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Why in the News?
Recently, the Gujarat forest department planned to restore 10,000 hectares of the Banni grasslands in the coming year.
About Banni Grassland
- It is located near the Great Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.
- The grasslands constitute about 4.33 per cent (8,490 sq km) of the total geographical area of Gujarat.
- It is distributed in eight districts and three different climatic regions — Kutch, Saurashtra and central Gujarat.
- It was declared a Protected Forest in 1955, under the Indian Forest Act, 1927.
- Fauna: Indian wolf, jackal, Indian fox, desert fox, desert cat, caracal, hyena, chinkara, Nilgai, wild boar, Indian hare, common monitor lizard
- Flora: It has 40 species of grass and 99 species of flowering plants.
The Reasons for Deterioration of the Banni Grassland
- Heavy uncontrolled grazing
- Widespread ingress of Prosopis Juliflora (a harmful exotic tree species)
- Dams constructed on rivers flowing towards Banni
- Periodic occurrence of droughts and
- Continuous increase in soil salinity.
Restoration Projects
- The mainstay of the restoration project is to remove this alien species.
- It was incidentally introduced in 1960 by the forest department to stop the ingress of the salt flats.
- The initiative envision to produce and store fodder for the nearby pastoral and farming communities.
- 20-lakh livestock population depends on the grassland.
