Forest degradation in the Indian Himalayas leads to spectacular soil erosion and threatens the equilibrium of the major rivers of the region. Different kinds of public interventions to reduce human pressure on forests will be examined here, based on a number of detailed field studies. This pressure will most likely be increasing in the coming years due to demographic growth and weak elasticity of households' wood consumption to wood collection costs. Next, we evaluate the impact of two public policies, to reduce wood-heating, namely subsidization of alternative energies such as natural gas, and modernization of property rights.