The Khangchendzonga National Park is a part of the eastern Himalaya global biodiversity hotspot and is located in the Sikkim state of India. Increasing livestock populations coupled with the government policy to ban grazing and its selective implementation resulted in conflict. Hence we undertook this multidisciplinary study involving consultations with traditional resource users, field surveys, and remote sensing.

The severity of fuel wood and fodder depletion has been recognized through the hot arid tracts of India, since 70% of rural folk are dependent on them. The intensive study done on Baordi - Bambore watershed indicated that the state of affairs are not the same, as they appear. In normal rainfall situation, fodder availability appears to be more than required.

In the present study, red lateritic soil and farmyard manure were used in seven compositions for raising seedlings of Albizia amara. The emergence of seedlings increased with increasing the ratio of farmyard manure (67.7 to 89.3%) while pure farmyard manure lodged 71.4%.

Livestock rearing contributes to climate change, but at the same time it brings many benefits to small-scale farmers. Do these benefits outweigh the disadvantages in terms of greenhouse gas emissions? And how can these emissions be reduced?

Livestock sector plays a significant role in the rural economy of India. It contributes about 5 per cent of the total gross domestic product (GDP) and one-fourth of the agricultural GDP. The sector is unique in terms of employment opportunities as two-thirds of female workforce in rural India is engaged in livestock rearing.

In the hill areas, the traditional systems of dependence on forest products like fuel for their households and fodder for their livestock has an important bearing on the status of Himalayan watersheds. The population of livestock is therefore also significant. The fuel and fodder requirements of the hill people are important routine activities for which women/children spend long hours of their day-to-day life.

India carries a huge livestock population. Small ruminants, namely, goats and sheep, play a vital role in securing the livelihood of small and marginal farmers and landless labourers. Such animals should not be blamed for the ecological degradation, soil erosion and desertification caused by human activities.

In order to sustain and promote the economy of livestock sector as complimentary component, fodder-based feeding strategies provide ample opportunities for economising the economic productivity. A vast array of forage species are grown under varying management situations in different agro-ecological regions. April 2008