Indicator based integrated vulnerability assessment of community forests in Indian west Himalaya

The Himalaya is often referred to as forested landscape, which provides a range of ecosystem services vital for sustaining life of billions of people. The region is recognized amongst the 35 global biodiversity hotspots for its unique and rich biodiversity. Also, the region is highly vulnerable to perturbations due to anthropogenic disturbances and climate change. Especially the forests in the region are subject to stress from such perturbations. The higher dependency of communities on forests and changing climate has impacts on structure and function of forest ecosystems. This has severe implications for forest dependent communities. Therefore, vulnerability assessment of forests is urgently needed to understand the likely consequences of these changes and responses. Such information would help in developing better management and conservation planning. Earlier studies on vulnerability assessment of forests and forest-dependent people have failed to acknowledge the importance of spatial and temporal aspects of vulnerability investigated through field based observations. Realizing this, present study focuses on forest vulnerability assessment through field based observations along an altitudinal gradient (700–3400 m) in the Indian west Himalaya. This study, for the first time, provides vulnerability assessment of community forests at local scale following integrated approach of multiple indicators across diverse domains. The vulnerability indicators have been identified through a systematic analysis and extensive review of the available literature. A total of 14 indicators in six domains (viz. forest, climate, anthropogenic, topographic, soil and management practices) were identified to assess inherent vulnerability of Community Forests (Van Panchayats) in the target region. Furthermore, Forest Vulnerability Index (FVI) was calculated by integrating the selected indicators across domains. The results revealed high vulnerability at low altitude (