부산대학교 도서관

This study examines migration patterns of livestock herds in mobile pastoralism of yak/yak-cattle hybrid in two areas in eastern Nepal Himalaya : the Bharku Village, Langtang National Park, and the Ghunsa Valley, Kanchenjunga Conservation Area. The migration patterns were mapped in detail, identifying every household of herders in the research areas (six households in the Bharku, and eleven households in the Ghunsa Valley), and those patterns were analyzed in terms of natural resource use and influence of mountain tourism. Both field observations and interviews with herders revealed that the summer pastures were concentrated at the highest grazing areas, mostly spreading in the alpine belt, regardless of livestock type (yak and yak hybrid), while the winter pastures ranged widely in altitude even among households keeping a same type of livestock (yak). Measuring milk production indicated that the period of stay in the alpine pastures corresponded to that of high milk production. Migration of herds to the alpine pastures occurred simultaneously in herders' groups under the control of their organizations. On the other hand, the diversity of herd migration patterns in winter suggested dependence of those patterns on households' livelihood strategies. Herders of Tibetan refugees showed a migration pattern, which was different from the local one, staying in the alpine area throughout the year. Also, some herders changed their migration patterns and returned to higher pastures in the fall in the Ghunsa Valley to earn some money by providing accommodations to trekkers, who visit the area mostly in that period of the year to avoid the monsoon rain since the recent opening of the Ghunsa Valley to foreigners. On the other hand, herders in the Bharku changed their summer pastures to avoid a mass of pilgrims, a traditional type of mountain tourism in Himalaya, who visit Gosainkunda, a famous sacred place located above the herders' grazing area, on the occasion of a festival called Janai Purnima. These facts suggest the flexibility of migration patterns in mobile pastoralism of yak/yak-hybrids under the influence of newcomers and mountain tourism. Both natural and social influences caused by these recent changes of migration pattern need to be monitored in view of environmental management of higher Himalaya.