Indigenous knowledge and sustainable development in the Tones Valley of Garhwal Himalaya

Abstract

The inhabitants of the Tones Valley have survived on their traditional management practices for their needs. The paper has looked at traditional systems of forestry and agricultural system management in the west-central Himalayan region. Based on a detailed analysis of traditional knowledge that is linked with biodiversity, natural and human-managed, various possibilities for sustainable management of natural resources, with concerns for sustainable livelihood of local communities have been explored for the tribal region in Tons Valley. It is concluded that, if the development interests of local people are marginalized for a long period of time, they might adopt actions detrimental to the goal of conservation. Capitalization of the positive dimensions of traditional knowledge and overcoming its negative dimensions through conventional science-based inputs could ease the difficult process of securing people's participation in environmental conservation and management together with the socioeconomic development of local communities. © 2010 Academic Journals.