By: DD Sharma
Rekong Peo: A little known village in Kinnaur is leading the state in cultivation of medicinal plants. At least seventeen species of medicinal plants are being cultivated successfully in a forest nursery at Nichar here, which has now also raised expectations among local people and has heralded a new chapter of enhanced [...]

HimVani
Hamirpur: The Himachal Pradesh government has roped in few industrial units in the state to help control forest fires. Under the project, the industries will be buying pine leaves collected by villagers from forests. The farmers would be paid on the spot for whatever they bring to the factories. Ambuja Cement has been roped in [...]

द्वाराः डी डी शर्मा
हिमाचल प्रदेश में लघु वन उत्पाद के रूप में औषधीय तथा सुगन्धित पौधों का एक बड़ा हिस्सा है । ये प्रदेश के उंचाई वाले क्षेत्रों में गरीब ग्रामीण लोगों की आजीविका और स्वास्थय सुरक्षा में अहम भूमिका निभातें हैं । उन्नीसवी शताब्दी और इससे पहले तो इन क्षेत्रों में यातायात की [...]

Photos and write-up: D D Sharma

A view of the Dodra village (Photo copyright: D D Sharma)
The social and cultural aspects of Himachal Pradesh - known as Dev Bhoomi (Land of Gods) - clearly demonstrate the reverence that people of the state have for the local deities. If we try to draw the historical relation of [...]

By: D D Sharma

The beauty reflects (Photo and copyright: D D Sharma) .
Chandertal is one of the natural high altitude lakes situated in the cold desert of Himachal Pradesh - at an height of 4,300 metres above the mean sea level. This wetland had been identified as a wetland of national importance due to presence [...]

द्वाराः कुलभूषण उपमन्यु
धरती पर जीवन का आरम्भ और जीवन को चलाए रखने का काम प्रकृति की बड़ी पेचीदा प्रक्रिया है। इसे पूरी तरह समझ पाना अति कठिन है। फिर भी हजारों सालों में मनुष्य ने अनुभव और विज्ञान की मदद से इस गुत्थी को सुलझाने की कोशिश की है। जिसके महत्वपूर्ण निष्कर्ष ये हैं [...]

By: DD Sharma

Seabuckthorn in Tino Village of Tod Valley
KYELANG: Ladhak region of Jammu and Kashmir, Lahaul Spiti, parts of Kinnaur and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh are together known as the cold deserts of India. Due to extreme temperatures and sparse forest cover, life in these areas is too harsh beyond imagination. Cut off from [...]

By: DD Sharma

A view of the Ponda village
PONDA (KINNAUR): While Himachal as a whole has been cluelessly wondering how to protect its fast-dwindling forest cover, a small village in the far-off Kinnaur region has silently been practicing forests conservation successfully over the years. The success of the effort lies in the fact that the village [...]

By: Rajeev Sapahiya
PALAMPUR: Among the galaxy of film festivals organised all over the world every year, this one, held in a nondescript village on the footsteps of the Himalayas, was a special one. The Nai–Taleem Film Festival held at a small Tibetan village, Tashi Jong, in the Palampur tehsil of Himachal Pradesh, on December 8 [...]

By: D D Sharma

The self-help-group of Pilhori panchayat alongside heaps of Bhabher grass (Pic: D D Sharma)
Need based micro-planning and people’s participation has brought a new ray of hope to the natives of Pilhori and Bharog-Baneri panchyats, one of the remotest area of Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh. While the former is making good use [...]