Natural Resource Management in Eastern Himalaya: A case study of fringe Villages of Shergaon Forest Division, Arunachal Pradesh

Abstract

The natural resource management (NRM) practice has been considered as an important aspect of ethnic communities. The present study emphasized on the documentation of NRM practices of the Sherdukpen tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. The study was done in the three fringe villages Membachur, Mukhuthing and Thongre of Shergaon Forest division, West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. The data was collected from 97 informants through questionnaire. The NRM practices of Sherdukpen tribe consisted of traditional maize cultivation, management of individual forest, community forest, etc. About 90% of the tribe are involved in farming practice. The average agricultural land holding and average individual forest land holding per HH that range from 0.72 ha to 1.2 ha and 0.6 ha to 0.8 ha, respectively.