Nilgiri Biosphere Nature Park (NBNP), an initiative of the Coimbatore Zoological Park and Conservation Centre, has mooted a fund-raising programme to create a corpus for the park’s maintenance.

For this, a musical evening — Ooh La La — is to be held on January 25 at the Hindustan College Ground in the city. Playback singers Haricharan, Anand Aravindakshan and Swetha Mohan will take part in it.

SV Balasubramaniam, NBNP Chairman, said the organisation expects to raise at least ₹1.75 crore, of which ₹1 crore will go towards the corpus.

“We need to build a corpus of ₹5 crore to sustain the park,” said its Secretary and Treasurer G Rangaswamy.

The park, on a 70-acre property at Thuvaipathi, Anaikatti, was set up in 1992 to recreate the bounty of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. It has been run over the years with contributions from patrons.

NBNP has welcomed over 20,000 visitors over each of the past three or four years, of which over 12,000 were students from 100+ schools and colleges.

Native flora and fauna

The park nurtures over 450 varieties of native trees and other flora and fauna that are endemic to the Nilgiris. Its key features include an amphibian pond, aquarium (featuring native species of fishes), arboretum (collection of threatened plant species native to NBR), butterfly garden, pollinator garden, herbal garden, rockeries and zodiac garden (representing the 27 nakshatras popular to Indian culture).

“It is today a popular venue for outdoor events. We have tied up with Sky High Academy to conduct programmes for corporates, schools, colleges and family groups to enrich their experience with experimental learning environments and structured indoor and outdoor activity. This was launched in November and we have conducted three camps till date,” Nandini Rangaswamy told BusinessLine.

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