Oak Forests, Lopping, and the Transformation of Rural Society in Central Himalaya, India.

Villagers are blamed for degrading the forest by lopping oak branches for fodder in the Central Himalayan region of India. Yet, research is lacking on the direct relationship between peoples’ livelihood, lopping, and forest regeneration. In this 13-year study, I assess the effects of lopping Quercus leucotrichophora A. Camus and Quercus floribunda Lindley ex Rehder on forest composition, regeneration, and socio-economic conditions in Beli village, Tehri Garhwal Himalaya. Specific objectives were to determine: (1) the relationship between villagers and their use of the forest, (2) the lopping process, and (3) the influence of lopping on oak forest stands, their persistence and regeneration capacity. In this study, data collected in 1993 and 2006 combine both ethnographic and ecological research methodologies to assess changes in the socio-economic conditions and in the forest. Face-to-face interviews and household surveys were conducted in 37 households out of 144 in Beli village. Method of fodder collection, type of branches and trees lopped, and amount of foliage collected were recorded for 49 collection trips. Data on physical site properties and on forest composition and regeneration were collected in 1993 and 2006 from a protected and a lopped forest. The livelihood of the villagers is maintained by gender and age roles in households, availability of oak foliage, number and type of livestock, and type of agricultural production. The diameter of branches lopped in 2006 was significantly smaller, and weight of fodder bundles carried by females was significantly greater in 2006. Both effects reflect the villagers’ strategies to adapt to decrease in oak foliage. They are increasingly sending their children to school and decreasing their reliance on agriculture for income. The oaks have maintained their abundance, and pines have not become abundant or dominant in the overstory or ground-cover. Oaks accounted for 69.3% of the overstory stems in the lopped forest, whereas, pines only accounted for 1%. The greater number of oak stems regenerating in the ground-cover of the lopped forest compared to that of pine indicates that oaks continue to establish themselves. The oaks have the greatest coverage in the ground-cover of both the protected and lopped forests.PhDNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62403/1/yukam_1.pd