National Mission on Himalayan Studies Geospatial Mapping of RET and other important NWFP species and capacity building for their community based conservation in the tribal areas of Uttarakhand Submitted to G. B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment & Sustainable Development By Forest Research Institute (Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education) PO: New Forest, Dehradun-248006 Geospatial Mapping of RET and other important NWFP species and capacity building for their community based conservation in the tribal areas of Uttarakhand under National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS) January2019 to December 2019 Quarter Duration Activities initiated/completed st 1 Quarter Jan, 2019 to Consultation with stakeholders regarding essentials of March, 2019 project Planning of project activities nd 2 Quarter April, 2019 to Recruitment of Data Manager June, 2019 Review of literature for adopting appropriate methodology and prioritisation of species for conservation rd 3 Quarter July, 2019 to Data manager recruited in the project was given training September, for specific tools of RS-GIS that would be utilised in the 2019 project at later stage. Literature review for prioritization of species (ongoing). Field visit conducted and contact established with the local people and nursery care taker. Consultation with other stakeholders (local communities and experts) for prioritization of species(ongoing). Information regarding essential equipment i.e. GPS and Workstation for the project has been collected. The equipment for purchase is finalized and the process for procurement initiated (ongoing). Topographic maps like elevation, aspect and slope, EVI, NDVI, climaticand other variables as per the requirement of the project being developed (ongoing). Work on processing of the gridded climatic datasets (ongoing). IT Expert for development, handling and maintenance of web based Biodiversity Information System (BIS) hired. Existing Biodiversity Information Systems like IUCN Redlist website (www.iucnredlist.org), Malaysia Biodiversity Information System(www.mybis.gov.my) and eBird (www.ebird.org)being referred (ongoing). th 4 Quarter Sept, 2019 to Review of literature (ongoing). December, Questionnaire based expert opinion for prioritising species 2019 (ongoing). Initial framework development for BIS (ongoing). Page 1 th 5 Quarter Jan, 2020 to Conducted surveys in villages of Kalsi, Chakrata and Tiuni Present tehsil 1. Project Information Project ID NMHS/2018-19/SG69/24 Project Title Geospatial Mapping of RET and Other Important NWFP Species and Capacity Building for Their Community-based Conservation in the Tribal Areas of Uttarakhand Project Proponent Dr. Manoj Kumar, Scientist C and In-charge: GIS Centre Forest Research Institute (FRI) Dehradun, Uttarakhand-248006 2. Objectives • Identification of priority species of conservation in tribal blocks dominated by Jaunsari community. • Develop model for mapping the potential sites of cultivation and conservation for the identified priority species. • Capacity building of tribal community for additional income generation and biodiversity conservation. • Projected impacts of climate change on habitat suitability of identified priority species and its resilience planning. • Development of web based Biodiversity Information System (BIS) for the study region. 4. Progress Quantifiable Deliverables Monitoring indicators Progress made Annexure against attached deliverables in separately with terms of other monitoring supportive indicators documents 1 2 3 4 Prioritizing the High value Number of species Work is in - species on the basis of Extensive prioritized (Nos.) progress consultation with local farmers, Habitat Map developed Work is in Topographic and grower of the species, traders, progress habitat maps Page 2 medicinal boards (Nos.) Develop the Habitat Maps of No. of trainings organized Nil - selected species (>10 Species) (Nos.) Tailored training at field level - for the capacity building of Number of beneficiaries Nil tribal communities (> 50 HH) (Nos.) Compilation of available information for the web based No. of Reports/Research Nil - content, development of content articles/Policy management system appropriate documents/Manual for the BIS prepared and published (Nos.) 5. Financial Progress Head Total Budget The Balance Annexure Allocated (Rs) Amount (Rs) attachedseparately with other supportive documents 1 2 3 4 Salary 900000.00 8,18,000.00 Data Manager has Travel 400000.00 4,00,000.00 joined from 23rd Consumables 450000.00 4,50,000.00 August, 2019. First field survey was Contingency 160000.00 1,60,000.00 conducted during the Activities & other project cost 665000.00 6,65,000.00 month of September Institutional Charges 320000.00 3,20,000.00 2019. Procurement of Equipment 305000.00 3,05,000.00 equipment is in Total 3200000.00 3,118,000.00 process. BIS development work initiated. Page 3 1. Literature Review Out of total NTFP utilization in India, medicinal plants make 80%, plants of edible use make 40%, others material & cultural requirements make 7.5%, fibre & cordage make 6%, fodder makes 5% and others make less than 5%. Out of 17000 flowering plants and about 31000 species of non-flowering species, 10000 species are used by the people in one form or the other. Socio- economic and ecological characteristics of western Himalayas have led to development in utilization of NTFP. 17 percent of the landless people depend on it for daily paid labor and 39 percent are involved in NTFP collection as an occupation (Shiva, 1996). Fever, stomachache, eye pain, kidney stones, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, Vomiting, Cough & cold, Boils, Acidity, Toothache, Scorpion bite, Unconscious, Food poisoning, Joint pains, Piles, Indigestion, Dysentery, Skin disease, Worms in stomach, Excess heat, Diabetes, Itching, Snake bite, Cut and wounds, Irregular menstruation, etc. are some of the common diseases which are frequently treated using MAPs. The Indian Himalayan region alone supports about 18,440 species of plants (Angiosperms: 8000 spp., Gymnosperm: 44 spp., Pteridophytes: 600 spp., Bryophytes: 1736 spp., Lichens: 1159 spp. and Fungi: 6900 spp.) of which about 45% are having medicinal properties.Out of the total species of vascular plants, 1748 spp. species are medicinal.After extensive literature review, more than 400 plant species are identified to occur in the state of Uttarakhand which is also richest Western Himalayan Region state in terms of natural availability of MAPs and NWFP plant species. Out of these identified 400 plant species,76 plants were found in IUCN Red list data which included 8 RET, 65 Least Concerned and 3 Data Deficient plants.Some of the plants in the list are very common. Gentiana kurroo,Saussurea costus and Nardostachys jatamansi are classified as critically endangered plant species. Aconitum heterophyllum, Aconitum violaceum, Angelica glauca, Malaxis muscifera and Saraca asoca are classified either as endangered or vulnerable plant species. WhileDactylorhiza hatagirea, Dioscorea deltoidea, Nardostachys grandiflora, Picrorhiza kurroa, Podophyllum hexandrum and Rauvolfia serpentina are listed in CITES appendix II plant species (Bisht et al, 2016). Plant species directly associated with Jaunsari tribe viz.Acorus calamus, Berberis lyceum, Perilla frutescens, Dioscorea deltoidea are among the threatened plant species of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand (Prakash A. 2011).CAMP list of Uttarakhand lists 60 conservation priority plant speciesin the state.Plants as A. Page 4 heterophyllum, Allium stracheyi, Angelica glauca, D. hatagirea, Emblica officinalis, Picrorhiza kurrooa, P. hexandrum, Rheum emodi, Swertia chirayita, Terminalia chebula and Valeriana jatamansi are among Globally Significant Medicinal Plants(Negi et al., 2018).A. heterophyllum (Atis), has annual trade of about 100-200 metric tons in India. It is used in many ayurvedic formulations like Bala chaturbhadrika churna, Chandraprabha vati, Khadiradi taila, etc. (Kumar et al, 2019).According to National Medicinal Plants Board,Bauhinia. variegata has current market demand of about 100–200metric tons annually. Talispatra (Taxus baccata) and Devadaru(Cedrus deodara) are also important ayurvedic medicinal plantsand their annual market demand is 100–200 and 1000–2000metric tons, respectively.Due to growing competition among collectors, it is common practice to conduct early in-situ harvesting often when the plants are at an immature reproductive stage. This results in not only the insufficient collection of raw material but also in larger habitat area destruction and a situation where the natural regeneration of the plants is adversely affected(Badola et al, 2003). Hence, inappropriate harvest practices are major concern which need to be tackled using proper continual training.The total number of plant species with medicinal usage are observed more at the higher altitudes than the lower altitude (Malik et al.,2015) from the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, West Himalaya and Kunwar and Bussmann (2008) from Nepal Himalaya.In India, most of the traded medicinal plants are collected from the wild, and most often in a destructive and unsustainable manner (Dhar et al. 2000).Uttarakhand government is making continuous effort to promote conservation and cultivation of MAPs. These measures include herbal gardens, nurseries for supply of quality material, cultivation of threatened species, conservation and development of areasnaturally rich in MAPs. Even though the state forest department has