See native plants, their branching, flowering and fruiting as part of one of its kind study happening in town—the annual plant mapping activity at the Aravali Biodiversity Park, Gurugram. The mapping activity is conducted by ecologist Vijay Dhasmana.

Following massive protests and public outcry, the NHAI is examining alternatives to the two proposed link road projects which involved building a road through the Aravalli Biodiversity Park. And this is your chance to join a fun activity and volunteer from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm.

Ecologist Vijay Dhasmana, along with Gurugram resident Gunjan Pant carrying out the plant mapping activity at Aravalli Biodiversity Park.

“Forest comes in different shapes and compositions. When we started the Aravalli Biodiversity park, there was no model in Aravalli where we could pick up things saying this is how we have to re-wild the mining site in order to make into an Aravalli forest. We have tried to get eight kinds of forest kinds peculiar to northern Aravallis in the Aravalli Biodiversity Park while we were rewilding it. We wanted to check how different species are interacting with each other, which are becoming more successful, those that are not doing so well. This gives us a clear indication of what species we should promote. All the data will come out from mapping,” says Dhasmana.

Data on the how plants are adapting to the surroundings is gathered in the drive.

Expanding on the mapping process, he adds: “We have created 12 plots, each of an hectare. We record the height and girth of the plants species. Over the years we get growth data of these species.Also,mapping gives us data on carbon that gets sequestered through our dry deciduous forests in NCR.It is also an effort to involve community to conduct scientific study.”

The 12 plots will be covered in about 2 months.And once the baseline data are published the team will open the research findings to various researchers from universities to conduct independent studies on vegetation and other life forms.

Priti Sanwalka, a Gurugram resident, says: “It’s nice to be out in the park in this lovely weather. You are able to co-relate the way it foliages, the way it grows and how it is behaving in nature. One is able to identify if the vegetation is dried up or if the tree is still there.”

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First Published: Jan 02, 2019 13:54 IST