Place attachment in mountain communities: Examining the dependence of indigenous groups on ecosystem services. Case of Shimla Hills, North-west Himalayas, India

Thus far, the relation of place attachment with ecosystem services has received limited attention in social science research. The indigenous people of the mountains largely rely on ecosystems for a range of services that these ecosystems offer to the community, along with monetary or non-monetary benefits that the communities may derive from the ecosystem services (Sangha et al, 2018).Looking at the heavy dependence on these ecosystems, the study aims to explain the ways ecosystem services and related benefits (monetary and non-monetary) derived by indigenous communities from mountain ecosystems influence their level of place attachment.

The research locale is a peri-urban area comprising of three hamlets of Jarol, Kotgarh and Thanadhar situated 70kms away from Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh. Six ecosystems were pre-identified in the case study area namely; forest with oak and cedar trees, eco-tourism park, Tannijubbar lake, river Satluj, Hatu peak and farmlands. Case study strategy was chosen in combination with survey for collection of primary data. 113 questionnaires along with 5 semi-structured key informant interviews were analysed to identify the important mountain ecosystems to the community, classification of ecosystem services and benefits the indigenous derive from these ecosystems and the level of place attachment they hold for these ecosystems.

The data analysis showed that all sub-indigenous groups have high level of importance for forest followed by farmlands and Hatu peak. Majority of the ecosystem services which were extremely important were derived from forest and farmlands. Lastly, there was more place dependence than place identity under every sub-group, however, forest had the highest level of place attachment followed by farmlands and Hatu peak. Statistically, professionals and the group of others have maximum number of regulating and cultural services which strongly influence the place attachment levels.

The main research findings show that non-economic services, that are, regulating and maintenance and, cultural services influence place attachment more than provisioning services. It was also observed that majority of the respondents from each sub-group do not derive monetary benefits from provisioning services. Hence, it is non-economic services which has a strong influence on place attachment levels amongst all indigenous sub-groups.