Mountain commons: Changing space and status at community levels in the Himalayas

Abstract

This paper deals with the imperatives of nature society interaction in Himalayas seen through CPR lens. It specifically looks at the process and factors that characterize the dynamics of the above interactions, with particular reference to the changing status and governance of CPRs at community levels. The paper puts together the synthesis of observations and inferences of different studies by ICIMOD and others in mountain regions, particularly in different parts of Nepal,

Chapter 5: Cryospheric change, adaptation, and sustainable development in the mountain societies of the Hindu Kush Himalaya

“…Poverty is also linked with age, gender, caste, ethnicity, education, and access to services and accessibility. Thus, understanding multidimensional poverty 4 is vital because it remains high in the mountainous areas of the HKH countries (Gerlitz et al, 2015;Hunzai et al, 2011;Mohanty et al, 2018) due to mountain specificities (Jodha, 2007). Multidimensional poverty constitutes a major bottleneck to sustainable mountain development, and adaptation to climate and cryospheric change in the mountains.…”

In the Shadows of the Himalayan Mountains: Persistent Gender and Social Exclusion in Development

“…These trends have also meant opening up mountain communities to a wider world of institutional arrangements, relationships, and opportunities, and the emergence of a consumer class that is shaping new aspirations and desires, sculpted by a culture of money (GoN 2014). In tandem, these trends alter land-human relationships, affecting how people use, access, control, and manage natural resources (Jodha 2007). In this process, local knowledge systems are rendered obsolete while giving rise to new bodies of information, creating new livelihood systems, and setting in motion new patterns of consumption and acquisition, as well as "reconfiguring people's relationships to one another, within and across households and communities … within and among state institutions and other macro agencies" (Gurung and Bisht 2014, p. 5).…”

Rural commons and livelihood strategies in dry regions of India

“…The decline in the area, productivity and upkeep of CPRs has been a part of the common scenario in most of the developing countries, where despite the depletion, these resources continue to be important for livelihoods. The literature on the subject attributes these changes to population growth, market forces, public interventions, technological changes and environmental stress (e.g., drought) (Jodha 1992(Jodha , 2007Bromley and Cernea 1989;Boyce, Narayan, and Stanton 2007;Ghate, Jodha, and Mukhopadjyay 2007). The studies have identified the processes and factors that individually or jointly contributed to the decline and depletion of CPRs.…”

“…This is complemented by a quick assessment of the changing situation in 36 villages in the same districts, out of which 24 villages were part of an earlier intensive study (Jodha 2007).…”