Grasslands are not Wastelands

[Rahul]

Grasslands not only provide vital ecosystem services such as water and climate regulation in support of agriculture, biogeochemical cycling, carbon storage, cultural and recreational services, but also form backbone of livelihoods for all the pastoral communities. Several food grains such as wheat, corn, rice, and millets which are crucial for human survival originated in the grasslands and thus serve as important reservoir of crop gene pool. In addition, they form critical habitat for a variety of wild herbivores and other faunal groups for their breeding, migration and wintering. Owing to steady increase in human and livestock populations during last few decades, abrupt changes in land use practices, and transformation of traditional pastoral practices, most of the grasslands in the Asia-pacific region are degrading rapidly with far reaching consequences such as loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, decline in quality and quantity of forage species, loss of pastoral livelihoods, and desertification. Grasslands of India are home to some of the most endangered species of animals some of which are endemic. The Banni grasslands in Gujarat harbor a rich array of flora and fauna including 192 species of plants, 262 species of birds, several species of mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Grasslands in India are the least understood and the most underestimated natural habitats. Less than 1 per cent of Indian grasslands come under the protected area network, making it one of the most neglected and abused ecosystems in the country. According to a report by the Forestry Commission, nearly 40% of these protected grassland areas suffer from livestock grazing and fodder extraction. In 2006, the task force report on grasslands and deserts submitted to the Planning Commission of India aptly des¬cribed the precarious situation of our grasslands. It stated, “Grasslands are not managed by the forest department whose interest lies mainly in trees; not by the agriculture department who are interested in agriculture crops; nor the veterinary department who are concerned with livestock but not the grass on which the livestock is dependent. The grasslands are the ‘common’ lands of the community and are the responsibility of none. They are the most productive ecosystems in the subcontinent but they belong to all, are controlled by none, and have no godfathers.” A grassland in India—a vital cog in the ecosystem, it’s a travesty that such areas are either used for pasture or considered ‘wasteland’. To counter the ‘wasteland’ narrative and arrest the continuous decline of dry grassland ecosystems researchers in the History and Culture of Science at the Archives, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) joined hands to map the distribution and extent of ‘Open Natural Ecosystems’ (ONE) within India’s semi-arid zones.

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