Signal India Launches First-Ever National Guide to Grasslands and Open Natural Ecosystems at UNCCD COP17

Summary

India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched the country's first-ever Guide to Grasslands and Other Open Natural Ecosystems (ONEs) of India on August 17, 2026, at a side event of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The guide covers India's Himalayan and Terai grasslands, the Thar and Banni landscapes, Deccan savannas, rocky plateaus, ravines, scrublands, and coastal and desert ecosystems, highlighting their ecological significance and their role sustaining pastoral, livestock-based, and agricultural livelihoods. It was produced by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in collaboration with the IUCN, the Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, and ISRO's Space Applications Centre. Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, in a video message preceding the launch, said grasslands, scrublands, and ravines have long been judged by the absence of trees and dismissed as 'wasteland' despite sheltering unique species and sustaining pastoral communities, recalling his own upbringing in Rajasthan near traditional Oran grazing lands. The Guide is intended to serve as a resource for policymakers, researchers, and conservation practitioners, and its COP17 launch gives India a platform to strengthen representation of its open ecosystems in global rangeland and land-degradation discourse.