Garhwal, also known as Uttarkahand, is a hilly and mountaneous region with steep valleys that encompasses subtropical and temperate habitats, alpine meadows, and snow capped mountains.  The highest peak is the Mt. Nanda Devi at 7817 m.  Garhwal is bordered by the Indian plains in the south, Tibet in the north, the Kumaon hills of Uttar Pradesh in the east and Himachal Pradesh in the west.  It is in Garhwal that the rivers Yamuna and Ganges forms.  The land has many shrines and is holy for both Hindus and Sikhs.

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The research area is located in the district of Pauri in the central part of Garhwal, bewteen 29^o20'N - 30^o15'N latitude and 78^o10'E - 79^o20'E longitude.  The town of Pauri stands on a steep northern slope between 1700 and 1900 m. and hosts "Campus Pauri", a satellite of the University of Garhwal at Srinagar.  The region is densely populated, with scattered villages and hamlets.  The landscape is dominated by cultivated, hand-made terraces; wheat is the main crop in the area, follows with barley, millet and maize, while rice is also grown at lower elevation.  The area also has significant populations of cattles, sheeps and goats.  Wood is used for fuel and construction,  and timber is now being exported from the mountains to even more densely populated areas in the plains.  The overall pressure on the environment is high. 

Starting from Pauri, several patches of mostly secondary-growth forests are present at higher elevation.  These include several sites selected in this study:

Nagdev

Close to Campus Pauri at elevations of 1800 - 1900 m., this area has several diverse habitats.  The "Shiva Mandir site" is a forest of Cedrus deodarawith abundant mosses, selaginelles and ferns in the underfloor, and also climbing on trees.  Different and more disturbed forest habitats exist in the Hanuman Mandir area of Nagdev, including: a mixed forest of Quercus leucotricophora, Rhododendron arboreumand Pinus roxburghii, with numerous bushes of Berberis chitria;a large, young patch of Q. leucotrichophoragrowing from abandoned crop terraces; and a recently burned mixed forest. 
 

Kandolia

At an elevation of 1900-2000 m., the research site chosen in Kandolia forest is dominated with Cupressus torulosa,intermixed in places with Cedrus deodaraand scattered oaks.  The underground is frequently grazed by cattles, and dominated with Eupatoriumsp.  The upper part of the site is steeper and dominated with Q. leucotricophora, Myrica esculenta,and R. arboreum.
 

Adhwani

The site in Adhwani is a beautiful Q. leucotricophora - R. arboreum forest along a small stream, at an elevation of 2900 - 3000 m.  Numerous mosses and ferns grow as epiphytes on older trees.  The soil is a thick litter scattered with grasses and ferns, with ferns forming denser cover in some places.  Zingiberaceae are also present in the underfloor, showing natural introduction of tropical elements in a temperate zone. 
 

Khirsu

Hills in Khirsu are densely covered with Q. leucotricophoraand also mixed patches of primary forest.  The site is impractical for regular visits from Pauri, and is expected to be included in further development of the project. 

The principal investigator of the project in Pauri-Garhwal is Dr. Rajendra P. Bhatt, seen with his working group in the picture on the rigth (from left to right: Jai Prakash, Sushil Sharma, Purnima Sharma, Archana Joshi, Kamal Semsal, Kranti Ballabh, Rajendra Bhatt, and Neeraj Kumar).