Thana, Govardhanpura and Gokulpura cluster of villages in Bundi district, eastern Rajasthan, India represent soils of hot semi-arid region that are degraded due to overgrazing. The total geographical area covered under the watershed represented by this cluster is 1356 ha, of which forest area is 195 ha and common grazing land is 95 ha. The only source of open grazing, ie, the common grazing land, was so degraded that most fodder and grasses that grew there were neither palatable nor sufficient to the cattle. A community initiative facilitated by an NGO regenerated half of the grazing area by adopting appropriate social and biophysical interventions over 5 years. To assess the impact of the collective action, a participatory biodiversity assessment of the regenerated and the degraded grazing lands was undertaken with the involvement of the community. A team of ecologists assessed the biodiversity in the same areas simultaneously. Microbial diversity of the soils of the grazing lands was also assessed. This report discusses the results of all the three assessments and argues that community initiatives combining social and biophysical measures can yield best results in the rehabilitation and conservation of biodiversity in fragile ecosystems. This publication is part of the research project “Combating Land Degradation and Increasing Productivity in Madhya Pradesh and Eastern Rajasthan” supported by Sir Dorabji Tata Trust to ICRISAT.

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