The sprawling campus of the University of Hyderabad, home to one of the few surviving patches of urban forestry, has in the recent past witnessed deforestation on an unprecedented scale. This rampant clearing of trees has been a part of the administration's 'development and beautification of the campus'. The campus, in the recent past has also witnessed poachers operating with a free hand with little or no action taken by the administration. These recent incidences of forest clearing have meant a great loss of habitat to animals such as the spotted deer, wild boar etc and numerous species of birds that the campus is home to. This has been a major setback to the university community on campus too. The greenery has been an integral part of life on campus. This ambience was a key factor in the high rankings that were awarded to the university in recent times. Sign this petition to ask the university authorities to stop all clearing of indigenous forests and authorize and initiate an afforestation movement of indigenous trees, taking a lesson from the Late Shri Anil Madhav Dave, minister for environment, who in his will asked people to plant trees.

In 2015, the demarcation of 250 acres of the campus as a biodiversity reserve was proposed, but the proposal hasn't seen the light of day. Sign now to support the demand to create a biodiversity reserve immediately within the campus, in consultation with environmentalists and conservationists, as proposed earlier. Sign to support the demand for the setting up of a patrolling unit in collaboration with the forest department to tackle poaching. Sign to send a message- a message that we aren't indifferent to the happenings around us.