Have You Been To These Biodiversity Parks In Delhi?

Unplanned urbanization has led to the destruction of many wetlands that were once abundant in Delhi. Few pockets of carefully planned nature parks are of utmost importance because these are probably the only sanctuary for birds, reptiles and mammals in a packed city like ours. Delhi has seven biodiversity parks and they are important.

Yamuna Biodiversity Park
Spread across 9770 hectares on the Yamuna river front, Yamuna Biodiversity Park is one of the most favoured habitats of both migratory and resident birds. The park also works for the conservation of agricultural crops, groundwater and the availability of freshwater. Because of YBP, the erstwhile barren Yamuna floodplains have now been restored and made suitable for both plants and animals. The park gets over 200 species of birds, 75 species of butterflies, 10 species of snakes and mammals like porcupine, Indian civet, wild boars and nilgai. The park is located in Jagatpur Khadar, Yamuna floodplains.

Aravali Biodiversity Park

This park in Gurgaon is spread over 153.7 hectares, near Guru Dronacharya Metro Station. It is one of the restored parks, now complete with walking trails, plant nursery, over 300 species of plants, over 185 species of birds and a number of mammals and reptiles. Aravali Biodiversity Park is one of the best birding hotspots in the region with a number of migratory birds flocking the region during winter. Here one can find animals like Bengal monitor, common palm civet, Indian grey mongoose, golden jackal, Indian hare, and many others.  

Neela Hauz Biodiversity Park
Located on the South Central Delhi Ridge of Aravali Range, right next to Sanjay Van, Neela Hauz Biodiversity Park is not very vast in terms of area, measuring only upto 3.90 hectares. Neela Hauz, primarily a freshwater lake, is a restored wetland which is now home to over 70 species of migratory as well as resident birds.

Kamla Nehru Biodiversity Park
Also known as Northern Ridge Biodiversity Park, Kamla Nehru Biodiversity Park measures upto 87 hectares and is on the Northern Aravali leopard wildlife corridor. The park is located near Delhi University.

Tilpath Valley Biodiversity Park
The park measures upto 172 acre and falls under the South Delhi Ridge. It is a part of Northern Aravali leopard wildlife corridor. At present the biodiversity park has tens of thousands of trees of more than 105 species, which was not the case just a few years ago. The park was earlier a barren land, with sand quarries, dead waterbodies and no forest cover. Thousands of volunteers and saplings later, the park has become one of the green pockets in Delhi.

Tughlakabad Biodiversity Park
The park is spread across an area of over 200 acres and falls under Southern Ridge. It consists of the Tughlakabad fort and the lake area. A lot of sewage water treatment has been done in the park along with the restoration of lake area to attract birds and animals.

**South Biodiversity Park: This is going to be the 7^th biodiversity park in the city. Plans to redevelop the 115 hectares of sewage are going on at present. The area lies just behind Kalindi Colony on the bank of Yamuna River.