Executive Summary- Resource Information Database of the Indian Himalaya (ENVIS Monograph 3), ENVIS Centre on Himalayan Ecology (Nandy et. al. 2006) GPBIHED, Almora

The Himalaya is the youngest mountain chain on the planet and is believed to be still evolving, and thereby, is not having stabilized from geological and geomorphological considerations. The Indian Himalaya; with a breadth of 250-300km and stretch of over 2500 km from Jammu and Kashmir in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east; covers an area of about 5,33,604 km², which is inhabited by 3,96,28,311 people. This region represents 16.2% of the total area and 3.86% of the total population of the Indian Republic and is of crucial importance by virtue of being rich and unique centres of cultural and biological diversity. Due to uniqueness of the Indian Himalayan region (IHR), top priority in restoring its ecological health has been accorded by the Government of India. Since information on different aspects of the IHR is diffused and not available at a single place in a user friendly format it was desired to collect and collate all the available information, relating to all the 12 states (fully/partially) of the region, at a single place for utilization by various stakeholders of the region in particular and regional planners/administrators in broader perspective. Keeping the above in mind, this monograph entitled ‘Resource information database of the Indian Himalaya’ is prepared and therefore is an attempt to map the resources of the Indian Himalayan region (IHR) in a form of an information resource module. This monograph is based on secondary data, which were collected and compiled from different gazettes, bulletins, databases, government/official websites, and publications obtained from various libraries and departments of the central and state governments. The monograph neither expresses comments on any developmental plans nor does it explain the reasons of uneven distribution of resources in the region. It simply presents a sketch of available resources in the region at one place in a readily available module, which can be easily accessed (also through internet) by all the stakeholders of the IHR for their own judgment and assessment.

The monograph is divided into five sections viz, introduction, profile of the Indian Himalayan states, resource database, developmental indicators, and conclusion. The introduction section refers to physical and biological aspects including land and water resources as well as rich biodiversity of the IHR. Introduction to the region, its spread, geographical/ physiographical features along with its vulnerability and proneness to the disasters, agro-climatic zonations, forest types, etc., are also discussed in this section. Tabular data on major peaks and lakes in the IHR, major glaciers, seismic zonation, diversity of medicinal plants (including rare and endangered medicinal plants recorded in the RDB of the Indian plants), major land use distribution patterns, principal glacial-fed river systems, and state wise water resources are also included in this section. In the second section, the administrative profile of all the Himalayan states including existing infrastructural facilities available at individual state/administrative region and level of development have been described. The third section contains natural resource data tables of all the regions/states of the IHR and presents the extract of information from the resource database, which includes land use pattern, protected areas, wasteland, forest cover, minerals, energy, infrastructures, economy and human resources. To depict the resource distribution pattern, some graphical representations along with GIS maps have also been presented in this section. The graphical representation also presents the classified data and number of data points satisfying each class and percentage contribution of the class to the total sampled population. Both the closed-ended and open-ended boundaries have been used in classifying data points. The district boundaries are also linked with the classified attribute data for effective visualization of changing trends of some demographic parameters. In the fourth section, major developmental indicators such as human development index and socio-economic indicators, which depict the disparities within the region, have been described. This section also throws light on some economic indicators, population and poverty, bank credit in priority sectors, and the dependency ratio. The main aim of this section is to basically map the indicators across the IHR, which could lead to developmental plan for the up-liftment of the region. State level data have also been presented in sections three and four for comparison among states/regions. The fifth section, i.e. conclusion, describes the usefulness of the monograph and its potential applications.

In nut shell, this monograph serves as a reference point not only to general readership but also to the researchers, administrators and development planners who are actively involved in the effective management of the resources of the Indian Himalayan region.

G. B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development was established during Bharat Ratna Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Birth centenary year in August 1988 as an autonomous Institute of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. The Institute is identified as a focal agency to advance scientific knowledge, to evolve integrated management strategies and demonstrate their efficacy for conservation of natural resources, and to ensure environmentally sound development in the entire Indian Himalayan region in harmony with the local perceptions.

Apart from undertaking research and technology development and/or demonstration on its own, the Institute has established linkages with various national and international organizations committed to environment and development issues in the mountains. The Institute’s objectives also include identification and strengthening of the local knowledge of the environment and contribution towards strengthening research of regional relevance in the scientific Institutions/Universities/NGOs/Voluntary agencies working in the Indian Himalayan region.

The Institute functions under a Society, guided by the Government Body and a Science Advisory Committee and has a decentralized set-up, with its headquarters at Kosi-Katarmal, Almora, Uttaranchal and Units at Sikkim (Pangthang, East Sikkim), Himachal (Mohal, Kullu), Garhwal (Srinagar-Garhwal, Uttaranchal) and North-East (Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh), and core scientists specialized in diverse disciplines, technicians, administrative and supporting staff, and a number of project fellows and research associates spread over various units.

All research and developmental activities of the Institute are multidisciplinary in nature and revolve around seven core programme viz., Land and Water Resource Management (LWRM), Sustainable Development of Rural Ecosystems (SDRE), Conservation of Biological Diversity (CBD), Ecological Economics and Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA), Environmental Physiology and Biotechnology (EPB), Institutional Networking and Human Investment (INHI), and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS). The thrust of research and development efforts is to provide solution to location-specific problems through time bound projects. The research is essentially need based and the field activities are well supported by laboratory based basic efforts whenever required. Rigorous data collection and demonstrations of science and technology inputs, including packages developed by the Institute, e.g. Sloping Watershed Environmental Engineering Technology (SWEET), are underlying activities of all the projects. The Institute is now moving from descriptions to prescriptions and demonstrations and also attempting to influence, through understanding of ground realities, the decision making process at all levels for the overall well being of the Indian Himalaya and its people. Apart from research and development activities, the Institute has a number of support facilities and services such as library, arboretum, videography, nursery, instrumentation centre, consultancy, project formulation, soil, water analysis, tissue culture, data processing and information systems, training programmes, workshop and seminars. The Institute receives its core fund from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India. In addition to the above, currently support from various national (DBT, CSIR, UGC, DST, INSA, NEC, ICSSR, MoWR, MoRD, ICAR, WWF-India, State Governments, etc.) and international (ICIMOD, UNESCO, NORAD, TSBF, Shastri Indo-Canadian Foundation, CIDA-SICI, BCN, McArthur Foundation, UNDP/FAO/UNIDO, UNICEF, etc.) agencies are also available. In addition to the execution of various in-house and externally funded R&D activities in the Indian Himalayan region, the Institute also sponsors projects, through Integrated Eco-development Research Programme (IERP), to various Universities/Institutes/Govt. Institutions and NGOs for the support of location-specific action-oriented R&D activities.

Besides research publications in the form of scientific papers, the Institute also publishes Hima Paryavaran Newsletter, ENVIS Bulletin, ENVIS Newsletter, Himalayan Biosphere Reserves Bulletin, Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant Memorial Lectures, Training Modules, Technical Reports and Annual Reports, etc. The research output and subject compilations are brought as Himavikas Publications or Himavikas Occasional Publications and are published by the reputed publishing houses. The Institute also provides consultancy services to various users/stakeholders within the mandate and jurisdiction of the Institute.

ENVIS Centre on Himalayan Ecology

The Environmental Information System (ENVIS) Centre on Himalayan ecology was established at the headquarters of G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED) in the financial year 1992-93 with the fiscal support from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India. ENVIS Centre on Himalayan ecology is a part of ENVIS network centres in India coordinated by the MoEF; the national focal point in the country for collating information from various ENVIS centres and providing national scenarios to the international programme INFOTERRA of the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). ENVIS Centres essentially help in handling of huge and varied information relevant to environmental management and development.

The ENVIS Centre of the Institute (GBPIHED) has the responsibility of collecting, collating, compiling and building qualitative and quantitative databases of information related to various aspects of Himalayan ecology. The centre is also integrating the available information in ready-to-use form for the users of the remote regions of the Indian Himalaya in particular and for regional development planning in broader perspectives. Through print/electronic media, the Centre is regularly disseminating all available information, free of cost, to various stakeholders/users that include all District Information Centres (operating in the Himalayan states of the country), ENVIS Centres elsewhere in the country, Universities and their Campuses, other educational and research institutions, policy makers and planners, Government and Non-Government organizations, and general public, etc., working on various aspects of Himalayan ecology. For further details, Dr. P.P. Dhyani, Scientist-in-charge of the ENVIS Centre of the Institute, may be contacted.

Institute URL: http://gbpihed.gov.in

ENVIS URL: http://gbpihed.gov.in/envis/envis.html

E-mail: himenvis@gbpihed.nic.in, gbpihed@envis.nic.in

StateCd	StateRegion	GeoAare	PcShare
1	Jammu & Kashmir	222236	41.65
2	Himachal Pradesh	55673	10.43
3	Uttaranchal	53483	10.02
4	Sikkim	7096	1.33
5	West Bengal hills	3149	.59
6	Meghalaya	22429	4.20
7	Assam hills	15322	2.87
8	Tripura	10486	1.97
9	Mizoram	21081	3.95
10	Manipur	22327	4.18
11	Nagaland	16579	3.11
12	Arunachal Pradesh	83743	15.69

(An Autonomous Institute of Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India)