Delhi’s Lost Native Flora and Fauna to be Revived

Delhi has lost some of its native flora and fauna due to urbanization and the intrusion of other species. Seeds are being acquired from other states to be planted in Delhi.

Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and the department of forest and wildlife have set up two new nurseries solely for the species of Aravali from Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) and Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI), Jodhpur will help in acquiring seeds. Workers will be trained by the experts to recover several native species that were lost from forests in Delhi and will train the staff on how these seeds must be handled.

In Tughlaqabad nurseries have been created on three hectares of land. Seeds that are crucial to Delhi will be taken care of in those nurseries as they will be well equipped with the required infrastructure. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana are the states from where the seed will be bought. Major attention is being given to the rare species. Every seed is not accessible in Delhi so specialists are getting them from different states.

Attention is being paid to fruit trees like gular, cluster fig and peepal. They will attract animals and birds which are the prime targets. Gular and peepal consist of buds and berries which will attract monkeys and squirrels.
Roheda, Kulu, Salai, Bilangada, Dhawda, and Gugglal are some of the seeds collected from another state. Until now 70 species have been collected and 10-12 are rare.