Pune city is blessed with numerous hills.
These hills have tropical wet and dry climate. Hills of Pune are green islands with
urbanization all around them. Bhamburda is one of the highest hill range in the
city. Bhamburda is a huge platue with dry deciduous vegetation, grass patches
and intermittent water bodies. Vetal hill and ARAI hill are part of Bhamburda
range.
Bhamburda
Forest Garden is developed under Joint Forest Management Projects of Pune Municipal Corporation and Forest Department. It is developed under Central Government's Urban Green Mission Programme.
Total area of Bhamburda forest garden is
62 acres. Bhamburda forest
garden was developed to restore and enrich the greenery of Bhamburda hill by
means of conservation measures and providing protection from illegal
encroachment of the hill.
Bhamburda hill attracts daily walkers and
bird watchers throughout the year. The walk way or a small trail has been
developed for the visitors. An open exhibit with models of environmental
components has been developed along the trail. This exhibit has models of leopard,
ant hill, beehive, tree stump showing growth rings, etc. to create
environmental awareness.
Green areas in urban landscape provide
shelter for urban biodiversity & provide other ecological services such as
soil conservation, water recharging, pollination services etc. Conservation of such areas is of utmost
importance when more and more urbanization is disturbing the ecological
balance.
FORREST
conducted ecological assessment to generate biodiversity baseline data for
Bhamburda Forest garden. Seasonal surveys were performed to gather data for
biodiversity richness and role of community participation in the conservation.
Total 51
acres, of the Bhamburda range, was studied in the project.
Inventories
of mammals, birds, butterflies, insects, amphibians, reptiles were
prepared.
Flora
Assessment outcome shows that area has rich floral diversity with four flora
species which are endemic to India.
Lower part of
the forest garden has native trees such as Boswellia
serrata, Cassia siamea, Azadirachta indica and Morinda
pubescence. Upper part of hill has plantation of Glyricidia sepium , an exotic species.
Faunal
assessment shows that area has moderate bird and butterfly diversity.
Lower part of the hill has greater bird and insect diversity. Upper part of
hill has negligible bird and insect diversity.
Bhamburda is also known for its peafowl
population.
People’s participation in conservation is an important
aspect of Bhamburda Forest Garden. It illustrates that people’s
participation is a crucial component of sustainability and success of
conservation program.
Green areas play a vital
role in the urban spaces by acting as green lungs & supporting
biodiversity that depends on these habitats for their survival. Conservation of
these green pockets helps in sustaining urban biodiversity and mitigate
pollution.
Visitors act as vigilant here in
Bhamburda. They not only keep watch on area but actively participate in
conservation of plants. They help fill water tanks and earthen water pots kept
in the forest area for wildlife. Visitors also water planted saplings
regularly.
