Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Pastoralism in Transition: Livestock Abundance and Herd Composition in Spiti, Trans-Himalaya

  • Published:
Human Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recent discourse on pastoralism and ecology has focused on increased stocking densities and subsequent consequences on grasslands and productivity. It has been shown that increase in livestock numbers may adversely affect wildlife populations associated with high altitude pastures. In this study, we examine the decadal trend in livestock numbers and composition in five villages in Spiti in the Trans-Himalaya region to determine social-ecological linkages in these agro-pastoral communities. As opposed to previously reported trends, we find that livestock numbers have essentially halved in the last decade and the reduced holdings also are compositionally different from the original stock. We examine the societal, agricultural and perceived ecological changes associated with the decline in livestock. We conclude that the decline in livestock is associated with large-scale changes in the social, cultural and economic landscape and that this decline may benefit wildlife conservation programmes in the region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Lugzis now get 5000 to 6000 rupees per month. The village headman collects contributions for this from every household assessed according to the number of livestock it owns.

References

  • Ahmed, M. (2004). The Politics of Pashmina: The Changpas of Eastern Ladakh. Nomadic Peoples 8(2): 89–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anon (2011). Management Plan for the Upper Spiti Landscape Including the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary.

  • Aryal, S., Maraseni, T. N., and Cockfield, G. (2014). Sustainability of Transhumance Grazing Systems Under Socio-Economic Threats in Langtang, Nepal. Journal of Mountain Science 11(4): 1023–1034.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bagchi, S., and Ritchie, M. E. (2010). Introduced Grazers Can Restrict Potential Soil Carbon Sequestration Through Impacts on Plant Community Composition. Ecology Letters 13(8): 959–968.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagchi, S., Mishra, C., and Bhatnagar, Y. V. V. (2004). Conflicts between Traditional Pastoralism and Conservation of Himalayan Ibex (Capra Sibirica) in the Trans Himalayan Mountains. Animal Conservation 7: 121–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bagchi, S., Bhatnagar, Y. V., and Ritchie, M. E. (2012). Comparing the Effects of Livestock and Native Herbivores on Plant Production and Vegetation Composition in the Trans-Himalayas. Pastoralism 2(1): 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behnke, R. H., and Scoones, I. (1992). Rethinking Range Ecology: Implications for Rangeland Management in Africa. World Bank Environment Working Paper No 53, World Bank, Washington DC.

  • Beinart, W. (1996). Environment destruction in Southern Africa. In Leach, M., and Mearns, R. (eds.), The Lie of the Land: Challenging Recieved Wisdom on the African Environment. James Curry, Oxford, pp. 54–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, J., Buuveibaatar, B., and Mishra, C. (2013). Globalization of the Cashmere Market and the Decline of Large Mammals in Central Asia. Conservation Biology 27(4): 679–689.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhasin, V. (2011). Pastoralists of Himalayas. Journal of Human Ecology 33(3): 147–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhatnagar, Y. V., and Wangchuk, R. (2001). Status Survey of Large Mammals in Eastern Ladakh & Nubra. In Conservation Biodiversity in the Trans-Himalaya: New Initiatives for Field Conservation in Ladakh. First Annual Technical Report (1999–2000). Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India.

  • Bhatnagar, Y. V., Wangchuk, R., and Mishra, C. (2006a). Decline of the Tibetan Gazelle Procapra Picticaudata in Ladakh, India. Oryx 40(02): 229–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhatnagar, Y. V., Wangchuk, R., Prins, H. H. T., Van Wieren, S. E., and Mishra, C. (2006b). Perceived Conflicts Between Pastoralism and Conservation of the Kiang Equus Kiang in the Ladakh Trans-Himalaya, India. Environmental Management 38(6): 934–941.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biswas, M. R., and Biswas, A. K. (eds.) (1980). Desertification: Associated Case Studies Prepared for the United Nations Conference on Desertification, 2nd ed. Pergamon, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briske, D. D., and Richards, J. H. (1995). Plant responses to defoliation: a physiological, morphological and demographic evaluation. In Bedunah, D. J., and Sosebee, R. E. (eds.), Wildland Plants: Physiological Ecology and Developmental Morphology. Society for Range Management, Denver, pp. 635–710.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brower, B., and Jonston, B. R. (eds.) (2007). Disappearing Peoples?: Indigenous Groups and Ethnic Minorities in South and Central Asia. Left Coast Press, Walnut.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callahan, T. (2012). Pastoral production strategies and market orientation of Afghan Kirghiz. In Kreutzmann, H. (ed.), Pastoral Practices in High Asia: Agency of “Development” Effected by Modernisation, Resettlement and Transformation. Springer, Netherlands, pp. 71–88.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Champion, H. G., and Seth, S. K. (1968). A Revised Survey of Forest Types of India. Government of India Press, Nasik.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaudhari, A. (2013). Change in Changthang: To Stay or to Leave ? Economic and Political Weekly 35(1): 52–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Economic and Statistics. Himachal Pradesh, Shimla (2012). Socio Economic Indicators of Himachal Pradesh. Retrieved from http://admis.hp.nic.in/himachal/economics/REPORTS/Socio2013_A1b.pdf.

  • Dregne, H. E., Kassa, M., and Rosanov, B. (1991). A New Assessment of the World Status of Desetification. Desertification Control Bulletin 20: 6–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • During, H. J., and Wiuems, J. H. (1986). The Impoverishment of the Bryophyte and Lichen Flora of the Dutch Chalk Grasslands in the Thirty Years 1953–1983. Biological Conservation 36: 143–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodall, S. K. (2004). Rural-to-Urban Migration and Urbanization in Leh, Ladakh: A Case Study of Three Nomadic Pastoral Communities. Mountain Research and Development 24(3): 220–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Government of India (2011). Census of India 2011. Retrieved from http://censusindia.gov.in/.

  • Grubb, P. J. (1976). A Theoretical Background to the Conservation of Ecologically Distinct Groups of Annuals and Biennials in the Chalk Grassland Ecosystem. Biological Conservation 10: 53–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruschke, A. (2012). Tibetan pastoralists in transition. Political changes and state intervention in nomad societies. In Kreutzmann, H. (ed.), Pastoral Practices in High Asia: Agency of “Development” Effected by Modernisation, Resettlement and Transformation. Springer, Netherlands, pp. 273–289.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hagalia, W. (2004). Changing Rangeland Use by the Nomads of Samad in the Highlands of Eastern Ladakh, India. Agricultural University of Norway, Ås.

    Google Scholar 

  • Handa, O. C. (1994). Tabo Monastery and Buddhism in the Trans-Himalaya: Thousand Years of Existence of the Tabo Chos-Khor. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, R. B. (2010). Rangeland Degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: A Review of the Evidence of Its Magnitude and Causes. Journal of Arid Environments 74(1): 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ho, P. (2000a). China’ S Rangelands under Stress: A Comparative Study of Pasture Commons in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Development and Change 131(2): 385–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ho, P. (2000b). The Clash over State and Collective Property: The Making of the Rangeland Law. The China Quarterly 161: 240–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs, R. J., and Huenneke, L. F. (1992). Disturbance, Diversity, and Invasion: Implications for Conservation. Conservation Biology 6(3): 324–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, R. M., and Wangchuk, R. (2004). A Community-Based Approach to Mitigating Livestock Depredation by Snow Leopards. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 9(4): 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D. L. (1977) The Human Dimentions of Desertification. Economic Geography 53.

  • Kapadia, H. (1996). Spiti: Adventures in the Trans-Himalaya. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaushik, S. (1993). Towards a Tourism Strategy in Spiti. Equations, Bangalore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreutzmann, H. (1993). Challenge and Response in the Karakoram: Socioeconomic Transformation in Hunza, Northern Areas, Pakistan. Mountain Research and Development 13(1): 19–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kreutzmann, H. (2012) Pastoral practices in transition: animal husbandry in high Asian contexts. In Kreutzmann H. (ed), Pastoral Practices in High Asia, pp. 1–29.

  • Kreutzmann, H. (ed.) (2012b). Pastoral Practices in High Asia. Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research. Springer, Dordrecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuniyal, C. P. (2014). Climate Change is Affecting Apple Cultivation in Himachal Pradesh. Current Science 106–107(4): 498.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jun Li, Wen, Ali, S. H., and Zhang, Q. (2007). Property Rights and Grassland Degradation: A Study of the Xilingol Pasture, Inner Mongolia, China. Journal of Environmental Management 85(2): 461–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, T., Ning, W., and Peng, L. (2009). Sedentarization of Tibetan Nomads. Conservation Biology 23(5): 1074.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McArthur, I. D., Sayad, S., and Nawim, M. (1979). Rangeland Livestock Production in Western Afghanistan. Journal of Arid Environments 2(2): 163–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, D. J., and Jackson, R. (1994). Livestock and snow leopards: making room for competing users on the Tibetan Plateau. In Fox, J. L., and Jizeng, D. (eds.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Snow Leopard Symposium. International Snow Leopard Trust, Seattle, pp. 315–328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, C. (1997). Livestock Depredation by Large Carnivores in the Indian Trans-Himalaya. Environmental Conservation 24(4): 338–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, C. (2000). Socioeconomic Transition and Wildlife Conservation in the Indian Trans-Himalaya. Bombay Natural History Society 97(1): 25–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, C. (2001). High Altitude Survival: Conflicts between Pastoralism and Wildlife in the Trans-Himalaya. Wageningen University, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, C., Prins, H. H. T., and Van Wieren, S. E. (2001). Overstocking in the Trans-Himalayan Rangelands of India. Environmental Conservation 28(3): 279–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, C., Van Wieren, S. E., Heitkönig, I. M. A., and Prins, H. H. T. (2002). A Theoretical Analysis of Competitive Exclusion in a Trans-Himalayan Large-Herbivore Assemblage. Animal Conservation 5: 251–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, C., Allen, P., Mccarthy, T. M., and Madhusudhan, M. D. (2003a). The Role of Incentive Programs in Conserving the Snow Leopard. Conservation Biology 17(6): 1512–1520.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, C., Prins, H. H. T., and Van Wieren, S. E. (2003b). Diversity, Risk Mediation, and Change in a Trans-Himalayan Agropastoral System. Human Ecology 31(4): 595–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, C., Van Wieren, S. E., Ketner, P., Heitkönig, I. M. A., and Prins, H. H. T. (2004). Competition Between Domestic Livestock and Wild Bharal Pseudois Nayaur in the Indian Trans-Himalaya. Journal of Applied Ecology 41: 344–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Namgail, T., Fox, J. L., and Bhatnagar, Y. V. (2006). Habitat Shift and Time Budget of the Tibetan Argali: The Influence of Livestock Grazing. Ecological Research 22(1): 25–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Namgail, T., Fox, J. L., and Bhatnagar, Y. V. (2007a). Carnivore Caused Livestock Mortality in Trans-Himalaya. Environmental Management 39(4): 490–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Namgail, T., Bhatnagar, Y. V., Mishra, C., and Bagchi, S. (2007b). Pastoral Nomads of the Indian Changthang: Production System, Landuse and Socioeconomic Changes. Human Ecology 35(4): 497–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ptackova, J. (2011). Sedentarisation of Tibetan Nomads in China: Implementation of the Nomadic Settlement Project in the Tibetan Amdo Area; Qinghai and Sichuan Provinces. Pastoralism 1(1): 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, S., and Milner-Gulland, E. J. (2003). Political Change and Factors Limiting Numbers of Wild and Domestic Ungulates in Kazakhstan. Human Ecology 31(1): 87–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saberwal, V. K. (1996). Pastoral Politics : Gaddi Grazing, Degradation, and Biodiversity Conservation in Himachal Pradesh, India. Conservation Biology 10(3): 741–749.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheehy, D. P., Miller, D., and Johnson, D. A. (2006). Transformation of Traditional Pastoral Livestock Systems on the Tibetan Steppe. Science et Changements planétaires/Sécheresse 17(1): 142–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, R. (2013). Pasture Management and the Role of Traditional Institutions in Long-Term Sustenance of High Altitude Pastures, Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. Ambedkar University, Delhi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, N. J., Bhatnagar, Y. V., Lecomte, N., Fox, J. L., and Yoccoz, N. G. (2013) No Longer Tracking Greenery in High Altitudes: Pastoral Practices of Rupshu Nomads and Their Implications for Biodiversity Conservation. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 3(1).

  • Tulachan, P. M. (2001). Mountain Agriculture in the Hindu Kush–Himalaya. Mountain Research and Development 21(3): 260–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, K. T., and Horst, S. (2011). Desertification and Livestock Grazing: The Roles of Sedentarization, Mobility and Rest. Pastoralism 1(1): 19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wells, T. C. E. (1969). Botanical Aspects of Conservation Management of Chalk Grasslands. Biological Conservation 2: 36–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeh, E. T. (2005). Green Governmentality and Pastoralism in Western China:Converting Pastures to Grasslands. Nomadic Peoples 9(1–2): 9–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhizhong, W., and Wen, D. (2008). Pastoral Nomad Rights in Inner Mongolia. Nomadic Peoples 12(2): 13–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Himachal Pradesh Forest Department and Animal Husbandry Department, Kaza, for their support and cooperation. We would like to acknowledge the Nature Conservation Foundation’s wholehearted support and help with the logistics of the study. We are grateful to Dr. Yash Veer Bhatnagar for immensely useful suggestions, Dr. Sumanta Bagchi for critical comments, Dr. Asmita Kabra for comments on the questionnaire. Manish Chandi and Meenakshi Singh are thanked for valuable insights during the course of this study. We would like to acknowledge the support received from Saloni Bhatia and the field team of the Nature Conservation Foundation, particularly Tenzin Thuktan, Kesang Chunit and Sherap during the field work in Spiti.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Human Ecology, Ambedkar University, New Delhi, India

    Rashmi Singh & Suresh Babu

  2. Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, Karnataka, India

    Rishi Kumar Sharma

Authors
  1. Rashmi Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rishi Kumar Sharma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Suresh Babu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Suresh Babu.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 5 Village profile—altitude, human population, number of households and agricultural land in five villages of study area
Full size table

Appendix 2

Table 6 Livestock numbers in 2003 and 2011 in five villages of study area—Kibber, Tashigang, Gete, Kee and Chicham
Full size table

Appendix 3

Table 7 Area of Tautpa circle (one out of 6 circles of Spiti) under green pea and Barley cultivation
Full size table

Appendix 4

Table 8 Annual precipitation data for Lahaul and Spiti district of last 5 years
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Singh, R., Sharma, R.K. & Babu, S. Pastoralism in Transition: Livestock Abundance and Herd Composition in Spiti, Trans-Himalaya. Hum Ecol 43, 799–810 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-015-9789-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-015-9789-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation