Camel Herder Sumer Singh Bhati Wins Global Rangeland Award for Protecting 10,000 Hectares of Thar Grassland

Camel herder Sumer Singh Bhati from Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, has been named a global awardee of the 2026 Rangeland Awards for his decades-long effort to protect the Degrai Mata Oran, a community-conserved landscape spanning nearly 10,000 hectares in the Thar Desert. The oran, a traditional grazing ground associated with a local deity, supports approximately 5,000 pastoral families and more than 50,000 livestock animals, as well as critically endangered species such as the Great Indian Bustard and the Asiatic caracal.

For years, only a fraction of the oran was recognized in official revenue records; a 2022 account noted that roughly 4,000 hectares were classified as oran land while the remainder was categorized as wasteland, leaving it vulnerable to allotment for solar and wind energy projects. Bhati began organizing formally in 2018, conducting awareness campaigns and parikramas (circumambulations) across threatened orans to mobilize nearly 20 villages around the cause of native grassland regeneration.

The centerpiece of the campaign was the Oran Bachao Padyatra, an 85-day, 700-kilometer foot march from the Tanot Mata temple in Jaisalmer district to the state capital Jaipur, undertaken from January to April 2026. More than 100 farmers and livestock rearers participated in the Gandhian-style march, which Bhati described as a way to carry the concerns of the desert to decision-makers without assigning political blame.

The march contributed to approximately 3,800 hectares of land being officially entered into government records as protected oran area. Community-led protection has also enabled the natural regeneration of native Sewan (Lasiurus sindicus) and Dhaman (Cenchrus setigerus) grasses, which are highly nutritious for camels and livestock and adapted to hyper-arid conditions, as well as the revival of seasonal water bodies such as johads and talabs.

Bhati's advocacy extended to the Supreme Court, where an intervention application seeking constitutional protection for orans and related commons such as gochars and agors was taken on record in April 2026. He has also campaigned against overhead power lines after reporting a Great Indian Bustard collision death near the oran in 2020, linking grassland health directly to wildlife survival.

The International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, designated for 2026, highlights the connection between pastoral livelihoods and grassland ecology that Bhati has worked to make visible. His approach emphasizes working with the landscape as it exists, allowing native vegetation to regenerate through community stewardship rather than attempting to remake the desert environment.

Bhati traces his motivation to a childhood memory of his father confronting poachers to save a chinkara, a moment that linked wildlife protection to the land his community depends on. For him, the camel, the grass, the water, and the wildlife form an inseparable system; when grazing grounds shrink, the balance that sustains pastoral life and biodiversity begins to fray.