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{{Short description|Park in Jodhpur, India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox park
| name = Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park
| photo = Mehrangarh RaoJodhaDNP DSC0158.jpg
| photo_caption = [[Mehrangarh Fort]] above Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park| map_width = 208
| type = Natural Area
| location = [[Jodhpur]], [[Rajasthan]]
| nearest_city = [[Jodhpur]]
| coords = {{coord|26.304611|N|73.016853|E|region:IN-RA_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| created = {{Start date|2006}}
| area = 70 [[hectare]]s
| operator = Mehrangarh Museum Trust
| visitation_num = +919571271000
| status = Open
| designation =
| open = 7:00am-6:30pm <small>(in [[summer]])</small>, 8:00am-5:30pm <small>(in [[winter]])</small>
}}
'''Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park''', spreads over 72 [[hectare]]s, near the historic [[Mehrangarh Fort]] in [[Jodhpur]], [[Rajasthan]], [[India]]. The park contains [[Ecological restoration|ecologically restored]] desert and arid land vegetation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/in-school/sh-science/reclaiming-the-desert/article6263279.ece|title=Reclaiming the desert|date=2014-07-30|newspaper=The Hindu|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X|access-date=2016-09-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2013-10/23/c_132822528.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031045616/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2013-10/23/c_132822528.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=31 October 2013|title=Rao Jodhpur desert rock park - Xinhua {{!}} English.news.cn|website=news.xinhuanet.com|access-date=2016-09-04}}</ref> The park was created in 2006 to try and restore the natural ecology of a large, rocky area adjoining and below the fort. It was opened to the public in February 2011. The area in and around the park contains distinctive volcanic rock and [[sandstone]] formations. The park includes a Visitors Centre with Interpretation Gallery, a native plant nursery, small shop and cafe. There are four trails (yellow, green, red, and blue trails), about 880 m to 1115 m long, that visitors can take and trained guides and naturalists are also available.

==Jodhpur Welded Tuff national geological monument==
{{anchor|Jodhpur Welded Tuff}}
'''Jodhpur Welded Tuff''' here has been declared the [[List_of_National_Geological_Monuments_in_India|National Geological Monuments of India]] by the [[Geological Survey of India]] (GSI), for their protection, maintenance, promotion and enhancement of [[geotourism]].<ref name=gsi1>[http://www.portal.gsi.gov.in/portal/page?_pageid=127,529542&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL National Geological Monument, from Geological Survey of India website]</ref><ref name="gsi2">{{Cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=137573|title=Geo-Heritage Sites|date=2016-03-09|website=pib.nic.in|publisher=[[Press Information Bureau]]|access-date=2018-09-15}}</ref><ref name=gsi3>[http://naturalheritage.intach.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Geoheritage-Monograph.pdf national geo-heritage of India] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111120428/http://naturalheritage.intach.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Geoheritage-Monograph.pdf |date=11 January 2017 }}, [[Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage|INTACH]]</ref> The volcanic rocks at Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park were formed somewhere between 745 and 680 million years ago. The volcanic formations are chiefly [[rhyolite]], with [[Tuff|welded tuff]], and [[breccia]] found in some areas. There is a gully passing through the park (an old aqueduct or canal to carry rainwater from a wider catchment in the north to Padamsar lake at the base of the fort), where [[breccia]] is visible today. Also seen are rocks with large to intermediate crystal sizes and from fine textured tuff to large-grained (porphyritic) rhyolite.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Rocks: about the different kinds of rock inside Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park|last=Wilson|first=Jonathan J.|publisher=Mehrangarh Museum Trust|year=2014|location=Jodhpur|pages=36 pages|no-pp=yes}}</ref>

== Plant and animal life ==
The park has around 250 species of native plants, including a large number of arid region [[lithophyte]]s. Some of the common plants<ref>{{Cite book|title=Plant Guide to Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park|last=Krishen|first=Pradip|publisher=Mehrangarh Museum Trust|year=2011|isbn=978-81-910471-3-4|location=Jodhpur|pages=31 pages}}</ref> include trees such as Rohido (''[[Tecomella undulata]]''), Kumatiyo (''[[Acacia senegal]]''), Hingoto (''[[Balanites roxburghii]]''), Peeloo (''[[Salvadora persica]]''), Kharo Jaal (''[[Salvadora oleoides]]''), Sargooro (''[[Moringa concanensis]]''), Goondi (''[[Cordia sinensis]]''), and Bordi (''[[Ziziphus nummularia]]''). Among shrubs, the leafless spurge or Thhor (''[[Euphorbia caducifolia]]'') is one of the common succulents. Other shrubs include Bui (''[[Aerva javanica]]''), Aakado (''[[Calotropis procera]]''), Kair (''[[Capparis decidua]]''), Ghatbor (''[[Fleuggia leucopyrus]]''), Kheer Kheemp (''[[Sarcostemma acidum]]''), Kheemp (''[[Leptadenia pyrotechnica]]''), and Googal (''[[Commiphora wightii]]''). <gallery>
File:Sarcostemma DSC0219.jpg|''Sarcostemma acidum'' flowering
File:Sarcostemma DSC0216.jpg|Common banded awl butterfly on ''Sarcostemma acidum'' flowers
File:Ecaducifolia DSC0222.jpg|''Euphorbia caducifolia'' growing in rocky area
File:Ecaducifolia DSC0220.jpg|''Euphorbia caducifolia'' close up
File:RVBulbul DSC0129.jpg|Red-vented Bulbul on fruiting ''Fleuggia leucopyrus''
File:Indian crested porcupine.jpg|Indian crested porcupine Rao Jodha Jodhpur Rajasthan
File:IGOriole DSCN2139.jpg|Female Indian Golden Oriole
</gallery>

The park has several reptile species and over 200 species of birds and is an [[eBird]] hotspot.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspot/L1968093|title=eBird--Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park, Jodhpur|last=ebird|website=eBird|access-date=2016-09-04}}</ref> Mammals include free-ranging dogs, [[Indian crested porcupine]], and [[Northern palm squirrel|northern or five-striped palm squirrel]]. <gallery>
File:PlainTiger DSC0151.jpg|Plain Tiger butterfly in Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park
File:CommonBabbler DSC0176.jpg|Common Babbler on the rocks
File:IndianCormorant DSC0215.jpg|Indian Cormorant at lake in Jaswant Thada
File:GreatEgret DSC0204.jpg|Great Egret in lake at Jaswant Thada
File:GreyFrancolin DSC0195.jpg|Grey Francolin amidst rocks and desert vegetation
File:WEBulbul DSC0136.jpg|White-eared Bulbul on Fleuggea leucopyrus
File:FSPSquirrel DSC0139.jpg|Five-striped or northern palm squirrel in Rao Jodha
</gallery>

== Restoration ==
The Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park has attempted both architectural and ecological restoration. The Visitors Centre is housed in Singhoria Pol, a 17th-century gateway into Jodhpur city, which had fallen into ruins and disrepair. The gateway was restored and the Visitors Centre, completed in February 2011, has an Interpretation Gallery about the desert, plants, and history, integrated into the passages and rooms over and around the gate. The historic city wall that had crumbled in places was also restored, which assisted in protecting the area from grazing livestock during ecological restoration.

Ecological restoration was carried out to remove invasive alien plants and bring back the original desert and arid land vegetation of the region. The park area was earlier overrun by ''[[Prosopis juliflora]]'' (local name ''baavlia''), an invasive, thorny shrub introduced from Central America almost a century ago. The ''Prosopis juliflora'' was carefully removed from the volcanic rocks with the help of local [[Khandwaliya]] people, expert in rock chiseling. The park now has around 250 species of native plants. A small 'xeriscape' or 'Xeri garden' at the Visitor's Centre has been created to display a range of [[xeric]] and rocky [[microhabitats]], each with several characteristic native plant species. The restoration or rewilding project has been spearheaded by [[Pradip Krishen]], a filmmaker who renounced filmmaking due to corruption in the Industry.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}} Mr. Krishen turned to gardening and environmental conservation, serving in this way to rejuvenate the deteriorating Indian landscape and its people.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/royal-palaces-maharaja-culture-india-180957796/?no-ist|title=The Fall and Rise of a Modern Maharaja|last=Sonia Faleiro|first=Dhruv Malhotra|access-date=2016-09-04}}</ref>
[[File:RaoJodha_restoration_DSC0145.jpg|center|400x400px|Ecologically restored desert vegetation with ''Euphorbia caducifolia'' and other native plants (right of wall), and unrestored area invaded by alien ''Prosopis julifora'' shrubs (on left of wall).]]

== Native Plants Nursery ==
The park has a native plants nursery where native rock-loving and arid region plants are propagated from seeds and cuttings. The nursery is located near the 'piao' or public drinking water station on the way down from the fort. The seedlings raised here are planted out for ecological restoration of the park area each year around the monsoon. Over 80 native plant species have been raised and planted out in the park.<gallery>
File:RJDRP Nursery entrance DSC0286.jpg|Entrance to the Native Plants Nursery, Rao Jodha Desert ROck Park
File:RJDRP Nursery DSC0285.jpg|View of native plants nursery at Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park
File:RJDRP Nursery DSC0282.jpg|Seedlings being raised in polybags under shade
File:RJDRP Nursery DSC0284.jpg|Larger native plant seedlings stacked in the nursery
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park}}

[[National Geological Monuments in India]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:2006 establishments in Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 2006]]
[[Category:Jodhpur district]]

Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park - Revision history

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