Livestock is a significant income and nourishment source for people in the desert. Through a participatory approach, we intend to form stakeholder networks and involve the local community in various outreach and community-supporting activities to strengthen conservation initiatives in this landscape. We aim to build pride among the local communities towards the desert and its wildlife and celebrate this unique landscape and the people who call it home. Our “ Desert Landscape Programme - A Community-based Conservation Approach in the Thar” reflects this mission. In this effort, we have expanded the scope of our work towards the conservation of the critical Thar desert landscape by making this shift. Hence to achieve the conservation goals of the programme, we needed to shift our focus from a wildlife-centric approach to a more holistic landscape-level approach by working closely with the local stakeholders in the Thar desert. Our experience has reinforced our philosophy that conservation efforts would be most effective through engagement with the local community and other stakeholders. Over the last two years, WCS-India has been working towards conserving the species around the Desert National Park (DNP) in the Thar in Jaisalmer district. The desert is home to wildlife such as the chinkara ( Gazella bennettii), desert cat ( Felis silvestris ornata), desert fox ( Vulpes vulpes pusilla), spiny-tailed lizard ( Saara hardwickii), species of vultures, trees such as khejri (Prosopis cinereria) and ker ( Capparis decidua) among several others and the largest population of the critically endangered great Indian bustard ( Ardeotis nigriceps).īeing a long-ranging species, the survival of the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) is tied directly to the lives of the local communities, with both being highly dependent on the desert/semi-arid landscape. Of the four states in India, Rajasthan holds the largest part of the desert, spread over twelve districts. The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is located mainly in India, with a small part in Pakistan.
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