Oran land:
Residents from around 40 villages of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan have walked 225 kilometers to protect community-conserved sacred spaces known as ‘orans’.
- Currently, the biodiversity hotspots are classified as wastelands.
- The current categorization is causing a loss of biodiversity and is affecting the livelihood of the locals in the area, as huge chunks of land are being allotted for setting up solar plants.
- Thus need to recategorize the area as ‘oran land’.
- The orans are among the last natural habitats of the great Indian bustard
- The open stretch of land, which receives long hours of sunlight and brisk winds, has become a hub of green energy with windmills and solar photovoltaic dotting
- There are other orans like Mokla, Salkha, Kemde, which also spread across several hectares but are listed as wastelands
- These orans are hotspots of biodiversity with trees and flowers like rohida, bordi, kumbhat, and desi babool in large numbers.
