Grasslands of North Western Kashmir Himalaya: An Ecological Appraisal. With Foreword by Prof. J. J. Singh. 2019. illus. (col.). XVIII, 192 p. Hardcover.

Grasslands are the largest biome on Earth. They are the distinctive ecosystems that not only act as a storehouse of biodiversity but also support huge human population by providing important goods and services. In Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), the grasslands form significant proportion of land cover and rank high because they matter for biodiversity including medicinal plants, tourism, food and indigenous people. Particularly in North-western (Kashmir) Himalaya, grasslands are a common feature and contribute to livelihood security of livestock farmers and pastoralists. Serving as summer pastures, these grasslands are also representative of an intimate and intricate relationship of human and ecological systems and thus beyond an academic interest evoke emotion.

The grasslands of the Kashmir Himalaya are little known and lack ecological description, although the productive grasslands in the region occupy about 13.22% of the area, yet there is no available book which deals exclusively with Grasslands of Kashmir Himalaya, On a conservation and management hierarchy, the Kashmir Himalayan Grasslands have always been on the bottom and most often degradation of grassland has been linked to pastorals and nomads. However digging deep, it is not always so. This myopic standpoint is severely impeding our conservation and management goal.

The book is a first of its kind book and several subjects have been dealt with, which perhaps has never before been presented in such simple and concise manner so as to be readable by non-ecologists and remain useful for even the experienced workers.Grasslands are the largest biome on Earth. They are the distinctive ecosystems that not only act as a storehouse of biodiversity but also support huge human population by providing important goods and services. In Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), the grasslands form significant proportion of land cover and rank high because they matter for biodiversity including medicinal plants, tourism, food and indigenous people. Particularly in North-western (Kashmir) Himalaya, grasslands are a common feature and contribute to livelihood security of livestock farmers and pastoralists. Serving as summer pastures, these grasslands are also representative of an intimate and intricate relationship of human and ecological systems and thus beyond an academic interest evoke emotion.