How these conservationists in Pune are working towards grassland restoration

In 200809 Mihir Godbole had an epiphany He needed to do more than take stunning pictures of the savannah grasslands surrounding Pune to conserve them Considered wastelands these are home to the endangered Indian gray wolf and black buck among other species of wild animals Providing highquality grass for domesticated animals this effort also has the potential to significantly improve the livelihoods of neighbouring villagesIn 2019 Goldbole founded The Grasslands Trust Two years later his trust collaborated with the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment ATREE for a pilot project to recover the grasslands in Kendur village of Shirur taluka in Pune districtFeral dogs in the area have turned into competition for the wolves chasing and hunting chinkaras which will disturb preypredator dynamics Experts say that the lack of specific policies to protect this biome has led to the exclusion of savannah habitats from mainstream conservation Large tracts all over India are under tremendous pressure from anthropogenic developmental activities Overgrazing by domestic cattle and frequent fires have gradually exterminated nutritious grass species Nonnutritious grasses have taken over rendering vast tracts unpalatable to herbivoresmdashdomesticated and wildmdashthreatening the survival of the blackbuck and Indian gazelle This has increased crop raiding and carnivores in the region are depending more on livestock and carcasses due to decrease in natural prey Random and unscientific plantation activity is further escalating habitat modification and degradationConsidering all these factors Godbole founderpresident of The Grassland Trust and a team of likeminded conservationists knew it was critical to generate awareness about the savannah ecosystem and implement scientifically sound restoration measures to revive and conserve themFrom left The Grassland Trust team along with the villagers of Kendur Ganesh Thite Saurabh Thite Shreyas Nakate founderpresident Mihir Godbole Vijayraj Jare Suryakant Thite and Popat Jagtap After baseline studies and surveys The Grasslands Trust got in touch with the villagers of Kendur located about 50 km away from Pune ldquoWe have been assessing the biodiversity of the open natural ecosystems in Pune district since 2012rdquo says Godbole ldquoand discovered that they are the perfect breeding ground for the Indian gray wolf and striped hyena A good population of Indian gazelle or the chinkara can also be found there in addition to other elusive species such Bengal foxes and Indian crested porcupines Most species of birds amphibians and reptiles thrive only in this habitat and many such vital sites come under the Forest departmentrsquos jurisdictionrdquoBefore implementing the pilot project awareness sessions were conducted to increase public understanding of the importance of these ecosystems their biodiversity and the benefits of sustainable land management practices When restoration work began they found no protocol detailing grass species as no one had worked extensively on such an endeavour in the Deccan plateauShreyas Nakate research assistantldquoATREEBengaluru played a very important role as they have been working on restoration and wildlife ecology research for 25 years We got protocols from them and some individual scientistsrdquo says Godbole ldquoBased on these we conducted flora fauna and soil testing and surveys and 10 plots from the landmass at Kendur were selected On the suggestion of retired conservator of Forest Subhash Badave we planted five grass species colloquially called paunya sheda dhaman anjan and dongrirdquo Their Latin names are dicanthium sehima sulcata sehima nervosum apluda mutica themeda aristida cenchrus and chrysopogonRegeneration will be undertaken on minimal land and in minimal density because once the grasses grow their seeds will disperse naturally and spread A 10hectare plot has been demarcated on a 500hectare wide plateau and villagers have agreed to keep it grazingfree for some time and even guard it from fires Eventually this humanwildlife winwin situation will transform the lives of 8000 villagers and 4700 hectares of landThe Dhangars or shepherd community will be one of those to benefit directly from this project They will rely on the cutandcarry method to feed their herds until the grass saplings proliferateJare said 1500020000 grasses were planted in the trenches on the plateau A nursery was nurtured at Fergusson College in Pune to cultivate the diverse native grass species that could be transplanted to the pilot site and provided 70008000 saplings ldquoThe forest nursery from Nashik gave us 10000 saplingsrdquo he continues ldquoand an agricultural college from Ahmednagar donated the remainingrdquo The state Forest department is cognisant of the restoration effort and hopes to implement it in other grassland areas under its jurisdiction in the coming year As we walk through Kendur with Godbole and his team the sarpanch and other villagers join us and are pleased that despite less rainfall many of the saplings have thrivedATREErsquos Dr Abi T Vanak Anuja Malhotra and Iravati Majgaonkar designed the project its training modules and policy brief to make it sustainable for policymakers The onground implementation was led by Grasslands Trustrsquos Makarand Datar Prerana Sethiya Nikita Sabnis Shreyas Nakate and team members Vijaraj Jare facilitated the engagement of villagers in the projectGanesh Rajaram Tithe Kendur villagerDiscussions with the local agrarian community offer us insights into their requirement for fodder for livestock and ideas for innovative restoration interventions As we climb to the restoration site the sarpanch is optimistic this will benefit a majority of villagers who depend on milk production and farming for livelihoodldquoEarlierrdquo says Suryakant Thite ldquowild grass covered the hill Livestock farmers noticed our cows buffaloes and goats were not getting enough grass to eat or avoided eating some varieties We decided to work together as the success of the project would benefit us as wellrdquoThe Dhangars or shepherd community one of those to benefit directly are relying on the cutandcarry method to feed their herds until the grass saplings proliferate Popat Vitthal Jagtap a villager who helps protect the hill says that the project will also generate jobs during plantation months Jare says at least 20 villagers will be employed on a daily basis for three monthsFrom left Grass varieties such as dicanthium dehima sulcata etc Their intricate root structures draw in and store both water and carbon into the oil Despite less rainfall the villagers and project managers are glad that the saplings have thrived The Indian gray wolf is classified under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and is considered an Evolutionary Significant Unit PicsThe grassland trustJagtaprsquos neighbour Ganesh Rajaram Tithe admitted being unconvinced at first but when he understood the longterm gains he became instrumental in getting others on board ldquoLike this plateau we have another huge chunk of land on another plateaurdquo he says ldquoand I want the Trust to replant it too A majority of the people in our village are into smallscale milk production We donrsquot have too many other employment opportunities factories are 15 to 20 km away If the right kind of grass increases milk production we will be able to save the money we use to buy fodder in summerrdquo Saurab Popat is also looking forward to saving the money that goes towards purchasing fodder in the months that grass does not growAnother gain to the farming sector will be the raising of the water table in the region enhancing groundwater recharge ldquoGrasslands are natural sponges absorbing rainfall and reducing runoff which helps prevent soil erosion and allows water to seep into the groundrdquo says Jare ldquoTheir elaborate and widespread root systems improve soil structure and retain water and by covering the soil they reduce water loss through evaporationrdquoPalatable and nutritious species of grass such as paunya sheda and dhaman were transplanted from nurseries around the state to KendurThen therersquos the vital role that grassland restoration can play in carbon sequestration and mitigation of climate change ldquoThey are reliable carbon sinks the deep root systems can store significant amounts of the gas in the soilrdquo says Godbole ldquoThey also improve ecosystem resilience enhancing the ability to adapt to climatechange impactsrdquoThis is also an opportunity to closely study the important indigenous species of the ecosystem most crucially the Indian gray wolf which is considered to be a million years older than any other wolf species in the world It is classified under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and given its unique place in evolutionary history the species is considered Evolutionary Significant Units ESUs An ESU is a population or group of populations that is reproductively isolated from other population units of the species and thus represents an important component in the evolutionary legacy of the species Around 3000 gray wolves remain in the wild the same population as tigers 2967The Trustrsquos team led by wildlife researcher Adwait Deshapande is using drone and AI technology to monitor resident packs Deshpande is specialising in studying animal behaviour at the Max Planck University in Germany Under the project The Collective Behaviour of Indian Wolves undertaken in Pune district they are studying movement patterns of packs communication between members and other species and also assessing whether individual identification of wolves is possibleResearch assistant Shreyas Nakate who holds an MSc degree in biodiversity says ldquoWe tracked a pack of wolves from February till AugustSeptember from a height of 40 metres with thermal drones We observed that the home range of pups increases as they grow The video was taken from a 90degree angle so that we could observe whether the coats of individual wolves differ in pattern and colour gradation and can be used as differentiation markersrdquo What this essentially means is to see if wolves recognise each other based on what they are wearingThis project also endeavours to understand why the wolves are a unique species ldquoGray wolves are an endangered species from a threatened ecosystem so this project is going to be of huge significance to plan better conservation strategies for this charismatic animalrdquo says NakateThe pilot project was undertaken in February at Baramati with two to three packs of wolves One pack with a larger number was tracked for almost two months The research team would rest only between midnight and 530 am and spring back on the field in the inhospitable landscape The team wondered about the night life of the species and found that post sunset they cover a vast territory making it challenging for the team to track them They rest most of the day The pack was recorded hunting down chinkaras civets and an Indian hare also known as the blacknaped hare ldquoThis wolf is an apex predator of the grasslands and a keystone speciesrdquo informs Nakate ldquoWhen we conserve it other species of the grasslands such as the chinkara Schedule 1 foxes jackals hyenas and lesser mammals such as civets will also be protectedrdquoDuring middayrsquos visit to Kendur and the adjoining arearsquos landscape we noticed packs of feral dogs ldquoThese have become direct competition to wolvesrdquo says Nakhate ldquoWe have footage showing them chasing and hunting chinkaras which will imbalance the preypredator dynamics They are also a menace to human settlements as they attack sheep goats and even cattle They also carry dangerous diseases such as the canine distemper virus which poses a huge threat to already endangered speciesrdquoA devoted team including key members such as Prerana Sethiya who is a data analyst and lead strategist at the Grasslands Trust and Nikita Sabnis who is in charge of data administration and report development have contributed significantly to the grassland restoration project Mugdha Edake Sai Bhurke and Nidhi Joshi have also been involved in the restoration project Aarnav Gandhe also worked as a research assistant for the drone project from University of Konstanz is also an important collaborator in the project23KGray wolf populationWhy grasslands rockthinspReliable carbon sinksthinspImprove ecosystem resiliencethinspRecharge groundwater table