Yamuna banks on biodiversity

Nature's repository

The Ecological Park has wetlands teeming with 19 kinds of fish and resident and migratory aquatic birds throughout the year.

It is a miracle waiting to be explored in a far corner of Delhi. The Yamuna Biodiversity Park in Wazirabad in North Delhi, 457-acres of nature’s reserve, has been especially created to replicate the lost ecosystems of the Yamuna river.

Once a barren land, where village boys used to play cricket, it now houses wetlands and forests, sheltering over 1500 plants, insects, birds, fish and mammal species. In a concrete jungle like Delhi, it is nothing less than an oasis of unending green, created painstakingly.

Conceptualised and built by a team of very hardworking scientists in less than a decade’s time, Nature, if left to itself, probably would have taken a millennia to do the same. Dr Faiyaz A Khudsar, wildlife biologist and scientist-in-charge at the park, says, “When we were granted this land in 2002, it was highly saline. It took a lot of research, planting the right kind of grasses, leguminous plants etc. to restore its pH balance. Today, we have grasslands, forests, wetlands, orchards, herbal gardens and even a butterfly garden in full bloom.”

A vast expanse of the park is grassland. The major species of grasses here include dharba desmostachya bipinnata, khus vetiveria zizanioides, dichanthium annulatum, chrysopogon, leptochloa, sporobolus and bothriochloa. These harbour a variety of insects such as mantis, grasshoppers and beetles, grassland birds such as munias and prinias and animals like skinks, snakes, mongoose and hares.

Besides grasslands, an impressive 30 different forest types exist in the park. These include riparian, tropical dry deciduous, tropical thorn, scrub forest communities and salt bushland. These harbour their own typical trees and consequently a host of terrestrial birds and animals like parakeets, bulbuls, peafowls, nilgais and wild boars have made it as their home. At night time a number of nocturnal birds and animals like owls, bats, jungle cats, small Indian vivets and Indian porcupine can also be spotted.

A major attraction are the wetlands teeming with 19 kinds of fishes and resident and migratory aquatic birds throughout the year. 16 migratory water bird species like ferruginous pochard, common pochard, northern shoveler and northern pintail visit the park annually.

This park is the only known wintering home for the red crested pochard - a Siberian bird with a red head and an orange beak. These wetlands also support dragonflies and damselflies called winged biological control agents. “These are vital to an ecosystem as they help control harmful insects like mosquitoes,” Faiyaz explains.

Birds need fruits and the park has taken care to build a large fruit tree plantation. These include ber, phalsa, khirni, eight types of pomegranate, six kinds of sapota and guava and seven varieties of citrus fruits. A beautiful addition to the park is a butterfly conservatory.

The park proudly hosts a garden of the most magnificent colourful flowers which attract over 60 species of butterflies like the common castor, peacock pansy, lime butterfly and common silverline. Dr Faiyaz says, “We are in the process of developing a 300 acre second phase of the park as well which would host only wetlands with birds. We welcome all nature lovers to come and behold this wonder. It is a lifetime experience.”