Climate change is leaving Ladakhis rather confused. This cold desert perched on the roof of the world is now warmer. There is more rain. Ladakhis are seeing these changes as a mixed blessing. Till some years ago Ladakh received merely 35 mm of rain. No farmer or household counted on rainfall for crops or for drinking water.

Global warming risks from emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by anthropogenic activities have increased the need for the identification of ecosystems with high carbon sink capacity as an alternative mitigation strategy of terrestrial carbon sequestration. The agroforestry sector has received recent attention for its enormous potential carbon pools that reduce carbon emissions to the atmosphere. The Nubra Valley (Trans-Himalayan region) is covered with more than 575,000 agroforestry plantations (willow and poplar). These species have been found to sequester more than 75,000 tonnes of carbon.

Original Source

Ladakh, truly described as high altitude cold-arid desert is one of the far most eastern regions of J&K state, India. Because of unfavourable and hostile environment prevailing over the region, cultivation is limited to a very less scale (both time and place). Under these conditions, one of the major reasons behind human habitation is the ingenuity of local

Capparis spinosa (Capparidaceae)