Conservation of Urban Biodiversity in India

Biodiversity refers to the diversity of life forms on Earth. It is also a measure of variety and variability at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels. Biodiversity provides a range of ecosystem services (Cultural, Provisioning, Regulating and Supporting), which are responsible for the existence and well-being of all
life forms.
Often the term biodiversity is understood in the context of forests and rural areas. However, biodiversity exists much beyond these areas. Urban biodiversity (or the biodiversity existing in urban areas) is a critical component of the biodiversity that exists on Earth. The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity refers to urban nature as the remnants of natural landscapes, traditional agricultural landscapes and urban–industrial landscapes.
One of the first publications that brought out the significance of urban biodiversity is the Cities and Biodiversity Outlook (2010). Co-developed by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, the report provides a global assessment of the links between Urbanization, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Services. As the world moves towards higher proportion of urbanised areas, the significance of urban biodiversity is going to increase further.
The fact that urban biodiversity plays a significant role in India as well is highlighted from the fact that the Draft National Forest Policy, 2018 of the Government of India includes a section on urban biodiversity (Box 1).
The legislative framework in India also supports the mainstreaming and governance of urban biodiversity. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002, enacted to meet the obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity, supports the preservation of biological diversity in India, and provides mechanism for equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of traditional biological resources and knowledge. Under the Act, formation of Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) is mandated at the local level (urban local body or panchayat, the respective urban and rural local level administrative entities). One of the primary functions of the BMC is development of the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR). The PBR contains comprehensive information on availability and knowledge of local biological resources, their medicinal or any other use or any other traditional knowledge associated with them in that region. They serve as baseline data for future management strategies required for the sustainable utilization of biodiversity in a decentralized manner.
Smart Cities Mission, a more recent initiative of the Government of India also lays emphasis on blue-green infrastructure – development, planning and maintenance of the same. It has been seen that in most of the Smart City proposals, nature-based solutions and conservation of urban biodiversity has been in-built in the area based as well as the pan-city initiatives that were proposed and are now in various stages of implementation. The fact that the Government of India wants to mainstream urban biodiversity conservation into urban planning is reflected in the fact that urban biodiversity is one of the five sectors that comprise the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF). It consists of 28 indicators across five thematic areas, namely: Energy and Green Buildings; Urban Planning, Green Cover and Biodiversity; Mobility and Air Quality; Water Management; Waste Management.
The framework serves as a tool for cities to assess their present climate situation and provides a roadmap for cities to adopt and implement climate actions to help mainstream resilience and conserve nature.
Several cities in India have started championing the cause of urban biodiversity and are serving as the pioneers in this field. Cities in India are now focussing on developing green cover maps, city biodiversity index, PBR, Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (refer Box 2). There is a significant focus on increasing the green cover in cities and several techniques like restoration of degraded sites, development of urban forests through Miyawaki technique, development of open spaces and undertaking avenue plantations with a focus on native species. Initiatives focused on conservation of urban biodiversity are being budgeted for by cities in their annual municipal budgets as well. Efforts that cities are taking to conserve urban biodiversity need to be appreciated. These could also be in designating select urban biodiversity parks as “Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs)” that India is now trying to designate to expand its conservation estate. However, this is just the beginning. Extensive trainings and capacity building activities need to be carried out for officials of the urban local bodies in order to ensure integration of biodiversity conservation and use of nature-based solutions in urban planning. Awareness generation of all stakeholders – ranging from officials of the urban local bodies and other line departments to the urban citizens on the existing biodiversity, the ecosystem services provided by them and the need to conserve the same needs to be effectively carried out. Inadequacy of financial resources invariably acts as a bottleneck. To overcome the same, convergence needs to be mapped from all existing schemes. There is also a need to initiate a process of coordinated inter-departmental planning and implementation at the urban local body level. One of the most effective ways of ensuring conservation of urban biodiversity is to highlight the connect between human health and the biodiversity. The recent Covid pandemic has amply shown the connect between health, food security, overall human wellbeing with urban biodiversity.
As we continue to develop further, we need to move towards sustainable development that integrates biodiversity conservation and urban planning. This will help to undertake climate resilient, low carbon, sustainable urban development in all urban cites
across India.

The legislative framework in India also supports the mainstreaming and governance of urban biodiversity. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002, enacted to meet the obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity, supports the preservation of biological diversity in India, and provides mechanism for equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of traditional biological resources and knowledge