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For generations, land without dense vegetation has often been viewed as land without much value. Grasslands, scrublands, deserts and ravines have frequently been grouped under the broad and dismissive label of “wasteland”. But India is now taking steps to change that perception, recognising that landscapes that may appear empty can be ecologically rich, climate-sensitive and deeply connected to rural livelihoods.
At the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, India launched its first national Guide to Grasslands and Other Open Natural Ecosystems of India. The guide seeks to give greater recognition to landscapes that have historically been overlooked in conservation and land-use planning.
The move is significant because open natural ecosystems cover a substantial part of India. They include Himalayan and Terai grasslands, the Thar Desert, Gujarat’s Banni grasslands, Deccan savannas, Aravalli scrublands, the Yamuna-Chambal ravines, rocky landscapes of the Western Ghats and scrub ecosystems such as Tamil Nadu’s Theri Kaadu.
These are not incomplete forests waiting for trees. They are ecosystems that have evolved over centuries in response to rainfall, soil, fire, grazing, and seasonal changes.
Moving beyond the “plant more trees” approach
India’s climate and environmental policies have increasingly focused on increasing forest and tree cover. While trees are crucial for biodiversity and carbon storage, applying the same restoration model everywhere can create unintended ecological consequences.
A grassland, for instance, does not become healthier simply because more trees are planted in it. Several species depend specifically on open habitats. The Great Indian Bustard, Lesser Florican, Bengal Florican, Indian wolf and blackbuck are among the animals whose survival is closely linked to grasslands and other open landscapes. Converting these ecosystems into plantations can therefore damage habitats rather than restore them. The issue is particularly important as India seeks to restore degraded land and expand its green cover. If ecological success is measured primarily by the number of trees planted, naturally open ecosystems could continue to be wrongly classified as degraded.
The new guide attempts to change that thinking by looking at what each ecosystem already does – from supporting biodiversity and storing carbon to regulating water and sustaining pastoral livelihoods. The climate dimension is especially important. Forest carbon is easy to see in trunks and branches, but grasslands store significant amounts of carbon below ground, particularly in their roots and soils. Disturbing these systems can affect soil carbon and other ecological processes.
In other words, an apparently barren patch of land may be doing far more for the climate than its appearance suggests.
From “wasteland” to living landscape
The change in terminology also has a strong human dimension. For pastoral communities, these landscapes are not wastelands at all. They are grazing grounds, sources of livelihood and part of cultural traditions developed over generations. Communities such as Rajasthan’s Raikas, Maharashtra’s Dhangars and Himalayan Gujjars and Bakarwals have long adapted their practices to seasonal availability of grass and water.
Traditional community-managed areas, including orans and gauchars, have also played an important role in conserving common lands and supporting livestock. Yet formal land administration has often failed to recognise these relationships. Lands used collectively by communities may still be classified as degraded or unproductive, leaving them vulnerable to conversion for infrastructure, plantations or other projects.
The new guide could help provide policymakers with a more nuanced understanding of these landscapes. But recognising them on paper is only the first step.
India still lacks a comprehensive legal framework specifically designed to protect grasslands and other open natural ecosystems. Better mapping will therefore need to be accompanied by stronger land-use planning, ecological monitoring and recognition of community rights and traditional management systems. The challenge will become even more pressing as competing demands for land grow. Renewable energy projects, infrastructure, agriculture, plantations and conservation can all seek the same spaces. Without proper ecological assessments, open landscapes could once again be treated as vacant land simply because they do not resemble forests.
India’s new guide offers an opportunity to rethink that approach. Perhaps the most important shift is not about giving these landscapes a new label, but about changing the question we ask of them. Instead of asking why a landscape has no trees, policymakers may need to ask what the grass, soil, scrub, wildlife and people already living there are contributing.
A landscape does not have to be covered in trees to be productive, resilient or valuable. Sometimes, the greenest choice may be to leave the grassland as grassland.
References:
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/climate-change/india-finally-gives-its-wastelands-a-name-and-a-future
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