Maharashtra’s GR No. SAVVI-2025/PR.KR.11/VANE-11, issued on 7 May 2026, explicitly prohibits tree planting in grasslands and wetlands — the first time a government resolution has put this in writing at scale. The same order that launched a 300-crore plantation drive also protects the ecosystems most at risk from it.
grasslands
Kanha’s meadows did not maintain themselves. Four wild buffaloes from Kaziranga may be the beginning of a different answer.
India’s land records classify open grasslands as “wasteland” because they carry no trees. That single word is why the Great Indian Bustard is disappearing, why the blackbuck needs reintroduction programmes, and why the cheetah has no secured wild habitat to return to.