WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY?

Biodiversity is the variety and differences among living organisms from all sources ,including terrestrial, marine, and other
aquatic ecosystem sand the ecological complexes of which they area part. It Is virtually synonymous with “Life on earth”.

Levels or Types of Biodiversity

Biological diversity deals with the degree of nature’s variety in the biosphere. This variety can be observed at three levels.
• Community and Ecosystem diversity (different habitats, niches, species interactions)
• Species diversity (different kinds of organisms, relationships among species)
• Genetic diversity (different genes & combinations of genes within populations)
IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY
Value of biodiversity is
multifold.
It has become obvious that
the preservation of biological
resources is essential for the
well-being and the long-term
survival of mankind.

The preservation of
‘biodiversity’ is therefore
integral to any strategy that
aims at improving the quality
of human life.
THREATS ASSOCIATED WITH
BIODIVERSITY Ecosystem
change

Collection for
Invasive
zoo and
species
research

Threats
Pollution associated to Hunting
Biodiversity

Exploitation Deforestation

Accelerated
climate change
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
DEFINITION OF A BIODIVERSITY PARK

Biodiversity park is a unique landscape of wilderness where the ecological native species are assembled together
in the form of biological communities which are recreated and maintained over a degraded or marginal land.
Such a park aims to conserve the natural heritage in urban centers and also to enhance the quality of the
environment
It is an innovative and positive approach to conserve natural resources in urban and semi-urban areas.

SIGNIFICANCE OF BIODIVERSITY PARK

• Bio reserve • The loss of biological diversity is at grave threat

• Water replenish zone • To counter global climate change
• Dust trapper • Sustainable physical and social environment for improving quality of life
• Temperature regulator • Conservation and development of the natural features
• Regional park for the people • To protect the ground water recharge zones and enhace its capacity
CLASSIFICATION OF BIODIVERSITY PARK
The plans for biodiversity conservation have been developed by the WRI (World Resources Institute) and the IUCN
(International Union for Conservation of Nature) with support from World Bank and other institution.
Basically, the conservation plan should have a holistic approach and encompasses whole spectrum of biota and activities
ranging from ecosystems at the macro level to DNA libraries at the molecular level.
There are two approaches of biodiversity conservation namely in situ (on site) conservation which tries to protect the specie
where they are, i.e., in their natural habitat and ex situ (off site) conservation which attempts to protect and preserve a
species in place away from its natural habitat.
It is now recognized that ex situ techniques can be efficiently used to complement in situ methods, and they may represent the
only option for conserving certain highly endangered and rare species

Biodiversity
conservation

In situ conservation Ex situ conservation

oBotanical gardens
Seed bank
oHome gardens oZoological parks
National parks Wildlife sanctuary Biosphere reserves Field gene bank
Herbal gardens oAquaria
cryopreservation
oArboreta
IN SITU CONSERVATION
• In situ conservation methods pertain to conserving animals and plants in their natural habitats.
• It emphasizes the preservation and protection of total ecosystems at their original or natural environment.
• In natural environment, organisms not only live and multiply but also evolve
• There are different categories of protected areas which are managed with different objectives.
• The only disadvantage of in situ conservation is that it requires larger areas and minimizes the space for
inhibiting human population which is increasing tremendously.
These are legally constituted Similar to the National park, People are allowed to live,
National parks

Wildlife sanctuary

protected areas for
conserving both flora and
fauna of a region.
No human activity or
settlement allowed. Villagers
cannot graze their animals,
Extremely strict rules about
jungle produce collection.
a wildlife sanctuary is
dedicated to protect wildlife,
but it considers the
conservation of species only.
People are not allowed to
live , but some human
activities are allowed such as
grazing, firewood collection
Tourism is permitted
A sanctuary can be upgraded
as a national park. However a
national park cannot be
downgraded as a sanctuary.
Biosphere reserve
own private land on their
traditional activities
These reserves are rich in
biological and cultural
diversity
Biosphere reserves have
been described as
undisturbed natural areas for
scientific study as well as
areas in which conditions of
disturbance are under
control.

At present we have 11 major biosphere reserves, 80 National parks, 420 wildlife sanctuaries in our country
covering 4% of the geographic area.
EX SITU CONSERVATION
It involves cultivation of rare plants/rearing of threatened animals outside of their natural habitats and also holding of
plants and animal species in botanical and zoological gardens, and in arboretums or store them in the form of seeds in
seed bank (gene banks) or some other suitable forms by means of tissue cultures techniques.

The contributions that The contribution of A gene bank is a The role of aquaria

Gene Banks
Zoological parks

Aquariums
Botanical Gardens
zoos have already botanical gardens to facility/institution in the captive
made to the the conservation of where valuable plant
propagation of
conservation of species extends materials likely to
biodiversity are beyond the become irretrievably threatened
dramatic. preservation of lost in the wild or in freshwater species is
species threatened in cultivation can be significant
wild. Botanical preserved in viable
gardens supply plants condition. Gene banks
for research and conserve stocks of
horticulture, thereby both seeds and
reducing pressure on vegetative plant parts.
wild population.

At present we have 36 botanical gardens, 72 zoological parks, 16 gene banksin our country.
GOALS OF BIODIVERSITY PARKS
• To update India’s National Biodiversity Strategy
and Action Plan (NBSAP) 2008 by developing NBTs
in line with the Strategic Plan (SP) for Biodiversity
(2011-2020) and its 20 Aichi Targets.
• The “Addendum 2014 to NBAP 2008” contains the
details of 12 NBTs with associated indicators and
monitoring framework
• These NBT (National Biodiversity Targets) go hand
in hand with the SDG (Sustainable Development
Goals) of the UN to develop a sustainable
biodiversity in India.
BIODIVERSITY OF INDIA
BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS IN INDIA
1. Himalaya: Includes the entire Indian Himalayan region (and that falling in Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, China
and Myanmar)
2. 2. Indo-Burma: Includes entire North-eastern India, except Assam and Andaman group of Islands (and Myanmar,
Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and southern China)
3. 3. Sundalands: Includes Nicobar group of Islands (and Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines)
4. 4. Western Ghats and Sri Lanka: Includes entire Western Ghats (and Sri Lanka)

• India is one of 12 mega diversity countries of world.

• It has 47,000 species of plants and 81,000 species of animals.
• Many endemic plants and animals.
• Centre of origin of many flowering and crop plants.
• Great marine diversity due to 7500 km long coastline .
BIODIVERSITY OF
TAMILNADU
Biodiversity of the State
Tamil Nadu has a heterogeneous mosaic of vegetation that has resulted from the diverse topography, climate and
human influence. The 23,338 km2 of natural forests represent 9 of the 16 major forest types in India. The single
most dominant forest type is the tropical dry deciduous forest that covers an area of approximately 1.2 million ha
(i.e., 12,230 km2 or 54% of the natural forests in the state).

Protected Areas (PAs)

Tamil Nadu ranks 14th in the country for its land under protected areas (PA). The PAs of Tamil Nadu extend over
4,578 km2 comprising 3.5% of the geographical area and 20.0% of the recorded forest area. The state has also
declared one tiger reserve, three elephant reserves and three biosphere reserves. The Point Calimere Wildlife
Sanctuary is the only Ramsar site in the state.

Biodiversity Conservation in Tamil Nadu

The Western Ghats, together with Sri Lanka, is one of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots. Hotspots are defined as
regions where 75% of the planet’s most threatened mammals, birds and amphibians survive within habitat
covering just 2.3% of the Earth’s surface1. By definition, this means that the Western Ghats/Sri Lanka hotspot
holds at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (> 0.5% of the world’s total) as endemics; and that it has lost at least
70% of its original habitat due to the impact of human activities. Such is the importance of the Western Ghats that
the Government of India has recently (2010) nominated it for inclusion in the World Heritage List
 WHY VELLORE
NEEDS A
BIODIVERSITY
Brief history of vellore
The geographical area of the Vellore District is about 6077sq. Km in which

PARK
Vellore Forest Division covers an extent of 1002.722 sq.Km (100272.22
Ha.) and this division comprises 7 territorial ranges namely Vellore, Arcot,
Gudiyatham, Odugathur, Amirdhi, Pernampet.

Now the Vellore district has been divided into 7 taluks, 24

blocks, 753 panchayats and 842 villages.

•  Vellore city is headquarters of Vellore district in the

North of Tamil Nadu.
• Palar River passes through the city and the city is
located close to the forested slope of Eastern
• The Vellore and Palamathi reserved forest areas are
located on the eastern side of the town. The southern
and western sides of the town are mostly plain
agricultural lands. 

This division comprises 60 Reserved Forests ranging from Scrub thorny

Forests to Semi Ever Green Forest. VELLORE FOREST MAP

ISSUES THAT VELLORE FACE WITH URBANISATION
LAND USE CHANGES IN VELLORE
Vellore is the third largest city of Tamil Nadu State after Chennai and
Kancheepuram having large population facing the severe congestion
and pollution problems
Analysis shows that urban area has been increased more in
2015 (26.46%) than in 1977 (1.93%) which will further be
increased by 37.58% in 2035. Interestingly, it predicts that
agricultural land and crop land will be increased by 433.77 km2
and 113.4 km2 subsequently in future.
Vellore district is gaining its importance
gradually with the announcement from
Government of India (GOI) for enlisting
the Vellore city in the panel of smart city
This has facilitated the population
growth in the study area during recent
time which has direct impact on rapid
urbanization
Vellore district is now growing with its
increasing population. Cities expansion
has taken place on agricultural land.
 TEMPERATURE INCREASE IN VELLORE
Increasing urbanization in Vellore, Tamilnadu creates a
serious anthropogenic pressure resulting rapid change in
land cover in recent time. Changing land use condition
affects surface temperature. The relationship between
surface temperature and land cover types has been
studied for Vellore district
Vellore district lies in the northern part of Tamilnadu, a
southern state of India which is under sub-tropical
climate with average high temperature and low rainfall
with increasing population.
PALAR ISSUES
Tamil Nadu takes the lead in the total number of
tanneries in India. About 60% of the national tanning
factories and 6% of the global tanning factories are
located in this State.
Out of this 449 units are located in the Vellore district,
particularly in the Palar Basin
The impact of tannery waste water disposal leads to
environmental as well as social disharmony of the
society and also acts as a major industrial pollution
source that the country faces today.
Pollutants from a large number of tanneries have caused
a considerable amount of damage to water in river
courses by affecting water supply and agricultural
productivity.
INCREASED TOURISM AND
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PRESSURE
Vellore is already renowned for its Medical Tourism (CMC) and Heritage Tourism (Golden Temple, Fort etc.).
Heritage: The city and the periphery areas also has a number of iconic spots for tourism such as Vellore Fort, Golden
Temple, Government Museum, Science Park, Vainu Bappu Observatory, Amirthi Zoological Park & Yelagiri Hills. The
city already sees an average tourist footfall of 2.2 Lakh people which is steadily increasing at a rate of 3%.

Jagalampari
Crocodile park Jawadhu hills Vellore fort
waterfalls

Vainu bappu
Amirthi zoo Yelagiri hills Golden temple
observatory
 MEDICINAL PLANTS OF VELLORE

A qualitative ethanobotanical survey was carried out among the local Irula tribals of Kalavai village,
Vellore district, Tamil Nadu, to study the various medicinal plants that are used by the people for the
treatment of common ailments such as fever, cold, cough, diabetes, jaundice, diarrhea, rheumatism,
snake bite, and headache, in order to evaluate the potential medicinal uses of local plants.

Several plants were found to be effective in curing asthma,

skin disease, headache, wound healing, cough, cancer,
fever, cold, rheumatism, hepatitis, diarrhea, paralysis,
dyspepsia, ulcers, dysentery, tumors, some viral infections
and scorpion bite. Conservation and cultivation of these
plants is essential for sustainig the medicinal and cultural
resource of mankind.

1). Species such as Marsilea minuta L, Momordica

charantia L and Syzygium cumini L are used to cure
diabetes. Plants like Abutilon indicum and Azadirachta
indica are used to manage leprosy.
Reserve forest surrounding agaramcheri
Ex situ conservation surrounding agaramcheri
FEASIBILITY INFERENCE

The proposal of an ex situ biodiversity park with

*Gene bank- which solves the need of quality seeds for farmers, research of the
same.

*Botanical garden- which counters the conservation of loss of endangered plant

species.

*Herbal garden- which encourages the ethnobotanical species cultivation and

education and also efficient utility of its medicinal qualities for the community as
well as the people of the state.

An ex situ biodiversity park with above mentioned conservations as well as a

recreational facilities with educational program at this park would boost the natural
heritage tourism as emphasized by the smart city mission.
Location of Yamuna
biodiverstiy park
• This park is located close to
river Yamuna, jharpda,
Wazirabad.
• Actually 1 km away from the
main stream of yamuna but
still in its basin
• For developing this park two
strategies were adopted
• Physical and biological
intervention
AIM OF YAMUNA BIODIVERSITY
PARK
• To protect and sustain the natural
biodiversity of delhi
• To protect the natural drainage of river
Yamuna in delhi
• To provide regional level open and
green spaces
• To protect the ground recharge xones
like river Yamuna and ridge
Importance of
Yamuna
biodiversity park
• Emerging as the capital’s most visited place
• Prominent centre for learning and
understanding the environment
• Home for biologically rich wetlands,
grassland communities
• Awide variety of fruit yielding species and
an abundance of medicinal herbs
• The park also comprises a native flora and
fauna which used to exist a 100 years ago
and then became locally extinct
IMPORTANT FEATURES OF THE
SITE
• Structure and composition is done in
such a way to give it a natural view
and environment.
• Different species of grass and shrubs
were planted for soil better holding
and for increasing biomass.
• Different ecosystems such as
deciduous forest ,evergreen forest,
subtropical evergreen, moist tropical
deciduous forest.
INTERVENTIONS
PHYSICAL BIOLOGICAL
INTERVANTION INTERVENTION
• To deal with localized flooding • Biological inputs for improving
terrain was modified by creating habitat quality
wetlands and marshes • Farmyard manure,
• Mounds were created for vermicompost, leafmould etc
leaching soil of excess salt and were provided
make niches for biodiversity. • Leguminous species and some
other characteristic grass were
introduced
 The Aravalli Biodiversity Park (ABP)

The Aravalli Biodiversity Park (ABP) is being developed on 699 acres of land located at northwest
of Vasant Vihar.

The area is highly degraded due to past mining and infested with Prosopis juliflora (Vilayati
kikar).
The biodiversity of Delhi is nearly extinct.

The prime objective of ABP is to bring back the lost biodiversity of Delhi Aravallis.

The other objective of ABP is to promote of nature education among students and create
environment awareness among the public
Neela Hauz is a natural depression and was used to receive the entire drainage from the surrounding forests
and used to supply drinking water to South Delhi at one time. It was filled up with solid wastes leaving small
depression which used to receive untreated sewage from surrounding colonies. By 2014, the lake was
occupied by water hyacinths and other water weeds. Gradually, raw sewage seeped in and parts of the lake
got encroached.
To restore the Lake into its original state, the Lake was desilted and the desilted material was used for
landscaping around the Lake. The raw sewage and raw sewage + treated sewage that used to enter Neela
Hauz and then into Sanjay Van and finally to river Yamuna, now is purified by passing through constructed
wetland system with zero energy.

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.