Perceived effects of the Climatic Change on the Pastoralism of the Gujjar and Bakarwals and related Environmental Conflict in Kashmir Valley, India

Keywords: Keywords: Kashmir, Climate change, Pastures, Water, Conflict, Nomads.

Abstract: Significant discussion has been focused on possibility that climate change will displace large numbers of nomads from their nomadic way of life in the developing world, but few multivariate studies have addressed this issue. High Mountain areas in the arid environment are extremely sensitive indicators of sometimes only slight changes of precipitation and temperatures. This holds true especially for the under-researched mountain regions of Kashmir in the Himalayas. The paper observes that the situation has been exacerbated by phenomenon of climate change, whose dynamics tend to have been aggravating natural resource conflicts across the world. The study examined perceived effects of climate change on grazing land, livestock performance and examined coping strategies of the transhumants to climate change. It is therefore recommended that the pastoralists be trained in forage conservation techniques. They should also be encouraged to pool their resources to enjoy economics of scale by the extension workers.