www.forestrynepal.org Published: August 28, 2010 1 Status of rangeland resources and challenges for its improvement in Nepal: A review Rameshwar Singh Pande 1 Chabahil-7, PO Box 10245, Kathmandu, Nepal 1 krishipatrika@gmail.com Abstract- Rangeland comprises about 11.5% of the total land resources of Nepal. The livelihood of the Himalayan people depends on rangeland-based livestock farming in Nepal. Rangelands are extensive in high altitude areas and Over 98% are located in high mountains and Himalayan regions. In above 2500m altitude, the contribution of rangelands to livestock feed supply is more than 65%. Major rangelands vegetations are tropical (such as Phragmites-, Saccharum- and Imperata-type), sub-tropical (Themeda- and Arundinella-type), temperate (Andropogon-type), sub-alpine (Danthonia-type), alpine (Kobresia-type) and steppe. The production and productivity of rangelands are very low, ranging from 0.12 to 3.2 mt dry matter (DM)/ha. Only 64% of the rangelands are accessible. Most of the rangelands are overstocked and severely grazed out. The estimated carrying capacity ranges from 0.06 to 1.4 livestock units (LU)/ha. The stocking rate on rangelands is very high – up to 37 times the carrying capacity. Indigenous techniques for rangeland management are not keeping pace with the increased livestock population. The traditionally practiced transfrontier pasturing between Tibet and Nepal has been stopped by the Tibetan/Chinese Government for Nepalese migratory herds effective from 1990, which compelled the Nepal Government to initiate various rangeland development activities to meet the feed supply for Himalayan herds. Until now, only 0.5% of the total rangelands of the high Himalayan regions have been improved. Major challenges on rangeland development/management are ownership/users’ rights, illegal occupation of community rangelands as a private property, lack of basic information on rangelands, deteriorating conditions of rangelands and associated forests, poor infrastructure facilities, remoteness, ad hoc collection of grazing fees, lack of correlation between stocking rate versus carrying capacity, community awareness, lack of support services, invasion of rangelands, poor stakeholder participation, poor research and extension, high cost of development and poor supply/production of planting materials. The rangeland improvement programmes should be continued to improve the livestock-based livelihoods of the Himalayan community. Recently, Nepal has been transformed from a monarchy to a republic, and the Himalayan community are also aware of the poor situation and are demanding an equal share in developmental activities, and action should be taken to resolve the Himalayan problems through establishing a Himalayan Rangeland Board immediately. I. IMPORTANCE OF RANGELANDS IN NEPAL Rangelands are important resource for feed for domestic as well as wild animals, especially in Himalayan regions of Nepal. In high-altitude Himalayan areas (above 2500 m), rangelands are abundant and contribute over 65% of overall feed supply in these regions [4]. Rangelands are rich sources of herbaceous vegetation and many rare medicinal plants including Cordyceps sinensis, Morchella spp., Dactylorhiza hatagirea and others are found in Himalayan rangelands. These rangelands are also a major part of watershed areas and contribute significantly to soil water conservation as well. The physical condition of these rangelands not only contributes to the feed supply for grazing animals but also influences the natural resource management and biodiversity conservation. II. AREAS AND DISTRIBUTION OF RANGELANDS, NEPAL Nepal is an ecologically diversified country, situated on the lap of Himalaya in between two large countries: India and China. The total land area is 14.7 million hectares, with rectangular shape; stretched northwest to southeast between latitude 26°22N and 30°27N and the longitude are between 80°4E and 88°12E. With an extreme range of altitude from 60m in Terai up to 8848m of the height of Mount Everest within a short distance extending about 885 km in east-west and 193 km (130–240 km) wide from north-south; Nepal has a great variation of ecological zones and climatic conditions. Based primarily on altitude, Nepal has been divided into three different ecological zones: Mountains, Hills and Terai. The total area of rangelands is 1.7 million ha, comprising 11.5% of the total land resources on Nepal [4]. The area of the rangelands increases as the elevation increases. Out of total area under rangelands, over 98% is located in Himalayas and Mountains and less than 2% rangelands are found in Terai below 1000m altitude, and are mainly confined inside the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. The percentage of rangelands in different ecological regions is presented in Table 1. III. RANGELANDS VEGETATION Given the extreme geographical variations, different types of rangeland are found in Nepal. Nepal is rich in biodiversity: over 6500 species of flowering plants [5, 6]. The rangelands vegetation comprises over 180 species of grasses and legumes; the legume component is relatively low such as Astragalus spp., Medicago spp., Desmodium spp. and others [1]. On the basis of physiographic and ecological distribution TABLE 1: TYPE OF RANGELANDS ACCORDING TO THE ECOLOGICAL BELT, NEPAL Description Ecological belt Nepal Mountains Terai Hills Total Area Nepal, ha 5186181 3409863 6152460 14748503 Rangeland Area (ha) 1082232 74101 545335 1701671 Climate Temperate Tropical Sub-tropical Source: [1] LRMP, 1986