A unique grassland habitat for rare bird species is all set to come up in Shonkalia region of Ajmer district in Rajasthan, extending support to two endangered birds of the desert State and also providing structured grazing facility to the cattle within the same zone for roughly six months a year. Acting on an impassioned plea by a group of conservationists, the district administration in Ajmer has agreed to set apart a large chunk of wasteland at Shonkalia to be appropriately harnessed as an “ideal meadow”. The habitat would support Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican and also serve the cattle population through grazing. Conservationists, led by Tourism and Wildlife Society of India secretary Harsh Vardhan, met Ajmer Collector Manju Rajpal earlier this week to draw her attention to the urgent need to conserve the two bird species which favour the Shonkalia region. Ms. Rajpal agreed to the suggestion for developing the habitat and said wildlife conservation could be successful if attempted “in a user-friendly manner”. Significantly, the work for developing the grassland will be taken up under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme through the State Government's Forest and Environment Department. Mr. Vardhan told The Hindu here on Friday that while the Great Indian Bustard is resident to the Shonkalia region since long, the Lesser Florican reaches there during the annual monsoon only to breed. “No one knows where the birds disappear to after raising [their] chicks,” he said. The salutary move for building up the separate grassland zone is poised to step up recruitment rate of both the rare species, thereby setting an example for other districts in the country to initiate similar steps. Mr. Vardhan said Shonkalia was going to be a unique model for environmental conservation as it would offer both protection and grazing. The Ajmer Collector promised that an awareness campaign would be launched in the species-target villages and told the conservationists that the new area would be treated as a “no grazing habitat” from May till October, when the birds would use it for courtship, egg-laying, hatching and raising families. Rotational grazing can then follow from October to May. Experts opined that the existing grassland areas in the State were facing a “grave threat” due to increasing human intervention and called for prompt action to create favourable conditions for wild species. Mr. Vardhan pointed out that Shonkalia was identified as one of the 10 most potential grassland regions in the country at a meeting organised in New Delhi recently to draw a rescue programme for bustards. The World Wide Fund for Nature, Bombay Natural History Society and the Wildlife Institute of India adopted the programme at a meeting supported by the Union Environment and Forest Ministry. On the occasion, Ms. Rajpal presented a bicycle and a mobile handset to cattle guard Goga in recognition of his exemplary services in reporting the population of the Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican during the past three decades. Mr. Vardhan said the threat to the two species was multiplied because these birds adopt agricultural fields and open scrub or plain areas to survive and do not remain confined to a designated protected area of the Forest Department. “The village as a conservation unit has to be tackled as the [final] hope, as the threat of extinction looms large,” he affirmed. Ajmer district administration agrees to set apart chunk of wasteland after plea by conservationists Habitat will support two bird species, provide grazing facility to cattle for six months a year