JAIPUR: Experts attending a workshop on grassland ecology which opened here on Monday sought a more `coherent policy' on the grasslands in the country so that strategies and action plan for a sustainable management of these repositories of precious gene pools could be preserved. To begin with, the country should have proper data on the existing grasslands to establish the status of these geographic entities that cover 3.9 per cent of its total geographical area, spread over 12.04 million hectares, they noted.

David Ferguson, the chief of International Conservation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for South Asia, South Africa and Near East, in whose honour the three-day workshop is being organised by the Rajasthan Forest Department with support from the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation, on his part called for India evolving a national grazing policy to stall further degeneration of the all important natural grassland habitats. "There is need for action as well as well as intervention. Grasslands are very important to the natural heritage of India," he said.

"Grasslands continue to play a vital role in the economic and social well being of the people. The livelihood security of communities and the bio-diversity in grasslands eco systems are intrinsically linked," J.C. Kala, Director General of Forests, said presiding over the inaugural function. "Grasslands being such a vital ecosystem, there is little robust information available on the biological components of these systems. It is presumed that there still remain several species that have not even been named by science," he noted. "There is a need to strike a balance while devising strategies of conservation. The involvement of people is a vital aspect," Sudarshan Sethi, secretary, Forests, Rajasthan, noted in his address. He expressed concern over the decline in the area under Sewan, a nutritious grass variety once found abundantly in the desert region of Rajasthan.

"Grasslands in Rajasthan are under severe pressure due to open grazing," noted R.P. Kapoor, principal chief conservator, Forests, Rajasthan in his opening remarks. The carrying capacity of the pastureland should be taken into account before deployment of the cattle, he suggested. The workshop was told that at present grasslands, spread all over the country, is classified on the basis of composition of species of grasses. Different regions support different grass species and related fauna across the country. The Central Indian plateau, the Chhota Nagpur plateau and the Aravallis, covering an area of 17.40 lakh sq kms, are reportedly supporting 24 perennial grass and 89 annual grass species. Areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan, South Western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Punjab have 11 perennial grass species and 43 annual grass species.

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