Uttarakhands biggestbiodiversity parkwill be set up at Garhwals Muni Ki Reti. Dubbed the Shiwalik Park (SBP) and spread across 50 hectares of land, its aim is to conserve the natural landscape of the area. The park is expected to bring in around 5 lakh tourists who visit Rishikesh every year. It will have 33 types of conservation concepts, all developed at the cost of Rs 65 crore. The project will be executed in three phases over the next five years. Interestingly, the park is expected to generate EMPLOYMENT for at least 7,000 people, according to preliminary estimates by forest authorities.
Objectives behind building the park include Biodiversity conservation, promotion of natural products (testing, processing, value addition, Marketing, and quality control), livelihood enhancement, eco-restoration of degraded forests, nature Education, promoting responsible visits to the Himalayan natural treasures, and TEACHING the importance of various types of Ecosystems. The SBP is divided into two parts, the Herbal Eco-Par, spread across 6.32 hectares, and Nature Park Area, across 43.05 hectares.
The biodiversity park will also have miniature replicas of iconic sites in Uttarakhand such as the Char Dham shrines. It will have a valley of flowers with a water body, a nature Learning centre, butterfly conservatory, open-air aviary, a theme-based Light and Sound show called ‘Conservation of the Maa Ganga River’, a natural herbal haat, a conservation park, some livelihood-based activities, five nature trails, and a Sanskriti Gram.
The biodiversity park would have a Shivalik transition zone, a rich ecotone, hillside grasslands, gentle active plains, tropical deciduous forests, bushlands, and upper Bhabar landscapes. These different landscapes would be interconnected by nature trails and would support more than 1,000 species of Plants. The park is surrounded by the main Char Dham roads, NH-58 and NH-94, which is why the department is expecting a handsome income generation through the set-up.