Despite Chamba order, stopping plantations on migratory routes of pastoralists in Himachal is still a long journey

Subject :Geography

Section: Human geography

Context:

The Himachal Pradesh Forest Department’s Chamba circle issued an order in November 2022 noting that tree plantation, under various schemes on the migratory routes and halting points of pastoralists, hinders their access to quality fodder.

Details:

The local pastoralists welcomed the order but said that an order by just one circle cannot solve what is now a widespread problem. They demanded other forest circles to extend it in their respective areas.
Even as the forest department claims that there are already instructions by the grazing advisory committee to stop such plantations, compliance with such directions is poor.

Increased vulnerabilities due to plantation:

Expansion of invasive species. Ex: lantana camara.
Hindrance in seamless connectivity to green pastures.
Threaten centuries-old livestock rearing profession, known as Transhumance, practised by the Gaddi tribe and the Gujjar tribe in Himachal Pradesh.
The scarcity of fodder on their migration routes is making the profession very challenging, along with other risk factors such as livestock theft, wildlife-animal conflicts, rising disease load on livestock and less water availability in pastures.

Need for a digitised strategy to ensure livelihood protection

The State Level Grazing Advisory Review Committee instructed not to do any plantation on the migratory routes of the pastoral communities.
However, most of the instructions issued by the grazing committee have remained on paper and were hardly backed by executive orders.
The department does not have requisite data on migratory routes and halting points of the pastoralists in the s