Pastoral Politics: Gaddi Grazing, Degradation, and Biodiversity Conservation in Himachal Pradesh, India VASANT K. SABERWAL Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 205 Prospect Street, New Haven CT 06511, U.S.A., email vasant@minerva.cis.yale.edu Abstra~ Two assumptions underlie the current conservation focus worldwide. The first is that democratic governments can restrict human resource use within protected areas, and the second is that human land use for subsistence leads to degradation and is incompatible with the maintenance of high levels of biological di- versity. An examination of offictal poltcy documents over the past century indicates that Gaddi herders of Ht- machal Pradesh, northwestern Indian Himalaya, have used political influence to circumvent bureaucratic policies of exclusion and that there is an absence of scientific evidence to support the notion that Gaddt graz- ing leads to land degradation. Although grazing intensity has profoundly shaped the structure and composi- tion of the Siwaltk forests (the Gaddi winter grazing grounds), as demonstrated by transect-based data pre- sented here, deviations from a supposed "climax" community need not constitute degradation. A growing rather than declining cattle population attests to the regenerative capacities of these forests. Within the alpine meadows grazed by the Gaddt in summer, mean plant species richness increased along transects originating at herder camps and extending 250 m north of herder camp sites. Intense grazing pressure or heavy manur- ing by livestock bedded at night are likely to be responsible for the observed low species diversity adjacent to the campsite, but the effect is insignificant at the level of the overall landscape. Interviews with herders also suggest the presence of a sizable, though hunted, mammalian fauna in these high altitude meadows. Recogni- tion of the difficulties associated with implementing restrictive policies, and the fact that human land-use practices need not lead to degradation or to a decline in biological diversity, should lead to more inclusive conservation policies within protected areas as well as an expansion of the conservation focus beyond pro- tected-area boundaries. Politicas Agrarias: Pastoreo de las comunidades de Gaddi, Degradaci6n y Conservaci6n de la Biodiversidad en Himachal Pradesh, India. Resumen: Existen dos premisas en las que se basa la conservaci6n a nivel mundiaL La primera considera que los gobiernos democr~ticos pueden restrtngtr el uso de los recursos dentro de ~reas protegldas, la seg- unda se reflere a que el uso de la tierra para subslstencla de grupos humanos conduce hacia la degradaci6n yes incompatible con el mantentmtento de ntveles altos de diversldad biol6gica. Urn andltsis de la documen- taci6n referente a polfttcas oficlales durante el stglo pasado indtca que pastores de Gaddt en Htmachael Pradesh, ubtcado en la regi6n noroeste del Himalaya htndti, han usado influencias poltticas para eludtr poltttcas burocr~ticas de exclust6n y que existe una ausencla de evidencta clentffica que soporte la noci6n de que el pastoreo de Gaddi conduce a la degradaci6n de la tierra. A pesar de que la intensidad del pastoreo ha moldeado profundamente la estructura y compostct6n del bosque Siwaltk (tierras de pastoreo de Gaddt du- rante el invierno) tal y como se demuestra por los datos basados en transectos presentados aqui, las desvia- ciones de una supuesta comunidad "climax" no necesariamente tmplican su degradaci6n. La crectente po- blact6n de ganado confirma la capactdad regenerattva de ~stos bosques. Dentro de los pasttzales alpinos pastoreados por las comunldades de Gaddi durante el verano, la riqueza media de plantas tncrementa a lo largo de los transectos que tnician en los campamentos de los pastores y que se extienden 250 m al notre de Paper submitted February 21, 1995; revised manuscript accepted November 28, 1995. 741 Conservation Biology,Pages 741-749 Volume 10, No. 3, June 1996