ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION We have concluded that our region is characterized by extreme uncertainty and great complexity. We have tried to dissipate some of the uncertainty and this has led us to two postulates. First, the Theory of Himalayan Environmental Degradation is not a valid entity and must be broken down into its component parts and each part must be evaluated on its own merits. Thus the major linkage, population growth and deforestation in the mountains leading to massive damage on the plains, is not accepted. We favour the more cautious approach based upon acknowledgment that the long-term geophysical processes are more than adequate to account for the on-going formation of the plains as the continuously rising mountains are progressively eroded. We would argue, for instance, that appropriate forest establishment in the mountains is vital, but only for the well-being of the mountain environments and the mountain peoples dependent upon those environments. If reforestation in the mountains is conceived as a palliative for the problems of the plains, it is likely that vast resources will be expended to reap only disappointment. Moreover, this conception may divert attention away from the necessity of water resources management and adaptations to the natural environment of the plains.
