Constraints and prospects of utilising mountain pastures in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Abstract

In the mountain regions of northern Pakistan, pasture-based animal husbandry is a substantial element of people’s livelihood. To study the implications of herding strategies on rangeland utilization patterns, individual interviews with 90 herders and 10 group interviews with five to eight herders per group, respectively, were conducted in three valleys each of Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region. Data collection targeted number and species of animals kept, livestock management practices and seasonal pasture use and included GIS-based participatory mapping of spring, summer, autumn and winter pastures of yak, small ruminants and cattle. Households kept 10 yaks on average, along with 4 cattle and 15 small ruminants. Herding practices varied between valleys and seasons and were influenced by topographic as well as social factors. Full-time herding led to a more uniform distribution of yaks on pastures than part-time herding and unattended grazing, but in small ruminants promoted higher animal numbers near campsites. Many livestock keepers perceived rangeland degradation as a veritable challenge and identified lack of herding labour as one important problem. Training programmes for young herders, strengthening of group herding schemes and prevention of lowland pasture conversion into farmland were suggested as effective countermeasures.

A Proposed Typology of Farming Systems for Assessing Sustainable Livelihood Development Pathways in the Tien Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan

“…These challenges are also present in other mountainous regions of Central Asia [6,[69][70][71], northwestern China [72], the northern Pakistani Hindu Kush Himalayas and Nepal [73][74][75], African highlands [76][77][78], and South American highlands [79,80]. In these studies, typical criteria for classifying small agropastoral systems in mountainous areas, in addition to farm size (including pasture and herd size), include elevation and agro-ecological conditions.…”

Fractionation and Characterization of Metallic Elements in Soils in Land Use Systems

“…Inhabitants of the study area are dependent on pastures, and they migrate uphill through pasture slopes with livestock in summer, which is the major source of income [ 16 ]. However, MEs in pastures are greatly influenced by human activities such as road infrastructure, accessibility, communication, and development [ 17 ]. There is also forest cover in Central Karakorum region with a diversity of plant species.…”