The city is two-thirds of a point away from reaching the pinnacle of biodiversity conservation. On a scale of 92, the level of biodiversity management in Greater Hyderabad is 30. Topping the list in biodiversity management among cities in the world is Brussels with 55 points. For a historical and capital city like Greater Hyderabad, 30 points is neither bad nor good — it is a respectable score. Besides, Greater Hyderabad is the first city in the country to complete a basic, city-level biodiversity index.
“We have great scope for improving the score. Four more points will be given to us for formation of city biodiversity management committee, the process for which has been set in motion by GHMC. The city has a theme park with a ficus garden and is developing another theme park with native species. That will give us four more poi-nts,” said GHMC commissioner M.T. Krishna Babu. As the score has to be put to international scrutiny, the scoring in the biodiversity document has been awarded conservatively.
The GHMC has completed preparations for the formulation of a basic biodiversity index for the city. It will be compiled into a book and released at the Cities For Life Summit on October 15 and 16 during CoP-11. Most of the documentation is based on research work available with Osmania University. GHMC is the only corporation in the country to confirm its biodiversity index. About 14 cities from across the globe are also likely to present their biodiversity index and throw them open to international scrutiny during the summit. The scores may either go up or down then. Meanwhile, mayor Majid Hussain will host a dinner for the City Summit delegates on October 15 and 16.