Sustainable Rural Landscape Development for Livelihood of Pastoral Community: a case of Bhitara Village, Western Banni, Kutch

Abstract

Banni grassland, an arid grassland system, is located in the district of Kutch, Gujarat, India, which was one of Asia’s largest grassland, spread over an area of 2500 km2. Consisting of two ecosystems in juxtaposition, viz., wetlands and grasslands, Banni’s fall under the Dichahnthium-Cenchrus-Lasiurus type of grass cover. It has a rich history, geography, biodiversity, and culture. Maldharis are the silvipastoralists who reside in Banni and are guarding, nurturing and protecting the grassland for over 450 years. Banni grassland saw various changes and imbalances in the ecosystem after the natural tragedy of the 1819 earthquake, damming of rivers, the invasion of Prosopis Juliflora, and scanty rainfall. The area under grassland has reduced from 142,000 hectares in 1989 to 63,000 hectares in 2009 while the area invaded by Prosopis juliflora has increased to 82,000 hectares (Koladiya et al., 2016). Several authors have raised concern over habitat degradation, desertification, and increased salinity in and around Banni grasslands, (Parikh and Reddy-1997). Among the three primary regions of Banni, the Western region, which depends on livestock for 96% of its income and practices traditional pastoralism (Guide, 2004), suffers the additional challenge of seasonal flooding, forcing them to shift among the Banni. Their reliance on grassland, seasonal migration, and local ways of utilizing scarce resources during droughts or summers all contribute to a dynamic culture of livelihood that is connected with land, water, grass, and pastoralism systems. With livestock rearing being the primary activity of the people of Banni, grassland degradation poses a major threat to their pastoral economy. Different methods like stakeholder interviews, group discussions, household surveys, field visits, and mapping of layers will be carried out to identify the issues of the Bhitara village in Western Banni and will examine their traditional knowledge of resource management, and there a dependency on landscapes. This research is an attempt to understand a landscape through the lens of the local pastoral community. By addressing these issues in depth effective grassland management strategies and sustainable interventions can be made by integrating the community with its landscape.