29 Dec 2012

Request


I am Forwarding Kunzang Dolma's request. If anybody could provide her with more information on Leh Palace...Sonam

"Dear Sir, I am working on a feature about Leh Palace, and as such I hope that your organisation have got many facts about it, which were published also. 

I have been trying to fetch as many information as I can. 

But the books which I have read till date doesn't satisfy my contents, as I want to deliver more. 

I shall be obliged, if you could provide me with some resources?".

With regards

Ms Kunzang Dolma
+91-9622135983
( Reach Ladakh)

28 Dec 2012

Sustainability Perspectives of Development in Leh District (Ladakh, Indian Trans-Himalaya): an Assessment. PhD thesis - Vladimiro Pelliciardi

Sustainability Perspectives of Development in Leh District (Ladakh, Indian Trans-Himalaya): an Assessment.

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy on Sustainable Development and International Cooperation at the CIRPS (Interuniversity Research Centre for Sustainable Development) University of Rome “Sapienza”, November 2012.
(Download at La Sapienza University web site: http://hdl.handle.net/10805/1738)


Vladimiro Pelliciardi PhD, Partner Researcher, Ecodynamics Group - University of Siena

Abstract

            This thesis deals with a human inhabited territory in the Indian Trans-Himalaya: the Leh District, in Ladakh, at a “crossroad of high Asia”, geographically classified “cold desert”. For many centuries the local population has led a self-reliant existence mainly based upon subsistence agriculture, pastoralism and caravan trade. Modernization, due to governmental programs, and the progressive opening to external influence and resources – i.e. globalization – characterize the current development paths. In this study, eMergy evaluation, an environmental accounting system, is utilized to assess the sustainability of the multiple interactions between human activities and the environment.
            Agricultural practices at small farm level (< 1 hectare) are investigated in detail. Site specific unit emergy values (UEV, eMergy per unit product, a measure of the environmental contribution) of five staple crops (barley, wheat, pea, mustard and alfalfa) are calculated. Barley and wheat values (using manure) were 5.27E+05 and 6.64E+05 semj/J, respectively, comparable to those found in the literature for intensive modern agriculture (using chemicals), for which the order of magnitude is 10E+05 to 10E+07 semj/J. As a proxy for “man-made” agricultural soil function, a particular UEV is defined and calculated.
            The anthropic dynamics of the Leh District are investigated – e.g. government development programs, land-based economy, food security (calculating import dependency ratio), off-farm economy, tourism (estimating tourist receipts), imports of goods and commodities (estimating quantities) along with physical features and other relevant aspects. Data is collected to evaluate  the sustainability of development from the eMergy point of view. A set of synthetic indices is calculated in time series (1999-2007) i.e. eMergy per capita (EC), renewability percentage (R%), eMergy investment ratio (EIR) and environmental loading ratio (ELR).
            The results indicate that: the traditional farming system is efficient (UEV) in the use of environmental resources compared to those of modern farming systems (it is therefore argued that the traditional system should be preserved and conserved); the anthropic dynamics in the District have a low impact (ELR) on the environment (ecosphere); although the use of renewable resources (R%) remains high, the sustainability of development (the degree to which the District depends on renewable resources to achieve a certain level of internal organization (EIR) and standard of living (EC)) is decreasing.

Keywords: Ladakh, Development, Agro-productions, Sustainability, eMergy evaluation.

20 Dec 2012

Ladakh Studies Assoc now on facebook!

Dear all, I forgot to mention in the membership email (copied below), but the association now has a page on facebook and we have almost 200 'likes' If you use this social networking platforma nd have not yet visted our page, please do... www.facebook.com/ladakhstudies

Ladakh Studies - December 2012 newsletter to members


Dear Ladakh Studies Association member, 

Julley, Losar Tashi Delek and seasonal greetings from wintery UK, 

Please see below a short message on behalf of the IALS 
to give you a short update on a handful of association activities inc: 

1) the Ladakh Studies conference at Heidelberg, Germany 17.-20. April 2013
http://www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/geo/conferences/ladakhstudies/ladakhstudies.html
3) Call for volunteer assistance with the Ladakh studies journal: email journal@ladakhstudies.org

4) Call for paper for the next edition of Ladakh Studies Journal: deadline 31st January 2013

5) Did you receive your copy of LS28? If not, please email journal@ladakhstudies.org

6)  Ladakh Stuides Journal no 27 and 28 are now available in PDF format in members’ area of website

7) News from the Ladakh Studies Blog http://ladakhstudies.blogspot.co.uk/


Warm greetings to one and all,
and looking forward to see you in 2013,

Gareth 

Gareth Wall, Membership Secretary and Treasurer, 
International Association for Ladakh Studies

1) The 2013 LADAKH STUDIES CONFERENCE at Heidelberg, Germany is now just six months away, and we are very pleased with the response to the call for papers with over 90 abstracts submitted. Juliane Dame, the conference convener, and her team has done a fantastic job at going through all the submissions and will be getting back to participant applications very soon. For further details, see the conference website: http://www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/geo/conferences/ladakhstudies/ladakhstudies.html


2) The ELECTION OF IALS OFFICER will also be taking place during the general meeting at the conference, and there is a call for nominations for three officer rolls and four advisory committee rolls. Please send nominations to me in my capacity as Secretary before 18 March 2013. Each nomination should include the assent of the proposed candidate. My e-mail address is secretaryials@gmail.com Further details can be foundhttp://ladakhstudies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/election-of-ials-officers.html 


3) In addition to these rolls, we are keen to expand our volunteer base, and are looking at appointing a news editor and book review editor, as well as possibly an editorial board to assist the incoming editor of the Ladkah Studies journal: if you would be interested, please email the editorial team on journal@ladakhstudies.org


4) Call for paper for the next edition of Ladakh Studies Journal deadline 31st January 2013, whilst we are working on the next edition of LS (no 29), we'd like to get one more together for around the conference time. So if you have any fieldnotes, articles, discussion papers or the like that you would like to put forward from your research this last summer, or previously, please email the editorial team on journal@ladakhstudies.org


5) Did you receive your copy of LS28? We are aware that there were problems for a number of members in receiving the last edition of the Ladakh Studies Journal, sent out this summer. We hope all those who contacted us have now received a copy. If anyone else did not receive their hard copy, please email us your current address to journal@ladakhstudies.org Alternatively ...


6) The last two copies of the Ladakh Studies journal (no 27 and 28) are now available in PDF format in the members’ area on the website http://ladakhstudies.org/membersarea. The log in details were emailed to all members. If you are a member and have not received this, please contact our membership secretary, Gareth Wall on wallgareth@gmail.com  
All previous edition of the journal are available without logging in in the downloads section of the website http://www.ladakhstudies.org/resources/downloads.html


7) News from the IALS blog : http://ladakhstudies.blogspot.co.uk/

a) 18 NOV 2012 Ladakh’s rich Cultural Heritage speaks of our identity: Spalbar Tsewang Rigzin
http://ladakhstudies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/ladakhs-rich-cultural-heritage-speaks.html

b) 15 NOV 2012 TWO PHOTOGRAPHS OF PHYANG MONASTERY: JOHN BRAY