ARAVALI BIO DIVERSITY

CONTENTS HOME GOAL CONSERVATION PROMOTING AWARENESS LIVING WORLD FEATURES

ABOUT ARAVALI BIO DIVERSITY PARK The Aravali are among the oldest mountain ranges having evolved about 1500 million years ago, and extend from Gujarat through Rajasthan to Haryana–Delhi. The spurs of the Aravali are popularly known as the Delhi Ridge in Delhi which is divided into the Northern, Central, South Central and Southern Ridge.

Goals of Biodiversity Parks The prime goal of the parks is conservation and preservation of ecosystems of the two major landforms of Delhi, the river Yamuna and the Aravali hills. They seek to conserve keystone species and other threatened plant and animal species, preserve the biodiversity of any habitat that is likely to be converted into urban infrastructure, establish field gene banks for threatened land races and wild genetic resources, promote education on environmental awareness and nature conservation, establish native communities of the

Conservation It is now well understood that the last century has seen unprecedented loss of ecosystems that flourished on the banks of river Yamuna, the shivalik foothills, and the northern limits of the Aravali. This has occurred primarily owing to habitat conversion and urbanization. The unique habitats in these areas harboured extraordinary diversity of flora and fauna, which are now either lost or highly diminished. One of the major objectives of the Biodiversity Parks is to create refugia for such biodiversity so that is can be conserved for posterity

Promoting Awareness In a short span of four years, more than 2000 species of plant and animals have been brought back in the form of biotic communities to the parks. But this is not enough. The exhaustive developments in Delhi in the form of urbanization, industrialization and pollution have led to rapid degradation

One way to bring about this change is through outdoor experiences and Biodiversity Parks with their rich flora and fauna are ideal instruments for promoting the conservation education that will ultimately have a positive impact on environmental quality and conservation ethics

The Parks intend to organize special training programs for youth and specially interested groups of individuals to make them aware of the ideology behind their establishment. Such trained persons will be designated “Friends of Biodiversity” and they will be in a real sense ambassadors of the parks working within the community at large and will be given special status for free entry and access to research and development activities.

To further spread the awareness, the Parks management has launched a quarterly newsletter entitled “Biodiversity” which aims at promoting a harmonious relationship between people and nature through:  The dissemination of information regarding different facets of biodiversity; Participation in the development of biodiversity parks and other green zones; and Educational programmes offered in the biodiversity parks.

Living world Biodiversity Parks contain myriad of life forms ranging from minute insects to large mammals and communities ranging from sub tropical evergreen forest to ravine thorn forest ecosystems.

G.D.GOENKA PUBLIC SCHOOL EAST DELHI Prepared by the students of Class VIII