Asola Bhatti wildlife sanctuary-A case study of ecological restoration

Abstract

The Aravalli range is one of the oldest mountain systems of the world. It is a 560 km range, starting from a location near Delhi, passing through Southern Haryana, Rajasthan and ending in Gujarat. It has a unique biodiversity. In the last two to three decades, there has been a destruction of natural habitats and ecosystems due to the development of bursting infrastructure and hence, an urgent need for ecological restoration. Studies indicate that 40% of our country needs ecological restoration. The Asola Wildlife Sanctuary zone covers 32.71km2 area on the southern Delhi Ridge of Aravalli hills, on the Delhi-Haryana border. Asola Wildlife Sanctuary was legally given protected status in 1986. On world environment day, June 5, 2021, UN declared 2021-2030 a decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The Bonn challenge is a global challenge to restore landscape, launched in 2011 by the Government of Germany and the International Union of Conservation of Nature. Due to the Supreme Court of India mandate in 2011, Government of India, defined Eco Sensitive Zones to limit the adverse anthropogenic activities on the ecosystem, biodiversity and natural resources. Several efforts have been made to restore Asola-Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary area by planting saplings, rainwater harvesting, restoration of degraded land and habitat, agroforestry, herbal plantations, use of solar energy, organic farming, etc. In spite of all these efforts, there are still certain challenges that need to be addressed. Some of them are the lack of a protective wall, the absence of safe corridors for wildlife crossing, environmental pollution caused by Bandhwari landfill and water scarcity. There is also an official denial of presence of wildlife in the area, so that the forest land can be exploited. A futuristic approach for restoration could be use of microbes that improves the quality of the soil and hence the vegetation and biodiversity. A continuous reduction in the forest cover over the years and an increase in agriculture and settlement, resulting in more human-wildlife conflict has become the most important issue in conservation. Efforts are thus required towards ecological restoration, following a natural progression and assistive regeneration along with working on the threats (urbanisation, policy threats, cutting of trees) to prevent further degradation of the forest after restoration.