kochi subhash park will soon be a beehive of green activities as part of interactbioproject being implemented through icleilocal governments for sustainability south asiaas part of the plan a herbarium and a poly natural biodiversity park will come up in the city in a few months these parks will have trees and plants as suggested by experts whose inputs contributed to a unique biodiversity action plan that was released recentlyrestrictions imposed as part of covid19 protocol delayed the project implementation as experts from other cities could not come into the state the flora proposed for poly natural park will have trees and plants that attract migratory birds as mangalavanam in the vicinity is the hub for one of the most exclusive avian visitors to the state said alex c j project coordinatorbiodiversity ched adding that a biodiversity interpretation centre is also being proposed to help generate discussions and studiesthe project attains more importance as it is being developed after firstever city biodiversity index cbi was carried out in the local body experts worked with ward members and people in the area to understand the local species before preparing the cbi which is also known as the singapore index it was developed so that cites and local bodies have a role to play in the implementation of a countrys national biodiversity strategy and action plan nbsap the purpose of the index was to consolidate the available biodiversityrelated indicators at local level which could then help cities to evaluate and benchmark their biodiversity conservation effortskochi city biodiversity index 2020 has been prepared based on a user manual updated in 2014 the city scored 45 out of 72 for 18 indicators since this was the baseline year some indicators were not considered in the analysis thus reducing the maximum possible score from 92 to 72 kochi scored 17 out of 20 in the first set of indicators on native biodiversity in the city it scored so much in this section primarily because of the contribution of kochis backwater area which covers a significant percent of the overall area of the city the cbi report saidin the second set of indicators 1114 which is related to ecosystem services provided by biodiversity in the city city scored six out of 16 points once again the score in this section was primarily due to the contribution of backwater area urbanisation and industrial activities are responsible for shrinking of green spaces and the deteriorating health of the citys greenblue infrastructure it statedindicators 1523 which correspond to governance and management of biodiversity in the city contributed to a score of 22 out of 36 points this indicates that though the city needs to strengthen mechanisms in biodiversity governance and management concrete steps such as the development of a local biodiversity strategy and action plan lbsap are being taken up proactively the report further statedthe coastal region vembanad backwaters estuary mangroves wetlands fresh water ponds pokkali paddy fields other mixed cultivation home gardens and public open spaces are the