In a city better known for smog alerts and shrinking green cover, seven biodiversity parks across Delhi are quietly reshaping the urban landscape. Built on degraded floodplains and abandoned mining pits, these restored habitats now shelter hornbills, leopard geckos, jackals, and hundreds of butterfly species drawing up to 1,70,000 visitors annually while sparking debate over land use and long-term funding.
The initiative began in 2002 under the vision of ecologist Professor C.R. Babu and former Lieutenant Governor Vijai Kapoor. Implemented by the Delhi Development Authority in collaboration with the University of Delhi’s Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems, the network now spans around 820 hectares. The parks include Yamuna, Aravalli, Neela Hauz, Tilpath Valley, Tughlaqabad, Northern Ridge (Kamla Nehru), and South Delhi (Kalindi).
Delhi environmental identity rests historically on two natural systems the Yamuna floodplains and the Aravalli hill ranges. Both were severely degraded by rapid urbanisation, infrastructure expansion, and mining. The Aravalli site, once a wasteland dominated by debris and invasive Prosopis juliflora, supported barely 40 bird species two decades ago. Today, more than 230 bird species inhabit the restored landscape, alongside nilgai, porcupines, civets, and a range of reptiles.
Scientists overseeing the parks describe them not as ornamental city gardens but as recreated ecosystems modelled on natural forests and wetlands. Native plant communities were reintroduced systematically, triggering cascading ecological recovery. Insects returned first, followed by birds and predators higher in the food chain. The Aravalli park now includes wetlands, grasslands, orchid conservatories one built inside a former mining pit and dedicated butterfly and pollinator habitats.
Butterflies, which lend the parks their alternate name, serve as sensitive indicators of environmental health. Their presence signals cleaner air and functioning ecosystems. According to park scientists, air quality inside the biodiversity parks is often significantly better than surrounding urban areas, with AQI readings sometimes nearly 50 per cent lower.
The parks also contribute to groundwater recharge, heat island mitigation, and carbon sequestration ecosystem services that authorities say are worth millions of rupees annually.
Wildlife Comeback and Policy Questions
The ecological revival has brought back species absent from Delhi for decades. The Indian Pitta has returned after 70 years, the Oriental Pied Hornbill after 40, and the Black Eagle after nearly 90 years. The Aravalli Biodiversity Park also recorded Delhi’s first sighting of the Leopard Gecko and the city’s first perching record of the Eurasian Griffon Vulture.
Despite the success, challenges remain. Funding details are dispersed across departments, making exact budget figures difficult to ascertain. As Delhi expands, allocating land for conservation competes with housing and infrastructure demands. Environmentalists argue that urban biodiversity must move beyond isolated experiments if Indian cities are to confront climate stress effectively.
The Central Pollution Control Board, following a 2019 order of the National Green Tribunal, issued guidelines encouraging replication of Delhi’s biodiversity park model along India’s river systems. Yet large-scale adoption has been limited.
Critics also contrast Delhi’s scientifically managed parks with so-called “eco parks” developed near mining sites elsewhere in India, where restoration efforts have been accused of prioritising optics over ecological integrity.
For residents like 72-year-old Christine Pemberton, who lives near the Aravalli Biodiversity Park, the transformation is deeply personal. Visiting several times a week, she describes one stretch she calls “Butterfly Alley,” where seasonal swarms fill the air. For her, the park is “a little jungle in the middle of a city” a refuge from Delhi’s noise and pollution.
As debates over land allocation and funding continue, the biodiversity parks stand as a rare counter-narrative in India’s capital: proof that ecological restoration in dense megacities is possible if backed by scientific planning, sustained governance, and public commitment.