Vol. 8, Issue 7 (2019)

Author(s):
Sabeena Nabi, Shabir Ahmad Rather, Burhan Nabi and KN Qaisar

Abstract:
Man’s relationship with his environment is a complex one. Primitive man managed to live as part of the natural ecosystem without altering its major characteristics. But now, man has modified ecosystems by directing energy and materials from the system to serve his personnel needs without due considerations to the overall sustainability of the ecosystem. Amongst the many ecosystems, rangeland is one of the most affected system, which is clearly evident by sharp decline in its productivity and species diversity. The Rangeland vegetation occupy about 52.5 million km² (40%) of the world’s terrestrial surface area, 12.15 million ha (8.4%) of land in the country and in the Indian Himalaya occupies nearly 35% of the geographical area. Presently, rangelands all over the world are confronting many challenges in terms of degradation by soil erosion, drought, loss in productivity by GHG’S, wild and anthropogenic fires, collection of medicinal plants and fuelwood, invasion by weeds etc. The most prominent challenge across the globe is overgrazing which governs all other challenging factors. Thus, to meet the challenges of both protection/conservation and economy of our country, there is an immediate need to adapt the management options at national, regional and local level to eradicate the imbalances created by the man since time immemorial.