While a flagship greening project for the Commonwealth Games — the manicured Commonwealth Games Park near Africa Avenue, will be boasting of exotic trees from Commonwealth countries, good old desi trees too are set to get a boost.

On the day the Queens Baton for the Commonwealth Games arrives in Delhi, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will inaugurate a 15-hectare Commonwealth Games Forest dedicated to Indian species of the Ridge.

Dikshit will inaugurate the forest in Aya Nagar on Friday and plantations will also take place in three other city forests in West division, also likely to be called Commonwealth Forests.

Land for the Aya Nagar city forest spans 50 hectares, but has only recently been acquired. Around 15 hectares of the city forest have been under plantations since July this year, and it is this area which will be part of the Commonwealth Forest.

“This year, we have planted 16,000 saplings here of all indigenous species native to the Ridge. On Friday, too, the focus will be the same indigenous trees. Some of these species are ber, neem, varieties of bamboo, raunjh, bel, jamun and Acacia Nilotica,” said a senior official from the Forest department.

Officials from the Department of Environment said that the three other forests which are currently being developed in the West division in — Malikpur, Daruala, and Khurd — will also be christened Commonwealth Forests.

Efforts are on to ensure that these forests survive and have huge plantation drives under the aegis of the Games. Officials said that on Friday, tens of thousands of saplings were planted over the four forests.

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