Media Release

Kotak Mahindra Bank Associates with Nature Forever Society to Launch the Biodiversity Hotspot at the Nature Interpretation Centre of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai

Dr. Ben. V. Clement, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests inaugurates the initiative

Mumbai, 10th October, 2022: Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited ("Kotak"/"KMBL") and Nature Forever Society (NFS) today announced the launch of their joint nature conservation initiative to save Native Indian flora and fauna and unveiled the Biodiversity Hotspot located at the Nature Interpretation Centre of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) at Borivali in Mumbai. The Biodiversity Hotspot project was inaugurated by Dr. Ben. V. Clement, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.

Under Kotak Mahindra Bank's CSR Project on Environment & Sustainable Development, the Bank commenced work for this one of its kind nature conservation landscaping project with NFS as its knowledge and conservation associate for implementation and development of the Biodiversity Hotspot - Nature Interpretation Centre at the SGNP in 2021.

The Biodiversity Hotspot is a nature conservation landscape spread over 76,000 sq. ft. at the SGNP and has over 13,000+ native plants of over 110 native Indian Species. These plantations have created a conducive environment attracting butterflies, bees, nectar birds, small insects, and other native fauna. The nature conservation initiative will help create awareness about the importance of native Indian plants in conserving flora and fauna, thus acting as a role model for a self-sustaining ecosystem using principals of Conservation Landscaping.

Rohit Rao, Joint President & Group Chief CSR Officer, Kotak Mahindra Bank said, "Kotak Mahindra Bank is committed to the cause of environment and sustainable development and we are happy to collaborate with Nature Forever Society and Sanjay Gandhi National Park to develop this Biodiversity Hotspot at the Nature Interpretation Centre. This CSR Project is our sincere effort to showcase the beauty of native Indian plants and the critical role they play in ecosystem restoration and long-term conservation of Indian flora and fauna."

Mohammed Dilawar, Founder and President of Nature Forever Society said, "The destruction of biodiversity and the extinction rate of native species is causing significant impact around the world and in India where non-native species are causing damage to native biodiversity. This project will showcase how functional conservation can be undertaken to create conservation landscaping using native plants of India. The project is aimed to showcase to the larger community that it is possible to create urban landscapes with beautiful, functional and sustainable native flora and fauna and how it helps in conservation of local biodiversity and its long term restoration. Nature Forever Society aims to lead responsibly and is focused on doing scientific and impactful work. We are extremely thankful to Kotak Mahindra Bank and Sanjay Gandhi National Park for supporting us in this path breaking endeavour."

Kotak Karma is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) identity of Kotak Mahindra Group companies.

About Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited

Established in 1985, Kotak Mahindra Group is one of India's leading financial services conglomerates. In February 2003, Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd. (KMFL), the Group's flagship company, received a banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), becoming the first non-banking finance company in India to convert into a bank - Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.

The Bank has four Strategic Business Units - Consumer Banking, Corporate Banking, Commercial Banking and Treasury- catering to retail and corporate customers across urban and rural India. The premise of Kotak Mahindra Group's business model is concentrated India, diversified financial services. The bold vision that underscores the Group's growth is an inclusive one, with a host of products and services designed to address the needs of the unbanked and insufficiently banked. As on 30th June, 2022, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd has a national footprint of 1,702 branches and 2,761 ATMs, and branches in GIFT City and DIFC (Dubai).

For more information, please visit the company's website at https://www.kotak.com/.

About Nature Forever Society

Nature Forever Society (NFS) has been working for the conservation of House Sparrows and other common flora and fauna in urban habitats since 2005.

The mission of NFS is to involve citizens in the conservation movement of India, especially in urban landscapes. To achieve this, NFS has been launching initiatives which are simple but have far-reaching conservation value.

Nature Forever Society has worked across different parts of the Indian and across 50 countries through is various conservation initiatives like World Sparrow Day, Adopt Nature Nest boxes and bird feeders, Help Birds in Summer Campaign. Its efforts have resulted in habitat creation by installation of millions of bird feeders, nest boxes and bird baths.

Over the past decade Nature Forever Society has been working for conservation of Native Flora where it has created 60+ high density forests, Biodiversity Hotspots and Habitat creation in urban landscapes. It has established a Native Plant Research and Conservation Centre In Nashik where it is working on Conservation of 500+ Species of Native Plant Species. In the past 5 years alone 250,000+ Native Indian Plants are planted by Nature Forever Society in Different Parts of the India.

Website - www.worldsparrowday.org | www.cbmi.in |www.natureforever.org

For live updates visit www.facebook.com/NatureForeverSociety

For further information, please contact:

Revathi Pandit

Sakshi Denis

Mohammed Dilawar

Rakesh Sharma

Deepa Menon

Kotak Mahindra Bank

Kotak Mahindra Bank

Nature Forever Society

Fortuna PR

Fortuna PR

Mobile: +91 98202 37909

Mobile: +91 70454 74287

Mobile: +91 9420001820

Mobile: +91 98335 37679

Mobile: +91 9867684883

Revathi.pandit@kotak.com

Sakshi.Denis@kotak.com

info@worldsparrowday.org

Rakesh@fortunapr.com

Deepa@fortunapr.com

Attachments

  • Original Link
  • Original Document
  • Permalink

Disclaimer

Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited published this content on 10 October 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 10 October 2022 15:41:09 UTC.