Bishnoi community's religious traditions support conservation in Thar Desert
Field evidence shows more vegetation and wildlife in Bishnoi villages compared to other parts of the Thar Desert, according to the Times of India.
The Bishnoi religious community in the Thar Desert of western India maintains a centuries-old tradition of protecting wildlife and trees as a matter of faith, according to the Times of India. This practice is rooted in beliefs dating back to a fifteenth-century guru.
A 2022–2023 field survey found more natural vegetation and wildlife, particularly Khejeri trees and blackbucks, in Bishnoi villages than in other parts of the Thar. The Khejeri tree is a keystone species that supports farming, provides firewood, and serves as a nesting site for birds including vultures.
Researchers Amir Sohel and Farhat Naz concluded in a 2024 report that the community's value-based methods help manage natural resources sustainably in the region. They noted that the Bishnoi approach involves active human participation in managing biodiversity.
The community protects resources through daily habits such as planting Khejeri trees, managing community animal care centres, and maintaining sacred groves. Villagers also participate in maintaining reservoirs, with researcher Neekee Chaturvedi recording community labour at a village reservoir every new-moon night.
Despite these efforts, the region faces environmental pressures including mining, poaching, falling groundwater, and deforestation. The invasive Prosopis juliflora also threatens the native Khejeri trees as human and livestock populations grow.