on the forest resources than villages at lower altitudes. Similarly, villages further from the roads are also more dependent on forest resources, when compared to villages nearer to the road. Fuel-wood consumption is the highest in winter season, followed by rainy and summer season. The study also revealed that cropping patterns are changing over the years, which can be attributed to several factors, namely reduction in soil fertility, changes in the hydrological cycle, introduction of hybrid seeds, and also the effects of climate change.
The third objective explored the ESs derived from the forests at three different altitudinal zones and spatial scales. The study identified and mapped 28 ESs from the forest ecosystems, which includes 9 provisioning, 8 regulatory, 4 cultural and 7 supporting services in the Central Himalaya. The ESs were also examined in terms of their usefulness and relevance with local and global perspectives in the Himalayan region. The ESs provided by major forest types of the area have also been further described in the study.
In conclusion, the thesis provides recommendations based on the research work, with main recommendation being introduction of land use policies to enhance forests and tree cover, while also suggesting the need for descriptive quantification of ESs to be included in future conservation policies.
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