Livelihood Dependence on Common Property Land Resources – A Field Study in Himachal Pradesh

The grazing of animals on CPR lands was maximum during winter followed by rainy season. The dependence on CPR products was noticed higher on marginal farms than small farms indicating that dependence on CPR lands decreased with increase in landholding size. The quantity of stones and sand collected from common lands (nallah and small river) was higher than the quantity collected from own lands. On all farms, the different CPR products contributed Rs 17,425 per farm per year to the total income. The maximum contribution (30.76 per cent) was made by grazing followed by material extracted from mining (29.33 per cent) and fodder (19.80 per cent). Fuelwood, timber, farm implements, stacking sticks, fencing, NTFP, leaves for compost contributed from 0.02 to 7.17 per cent to the total income generated from the CPRs by the households. Keeping in view the importance of CPRs, there is an urgent need to increase productivity of CPR lands and to ensure the involvement of local people in the management of these resources.