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Delhi leads in development of seven biodiversity parks
Delhi has been found to be the only city in India to have as high as seven biodiversity parks. These parks span a total of 820 hectares and include Aravalli Biodiversity Park (280 ha), Yamuna Biodiversity Park (185 ha), Neela Hauz Biodiversity Park (3.88 ha), Tilpath Valley Biodiversity Park (70 ha), Tughlaqabad Biodiversity Park (81 ha), Northern Ridge Biodiversity Park (87 ha) and South Delhi Biodiversity Park (113.3 ha).
All the biodiversity parks have been developed by restoring degraded lands and were created with funding from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in collaboration with Delhi University’s Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems (CEMDE) (Mongabay, India).
India conducts its first ever survey of dolphins across eight states
The first-ever comprehensive survey of river dolphins in India has found that there are an estimated 6,327 dolphins in the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Indus river basins.
The survey was done across 28 rivers across eight states of the country stretching over 8,507 km. Majority of the dolphins were found in Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar and West Bengal.
India has two species of freshwater dolphins namely, the Ganges (Platanista gangetica) and Indus (Platanista minor), which serve as bio-indicators of healthy river ecosystems. Both dolphins are classified as Endangered and listed as Schedule I species under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (Down To Earth).
Seventy seven districts in India experience gully erosion, a form of land degradation
A recent study has found that India experiences gully erosion in 77 of its districts, 70 percent of which are in eastern and southern India. Gully erosion can lead to land degradation. Prolonged gully erosions produce deeply dissected landscapes known as ‘badlands’, which affect agricultural productivity negatively and trigger water stress and droughts.
The aim of the study was to create a first detailed spatial inventory of gully erosion in India through mapping the location, extent and management conditions of gully erosion features using high-resolution satellite imagery and identify provinces that are in need of rehabilitative intervention (Down To Earth).
Amphibians most at-risk to climate induced temperature changes: Study
Amphibians are the world's most at-risk vertebrates and being ectothermic i.e. having the capacity to regulate their body heat by external sources, they are particularly vulnerable to temperature changes in their habitats. However, the resilience of amphibians to rising temperatures has been poorly understood.
In a recent study, scientists used 2,661 heat tolerance limit estimates from 524 amphibian species to generate heat tolerance limits for 5,203 amphibian species.The study found that 104 out of 5,203 species are already exposed to overheating in shaded terrestrial conditions and a 4°C global temperature increase could push 7.5 percent of species beyond their physiological limits (Phys.org)
India’s North East experiences rapid loss of forest cover
The northeastern states of India characterised by lush green forests that harbour rich biodiversity and are governed by local communities that sharea special relationship with nature.. However, recent figures show that the region has lost 327 square kilometres of forest and tree cover in the last two years. Vast tracts of dense forests are now becoming open forests or ‘scrub’, with portions turning into ‘non forests’.
Development projects, illegal felling, encroachment, plantations, forest fires, jhum cultivation, lack of dedicated conservation efforts have been found to have contributed to this deterioration. The reduced safeguards provided by the Forest Rights Act could further worsen this deterioration as it would no longer be mandatory to seek consent from the community, warn experts. They also stress on the need for better quality data that relies more on ground-truthing and less on satellite imagery (IndiaSpend).
This is a roundup of news updates from 1st March to 15th March 2025. Also read our policy updates here.