Category: Urban Green
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Saving the Remnants
Vijaylakshmi Suman Recently, the Haryana government moved a bill to amend the 118-year-old Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) – a law which inhibits construction activities in large sections of the Aravalli’s. While the PLPA is not applicable to those areas falling under Master Plans, the bill allows the continued existence of those unauthorised constructions that…
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After-effects of a Thousand Feet
Vipin Kumar The mineral and nutrient-rich uppermost layer of the earth’s crust that supports almost all lifeforms in the terrestrial environment is known as soil. It is formed by the slow and continuous weathering of rocks by various physical (thunderstorm & cracks by water freeze), chemical (atmospheric chemicals) and biological (plants & microbial growth) factors.…
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The Grass is Greener on Every Side
Amit Kaushik Soils are known to have enormous seed banks and there are some long-lived seeds which patiently wait to sprout until the seed dormancy period has passed. However, in an area where wetlands have been drained and cultivated for more than 10-15 years, seeds in the seed bank die and may not be able…
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Green Spaces in the Urban
By Fizala Tayebulla Keywords: Urban Green Space, Urban Park, Human-Environment Relation, Urbanization Under the ambit of urban green space- urban public park or a metropolitan park is a green and open space in cities that offer recreation to residents and visitors. Urban parks are typically maintained by the government on a local level but may…
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Urbanization: Fate of Ecosystem and Native Flora
Vipin Kumar Urban development for the provisioning of shelter to the ever-increasing population transforms agricultural land into concrete jungles, and forests into agricultural land, thereby causing habitat degradation and fragmentation. This increases the extinction rate of wild flora and fauna several folds. This geographical landscape disturbance also results in nutrient cycle disturbance and accumulation of…
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Going, going, gone: Deepor Beel
By Fizala Tayebulla Deepor Beel (‘Beel’ meaning a lake-like wetland with static water in Assamese) is an emblematic wetland found within Burma Monsoon Forest biogeographic region (Saikia et al, 2014). Declared in 2002, Deepor Beel is the only Ramsar site in Assam and is a permanent fresh water lake. It is an oxbow lake located…
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Threatened Wetland Ecology: Impact of Over-fertilization and Non-point Sources
Vipin Kumar Wetlands are highly productive, water-saturated areas having life adapted under these conditions. Swamps, marshes, estuaries, and bogs are all examples of wetlands. They act as a sponge to control flood, recharge groundwater and filter nutrients. They also offer habitats to different native flora and fauna, and breeding spaces to migratory birds. In addition…
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To Restore or not to Restore!
Vijaylakshmi The importance and need of ecological restoration has been discussed over and over again. It is one tool that assists in the recovery of an ecosystem that has either been degraded, damaged or destroyed. Where humans are considered to be agents of exploiting nature, ecological restoration is considered to be a technical task to…
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Alien in the Forest
By Sonali Chauhan “If a forest isn’t replacing itself, it’s a garden. Just standing back and letting trees grow is not going to work.” – Dr. Robert J. Warren Delhi, the capital of India, enjoys a special place in history. Situated on the alluvial plain of Yamuna, it is a unique landscape. To the south-west…
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Chasing Rains
Amit Kaushik It all started with pitching a tent! According to objectives of the Dheerpur Wetland Park (DWP) project, massive on-site plantation was to be carried out in the monsoon of 2016. However, when the first rains of the season did arrive, we were slightly unprepared for plantation. To begin with, we did not have…