sarus crane, and striped hyena and supports more than 1% of the biogeographical population of flamingos. Location The Great Rann of Kutch is a seasonal salt marsh located in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India and the Sindhprovince of Pakistan. It is about 7,505.22 square kilometres in size and is reputed to be the largest salt desert in the world. Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Badin District, Sindh, Pakistan. The Rann of Kutch is geographically the widest Ramsar site spread over 566,375 hectares out of all 10 identified Ramsar sites in Sindh. Geology It comprises stabilized sand dunes, some more than 170m in height, with broad inter-dunal valleys of alluvial soil, integral with the large Rann of Kutch across the frontier with India, which includes permanent saline marshes, coastal brackish lagoons, tidal mudflats, and estuarine habitats.. Some 500,000 agro-pastoralists live in 330 villages/hamlets in the site area, and rich archaeological remains include three giant temples dating from 1375-1449. Scarcity of water remains the potential threat to the ecosystem. Nature Fauna This area is known to be a breeding ground for flamingoes and staging ground for pelicans, cranes, storks and many species of waterfowl. It is also an important site for animals like blue bull, chinkara and desert wolf, which have been sighted over here regularly. The site supports many species of birds and mammals which are locally and globally threatened. The site is also a wintering area for water birds. It is estimated that this wetland regularly supports over 40,000 water birds. The marshy habitat is most attractive for water bird species such as common teal, shell duck, mallard, pochard, flamingo and pelican. Occasionally, the range of other species also been seen in the outskirts of the site. These include peafowl, sarus cranes, houbara bustard and the peregrine and saker falcons.ereeere. Flora The flora consists of grasses and dry thorny scrub such as Apluda aristata, Dichanthium annulatum, Panicum antidotale, Cenchrus spp., Pennisetum spp., Cymbopogon spp. and Elionurus spp. The large trees include Prosopis juliflora, Prosopis cineraria, Caparis decidua, Ziziphus nummularia, Acacia senegal and Salvadora oleoides is found in the desert area of kutch. Threats Cattle grazing, tree cutting and vehicular traffic are the major threats to this ecoregion's habitat. The proposed expansion of the commercial salt extraction operations will result in disturbances to wildlife, especially to the wild ass population and the, bustards,