Let’s share our city: How to house multiple species within urban India

Kulbhushan Suryawanshi is an ecologist with the

Nature Conservation Foundation

. His work on the protection of snow leopards won 2020’s Conservation Leadership Programme team award. Writing in

Times Evoke

, he now discusses ways to protect urban

biodiversity

:
One in three Indians lives in a city today. Our megacities are among the fastest growing urban locations in the world. Much has been said about developing Indian cities into ‘smart cities’ — but much more needs to be said about making these ecologically smart cities, where birds, insects, mammals and trees can thrive alongside human beings.

STORKS IN THE CITY: Hundreds of painted storks reside in the islands of

Jakkur Lake

located in urban Bengaluru. Photo courtesy: K Singh


When we think of biodiversity, cities are usually the last places that come to mind, but many actually provide habitat to multiple species. Take Delhi — it might surprise you to know that the capital city is home to nearly 500 species of birds. While our cities, once replete with open spaces and wetlands, started by being rich troves of biodiversity, urbanisation patterns are now causing a decline in the numbers and welfare of diverse species. This can change if we change how we design our cities.

THE OTHER APARTMENT COMPLEX: Sprawling trees offer multiple species a home. Photos: V Suri


Logically, cities with a higher percentage of green spaces, ponds and lakes have a higher number of birds. However, many of these habitats are now found only in the campuses of universities and schools. As per eBird, a global citizen science initiative, a higher number of bird species has been recorded in the campus of The

Valley School

in Bengaluru than in the Bannerghatta National Park, which is on the edge of the same city. A recent study in Delhi found that just 39 small (less than five hectare-sized) ponds in the city are home to over 173 species of birds — but these ponds and green spaces don’t enjoy the protection available to national parks and sanctuaries and often give way to poorly envisioned infrastructure. Protecting these from being built over can make an enormous difference to preserving multiple species.


Similarly, the sprawling old trees we can still spot across our cities shelter astonishing numbers of species, from chameleons to butterflies, tiny frogs and nimble squirrels to mighty hawks. Such trees shelter us as well — buildings surrounded by these are buffered from traffic’s sound pollution and numerous pollutants from urban industry. It makes sense therefore to take a leaf out of the urban designs of college and school campuses and prioritise and plan green spaces, lush with trees, across apartment complexes, IT parks and corporate buildings.

GOING NATIVE: Indigenous species, dotted across Bengaluru’s Soil Survey Institute, support biodiversity.
In recent efforts to encourage urban biodiversity, attention is being paid to lake and wetland development. Two years ago, a large package was announced to develop 59 lakes within the city of Bengaluru. Environmentalists welcomed this, particularly since the effort also aimed at reducing untreated sewage entering such waterbodies. But there is a flip side as well — such plans often come with packages for the ‘gardening’ of these spaces. This means native trees and vegetation get replaced with ornamental garden plants, which not only require higher maintenance but also lack the ability to support biodiversity. Urban development models should take into account the huge ecological services native species play, and the invasive potential of non-native species which can often damage biodiversity.

A good example to learn from is the Jala Poshan Trust, a citizens’ collective which partnered with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for the development of the Jakkur Lake. Working with scientists from the Indian Institute of Science and the Gandhi Krishi Vigyana Kendra (

University of Agricultural Sciences

), this group ensured a sewage treatment plant was developed as per the needs of the lake, the area was kept protected from encroachment and gardening endeavours with exotic species and lawns were restricted to a limited area, retaining significant space for a biodiversity zone with native vegetation. Our ideas of aesthetic urban spaces must be imbued with an ecological sensibility that encourages us to choose native trees and flowers over uniform green lawns, tree-front office spaces over glassfront cubicles and large trees to shade parking lots over tin sheets that heat them up. Prioritising local ecology over western aesthetics holds the key to protecting urban biodiversity.

Culturally as well, the conservation of biodiversity is a familiar idea for urban Indians. A study from Delhi found the city has one of the highest densities of black kites globally — this is thanks to the traditional practices of communities offering these birds food, resulting in the largest concentration of any raptor species in the world. Similarly, from ancient times, Indian grain merchants offered food to small birds like the house sparrow, which once abounded in our towns. Today, sparrows are declining, but only in cities and not in rural areas. Clearly, contemporary urban development should factor in our cultural sensibilities around sharing space with different species. Smart development should also be ecologically smart — if we delve into India’s cultural histories, we can find good examples of that.

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