Fuelwood consumption patterns by semi-nomadic pastoralist community and its implication on conservation of Corbett Tiger Reserve, India

Abstract

The local folk of Himalaya have natural coexistence with the forests and depend on these bounty natural resources for their livelihood. The present study was carried out on semi-nomadic pastoralist for the study of forest use patterns. The main source of livelihood was found to be homogeneous (pastoralism) within each settlement. The study records 26 tree species preferred for fuelwood consumption. Overall average fuelwood consumption was 20.09 ± 0.7 kg day -1 family -1 . The average per capita fuelwood consumption was 2.77 kg day -1 . Average fuelwood consumption by very large families is significantly higher than small families. The principal component analysis explain lopping, extraction and anthropogenic activities for biomass extraction as a major factor of disturbance in forests. We also examined the present forest wood consumption rate and its implications in terms of potential deforestation and emission of greenhouse gases. The findings in the paper could form the basis for designing appropriate technologies and management policies in the region.

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“…For developing countries like India, fuelwood is a major energy source for people surviving at the subsistence level (Sharma,et al, 2009; Negi and Maikhuri 2016) [25] . Lack of the alternative fuelwood sources makes the rural population entirely dependent on wood sources (Bhatt and Sachan, 2004) [5] and they mostly meet their demand solely from the adjoining forests (Hussain et al 2017) [13] . Thus, the intense use of forest resources has put woody species in different regions of the world at risk (Dahdouh Guebas et al2002 and Mushtaq et al 2010) [6,18] .…”

Assessment of dependency and consumption pattern of different forest products by the forest fringe villages of Shivalik Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

“…Poor accessibility of the alternative fuelwood sources makes the rural population entirely dependent on wood sources (Bhatt et al 2004). In most cases, the fuelwood demand is met solely from the adjoining forests (Hussain et al 2017). This uninterrupted extraction of fuelwood and fodder is the major reason for the depletion of forest patches (Singh 1998).…”

“…So, in the past few years, there is an enormous amount of attention given for reducing biofuel use, as it is nested within the three major challenges of the developing world – energy, poverty, and climate change (FAO 2007). According to Kanagawa and Nakata (2007), fuelwood consumption increases the direct payments of rural households, and fuelwood collection also takes valuable time and effort resulting in loss of education and income generation opportunity for collectors (Hussain et al 2017). Unsustainable fuelwood collection and inefficient conversion technology used in remote rural areas have severe implications on the environment (Arnold et al 2003; Chen et al 2006).…”

“…The temperature of this region ranges from 40°C in summers to very cold (2°C) in winters (Yadav and Nandy 2015) and the average annual rainfall is 1550mm. Gujjar community, also known as Van Gujjars locally, are migratory pastoralists of the Himalayas and have distinct culture and traditions (Hussain et al 2017). Rearing buffaloes, goats and sheep are the primary source of income for Gujjars.…”

Physiological stress responses of tigers due to anthropogenic disturbance especially tourism in two central Indian tiger reserves

“…The country has still 21% forest cover (Reddy et al , 2013), but only 5% of this land is protected, which largely resides in human-dominated landscapes. Rural households in India depend on locally available resources from the forests for their domestic needs, which include fuelwood, grazing ground for animals and other non-timber forest produce (Hussain et al , 2016). Human presence usually disturbs wildlife, causing animals to focus on people avoidance, thereby potentially reducing reproductive success (Ciuti et al , 2012).…”