Impact of Pastoral Practices on Forest Cover and Regeneration in the Outer Fringes of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Himalaya

The study reports the impact of migratory livestock in the buffer area of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary. The cumulative impacts of livestock grazing, fuel wood extraction and other anthropogenic pressures on forest cover in and around camping sites have been analyzed using satellite data and field observations. Multi-date satellite data were used to map the forest cover around 16 seasonal livestock camps. An annual loss of about 7.25 ha of forest covers during 1976–1990, 13.57 ha during 1990–1999 and 11.46 ha during 1999–2005 are recorded. A loss of 108.53 ha of forestland has been estimated during 1976–1990, about 122.16 ha during 1990–1999 and 68.78 ha during 1999–2005. It is also observed that many of the isolated camping sites are now connected due to loss of vegetation. Phytosociological analysis indicates that the number of seedlings and saplings in three species of Quercus (Q. leucotrichophora, Q. floribunda and Q. semecarpifolia) as compared to mature tress is very less around cattle camping sites. The ratio of number of sapling with seedling and trees indicates that the status of sapling is nil to very poor, an indication of loss of saplings due to either trampling or grazing.