International Biodiversity Day: Degraded Noida land turns botanical mosaic

IT was a degraded land with construction debris, tall grasses and a neglected wetland.

- NIVEDITA KHANDEKAR

A decade later, the Thematic Botanic Garden in Greater Noida is a biodiversity haven with birds, insect life and 3,000 plants, right from high altitude 'rudraksh' trees to cacti usually found in arid deserts.

Spread across 10 acres near the eastern boundary of the Shiv Nadar Institute of Excellence (IoE) campus, the garden is now home to 805 species of plants, birds, both resident and seasonal/migratory, insects and also nilgais, wild boars and porcupines.

"When this university was being built, the idea was to develop a garden where students and faculty can observe variety of plant species, can study them and can, in general, enjoy the environment," Sanjeev Galande, dean, School of Natural Sciences at the Shiv NadarIoE, a short drive from the national capital, told PTI.

The eco-restoration is the brainchild of then pro-chancellor Shikhar Malhotra and vice chancellor Rupanjali Ghosh. Assisting them was botanist Jyoti Sharma, who had earlier developed a similar thematic garden in Kerala.

Thus started a massive experiment of painstakingly converting a rocky site into a living lab. After the debris was removed, a 10-degree slope was created for natural flow of water.

Planting started in February 2015. Sharma travelled to various parts of India and collected vast numbers of plant species, many of them rare and endangered.

These include the barringtonia, baobab (kalpvriksha), Buddha coconut, camphor, chinar, Indian tree of heaven, fern leaf tree, fiddle-leaf fig, kattha, lemon-scented gum, magnolia, mahogany, mahua, red sandalwood, shikakai, reetha, singapore cherry, tea tree and four species of willow.