Wildlife Versus Livestock: Conservation Dilemma of the Pastoralists of Changthang

Abstract

Changthang is an alpine steppe region in Eastern Ladakh that supports a unique assemblage of wild flora and fauna alongside domestic animals, including yaks, horses, sheep and goats that are endemic to the Tibetan Plateau. This region is also an important centre for the production of pashmina or cashmere, a world-famous fibre. Development in the last few decades and the increasing aspirations of the native people, known as Changpa, has meant that a large number of plants and animals of the region are threatened with extinction, and their conservation has become a daunting challenge, especially in the wake of the increasing livestock population associated with the rising demand for pashmina. Recognizing the need to protect the vanishing flora and fauna of the Changthang, the region was declared a high-altitude cold desert wildlife sanctuary in 1987 under the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Protection Act without local consultation and settlement of the people’s rights over the pasturelands. The locals living inside the protected area fiercely oppose a government notification for final settlement of statutory rights. Many believe that once the wildlife conservation laws are enforced, they will be evicted from their ancestral lands, and thus view the notification as the greatest threat to their livelihood that they have ever faced. Nevertheless, many Changpa also realize the potential benefits of protecting the region’s wildlife especially for promoting ecotourism, and have agreed to earmark some areas for the protection of wildlife. With the local leaders divided on the issue, it has become a politically sensitive topic. The current discourse on the issue of the wildlife sanctuary has important implications for the long-term coexistence of wildlife and pastoralists in the Changthang region.