REHABILITATION OF DEGRADED COMMUNITY LANDS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN HIMALAYA - A CASE-STUDY IN GARHWAL HIMALAYA, INDIA

An approach to the rehabilitation of degraded community lands built on people's perceptions and traditional knowledge was developed, impleme nted on a small scale (6 ha plot), and evaluated in terms of economic and ecological casts and benefits over a period of 5 years in a mid-al titude (1200 m) village of Garhwal Himalaya. Rehabilitation comprised establishment of water harvesting tanks, organic management of soil, a groforestry (native multipurpose trees + traditional crops), and decis on making by the whole village community. Costs and benefits under irr igated and unirrigated conditions were compared. The total cost of est ablishing the irrigated agroforestry system was 1.23 fold that of the unirrigated one, whereas the total benefit was 2.09 fold. The average standing above-ground biomass of the 4 year-old plantation in the irri gated agroforestry system was 11.69 t/ha compared to 8.34 t/ha in the unirrigated system, Improvement in soil properties was more pronounced in the irrigated system than in the unirrigated one. Nutrient input, an input derived largely from forest biomass, in the unirrigated syste m was nearly 3 times higher than that in the irrigated system. It is c oncluded that, considering the local and national/regional/global inte rests in an integrated manner, agroforestry incorporating water manage ment would be a more effective option for rehabilitating degraded comm unity lands than the afforestation currently being attempted by the go vernment in the mid-altitudes of Indian Himalaya.