Dwarka Forest: Life Emerging in the Cracks of the City

Cities are often imagined as places where nature disappears under concrete, steel, and glass. In rapidly growing cities like Delhi, stories about nature usually focus on loss, such as vanishing wetlands, shrinking forests, or polluted rivers. Yet alongside these narratives of decline, another quieter process is unfolding. In abandoned land parcels, forgotten corners, and disturbed urban landscapes, new ecosystems are emerging on their own.

One such place is Dwarka Forest, a spontaneous woodland located behind the Indira Gandhi International Airport in southwest Delhi. Documented in the report Dwarka Forest: A Respite in the Cracks of the City’s Concrete, this landscape tells a story not only about ecological resilience but also about the complex relationships between urban nature, people, and development.

The report brings together ecological observations, legal histories, and community narratives to understand how this unusual urban forest emerged and why it matters.

From Farmland to Spontaneous Forest

The land that is now known as Dwarka Forest once formed part of the agricultural landscape of Shahabad Mohammadpur village. In the mid-1980s, around 275 acres of land were acquired by the Delhi government for planned urban development. At that time, the area was described as largely barren.

For decades after acquisition, the land remained largely unused. Over time, construction debris and dumped waste accumulated in the area. Yet nature slowly began to reclaim the site. Seeds dispersed by wind, animals, and nearby trees gradually established vegetation. Rainwater collected in depressions, grasses colonised disturbed soil, and scattered trees began forming small woodland patches.

What emerged was not a planned plantation or restoration project, but a self-grown urban woodland, a mosaic of grasslands, shrubs, trees, and seasonal water bodies developing without formal management.

Today this landscape forms a dense green patch within a heavily built environment, surrounded by residential societies, railway infrastructure, highways, and airport operations.

A Surprising Urban Ecosystem

Despite its unlikely origins, Dwarka Forest supports significant biodiversity. A survey conducted by the Forest Department in 2025 recorded over 19,000 trees across roughly 125 acres, representing 33 tree species. Many of these species are native to the region, including neem, jamun, peepal, babool, and khejri.

The forest also supports a rich bird community. Observations and compiled records suggest more than fifty bird species, including both resident birds and migratory visitors. Species such as the Indian grey hornbill, red-naped ibis, green bee-eater, and various flycatchers have been recorded in the area.

Beyond birds, the forest sustains larger fauna as well. A population of nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) inhabits the woodland, with estimates suggesting between forty and sixty individuals living in the area.

These ecological observations reveal a functioning ecosystem that has developed despite pollution, dumping, and constant urban disturbance.

People and the Forest

Dwarka Forest is not an isolated ecological island. It is deeply intertwined with the lives of people who live around it.

The closest settlement, Harijan Basti, was established in the early 1980s as part of Delhi’s urban resettlement policies. Over the decades, residents have witnessed the gradual transformation of abandoned land into a forested landscape.

For many people, the forest serves practical purposes. Informal paths through the woodland function as shortcuts for commuting to nearby residential sectors. Some households collect limited fuelwood or graze livestock in certain areas.

At the same time, the forest also holds emotional and cultural significance. Some residents care for animals within the forest or maintain water for stray dogs during summer. Others visit the area for walking, cycling, birdwatching, and photography. These everyday interactions make Dwarka Forest both an ecological habitat and a shared social space.

Legal Battles and Uncertain Futures

Despite its ecological richness, Dwarka Forest remains legally unrecognised as a forest.

In recent years, redevelopment projects linked to railway infrastructure have triggered conflicts over the land. In 2021, large-scale tree cutting and burial of vegetation drew public attention and led to legal challenges.

Cases related to the forest have reached both the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court of India, raising questions about whether the area should be treated as a “deemed forest” and whether development should be restricted.

These disputes highlight a deeper issue. Many urban ecosystems that emerge spontaneously fall outside conventional planning frameworks. They are neither protected forests nor formally designated parks, making them vulnerable to development.

Rethinking Urban Nature

Dwarka Forest illustrates an important concept in contemporary ecology known as novel ecosystems, ecosystems that emerge through a combination of natural processes and human disturbances.

Such landscapes challenge traditional ideas of what a forest should look like. They may grow on abandoned land, construction debris, or post-industrial sites. Yet they can still support biodiversity, regulate microclimates, and provide valuable spaces for human–nature interactions.

In this sense, Dwarka Forest represents more than a local environmental issue. It raises broader questions about how cities recognise and govern nature.

Should such spaces be protected? If they are protected, who should have access to them? And how should urban planning account for ecosystems that emerge unexpectedly?

A Forest in the City’s Margins

The story of Dwarka Forest reminds us that nature does not disappear entirely from cities. Even in neglected or disturbed landscapes, life persists and reorganises itself.

Recognising these spaces requires looking beyond planned parks and officially protected forests. It means paying attention to the quiet ecological processes unfolding in overlooked corners of our cities.

Dwarka Forest is one such place, a reminder that sometimes the most remarkable forms of urban nature emerge not through design, but through resilience.

To read the full report, check here.