In the Heart of Concrete Kolkata, a Man-Made Forest is Emerging!

New Town in Kolkata will soon have a full grown man-made urban forest, abound in birds, small animals and trees!

An urban forest is emerging in New Town, Rajarhat.

(Photo Courtesy: Lesley D Biswas)

New Town in Rajarhat is an urban hub of East Kolkata with shopping malls, educational institutions, hospitals, corporate houses and every conceivable civic amenity an urban space can boast of.

But – unlike most of its contemporaries – New Town will soon also have a full grown man-made urban forest, abound in birds, some small animals and luxuriant trees, sure to delight the urbanite!

Construction in full swing in New Town.

Urban Forest Concept

Debashis Sen, IAS, Chairman of the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO), the state government agency initiating the project, says,

An ‘Urban Forest’ is an area of large trees in a city setting. In Eco Park of New Town, an area of 5 acres near Gate 3 is nurtured as a Tropical Rain Forest. There are other zones in the Eco Park outside it. But the Tropical Rain Forest with its unique blend of evergreen trees, birds, mist creator and wild animal statues is certainly the most unique in the country.

New Town’s proximity to the biodiversity-rich East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW), meant that myriad birds and some small animals – like the jackal and Bengal mangoose – were once a common sight.

Today, much of this natural habitat has been lost to urbanisation. It was paramount that the authorities came up with an alternative; a sustainable habitat to conserve what precious little remains of the wildlife and help urbanites connect with nature.

A small forest near Eco Park in Rajarhat.

Gift a Tree

Green for Life Foundation, an environment NGO, is undertaking the forest plantation at another zone in Action Area I of New Town. The first saplings went down in December 2017. This monsoon, some 600-700 more saplings will take root and the whole plantation of 8,500 trees – comprising of neem, lambu akashmoni, krishnachura and bokul – is expected to be completed within 3 years.

Curtis Arathoon, a trusty of Green for Life Foundation believes an urban forest is only possible with community participation. He says,

The plantation is divided into ‘Greening young minds to fight climate change and global warming,’ where school children plant trees – and for communities, corporate houses and individuals, it’s called, ‘Heal the earth campaign.’

Saplings in the memorial zone.

They also encourage individuals to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and gift their loved ones a tree.

In Action Area 1, a memorial zone is reserved for anyone who wishes to plant a tree in memory of their loved one, and it already has a few saplings.

Benefit the Environment and Wildlife

Although these saplings will take another 5 to 7 years to grow into trees, the prospect of the difference this urban forest will make to the environment excites Arathoon –

Trees are the biggest carbon banks of the world. They absorb carbon dioxide and clean the air – a job which, until now, no machine can do. A mature tree, depending upon its leaf size and canopy span, can absorb as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per annum. Imagine the difference 8,500 trees will make!

The Bengal Mongoose is often seen near the wetlands.

Their focus is on evergreen trees (which fight climate change) and some fruit bearing trees (to bring back the birds).

When we spoke to Sumit Sen, renowned ornithologist and co-author of books like Birds of India and The Sundarbans Inheritance, he said he welcomes this initiative –

Yes, it isn’t a true forest, and yes, 5 acres don’t make the slightest difference in the broader perspective; yet, a mini forest can be beneficial for all wildlife as it provides privacy, shelter and a resting/roosting place.

Red wattled lapwing in New Town.

Birds of Rajarhat

Despite substantial loss of natural habitat, Rajarhat still has specks of water bodies and some gorgeous grasses more than a couple of feet high which attract grassland and wetland birds.

According to Sumit Sen, out of the 250-270 species of birds in Kolkata, around 200 are found in Rajarhat, of which 30% are migratory.

Birdier Suvajit Das – member of ‘Sunday Watch’, ‘Ask id’s of Indian Bird,’ and Bihanga birding communities – says that a large number of birds can be seen in Rajarhat.

The Peregrine Falcon and Common Kestrel can be seen in the morning. Bushlark, Oriental Reed Warbler, Streaked fantail warbler, Little Grebe, Water hen, Hoopoe and Bronzed winged jacana are also in abundance in Rajarhat.

The hoopoe is also common in New Town.

Although he’s glad an urban forest will ensure these birds don’t disappear, Das remains concerned, however, over the killing of a few birds by local villagers, for meat.

(Lesley D Biswas is a freelance writer who writes articles on parenting, environment, travel and women, besides fiction.)