Nomadic pastoralism may have preceded the emergence of settled agriculture along prehistoric floodplains. Yet, grasslands and pastoralism are misunderstood to this day. In India, we do not recognize grasslands as distinct, ecologically valuable ecosystems, and pastoralism, with its intrinsic dynamism and mobility, as a unique adaptation to the temporal and spatial variability inherent in grasslands.

Our recent, limited appreciation of grasslands and the ecological basis for pastoralism is informed largely by work in tropical grasslands of Africa and the steppes of Eurasia. In India, we still know very little about our grassland ecosystems. Our floodplain grasslands are now almost entirely cropland; arid and semi-arid grasslands and savannas are becoming carbon forests (or solar and wind farms), and we are losing habitat for endangered fauna, while jeopardizing pastoralist livelihoods and cultures.