Biodiversity Initiatives for Pimpri Chinchwad City

Terracon Ecotech assisting PCMC, employing crucial tools for biodiversity conservation in the urbanized city of Pimpri Chinchwad

Service Provided

People's Biodiversity Register (PBR)

City Biodiversity Index (CBI) Analysis

Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (LBSAP) Development

Sectors

Municipal Corporation

Introduction

In a transformative collaboration with the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), Terracon Ecotech led a six-month initiative, spanning from September 2018 to March 2019, to champion biodiversity conservation through the implementation of crucial tools – People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR), City Biodiversity Index (CBI), and Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (LBSAP). These tools not only documented the city’s baseline biodiversity features but also formulated comprehensive strategies for its preservation and enhancement.

Project Description

Pimpri Chinchwad, known as the city of excellence, comprises the twin cities of Pimpri and Chinchwad under the governance of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC). With an area of 177.3 sq. km (excluding Defense Areas), the city is highly urbanized, posing a threat to existing natural areas. To address this, the PCMC has undertaken measures to safeguard biodiversity, managing 164 gardens covering 166.34 hectares, notably including Bird Valley and PCMC Paryavaran Sanskar Udyan.

Concerns had arisen about the prevalence of exotic species over indigenous ones in these green spaces, prompting efforts to balance landscaping with native plantations. Recognizing the need for a comprehensive strategy, PCMC adopted a local biodiversity approach, incorporating the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR), City Biodiversity Index (CBI), and Local Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (LBSAP).

The PBR and CBI serve as crucial tools to document the city’s biodiversity baseline and pinpoint areas requiring conservation. The LBSAP provides a roadmap, detailing action plans, responsible agencies, cost estimates, and expertise for implementing biodiversity conservation strategies.

The CBI serves as a self-assessment tool, analyzing Pimpri Chinchwad across Native Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services, and Governance and Management components. The LBSAP aligns with global sustainability goals, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Aichi targets, as well as Millennium Development Goal No. 7, emphasizing environmental sustainability.

PCMC has emerged as a pioneering example for metropolitan regions, endorsing the periodic adoption of LBSAP for enhanced conservation (recommended every 5 years). The proposed strategies encompass habitat conservation, ecological considerations in development, ecosystem restoration, and the creation of biodiversity parks. PCMC sets a benchmark for other cities, contributing to achieving national biodiversity targets, specifically the goal of restoring at least 30 percent of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and marine ecosystems by 2030.

Methodology

The People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) (based on the guidelines issued by National Biodiversity Authority) and City Biodiversity Index (CBI) helped document the city’s baseline biodiversity features and in the identification of focus areas for biodiversity conservation.

And with the help of LBSAP we develop a plan to address the low score indicators, using CBI to develop LBSAP with an holistic approach. And concluded with detailed action plans for each strategy with implementation areas, responsible agencies, cost estimates and expertise required. Thus, a detailed report was formed for enhancing biodiversity and CBI scores.

Our methodology involved utilizing the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) in accordance with guidelines from the National Biodiversity Authority, along with the City Biodiversity Index (CBI), to catalogue the city’s baseline biodiversity features and identify focal areas for biodiversity conservation. Leveraging the Local Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (LBSAP), we devised a comprehensive plan to address low-scoring indicators identified through the CBI assessment. This approach integrated the CBI findings to develop LBSAP in a holistic manner. The process culminated in the formulation of detailed action plans for each strategy, outlining implementation areas, responsible agencies, cost estimates, and required expertise. Consequently, a comprehensive report was generated to enhance biodiversity and improve CBI scores.

Outcome

Adoption of the LBSAP at regular 5-year intervals for maintaining PCMC’s unique biological diversity was recommended. The strategies mentioned to PCMC include conserving natural habitats in the city, incorporating an ecological perspective in development projects, restoration of degraded ecosystems, creation of biodiversity park and interpretation center, etc. With such initiative, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation ranked 1st in ‘Majhi Vasundhara Abhiyan 3.0’ in the state.