Assessment of Vegetation Changes in Community-Managed Grazing Areas of the Indian Thar Desert and Strategies for Restoring Their Productivity

Abstract

the most populous desert in the world, with its inhabitants historically relying on its resources for sustenance and livelihood (Singh and Singh, 2024a). The region is characterized by extreme temperatures, low and erratic rainfall, high evapotranspiration, intense solar radiation, and strong winds. As a consequence of these harsh conditions, the Thar Desert hosts sparse and scattered vegetation, dominated by thorny trees, shrubs, and grasses, and classified as Tropical Thorn Forest by Champion and Seth (1968). Livestock in this region mainly rely on natural grasslands found in common grazing and water catchment areas. Among these resources, common grazing areas are particularly vital for supporting the livestock population in the region and are conserved by the community. These Community Conserved Silvi-Pastoral Areas (CCSAs), often named in honor of local deities or saints across the Indian Thar Desert, are locally called Orans (Singh, 2016). Livestock farming plays a major role in the livelihoods of local communities and forms a significant component of the regional economy and thus Orans play very important role (Bhati and Joshi, 2007; Yadav et al., 2019; Yadav et al., 2020).