Kolkata Becomes First Metro City To Get Its Biodiversity Register

Kolkata is the first metro city in the country to prepare a detailed register of biodiversity, mayor Firhad Hakim said. Kolkata Municipal Corporation released the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR), a document with details about the floral and faunal varieties in the city as well as its land use and human activities. The document is prepared by the biodiversity management committee (BMC) of the civic body under the supervision of the state biodiversity board and with help from NGOs. Chandigarh and Indore are other important cities which have prepared the document.

Key points of the report:

The 520-page biodiversity register of Kolkata, a copy of which is with The Telegraph, has documented 138 species of trees,  26 types of Chinese vegetable, 33 species of medicinal plants and about 100 other plant species.

The report also documented around 290 animal species, including about 70 species of butterflies, 47 varieties of fish, 84 varieties of birds and 22 varieties of mammals, based on the data sourced from 144 wards in the city. The report covers hotspots such as the East Kolkata Wetlands and Rabindra Sarobar,” said Debasish Kumar, mayoral council member and also chairman of the city’s biodiversity management committee