In Indian context.

The highest mountain range on Earth, the Himalayas from the northern border of the Indian subcontinent in Asia. The mountains extend in a massive arc for about 1,550 miles from west to east with more than 30 peaks rising to heights greater than 24,000 feet above sea level. Together the Himalayan mountain system is the planet's highest and home to all fourteen of the word's highest peaks. One of the high biodiversity regions of the world, it provides shelter to a large variety of flora and fauna. The Himalayan region has a rich and unique cultural heritage, and has managed to preserve its established traditions throughout history whilst absorbing customs, traditions and ideas from both invaders and immgirants. Many cultural practices, languages, customs and monuments are examples of this co-mingling over centuries.

The greater Himalayan region, stretching from Afghanistan in the west to Myanmar in the east, is home to about a quarter of a billion people who greatly depend on available natural resources for their survival and livelihoods. The ever-increasing population pressure and changing climate have grave implications for the sustenance of human health and habitation in the foreseeable future. The region is confronted with numerous challenges related to forest degradation, land productivity, disaster risk, water management, biodiversity loss, erratic climatic patterns, as well as socio-political capacity. The limits of arable land have essentially been reached, while the need for enhancing production to sustain human nutritive requirements and livelihoods continues to increase. Hence, the intensification of agriculture has become a necessity rather than a choice. Yet, producing greater numbers of crops and quantities of food, fiber and other materials on the same parcel of land runs the risk of degrading the soil fertility, productivity and overall quality. Therefore, means to achieve this without irreversibly damaging the soil and land resource base have become imperative. To this end, agro-forestry, agro-slivi-pastoral systems, and the adoption of a variety of regenerative crops, soil and water management and conservation practices offer the potential to deliver multiple benefits without sacrificing the very resource upon which the human population depends. The need for ecologically sound and sustainable management of natural resources in the Himalayan region, as well as the adaptation of local communities to the impacts of climate change and measures for its mitigation, cannot be over-emphasized. This book presents findings on approaches to sustainable land management and the intensification of agriculture and animal husbandry related to soil organic matter management and carbon sequestration for multiple benefits; and the agroforestry as a crop diversification strategy with livelihood and climate mitigation/adaptation benefits, along with other aspects of forest, biodiversity and water resources management. The book deals with technical, socio-economic, policy and biodiversity issues related to the sustainable use and management of natural resources, namely forests, soil/land, water, crops, animal husbandry and diversity of flora/fauna, as well as disaster risk and vulnerability of communities in the Himalayan region. There is a continuing need to study and research approaches for harmonizing human needs and lifestyles with natural ecosystems and processes so that both may co-exist in a mutually beneficial manner.

Natural resources are very important for the livelihood and sustenance of the people and the economic development of the mountain region of the Garhwal Himalayas. During the past few decades, depletion of natural resources all over the world in general and poor countries including mountain areas in particular, has increased in alarming rate. Natural Resources and their management in Garhwal Himalayas is a comprehensive examination of mountain environment and conservation and management of natural resources. It covers important issues such as forest resource management, water resource management, wildlife resource management, agro resource management and mineral resource management