Plantation drive undertaken by J&K Forest Department in the arid cold region of Ladakh have led to sprouting of innumerable groves that harbor even wild lives across Ladakh, but one of the most remarkable achievements is the successful growth of wild willow in hundreds of acres of land at an altitude of 14000 feet on Changthang tableland since 1962.
Trudging down the Leh bazaar, Ishay Tundup, an elderly farmer, holds up a bag full of green vegetables. An ordinary sight surely but it was far from that. This 70-year-old man had grown vegetables all his life. He had never needed to buy them from a bazaar. Tundup is one of the many farmers who suffered the effects of drought in Ladakh last summer, a phenomenon unheard of.
Over centuries, the Changpas have survived in Ladakh with their flocks of sheep, goats, yaks and horses horses in a delicate balance with nature, forever careful of its scarce resource: pastures. This very system is under strain today, as a variety of reasons have led to the shrinking of Ladakh's pastures.
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The decision by Jammu and Kashmir's Leh district to declare the Changthang region a highaltitude wildlife sanctuary has put Ladakh's Changpa nomads in a fix. The nomads have, for long, been using
Ladakh is the one region in India where sustainable development is the only way ahead. Dry toilets, water efficient crops, cooperative farming, a democratic society and living in harmony with nature are not ideals here; they are a prerequisite
