Return of biodiversity in Darma valley, Dharchula Himalayas

GENERAL ARTICLES
Return of biodiversity in Darma valley,
Dharchula Himalayas, Uttaranchal, North
India following fortuitous changes in
traditional lifestyle of the local inhabitants
S. S. Garbyal, K. K. Aggarwal* and C. R. Babu
Darma valley situated in 30° North and 80° East, in Kumaon region of Uttaranchal state in India, at
an altitude between 7000 and 14,000 feet has 12 villages with population less than 1000. Traditionally, the main occupation of the villagers in the region has been trading, sheep rearing and cultivation of Fagopyrum esculentum and potatoes. The valley has always been very rich in biodiversity.
Many plant species, some of which are rare and threatened, had been under severe pressure in the
past due to over-extraction, large livestock population and extensive cultivation.
Lifestyles of the people in the area changed in 1970s due to increased level of literacy and
awareness resulting in increased downward migration. Only about 25% of the earlier population
lives in the villages now. The sheep population also came down drastically by as much as 90% in
some places. Only about 25% of the fields are now cultivated. Thus the species got opportunities to
flourish and many rare herbs and shrubs like Aconitum heterophyllum, Bergenia ciliata, Cordyceps
sinensis, Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Hippophae tibetana, Picrorhiza kurroa, Swertia ciliata, Taraxacum, etc. are now found growing in abundance in the abandoned fields and meadows. The biotic
factors in Darma valley appear to be in balance. Now one can see biodiversity having returned to its
glory in Darma valley.
DARMA valley is situated at the north of the Panchachuli
mountain (Figure 1), at 30°N and 80°E in Dharchula subdivision, Pithoragarh District, Kumaon region, Uttaranchal,
India. It borders Tibet in the north and Nepal in the east.
The entire valley lies at an altitude between 7500 and
14,000 ft. There are 12 villages in the valley; the population is less than 1000 with 30–120 families in each village.
The valley extends to about 100 km from Sela village to
Dhave beyond the last inhabited village Tidang near the Tibet
border. The valley had always been rich in plant biodiversity.
The valley is inhabited by Bhotias, who are locally known
as Darmya or Darmani. The inhabitants are semi-nomadic1,2.
The villagers migrate to the lower locations situated at 3500 ft
between Dharchula and Jauljibi during October–November
to spend winter in relatively warmer areas. They return to
Darma valley in March–April. Traditionally, the main occupa-
S. S. Garbyal and K. K. Aggarwal are in the School of Biotechnology,
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Kashmere Gate, Delhi
110 006, India; C. R. Babu is the Department of Botany, University of
Delhi, Delhi 110 007, India.
*For correspondence. (e-mail: [email protected])
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tion of the villagers in the region had been trading (bartering
of goods), sheep rearing and cultivation of mainly Fagopyrum
(F. esculentum and F. tataricum) and potatoes during
summer months between June and October. Prior to 1962, all
available flat lands in the valley were cultivated extensively.
And large sheep population grazing in the pastures in the
valley played havoc with the ground flora.
Figure 1.
Darma valley at the foot of Panchachuli mountain.
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 88, NO. 5, 10 MARCH 2005
GENERAL ARTICLES
Table 1.
Five largest villages in the valley according to the 2001 Government of India census report
Number of people in
government service*
Village
Total population
Bon
Dugtu-Son
Go
Sipu
Dangtu
Literacy rate (%)
152
170
124
70
66
69.85
74.19
76.11
67.27
62.5
Percentage of
cultivators
In 1960
In 2003
51.65
60.4
54.79
50.00
69.57
2
–
3
3
–
84
89
56
13
27
*Figure provided by villagers by counting the heads (the number of people in service in 2003 may actually be higher as some may have been left out).
Table 2.
Sheep population in Darma valley*
Number of sheep
Village
1987
1997
Sela
Nagling
Chal
Baling
Dugtu
Dangtu
Bon
Filam
Go
Tidang
Marcha
Sipu
Total
641
898
255
930
3102
817
3794
842
2142
597
664
2339
17,021
549
415
343
471
1933
872
3491
1452
1598
593
495
1793
14,005
2003
65 (10.1% of 87)
345 (38.4% of 87)
215 (84.3% of 87)
220 (23.6% of 87)
875 (28.2% of 87)
235 (28.7% of 87)
1900† (50% of 87)
36 (4.2% of 87)
80 (3.7% of 87)
228 (38.1% of 87)
73 (10.9% of 87)
289 (12.3% of 87)
*Source: Animal Husbandry Department, Dharchula
Sub-division, District Pithoragarh, Uttaranchal, India.
†
Figure provided by villagers, since official figure is
not available.
Since the 1962 Indo-China conflict, life in the region has
undergone complete change. Earlier, almost all the locals
depended upon trading with the Tibetans and related activities
and sheep rearing. After 1962, they had to look for other
vocations for a living. On an average, each village in the
valley had about 5000 sheep. Literacy picked up and as people became educated, they looked for better jobs elsewhere
in the plains. Due to increased level of awareness about education, literacy rate in Darma valley, according to the 2001
census report, ranges from 63.53% in Sela village to 93.4%
in Tidang village. Percentage of cultivators and people in
government service is indicative of changed lifestyles in the
valley3 (Table 1). Locals now began to give up the traditional
way of living for a modern and relatively easier and physically less demanding way of living. This changed the demography of the area completely. Now only about 25% of the
villagers engage themselves in the traditional way of living.
Local inhabitants now come to their villages only to perform
traditional pujas (worshipping) and for customary celebrations, thus keeping the link with their roots intact. Table 2
shows the sheep population in Darma valley during 1987,
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 88, NO. 5, 10 MARCH 2005
1997 and 2003. The declining sheep population in 16 years
between 1987 and 2003 is indicative of the trend. There is
a similar trend in the population of cattle in all the villages.
However, decline in this case is not as sharp as it was in the
case of sheep.
Biodiversity in Darma valley
The valley has always been conducive to the growth of varieties of flora and fauna. There are, however, no documented
records of the plant species that were found in this valley
in the past. Richard Strachey was the first person to have
undertaken a scientific survey of Kumaon area in 1846 and
subsequently in 1848 with J. E. Winterbottom. They collected
over 2000 species between the years 1846 and 1849. Based
on these collections and observations made during botanical
expedition to northeastern Kumaon in 1883, J. F. Duthie
catalogued 2672 flowering plants, 201 ferns and allies, 120
mosses and 50 lichens, i.e. a total of 3043 species in Kumaon
area in 1906. Some of the prominent tree species found in
Darma valley are4–12 Abies webbiana, Acer caesium, Aesculus indica, Arundinaria fulcata, Betula alnoides, Betula
utilis, Cedrus deodara, Cupressus torulosa, Juglans regia,
Juniperus cummunis, Juniperus recurva, Juniperus wallichiana, Pinus roxburghii, Prunus cornuta, Pyrus
pashia, Pinus wallichiana, Quercus incana, Quercus semecarpifolia, Rhododendron arboreum, Rhododendron
campanulatum, Rhododendron anthopogon, Taxus baccata,
Tsuga dumosa. Some medicinal herbs and shrubs found
in the area4–12 are Aconitum heterophyllum, Aconitum balfourii, Aconitum ferox, Angelica glauca, Allium stracheyii,
Anemone sps., Arisaema sps., Arnebia benthamii, Aster sps.,
Berberis asiatica, Berberis chitria, Berberis lyceum, Begonia picta, Bergenia ciliata, Carum carvi, Cannabis sativa,
Cirsium sps., Corydalis govaniana, Cuscuta reflexa, Cynoglossum wallichii, Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Delphinium
denudatum, Delphinium ranunculifolium, Delphinium
cashmirianum, Delphinium brunonianum, Dioscorea deltoidea, Elscholtzia strobilifera, Gentiana sps., Geranium
wallichianum, Habenaria pectinata, Hippophae rhamnoides, Hippophae tibetana, Hyoscyamus niger, Impatiens
723
GENERAL ARTICLES
sps., Ipomoea purpurea, Iris kumaonensis, Lilium oxypetalum, Leontopodium himalayanum, Malva sylvestris, Nardostachys jatamansi, Nepeta spicata, Osbeckia stellata,
Parnassia nubicola, Phlomis bracteosa, Picrorhiza kurroa, Podophyllum hexandrum, Polygonum verticillatum,
Polygonum viviparum, Polygonum polystachyum, Polygonum amplexicaule, Potentilla sps., Primula sps.,
Rheum emodi, Ribes sps., Rosa sericea, Rubia cordifolia,
Rumex nepalensis, Saussurea lappa, Saussurea gossypiphora, Saussurea obvallata, Selinum vaginatum, Senecio chrysathemoides, Silene kumaonensis, Swertia
ciliata, Taraxacum officinale, Thalictrum foliolosum, Urtica
dioica, Viola serpens. Many of these species are rare, endangered and endemic to the area.
A caterpillar fungus, Cordyceps sinensis, which is of great
economic value to the local inhabitants is found in abundance
in the valley13,14. Trees have never been under any threat due
to over exploitation or commercial felling. Trees are generally
cut only for house construction and for flag posts (Abies
webbiana), the demand for which is not much and has actually been declining lately as more and more people have
abandoned their dwellings. As a matter of fact, the quality
of forests has been improving over the years. Moreover, only
fallen, dead or decaying trees are collected for fuel as far as
possible. Only natural calamities like avalanche, landslide,
flood and storm have caused havoc to the trees in the past.
On the other hand, some medicinal plants, particularly Dactylorhiza hatagirea (hathajari or salam panja), R. emodi
(Dolu), Angelica glauca (Gandrayani), Swertia sps. (Chirayita) and P. kurroa (katki), are being exploited for trade
and local use. But the single biggest threat to plant biodiversity in the past has been grazing by the large sheep and
cattle population in the area. Besides, all the cultivable flat
land in the valley was used in the past for growing Fagopyrum esculentum (locally known as palti), F. tataricum (locally known as bhe) and potatoes, which did not allow wild
plants to grow freely. As the villagers were earlier engaged
in the traditional way of living, other plant species did not
have much opportunity to flourish.
Impact of changes in lifestyle on plant biodiversity
Since the 1980s, when changes in the lifestyle of the local
people gathered momentum, the vegetation structure in the
valley has been undergoing changes. As people began to
give up the traditional way of living, cultivation came down
to almost 25%, i.e. only one-fourth of the land is now cultivated (Figure 2). The sheep population is now down by over
50% and to almost 10% of what it was earlier in some of the
villages (Table 2). Even the cattle population has decreased
substantially. The grazing grounds are now empty. As a
result, the plant population has exploded and diversity has
increased to a great extent. Quadrates of size 1 m2 were laid
on about 5 acres of abandoned cultivation areas in Bon. There
were up to 12 A. heterophyllum, 25 Cirsium, 30 Arisaema,
5 Silene kumaonensis, 10 S. ciliata plants in 1 m2 quadrate
(Figure 3 a). Plants were also counted over about 20 acres
of abandoned grazing ground between the villages of Dangtu
and Go. There were up to 23 D. hatagirea plants found to be
growing in 1 m2 area (Figure 3 b). Besides, T. officinale, S.
chrysathemoides, Impatiens sps., Cirsium sps., M. sylvestris,
D. denudatum, I. kumaonensis, R. nepalensis, etc. were
found to be growing in abandoned fields between the villages of Bon and Filam, as if they were being cultivated. It
a
b
Figure 2. Wild flowers returning to the fields, which were earlier under cultivation in Bon.
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Figure 3. a, Varieties of wild flowers growing on the abandoned
fields in Bon. b, Dactylorhiza hatagirea growing wild on abandoned
grazing grounds between Dugtu and Go.
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 88, NO. 5, 10 MARCH 2005
GENERAL ARTICLES
has, however, been observed that no particular species is
dominant.
It would not be proper to conclude that the level of plant
biodiversity in the area would go up if the biotic interference
is reduced to zero. In fact, as the biotic interference goes
down many species, which were hitherto suppressed, begin
to dominate as has been the case in Valley of Flowers in
Garhwal. One no longer sees the kind of floral diversity
that had made the area famous worldwide. After the area was
closed to grazing, one particular species, Polygonum polystachyum almost filled the entire valley. P. polystachyum,
had hitherto remained suppressed and was under check due
to grazing by sheep and cattle.
In Darma valley too, species like P. polystachyum and
others that were grazed by sheep and cattle earlier had
begun to reappear as the number of grazers started declining.
These species had remained suppressed in the valley because
of extensive cultivation and grazing. However, unlike the
Valley of Flowers in Garhwal, the sheep and cattle have
not disappeared from the scene. Changes in the traditional
way of living have brought about more than 75% reduction
in sheep population and 50–75% decline in cultivation
level in the valley. Besides, extraction of some species
that are in great demand like A. heterophyllum, D. hatagirea, P. kurroa, C. sinensis, R. emodi, A. glauca, etc. continues. Moreover, those who still live in the valley do cultivate
F. esculentum not for subsistence though, but for earning
their livelihood. Therefore, the conditions as they exist today
appear to be suited for optimal biodiversity and further
changes in any one factor may affect the biodiversity adversely.
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CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 88, NO. 5, 10 MARCH 2005
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We acknowledge the assistance extended by
the villagers of Bon, Dugtu-Son, Dangtu, Filam, Sipu, Go and others in
Darma valley. We thank Shri Sunder Singh Bonal, Mrs Prabha Bonal,
Shri Jaswant Singh Sonal, Shri Chait Singh Firmal and Bir Singh of
Dharchula, for useful information and help during this work information.
We are grateful to Dr N. B. Naithani, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun
for help in identifying the plants. We also thank Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India for financial assistance.
Received 14 June 2004; revised accepted 23 November 2004
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