Project Proposal

The periphery

The Little Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary, has salt plains, caused by flooding of the Rann by sea, river and rain water; punctuated by highlands called bets, above the monsoon flood mark where scrub flora and grasslands offer a refuge to wildlife. This is one of the largest wildlife sanctuaries in India, spanning some 4950 sq ft in area.This is the only home for the endangered Asiatic Wild Ass, locally known as “Ghudkar” which is the member of wild horse family. The Little Rann of Kutch is also known for its traditional salt production and various references mention this to be a 600 years old activity. Salt produced in the Little Rann is known as 'Vadagaru' salt.

Objective

Owing to the uniqueness of the area and the existence of the rare and endangered species such as the Wild Ass, the area has being considered to be declared as one of the world heritage sites. However with the declaration of the area as a biosphere reserve the agariyas face a problem of eviction from their land.Agariya

and the wild asses have coexisted in this Rann for centuries. There are instances where Wild Ass has taken the shelter near salt pans to protect itself from poachers. Agariyas (salt pan workers) have a strong role in

protecting and conserving Wild Ass, why can they not co-exist?

• Awareness of the Wild Ass Sanctuary needs to be promoted.
• The co-existence of the two communities needs to be studied and measures to sustain both has to be highlighted.

Proposed Methodology

Tentative Deliverable

• Booklet
• A supplementary leaflet with ticket
• Poster
• Pamphlet