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help regenerate vegetation in other areas. Cutting of trees is completely prohibited in
the orans as the God and Goddess would become unhappy and the whole village
would be punished by some natural calamity, such as severe drought or flood. The
villagers take a vow and promise riot to cut down any tree or cut branches of trees
from the orans. Only the grasses and other underground palatable herbs can be used as
fodder for the cattle.
Concluding remarks
Fuelwood and fodder production in the Thar desert has an impact on its ecological re-
generation. Over-exploitation of fodder and fuelwood, the two basic necessities of life
for the desert people, causes ecological destruction of the desert ecosystem and en-
hances desertification. The degraded rangelands of the Thar desert show tremendous
resilience for regeneration when the influence of biotic factors are removed. This is
evidenced in the form of triggering off a progressive ecological succession in grass
and tree/shrub cover, which quickly attain a stage of sustainable utilization.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author is grateful to the personnels of State Forest Department of Rajasthan and the Territorial
Indian Army stationed in the desert districts of Rajasthan and also to the Scientists working at CAZRI,
jodhpur, for providing necessary informations during the field study in the Thar desert.
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