Abstract
Local knowledge systems provide a solid foundation for rural water conservation and management. Based on data acquired through a questionnaire survey, this research examines traditional soil and water conservation methods in the villages of Sikkim Himalaya. During the years 2018–20, information was gathered through a questionnaire survey of 305 households in five villages of Sikkim Himalaya, group discussions, and field observation. The respondents were composed of all ethnic groups of people such as Nepalis, Bhutias, and Lepchas. The result shows that the villagers are well aware of climate change and have adopted several traditional practices for soil and water conservation. However, remote/lack of access to the information acts as a hurdle to planning for potential changes. Intercropping, rainwater harvesting, mulching, traditional seed bank, agroforestry, and crop rotation practices were found significantly useful. This suggests that the farmers have a strong belief in local conservation approaches. The field survey suggests that these traditional methods are very useful for soil and water conservation and are improving the current water systems. However, with modern scientific advancement, indigenous knowledge becomes devolved. These findings have substantial policy implications for raising environmental awareness among rural people in the Indian Himalayan region and implementing more effective environmental management methods.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Director of G.B. Pant “National Institute of Himalayan Environment” (NIHE) for providing the facilities and encouragement. This study is partially funded by Phase- 1 of NMSHE-TF 3 (Climate change part) and In-House Project-1 of the Institute. MJ acknowledges Prof. S. C. Rai (Delhi University) and Dr. Prabuddh Kumar Mishra, Editors of the book, for their suggestions and inputs for the improvement of the manuscript.
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Joshi, M., Luitel, K., Barfal, S.S., Kuniyal, J.C., Pande, K. (2022). Significance of Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Water Conservation, Management: A Study from Sikkim Himalaya. In: Rai, S.C., Mishra, P.K. (eds) Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Resource Management in Asia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16840-6_10
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