Monitoring and management of urban biodiversity: a case of Kochi city

Abstract

Biodiversity is the difference between organisms from all sources, including marine, terrestrial and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes to which they belong; this includes diversity within species, between species and between ecosystems. Biodiversity is the foundation of a large number of ecosystem services that play a vital role in human well-being. Biodiversity is important in both natural ecosystems and human management. Humans' decision to influence biodiversity affects the well-being of themselves and others. Having a city is naturally part of solving the environmental justice of the city. Rapid urbanization is expected to present challenges at the local, regional and global levels. As more and more people live in cities, the protection, restoration and enhancement of biodiversity in urban areas is becoming more and more important. Concepts related to biodiversity management, such as scale, grade, species characteristics, species value and dispersion, and global approaches, can be used to manage urban biodiversity. Urban biodiversity conservation can also save costs by reducing the need for engineering solutions for stormwater runoff management or urban water supply. Today, biodiversity conservation and enrichment mechanisms need to be integrated into urban planning. Remote sensing systems collect large amounts of biological and physical data for inventory and environmental monitoring. Field-based land cover and species richness estimation is difficult and resource intensive, especially when carried out on large and multi-space scales. Remote sensing is easy to apply and can be used to monitor large areas relatively easily. There are various policy frameworks for protecting biodiversity. Article 6 of the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) requires all Parties to develop national strategies, plans or programmes for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and to integrate the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity into relevant sectors. And cross-sectoral plans, programs and policies. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, India enacted the Biodiversity Act in 2002. Article 36 of the Act authorizes the central government to develop national strategies, plans or programmes for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and to integrate biodiversity issues into relevant sectors. II The purpose of the study is to identify strategies for managing urban biodiversity and to develop a web-based platform for regular monitoring. To achieve this, objectives formulated are: understanding urban biodiversity and different indicators for monitoring, analysis (monitoring) of the study area using the indicators through the developed web page, and formulation of strategies for conserving/managing urban biodiversity. Through literature study need and importance of urban biodiversity and tools to manage it are identified. City Biodiversity Index (Singapore Index) is identified as a tool to assess biodiversity of any city in the world. It is also used as the base for the preparation of the web page. Its coverage is diverse and comprehensive, incorporating indicators on biodiversity, ecosystem services and good governance. Scores are quantitative; therefore, changes over time can be monitored. A wide variety of experts and stakeholders have contributed to the design of City Biodiversity Index (CBI). Kochi Municipal Corporation of Ernakulum district of the Kerala state is selected for the using this tool as it is the second most populous city in Kerala after Thiruvananthapuram. After applying the CBI, Kochi scored 26 points out of a total of 92 points which is very less. In this study, data gaps in calculating the index are identified, roles and responsibilities of biodiversity board is assessed. Institution are identified which can contribute data for this index. Vacant land patches are identified in the municipal boundary, which can be used for planting of trees, which will help in managing and improving the urban biodiversity. For managing current biodiversity, roles and responsibilities and framework is proposed, who will feed in data and what benefits each stockholder will get.