Wetlands in Little Rann of Kachchh

LITTLE RANN OF KACHCHH

Location: southeast of the Great Rann of Kachchh and 130 km west of Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Area: 495,300 ha
Altitude: 0-8 m
Biogeographical province: 4.15.7 Wetland type: 02, 08, 16

Description of site: The Little Rann is usually described as a flat, saline waste or salt-impregnated wilderness. It lies to the southeast of the Great Rann and along a line of marine recession between the Indus Delta and the Gulf of Khambhat. During the southwest monsoon (July to September), large areas are inundated by up to two metres of water, much of which is pushed up from the Gulf of Kachchh by strong westerly winds. The saltflats dry out almost entirely during the prolonged dry season. Saline areas are relieved by areas of slightly higher ground with salt-free soil supporting a stunted, scrubby vegetation. There are about 30 of these little hillocks, or “bets”, of varying sizes in the Little Rann. In years of ample rainfall, the flood water overflows into the Nalsarovar depression to the southeast. Soil conditions are saline to hypersaline

Climatic conditions: Dry, tropical monsoon climate with an average annual rainfall of less than 300 mm concentrated in July and August. The maximum temperature is about 42°C, the minimum temperature about 12°C, and the average relative humidity 25% Principal vegetation: The vegetation consists of xerophytic shrubs and thorny scrubland between open saline flats devoid of vegetation. There are virtually no trees and most of the vegetation is confined to the higher ground and transitional zones, these areas totalling approximately 33,000 ha. The ‘bets’ support a slightly richer flora than elsewhere. Some of these formerly supported mature stands of Acacia nilotica, Prosopis spicigera, Salvadora persica, and S. oleoides, but most of the large trees were felled and converted into charcoal in the 1950s and 1960s. Small shrubs of S. persica, Tamarix dioica, and the alien mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) are common in several areas, together with Suaeda fruticosa, Salsola barysoma, and Haloxylon salicornicum. Gramineae and Cyperaceae are better adapted to the hydromorphic conditions and include Aleuropus lagoporides, Cenchrus.setigerus, C. ciliaris. Sporobolus marginatus, S. helveticus, and Cyperus rotundus

Land tenure: The Little Rann is state owned; surrounding areas are partly state-owned and partly private Conservation measures taken: The entire area has been declared a Wildlife Sanctuary by the Government of Gujarat to protect the population of wild ass (Equus hemionus khur)

Conservation measures proposed: There is a proposal to upgrade the Sanctuary, declaring it as a Biosphere Reserve. There is an urgent need to improve the level of wardening, and to develop an integrated management plan for the entire area. Lavkumar Khacher has recommended the establishment of a composite sanctuary incorporating the Great and Little Ranns of Kachchh, and the development of an imaginatively radial programme for their effective management Land use: Grazing by domestic livestock. Parts of the Sanctuary are leased out by the Government to salt manufacturers, and salt production is now an occupation all along the periphery of the Rann. There is also limited cultivation of millet in the less saline areas

Disturbances and threats: There is almost no effective control in the Wild Ass Sanctuary, and no clear demarcation of its boundaries. As a result, the area has been exposed to a variety of abuses. Large herds of domestic cattle are driven into the Rann to graze on the ‘bets’, and most of the indigenous trees are now heavily browsed and lopped. Local villagers enter the Sanctuary to collect firewood and make charcoal, and some areas have been ploughed for agriculture. Large areas of native vegetation have been replaced with plantations of the exotic mesquite (Prosopis juliflora), and this has now invaded the ‘bets’. A considerable amount of disturbance is caused to wildlife by jeeps and motorcycles driving at will across the flats, and the wild asses in particular are deliberately chased by tourists. Illegal shooting and trapping are common and the populations of some of the larger mammals have been decimated. A rapid expansion in salt production, although not in itself harmful to wildlife, has led to a multiplication of other forms of disturbance

Economic and social values: The Little Rann of Kachchh, if managed efficiently, could not only remain an important salt-producing area, but could once again become a great wildlife sanctuary with tremendous potential for tourism Fauna: The Little Rann supports a sizeable population of the Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur) which has gradually increased, under protection, from about 800 animals in the late 1960s to 1989 in 1983; but the asses are subjected to a considerable amount of disturbance and remain very wary. The Rann formerly supported large populations of nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), chinkara (Gazella gazella) and blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), but these have been decimated in recent decades by illegal hunting. The region is still of considerable importance for a wide variety of waterfowl such as pelicans, herons, egrets, storks, spoonbills, ducks and shorebirds. Thousands of common cranes (Grus grus) winter in the area, and large numbers of flamingos both (Phoenicopterus ruber and Phoenicopterus minor) are present when water levels are suitable. A breeding colony of the Lesser Flamingo (P. minor) has recently been discovered in the Little Rann at Surajbari (Mundkur et al, in press). The mouth of the Banas river is an important staging area for migratory shorebirds, and large concentrations of ducks, mainly Anas crecca, A. poecilorhyncha. A. acuta, A. querquedula, and A. clypeata, have been observed during the migration periods