Climate change and high-altitude wetlands of Arunachal Pradesh

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CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 105, NO. 8, 25 OCTOBER 2013 1037
Figure 1. a, Mixed cultivation of taro and paddy in jhum. b, Leaves and petioles. c, Marketing of corm.
(Figure 1 b and c) are used for prepara-
tion of many ethnic foods, such as anishi,
tungkungsui, tungrhak, tunguhok, pha-
lougan, phaloou, etc. The leaves, petioles
and damaged tubers are fed to the pigs
after cooking with local edible grasses.
As of now, little or no attention has
been given for the conservation of taro in
the region. This has resulted in loss of
many valuable genetic resources. The
continuous loss of genetic diversity
might be attributed to Phytophthora leaf
blight, corm borer, introduction of high-
yielding varieties, changing food habits
of the youth, practice of shifting cultiva-
tion and such other factors. Therefore,
urgent measures need to be initiated for
collection, characterization, documenta-
tion and conservation of these valuable
germplasm, either ex situ or in situ. To
begin with, ICAR Research Complex for
NEH Region, Nagaland Centre has initi-
ated collection, characterization and
documentation of these vast germplasms
under a project approved by the Protec-
tion of Plant Varieties and Farmer’s
Right Authority, New Delhi.
1. Statistical Hand Book of Nagaland, Gov-
ernment of Nagaland, 2011.
2. Rao, R. V., Matthews, P. J., Eyzaguirre, P.
B. and Hunter, D., In The Global Diversity
of Taro: Ethnobotany and Conservation,
Biodiversity International, Rome, 2010,
pp. 1–5.
3. Bose, T. K., Kabir, J., Maity, T. K., Par-
thasarathy, V. A. and Som, M. G., Vegeta-
ble Crops, 2003, 2, 413–442.
4. Bradburry, J. H. and Holloway, W. D.,
Chemistry of tropical root crops: Signifi-
cance for nutrition and agriculture in the
Pacific, ACIAR Monograph No. 6, ACIAR,
Canberra, 1998, p. 201.
A. THIRUGNANAVEL1,*
BIDYUT C. DEKA1
LILY RANGNAMEI1
MARTHA CHAKRUNO2
1ICAR Research Complex for
NEH Region,
Nagaland Centre,
Jharnapani 797 106, India
2KVK Aboi,
Mon District, India
*e-mail: lotus.thiru@gmail.com
Climate change and high-altitude wetlands of Arunachal Pradesh
The high-altitude wetlands (HAWs) are an
important category of natural wetlands
found mainly in the higher reaches of the
Himalayas. HAW is a generic term to de-
scribe areas of swamp, marsh, meadow,
fen, peat-land or water bodies located at
an altitude higher than 3000 m amsl,
whether natural or artificial, permanent
or temporary, with water that is static or
flowing, fresh, brackish or saline. In
general, HAWs are areas located at alti-
tudes between the continuous natural
forest border and the permanent snow-
line1 (Figure 1).
Arunachal Pradesh is ranked second
in India after Jammu & Kashmir with
1672 HAWs covering a total area of
11,864 ha, accounting for about 7.6%
of total wetland area of the state. Most of
the wetlands are small in size (below
10 ha), there are no large-sized wetlands
(above 500 ha) in the state. Only three
wetlands having an area of 100–500 ha
have been observed2. However, very
little information is available for most of
these wetlands due to the remoteness,
harsh climatic condition and inaccessibil-
ity of the terrain of the region. None of
the HAWs of the state is considered un-
der the Ramsar site.
The HAWs of Arunachal Pradesh play
a significant role in maintaining hydro-
logical and ecological balance in the
upstream and downstream regions. They
are the source of many major rivers like
Tawangchu, Nyamjangchu, Kameng,
Subansiri, Siang, Dibang and Lohit, all
important tributaries of the Brahmapu-
tra3. They support rich diversity of
gymnosperms, rhododendrons and rare
medicinal plants species and provide
suitable habitat for rare and threatened
high-altitude fauna like red panda (Ailu-
rus fulgens), takin (Budorcas taxicolor),
Chinese goral (Nemorhaedus griseus),
red goral (Naemorhedus baileyi), wild
dog (Cuon alpinus), snow leopard (Pan-
thera uncia) and musk deer (Moschus
chrysogaster)4. HAWs are considered as
sacred by the Buddhist community, espe-
cially in Tawang, West Kameng, West
Siang and Lohit districts of Arunachal
Pradesh. They are also considered as car-
bon sinks.
The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) is
sensitive to climate change. According to
the Indian Network for Climate Change
Assessment report, the annual mean
surface air temperature is projected to in-
crease from 0.9° ± 0.6°C to 2.6° ± 0.7°C

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CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 105, NO. 8, 25 OCTOBER 2013
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Figure 1. a, A panoramic view of Sangetsar Lake; b, Nagula Lake situated at 4120 m amsl; c, Frozen Sela Lake during winter sea-
son at Tawang district, Arunachal Pradesh.
in the 2030s in IHR5. The Arunachal
Pradesh State Action Plan on Climate
Change has projected that maximum
temperature will increase by 2.2°–2.8°C
during 2030s compared to the baseline,
i.e. 1961–1990 and towards 2080s the
increase is projected to be 3.4°–5°C.
Minimum temperature is projected to in-
crease by 1°–2.6°C during 2030s and by
2.8°–5°C during 2080s. Water resource,
forest and biodiversity are projected to
be adversely impacted by climate change
by the 2030s in Arunachal Pradesh6.
The fragile ecosystem and unique cli-
matic conditions of HAWs are more vul-
nerable to the effects of climate change.
They are characterized by extreme cold,
dry and alpine climate conditions, parti-
cularly due to low air temperature and
higher ultraviolet radiation. Researchers
have also predicted hydrological and
ecological response of HAWs to climate
change in the Himalayan region1,7.
Climate change impact on HAWs can
be visualized as the most significant be-
cause they provide numerous ecological
services, support unique biodiversity, are
important for carbon sequestration, main-
taining hydrological balance, livelihood
benefits to dependent populace and have
religious significance among indigenous
communities. Therefore, there is an
urgent need to undertake in-depth studies
for sound database and formulate com-
prehensive climate change mitigation and
adaption strategies for conservation and
management of pristine and vulnerable
ecosystem of HAWs in Arunachal
Pradesh. Education, awareness pro-
grammes, traditional ecological knowl-
edge and community participation may
also be encouraged to combat the climate
change impact on HAWs of the state.
1. Chatterjee, A. et al., Mt. Res. Dev., 2010,
30, 42–52.
2. Anon., National Wetland Atlas: High Alti-
tude Lakes of India, Space Applications
Centre, Ahmedabad, 2012.
3. Jayachandran, K. S., Conservation of high
altitude wetlands in Arunachal Pradesh.
International day for biological diversity,
water and biodiversity. Report, Uttar
Pradesh State Biodiversity Board, 2013.
4. Mazumdar, K., Maheswari, A., Dutta, P.
K., Borah, P. J. and Wange, P., Zoo’s
Print, 2011, 8, 9–10.
5. Anon., Climate Change and India – A
4 × 4 assessment a sectoral and regional
analysis for 2030. Report, Ministry of En-
vironment and Forests, Government of In-
dia, 2010.
6. Anon., Arunachal Pradesh State Action
Plan on Climate Change, Government of
Arunachal Pradesh, 2011.
7. Anon., A Retrospective: The High Altitude
Wetlands Project, WWF, Nepal, 2011.
K. S. KANWAL1,*
P. K. SAMAL1
M. S. LODHI1
J. C. KUNIYAL2
1G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan
Environment and Development,
North East Unit, Vivek Vihar,
Itanagar 791 113, India
2G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan
Environment and Development,
Himachal Unit,
Kullu 175 126, India
*e-mail: kskanwal03@gmail.com
Conflicts, motivation and conservation
Traditional agro-pastoral activities in
rural Uttarakhand (Western Himalaya), a
hill state in India predominantly depend
on the surrounding forests for fodder,
fuel wood, dry leaves for animals bed.
Approximately 64.80% geographical
area of Uttarakhand is under forest
cover, out of which 71.11% is reserve
forest, 28.52% is protected forest and
0.35% is categorized as unclassified for-
est1. The unclassified forest also termed
as civil forest area is open for biotic
activities like grazing, lopping of trees
for fodder and collection of fuel. But
these areas are subjected to overexploita-
tion by the villagers and result in con-
flicts related to utilization of their
resources. The Van Panchayats in Utta-
rakhand have actively involved the local
people in conserving the unclassified
forest areas and resolving conflicts for
several years.
The first Van Panchayat was formed in
1921 in Kumaon division of Uttara-
khand2. Since then, over 12,000 Van
Panchayats have been established in the
state. These Van Panchayats were born
out of rising conflicts around the forest
areas. In 1980, one such conflict was re-
ported between two villages of Bairagna
Gram Panchayat (an administrative unit
or council of few villages), namely
Kunkuli and Siroli in Chamoli district,
Uttarakhand over the lopping of Quercus
leucotrichophora (Banj oak). At that
juncture a few villagers from Kankhuli