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Sustainable Development in Mountain Ecosystem at Watershed Level - A Geospatial Approach
P. K. Patanjali
Central Soil & Water Conservation Training & Research Institute (ICAR), Dehradun
P. K. Joshi & K. K. Das
Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (NRSA), Dehradun
Abstract
Humans have been exploiting the natural resources from the day life originated on earth. They have always overburdened the nature in order to fulfill their ever-increasing demands. All such activities greatly affect the regeneration capacity of any natural system. For sustainable development of any natural system the regeneration of basic natural resources like land, water and vegetation is very important because with the regenerating resource base there is greater scope for identifying alternative and sustainable livelihoods. The natural resources in a fragile mountain ecosystem are under severe strain for the past few decades due to their over exploitation for meeting the ever increasing demands for livelihood. Sustainable management of these natural resources is the biggest challenge today in these ecosystems and is essential in providing food and feed for human and livestock and environmental security. This can best be achieved by employing the concept of watershed management that aims at integrated use of all the available resources including human and livestock on a sustained basis. For sustainable development of an area identification of the most frequent hazards taking place over past few years in the area may play a vital role in assigning priorities and the creation of database of mountain at watershed level is therefore essential so that proper planning strategies can be made. Remote sensing integrated with geospatial techniques provide a powerful tool for the mapping, assessing, evaluating and analyzing the present, past and future status of the natural resources of a watershed. The present paper explains a geospatial approach for sustainable development of Garhwal Himalayas at watershed level. The present study clearly shows that in Huinyal watershed, the resource utilization and distribution pattern are responsible for the degradation of the natural resources available in the area. The identification of critical and vulnerable areas using geospatial techniques is strong input for the policy planning and proper management aimed at sustainable development of a watershed. The geospatial analysis shows that 25% of the area in the Huinyal watershed is under high-risk zone which needs special attention.
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