Banni Grassland

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About Banni Grasslands

It is located along the northern border of Kachchh district in the state of Gujarat.
The Banni is also home to 22 ethnic groups, the majority of whom are pastoralists.
It is home to great biological diversity, having 37 grass species, 275 bird species, and domesticated animals like Buffalo, Sheep, Goat, Horses and Camel, as well as wildlife.
The Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary and Chhari Dhand Conservation Reserve are part of the Banni Grasslands.
Flora: The vegetation here mainly comprises Prosopis Juliflora, Cressa critica, Cyperus spp, Sporobolus, Dichanthium, and Aristida.
Fauna:It is home to mammals such as the Nilgai, Chinkara, Blackbuck, Wild boar, Golden Jackal, Indian Hare, Indian Wolf, Caracal, Asiatic Wildcat and Desert Fox etc.

Key facts about Grasslands

These are one of the largest ecosystems in the world.
They are distributed mainly in semiarid and arid areas, and include savannahs, grassy shrublands, and open grasslands.
Ecological benefits: They harbour a large number of unique and iconic species and offer a variety of material and intangible advantages to people, including several ecosystem services such as carbon storage, climate mitigation, and pollination.
Threats: They face the problem of degradation due to deforestation, overgrazing, agriculture, urbanisation, and other natural and human-made reasons. As much as 49% of grassland areas worldwide are estimated to be experiencing degradation.
In India, grasslands account for approximately eight lakh sq. km, or about 24% of the country’s total land area (32.8 lakh sq. km).

Q1: What is Savanna grassland?

It is a vegetation type that grows under hot, seasonally dry climatic conditions and is characterized by an open tree canopy above a continuous tall grass understory (the vegetation layer between the forest canopy and the ground).

Source: How the Banni grasslands of Kachchh, Gujarat can be restored