Natures Fireworks
<p><em>Often taken for granted or just considered as fallow land or wasteland, or simply stretches of grass, grasslands are powerhouses of life and climate resilience. Covering around 40 per cent of the Earth’s land, these ecosystems support over 70 per cent of India’s large herbivores, from blackbuck and chinkara to Nilgiri tahr, forming the foundation for predators like wolves and tigers. Beyond wildlife, grasslands quietly fight climate change, storing up to 3.3 gigatonnes of CO2 each year in their soil and vegetation (IPCC, 2022).</em></p>
<p>Morning sunlight catches tiny droplets on grass in the Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh, making each blade glow like rockets streaking into the night sky. This unassuming grass species, from the park’s grasslands, is a vital food source for ungulates, sustaining the very prey base that supports Kanha’s predators.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size:12px;">Photo: Vikas Garg/Sanctuary Photolibrary.</span></strong></p>
