page_title: Delhi Ridge
section_title: Aravalli Biodiversity Park
hierarchical_section_title: Delhi Ridge / South-Central Ridge / Aravalli Biodiversity Park
caption_attribution_description: English: Northern Palm Squirrel or Five-striped Palm Squirrel (Funambulus pennantii) taken in Aravali Biodiversity Park, Delhi, India
context_page_description: Delhi Ridge, sometimes simply called The Ridge, is a ridge in the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. It lies in the Northern Aravalli leopard wildlife corridor. The ridge is a northern extension of the ancient Aravalli Range, some 1.5 billion years old. The ridge consists of quartzite rocks and extends from the Southeast at Tughlaqabad, near the Bhatti mines, branching out in places and tapering off in the north near Wazirabad on the west bank of the river Yamuna, covering a distance of about 35 kilometres.
  The Delhi Ridge acts as the green lungs for the city and protects Delhi from the hot winds of the deserts of Rajasthan to the west. It is also responsible for earning Delhi the tag of the world's second most bird-rich capital city, after Kenya's Nairobi.
context_section_description: Aravalli Biodiversity Park is an area spreading over 692 acres (2.80 km²) on the South Central Delhi Ridge within the Aravalli Range. The area is confined by JNU, Mehrauli-Mahipalpur road, NH-8, Vasant Kunj, Masoodpur, Palam road and the southern boundary of Vasant Vihar. DDA and DU, under the joint Biodiversity Parks Programme, maintain the area. Every year a substantial amount of money is spent in restoration, development and maintenance.
  The land under Aravalli Biodiversity Park was once a site for mining. Martha Shinde (Scindias) had a mining lease for the 2.3 km² area. They plundered out whatever they could. For years Shinde exploited forest resources including minerals, mica, sand, stone, rocks and water. Land, which once was covered with a dense forest, soon turned into pits and hillocks.
  Scientists from the Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems (CEMDE) of University of Delhi have so far reintroduced over 10 ecosystems with over 40 biotic communities. Portions of Aravalli, which come under Gujarat, are covered with natural dense forest. However, the land on which Aravalli Biodiversity Park is being developed, was devoid of such natural growth of forest due to extensive mining of the area. The CEMDE and DDA are reviving native flora and fauna of Aravalli hill ranges by planting of native species, such as dhau (Anogeissus pendula), dhak (Butea monosperma), babul (Acacia nilotica) and kair (Capparis decidua). A rangeland with native grasses has been developed and a systematic planting program is carried out and every year native trees and bushes are planted to remove unwanted weeds, i.e. Prosopis juliflora. 
  A conservatory of butterflies, orchidarium and fernery has been developed.
  The Aravali Biodiversity Park, Gurgaon, on Gurgaon-Delhi border, developed by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon, was inaugurated on 5 June 2010, World Environment Day.
caption: Northern Palm Squirrel in 'Aravalli Biodiversity Park', Delhi
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