The habitat at Abohar is represented by semi-arid plains with scattered sand dunes, acacia trees, beri bushes and weeds. The area which has been declared a sanctuary is mostly birani or sandy land. This habitat is ideal for the blackbucks and chinkaras.

The dominant flora is Acacia nilotica, Dalbergia sisso, Prosopis cineraria and shrubs include jungli ber and species of cacti and succulents. The fauna includes Indian peafowl, partridges, blacknaped hare, jungle cat, nilgai, etc.

The Bishnoi community occupying parts of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana is known for the absolute protection they offer to the blackbuck and the khejari tree, as also protection of other plant and animal diversity within their village boundaries. The Bishnois are largely a farming community with fairly large landholdings; they meet most of their biomass requirements from their own fields. The dependence on the surrounding forest is not very high.

As a community, the Bishnois give staunch protection to flora and fauna, especially the blackbuck and the khejari tree. It is said that in 1730 the Maharaja of Jodhpur ordered his men to fetch timber for his lime-kilns from a Bishnoi area. The local people, led by a woman, Attri Devi, hugged the trees to save them from the axe-men, and about 363 of them, mostly women and children, were hacked to death before the king’s men gave up. With a history like that, the sect goes to great lengths to conserve their wildlife. This is evident from the incidents like that of film actor Salman Khan being chased and apprehended by the villagers for hunting a blackbuck in their area.

The All India Jeev Raksha Bishnoi Sabha in Abohar (Dist. Ferozepur) area of Punjab was founded in 1974 for the protection of blackbucks. In 1975, this area was declared a wildlife sanctuary and it is completely privately owned. 

Conservation plays a key role in the religion practiced by the Bishnois. Their religion was initiated by their Guru Jambeshwar (or Jambaji) about 500 years ago. The guru propagated 29 tenets, giving his followers the name ‘Bishnoi’ or ‘twenty-niners’. Two of the main tenets are ‘ban on the felling of any green tree’ and ‘ban on the killing of any animal or bird.’ Hence, the Bishnois actively protect wildlife and do not permit hunting or felling of trees in their area. They also believe that the crops sprout better if grazed by blackbuck.

This area has been traditionally conserved by the Bishnoi community. The All India Jeev Raksha Bishnoi Sabha in Abohar (Dist. Ferozepur) area of Punjab was founded in 1974 by Shri Sant Kumar Bishnoi and began working towards conservation of blackbuck, the state animal. In recognition of the efforts of the Sabha, the state government declared a 70 sq km area as a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1975 under the Wild life Protection Act, 1972. According to the state forest department staff, the involvement of the forest department in the management of this sanctuary is nearly non-existent. Since the area is protected by the Bishnois, villagers have been provided with guns by the department to guard the animals from poachers.

The All India Jeev Raksha Bishnoi Sabha does not permit hunting in areas under their influence. The Sabha also organises seminars and public meetings from time to time for their own children and for people from surrounding villages in order to explain the ecological links between wildlife and humans. Attempts are made at these meetings to motivate others to adopt conservation and sustainable development practices. 

Since the area is protected by the Bishnois, villagers have been provided with guns by the forest department to guard the animals from poachers. The Forest Department is under severe funding constraints with practically no money for protection and other activities in Abohar Sanctuary. The Bishnoi Sabha regularly helps the FD officials with night patrolling. They also provide the FD with jeeps and armed volunteers when needed. Bishnois have frequently requested the government to provide more staff and resources to the FD so that they can effectively patrol the area and control poaching.

The efforts of the Sabha have resulted in maintaining a high population of blackbucks. In 2000, about 4,000 blackbucks were counted in the sanctuary. The Bishnois conserve all kinds of flora and fauna in their area, and because of their efforts the villages and surroundings are green oases in the desert, with Indian peafowl, chinkaras and blackbuck, nilgais and other animals roaming freely and even approaching people fearlessly.

Abohar Sanctuary is currently under the process of denotification. The government intends to renotify the sanctuary as a ‘Community Reserve’ under the amended Wild Life Protection Act 2003, which would mean that the local institutions would formally be handed over the responsibility to protect and manage the sanctuary, which was not possible till now under the Act. The move towards converting this to a Community Reserve is good: the local communities will then have a legal right to protect this area and they may be able to secure some financial and other support for carrying out various activities.

Conservation of ungulates like the blackbucks comes with its own set of problems. These animals cause significant damage to the standing crop. The community appears to be more tolerant of the damage caused by the blackbuck as compared to the other animals, since they consider this loss as a religious donation. However, increasing pressure on land (due to increased requirement of foodgrains for the growing population, conversion of crop areas into orchards and division of landholdings with increasing family size) have led to conflict situation with animals, especially the nilgai, for which there is no natural predator in the area. Reportedly, this conflict is slowly beginning to weaken the Bishnois’ commitment to protecting the animals. They still would not think of killing them but they do shoo them away from their own fields, with their neighbours probably shooing them back!

Since the Bishnois do not kill any animal, the increasing numbers of feral dogs in the sanctuary poses a serious threat to the blackbuck populations. Local people feel that effective methods to control the dog population in the area need to be devised. The dogs feed on blackbuck fawns as they are small in size but do not attack the fawns of nilgai because of their larger size. This is another reason for the increase in the number of nilgai as compared to the blackbuck.

A broad water-drainage channel, constructed by the irrigation department, has divided the area into two parts despite a Bishnoi protest. This has restricted the movement of blackbuck in the sanctuary and could adversely affect their distribution and reproductive habits. Additionally, there is an increasing trend to establish narma and kinnow crops (orchards). Such gardens are affecting the habitat of the blackbucks. 

Despite all the above problems the community members still propagate conservation values. They express their limitations due to financial and language constraints, which restricts them from spreading the message of conservation to a wider audience. They are still in unison in wholeheartedly saving the blackbucks, nilgai and green trees. But this enthusiasm seems to be much higher among the elders in the community rather than the younger generation, who are less tolerant towards the damages caused by the wild ungulates.