Homestead tree holdings in the Kashmir Himalaya, India

Abstract

Understanding homestead tree holdings is crucial for designing regional strategies for biodiversity conservation, sustainable livelihoods and socioeconomic development. This study investigated the species composition, growth statistics, resource uses, and socioeconomic determinants of homestead tree holdings in Budgam district of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. Data were collected using structured interviews and homestead inventories from 106 households, selected through multi-stage random sampling. Diversity indices, descriptive statistics and ANCOVA were used to analyze the data. The survey documented 32 tree species belonging to 20 genera and 12 families in the sampled homesteads. The average homestead size was 0.164 ha, with a tree abundance of 135.83, a species richness of 7.82, and a growing stock of 112.44 m³. Homestead tree resources were mainly harvested for 12 distinct use categories. Study indicated that education, social membership, household size, household labour, farm size, livestock ownership, main occupation, wealth status and annual income were significant socioeconomic predictors (F = 2.342-53.750, p <0.05) of homestead tree holdings. The ANCOVA model (R2 = 0.85) demonstrated that household socioeconomic factors accounted for 85.00% of the variation in homestead tree holdings. The findings suggest that homestead tree holdings are a vital intervention for biodiversity conservation, the supply of forest resources, ethno-forestry, socioeconomic well-being and livelihood diversification. Therefore, policies must be implemented to effectively mainstream homestead tree holdings to provide multiple environmental, livelihood and socioeconomic services.