The eco-sensitive Western Ghats along the West Coast of India have been included in the World Heritage Sites list by UNESCO, at a recently held meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Russia.
"It is indeed a matter of pride for the country and the concerned states.
Now that the central government has taken a strong international posture on this issue, it must, along with the concerned state governments, take tangible ground-level measures to implement it," said Prof. Madhav Gadgil, Environmentalist from Pune. At present, India has five other natural sites and 23 cultural sites on the Unesco World Heritage List, according to a report by IANS. Spread over nearly 8,000 square feet spanning Gujarat, Maharashtra (known as the Sahyadris in the state), Karnataka, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the Western Ghats are between 60-160 km at the narrowest end points, harbouring a wealth of flora, fauna and more being discovered regularly.
Older than the Himalayas, the mountain chain of the Western Ghats represents geomorphic features of immense importance with unique biophysical and ecological processes. It added that the site also has an exceptionally high level of biological diversity and endemism. It is recognised as one of the world's eight ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity. The forests of the site include some of the best representatives of non-equatorial tropical evergreen forests anywhere and are home to at least 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish species, as per the report.
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Now that the central government has taken a strong international posture on this issue, it must, along with the concerned state governments, take tangible ground-level measures to implement it," said Prof. Madhav Gadgil, Environmentalist from Pune. At present, India has five other natural sites and 23 cultural sites on the Unesco World Heritage List, according to a report by IANS. Spread over nearly 8,000 square feet spanning Gujarat, Maharashtra (known as the Sahyadris in the state), Karnataka, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the Western Ghats are between 60-160 km at the narrowest end points, harbouring a wealth of flora, fauna and more being discovered regularly.
Older than the Himalayas, the mountain chain of the Western Ghats represents geomorphic features of immense importance with unique biophysical and ecological processes. It added that the site also has an exceptionally high level of biological diversity and endemism. It is recognised as one of the world's eight ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity. The forests of the site include some of the best representatives of non-equatorial tropical evergreen forests anywhere and are home to at least 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish species, as per the report.
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