Health of forest resources and state of wellbeing of rural communities in Indian Himalayan Region

The wellbeing of majority of rural human societies is more or less based on the availability of natural goods and services from the surrounding environment. In the remote and isolated mountainous region of Himalaya, these... [ view full abstract ]

The wellbeing of majority of rural human societies is more or less based on the availability of natural goods and services from the surrounding environment. In the remote and isolated mountainous region of Himalaya, these resources form the foundation of local wellbeing. This close association of local communities with the Himalayan ecosystems has lead to age old traditions of community based conservation practices. Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR) is home to such traditions with “Chipko Movement” providing one of the best examples of active participation of rural women in forest protection. However, with increasing population and development needs, the health of Himalayan forest has deteriorated. This degradation of forest ecosystems has reduced their ability to provide various ecosystem services and has augmented social, cultural and ecological vulnerabilities of the already economically marginalized forest dependent communities. We assessed the impact of forest condition on wellbeing of local communities in NDBR, western Himalayas, India. Wellbeing for the present study consist of economic, social, cultural, workplace, political, health and environmental wellbeing. Data regarding status of wellbeing was collected via semi-structured questionnaire based interviews in randomly selected households (n=764) in 22 selected villages. First seven Millennium Development Goals along with various happiness indices were used to develop indicator to assess the wellbeing. Villages were selected on the basis of secondary demographic information, distance and state of the forest resources i.e. degraded and less-degraded. To assess the quality and quantity of forest resource, transects (n=22) were laid in the forests used by the sampled households. It was found that the status of wellbeing of the household located close forest was better than the households located away from forest. The wellbeing of households using less-degraded forest resources was significantly better than the household using degraded resources. As these households have easy access to good quality natural resources which significantly contribute to their income. Households with access to less-degraded resources also avail the wild fruits and vegetables which add to the food security of people. Access to education facilities and availability of alternative livelihoods were also found to be positively associated with the wellbeing of the people. The contribution of natural resources to wellbeing of rural communities should be incorporated in the policies and holistic management strategies should be developed conserve the natural resource and achieve targets of human wellbeing.