A green-collared job
Malini Bhupta, India Today
February 28, 2008
http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=1&task=view&id=5164&sectionid=24&issueid=43&latn=2

Introduction: A teacher turns barren land into a biodiversity park and shows the way to fight global warming

Be it the biting cold in Mumbai this winter or the dastardly floods of 2005, global warming is making its presence felt. Even as governments pay lip service to the need to retain the earth’s green cover, individuals continue to prove that every single effort counts. Like Hector Andrade’s. Head of department in philosophy at the Mahindra United World College of India (MUWCI), Pune, Andrade decided to transform a barren 170-acre campus into a flourishing green area.

Working on a budget of Rs 1 crore, his venture led to the birth of a biodiversity park, that houses thousands of species of flora and fauna. Called the Van Vihar Biodiversity Park, MUWCI aims to make it a model oasis in a world where green spaces are shrinking.

The project was launched in June 2006 when Andrade began by first building 800-metre-long trails and pathways. Under this project, 30,000 trees were planted within the first six months. The park also has a bird and a tree trail, where people can see some 120 varieties of trees of local origin. Inaugurating the park on February 9, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, “As the ominous shadow of global warming looms large over us, creative venture such as this are the need of the hour.”

The geodesic dome in the park houses 150 species of succulents

The park now seeks to become a template for individual initiatives at greening the earth. Apart from creating a green lung in what was a barren piece of land, the park will also have a beneficial impact on the surrounding community. Along with the college campus, the biodiversity project also includes the regeneration of a 250-acre forest on a hilltop close by. The efforts is to restore streams and preserve soil in order to lead to better crop production in the fields below. This is being hailed as the park’s best benefit as it will go a long way in restoring the forest ecosystem.

This park will also make the college campus more self-sufficient over the next 10 years as with dams, reservoirs and conservation of rainwater, the water table is expected to increase in the area. At present the biodiversity park has around 800 species of flora, including trees, climbers, grasses and shrubs. The fauna comprises 130 varieties of birds, 160 varieties of moths, 60 species of butterflies and 30 of animals. “As we started greening the area, which was earlier barren, many species started coming back here. In 10 years, this will be a large forest with many species of fauna,” says Andrade. He has shown the way, now all he needs are followers.