THE LIVING CAMPUS

The CDS campus is home to far more than meets the eye, supporting a diverse range of butterflies, birds, insects, fungi, and plants. To document this life, the CDS Nature Club has collaborated with the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) to join the Campus Biodiversity Register, India, a nationwide initiative tracking biodiversity across educational institutions. As part of this effort, a dedicated CDS Campus Biodiversity Register has been created on iNaturalist, a citizen-science platform for photographing and identifying organisms. The register already features 235 species, but this is only the beginning. Students do not need prior identification knowledge to participate; simply uploading a photo through iNaturalist contributes to the collective effort. These observations connect CDS to the broader Campus Biodiversity Register, India network, mapping educational campus biodiversity nationwide. Ultimately, this project goes beyond counting species, it is an invitation to recognize our campus as a living space shared with countless other forms of life. If you spot something interesting on campus, take a photograph, upload it to iNaturalist, and help grow our shared record! 🌿🦋

Post courtesy: Rahul Kamal

Image courtesy: Sudipta Saha

The Nature Club started coding and cataloguing the collected photographs as a part of building a long-term CDS Biodiversity Catalogue with the idea of making the catalogue:

• Inclusive – every contributor is credited for their photographs.

• Organised – each species assigned a unique code, making it easy to sort and find all photographs of a species.

• Useful – in maintaining a searchable archive that can be used for future exhibitions, publications, citizen science, and biodiversity documentation. 

Please contact the Nature Club to volunteer to make this archive richer and sustainable.

Post courtesy: Rahul Kamal

The Nature Club launched the Calendar for the CDS community. The photo exhibition was also held and the "Photos of the Exhibition" were recognized :-

🏛️ CDS Architecture

•  Akanksha – “A place that breathes in silence”

•  Jithin – “A quiet path wrapped in green and yellow”

🌿 CDS Biodiversity

•  Sangeetha – “Cheers to new beginnings ☘️ #TinySparksOnCampus”

Members across CDS community sent photographs for the drive conducted by the Nature Club. Of which 14 were selected for the upcoming Exhibition and the CDS Calendar. 

Not long after, we started the CDS Nature Club Instagram page, and in just 13 days and 8 posts, we reached 100 followers. Small numbers, big meaning. It shows how much love and enthusiasm the CDS community has for the plants, insects, birds, trees, and hidden corners that make our campus what it is.

And this is only the beginning. We are growing, learning, exploring and documenting. Very soon, we will be launching the official CDS Nature Club logo and many more activities. So stay tuned, keep your eyes open, and never forget that CDS truly is a living campus.

Follow us on Instagram and here for more updates, sightings, and stories from the wild side of our campus.

The CDS Nature Club has had an exciting start. Our very first photo walk took place on the 18th of October, with students from both MA and PhD joining in. We intentionally chose a quieter part of campus, the stretch near the Director’s bungalow and behind the library, hoping to find the lesser-known corners of our living campus. And it worked.

In just a couple of hours, we came across two types of spiders, three varieties of mushrooms, beautiful patches of flowers and greens, and a stunning butterfly, the Malayan (Megisba malaya), sitting calmly and almost posing for us. It wasn’t just a walk, but a shared experience of curiosity, laughter, and discovery. Everyone had something to share, a story, a scientific fact, or just excitement at spotting something beautiful.

Students took part in the Moth watch as part of City Nature challenge - A global competition to popularize Biodiversity. They explored the campus between 7:30-12 am to learn about the fascinating creatures of the night.