Pastoralism is a way of life for a very large section of society in India. But is pastoralism receding? We look at an example of the Changpa pastoral herders of eastern Ladakh, famous for producing pashmina, and see if their practice is economically viable.
This exploration is based on a study led by Chamba Tsetan from the Centre for Pastoralism and was carried out with the support of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), India as part of a project funded by the Darwin Initiative.
The study makes an interesting distinction to show how pastoralism as a social activity may be undergoing a transformation, even while pastoralism as an economic activity remains lucrative. So, while the nature of pastoralism is changing, this practice is likely to remain active.
Acknowledgement:
We thank Chamba Tsetan for giving us time to explain this work.
Photo credits:
Pashmina: Aaditya Kitroo via. Wikimedia Commons
Bakarwal: Muzamil Bhat for PARI: https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/artic…
Changpa: Prasenjeet Yadav for Nature Conservation Foundation.
Gaddi: Ajay Bijoor for Nature Conservation Foundation.
Van Gujjar: Traditional Cultures Project, https://www.himalayanmigration.com/start
Map of eastern Ladakh is used for representational purposes only and is credited to UNDP Secure Himalaya (https://securehimalaya.org/ladakh/).
Map of pastoralists in Himalaya is credited to Singh, Bhati and Kerven (2023), https://pastres.org/2023/08/25/pastor…
News articles:
BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-i…
Frontline: https://frontline.thehindu.com/enviro…
Mint: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/c…
The Asian Age: https://www.asianage.com/india/all-in…
The Economist: https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/1…
Cover image: Nawang Tankhe
Additional footage via. Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/) and Open Planet (https://openplanet.org/)
Music: Nomads by Edward Earl Hanson from Epidemic Sound via. Canva.
Location: Greenland Guest House, Leh
PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 2026