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Why India calls its grasslands wasteland and what that word has cost wildlife

Why India calls its grasslands wasteland and what that word has cost wildlife

India’s classification of natural grasslands as wastelands threatens the survival of endangered wildlife including the Great Indian Bustard, Lesser Florican, and Indian Grey Wolf across several ecological regions. The Ministry of Rural Development and the Department of Land Resources record these habitats in the Wasteland Atlas of India, primarily affecting arid zones in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Researchers from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment alleged that officials mislabel “ecologically productive” areas as unproductive land to facilitate industrial projects. This policy enables the diversion of vital grazing lands for solar farms and tree plantations, which the NGO stated destroys the specialized biodiversity of open natural ecosystems. The Supreme Court of India recently directed a committee to define these areas correctly to prevent the extinction of birds sensitive to habitat changes.

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