Climate-resilient urban forest offers hope amid heat action plan gaps

BATHINDA : As earth hurtles into the climate emergency with year 2024 having already shattered heat records across, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted an increase in the number of heatwave days between April and June, and the early weeks of April have already begun to affirm these predictions.
Amid this backdrop, a recent report titled ‘Is India ready for a warming world? How heat resilience measures are being implemented for 11% of India’s urban population in some of its most at-risk cities”, released by think tank Sustainable Futures Collaborative, involving experts from Harvard University, King’s College London, and other global institutions, has raised serious concerns about the long-term inefficacy of India’s heat action plans. The report points to a glaring lack of green infrastructure—urban forests, green corridors, and public green spaces—that could offer natural cooling and climate resilience across Indian cities.
While urban India grapples with this deficit of greenery, an unlikely oasis has emerged in one of the driest corners of the country—Bikaner, Rajasthan. Here, an individual has not only grown a forest but also cultivated a living model of climate resilience.
Shyam Sunder Jyani, Associate Prof at Government Dungar College, Bikaner, began transforming 16 acres of barren institutional land into a thriving green space in 2013. Without any financial assistance from the college and government, he invested salary into what is now a flourishing institutional forest with over 3,000 trees spanning 90 species.
One section of the forest is dedicated to native desert grasses such as Sewan (Lasiurus sindicus), Dhaman (Cenchrus ciliaris), and Boor (Cymbopogon martini) and Bhurat (Cenchrus setigerus), essential for restoring local ecology and supporting biodiversity. The forest is alive with foxes, desert hare, lizards, and desert reptiles and many bird species —a strong indication that the ecosystem is recovering.
Within the forest, Jyani established an innovative public nursery named after the medieval eco-spiritual leader Dev Jasnath, which distributes thousands of saplings free of cost every year to students, villagers, nearby communities, and even the Indian Army. Last year 21,000 saplings were provided to the Army Station in Bikaner, with many others reaching remote areas like Barmer in Western Rajasthan.
With the support of schoolteachers and Panchayati Raj institutions, Prof Jyani has facilitated the development of over 200 community forests across the Bikaner division.
Recognising the work, the nature positive universities network—a collaborative of the University of Oxford and the UN Environment Programme —published a case study on this institutional forest and included it as a model in their global network. Last year, Prof Jyani was featured as a Staff Champion under this initiative, underscoring the global relevance of his work.
As the world will observe Earth Day on April 22 to discuss sustainable lifestyles and climate solutions—this forest reminds that true resilience is rooted in land, labour, and love, not just government budgets, says Jyani.