BNHS Nature Reserve: Mumbai’s Sacred Trove of Biodiversity

“Action!” yells the director to his bustling production crew. Loud sounds and activity follow. My naturalist husband, friends, and I can hear the hustle-bustle on the other side of the gate. But we are barely registering anything as we stand transfixed by a far more compelling piece of action that has just unfolded in front of us. We are crouched down, staring into one of the tunnels formed by a cluster of three drainage pipes. On the far end of the tunnel, a majestic feline form sits seemingly unperturbed by us gawking humans and the disturbance nearby. We are inside a private forestland in suburban Mumbai called the BNHS Nature Reserve or the Conservation Education Centre (CEC), a small, private forest reserve tucked away within the crowded suburb of Goregaon in Mumbai. Oblivious to the presence of the leopard barely 20-30 feet away, the film crew carries on outside. The significance of this surreal juxtaposition was not lost on me.

My tryst with CEC began in 2013, when I interned with the prestigious Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) at CEC, next to Film City. I worked out of a quaint dome-shaped building inside the 33-acre forestland contiguous with the larger and better-known Sanjay Gandhi National Park, one of the few national parks located within a hyper-urbanised city. Though I’d lived all my life in Goregaon, I hadn’t heard of CEC until the opportunity to work there came my way.

A vivid early memory of CEC is of watching a barking deer forage right outside the office window while I tapped away at my keyboard. Since then, CEC has become my favourite wild haunt. In this maddening, crowded city of Mumbai, CEC is almost sacred to me.

 

Despite an avalanche of anthropogenic (human-created) disturbances and threats that surround this tiny biosphere — be it the illegal lopping of trees, the cacophony of city noises contaminating the natural soundscape, or the constant looming threat of the forestland being snatched away for urban projects — CEC is a rich and thriving swathe of forest. BNHS first acquired the land from the Government of Maharashtra in 1983, when the area suffered from utter degradation and disturbance. Within a decade of this takeover and under the auspices of BNHS’ capable hands, CEC recovered and how.

Every visit to CEC reveals to me something extraordinary. I always come back with fresh natural history stories, having seen or learnt something new about a species or two. While CEC’s rich bird and mammal diversity is a great attraction for most people who visit here, the stories of the little things resonate most with me. I find myself more drawn to the smaller, non-mammalian lifeforms like insects, spiders, arthropods, geckos, fungi, etc.

I vividly remember a misty, rainy morning in 2022 when I laid my eyes on bird’s nest fungi for the first time, growing on a rotting wooden log in all its glory. The fruiting bodies of this fungus look exactly like its name suggests — bird’s nests filled with eggs. Only, these were unbelievably tiny. Each nest-like cup was smaller than my fingernail (5-10 mm), and within each cup were disc-shaped “eggs” or peridioles (1-3 mm each). Packed within every peridiole are thousands of microscopic spores. From the fungus’ point of view, this is a highly functional design. Each time a raindrop lands in a cup, peridioles get launched into the air (for a short distance), dispersing spores and taking forward the fungi’s genetic legacy. Even in the decay of a rotting log, there is so much beauty. And the many incredible species of fungi I have observed in CEC are a testament to that.

There is a specific spot in CEC which I find to be quite picturesque and full of character. A lateritic stairway leads one down to this beautiful rocky locale. A tiny pond or waterhole fed by a small stream of water on one side and a dilapidated, roped-off wooden bridge on the other gives this spot its unique charm. Out of habit, my husband and I explore the bridge from below as large owl moths take shelter here. Despite their size, it isn’t easy to spot them even if one is only a few centimetres from your face because they magically blend in with the wooden flanks of the bridge. Are the moths aware of their breathtaking camouflaging abilities? Perhaps.

Come monsoon and an interesting plant, endemic to the Western Ghats, makes its presence felt inside CEC and is quite the draw among the city’s natural history enthusiasts. This herbaceous climber called the vinca-leaved Ceropegia (lantern flower) produces some of the most audacious flowers I have ever seen. Each lantern-like flower forms a stunning “cage” into which flies are lured, temporarily trapping them to ensure successful pollination, after which they are released unhurt. A plant saga stranger than fiction.

 

It would be utterly remiss of me if I didn’t mention one of the most elusive and striking wild denizens that I have had the privilege of stumbling into here: the bamboo pit viper. This shy, small (barely 60 cm), venomous snake is a sight to behold and one that seldom comes by, thanks to its excellent camouflaging abilities and nocturnal nature. A beautiful green and bright yellow form lay there, wrapped around the branches of a tree, right outside the dome-shaped building, alert. The effect of this beautiful reptile on me was almost hypnotic as I stood frozen, unable to avert my gaze even after several minutes of having first sighted it. These arboreal snakes found in India’s peninsular forests are equipped with highly sensitive heat-sensing apparatus located between their eyes and nostrils, making them sophisticated hunters of frogs, lizards, and rodents.

I could go on and on about the natural living wonders that abound in this tiny patch of forest. Like the time the forest was swathed in a mesmerising purple hue of karvi plants mass flowering, as if on cue, for the first time in eight years. Or the beautiful geckos sitting pretty and camouflaged on tree trunks at any time of year. Or the caterpillars that abound in CEC’s butterfly garden, in every colour of the rainbow.

The Conservation Education Centre of BNHS is doing a great service by keeping an urban forest thriving and alive and also creating awareness and offering myriad learning opportunities for people through a well-curated range of nature activities and courses. It is always satisfying to witness nature lovers, students, children, enthusiasts, and others from across the city gather here and revel in the beauty of nature. From nature trails to natural history programmes to public outreach initiatives, CEC’s dedicated team of nature educators, guides, forest patrol staff, volunteers, and wildlife experts are doing a spectacular job of imparting knowledge and building awareness. Anyone is welcome here to simply join on nature trails with naturalists and guides leading the way, or become more involved by participating in activities and programmes regularly organised by BNHS, and even volunteer!

CEC is a trove of natural treasures and, to me, sacred in the truest sense.