It felt like a breath of fresh air when Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray announced that 600 acres of Aarey Milk Colony will be reserved as forest land. The move, for Mahesh Yadav, a naturalist and co-founder of JY Brothers, is a welcome one but much still needs to be done. The exact portion to be reserved is yet to be determined, and that-s where the catch lies. "Let us not forget that nature knows no boundaries. Will the authorities export all the existing flora, fauna, reptiles, birds to the declared 600 acres?" he asks.

As per a report submitted to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the colony is home to over 290 wild species of flora and fauna. But researcher and arachnologist Rajesh Sanap, says that there are species that are still undocumented. He calls for a citizen science movement. "Click pictures of what you observe in the area and upload it on sites like India Biodiversity Portal. So, you-ll be contributing to research," he says. To give you a glimpse of what the forest has to offer, we invited Yadav and Sanap to show unique flora and fauna that fill the space.