Delhi's Sunder Nursery chosen for two UNESCO Asia-Pacific awards for conservation

Delhi's iconic Sunder Nursery, a 90-acre garden which was transformed into a horticultural paradise after a decade-long conservation work, is among the winners in the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation this year. The innovative revitalisation of the Lai Cho Wo Rural Cultural Landscape in Hong Kong SAR, China and the transformative management of the historic Sunder Nursery of New Delhi have received the newly introduced Special Recognition for Sustainable Development, the UNESCO Bangkok has said. The Sunder Nursery has also been recognised as the Award of Excellence in this year's UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, it said in a statement. The Sunder Nursery, winner of two awards from the 2020 cycle, was awarded the Special Recognition for Sustainable Development for its “transformative impact in turning a barren site into an urban oasis in the heart of New Delhi … it pays equal attention to ecological restoration, thus underscoring the message that heritage conservation is beyond monuments and is only truly sustainable when essential linkages between nature and culture are profoundly understood and nurtured.” The project's highest level of achievement in the awards' conservation category was praised for its "comprehensive renewal of the Sunder Nursery ensemble sets a new bar for heritage restoration and serves as a catalytic model for public-private partnerships in India”.