Chennai’s municipal body, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), in collaboration with sustainability consultant ICLEI South Asia, released the country’s first City Biodiversity Index in August, in an effort to evaluate and benchmark Chennai’s biodiversity conservation efforts.
The value of biodiversity in urban areas is often undermined, the Union Ministry of Urban Affairs (MoUA) said in a 2020 document on urban biodiversity. The level of biodiversity in an urban setting is not only an indicator of ecosystem health, but aids in the provision of services ranging from pollution mitigation to climate resilience, the MoUA said.
The city of Chennai hosts a variety of ecological landscapes – including a coastline, estuaries, wetlands such as Pallikaranai and Singanallur, and hills. It is also home to the Guindy National Park, a protected area hosting more than 350 species of plants. The City Biodiversity Index developed a “natural asset map” mapping these resources and creating a baseline for future study. Most urban green spaces are found on college campuses, government gardens, parks and private lands in the city of Chennai.
The index is scored across three broad parameters – the city’s native biodiversity, the ecosystem services provided, and the governance of urban biodiversity. The city scored a total of 38 points out of 72 across 18 indicators, excluding five due to a lack of a baseline. Indicators include the proportion of the city’s protected natural areas, the proportion of alien species invasion, climate regulation and cooling provided by biodiversity, recreational and educational services, and institutional measures and policies conserving biodiversity, among others.
The city scored best in indicators capturing its native biodiversity, “indicating that portions of its natural habitat represented by its wetlands and natural vegetation support biodiversity.” However, the city scored below average in the ecosystem services provided by such biodiversity. Scores for biodiversity governance were average, indicating that biodiversity matters are being considered to some extent by the Greater Chennai Corporation.
The area most urgently in need of improvement is maintaining and expanding ecosystem services provided by the city’s natural resources, the index said.
“Due to this loss of marshlands across Chennai and the blockage of numerous creeks, the city has been experiencing a series of flooding events,” the index said, adding, “if dumping of waste is banned and water channels rejuvenated, around 60% of Chennai’s wetlands can be saved. GCC can take steps in this direction.”
Banner image: A flock of birds at the Pallikaranai marshland in Chennai. Image by Vinoth Selvaraj via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 4.0].
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