Posted by on 13th July, 2016.
Western Ghats are also known as Sahyadri, a range of mountains located along the western coast of peninsular India. It is considered as an UNESCO World Heritage Site and is also one of the eight “highest hot spots” of biological diversity in the world. This range demarcates coastal plain from the plateau running along the western coast from North to South. The range runs for approximately 1600 km, through the states of Goa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. It covers an area of 160,000 km2 with an average elevation of 1,200 m above the sea level.
The area is considered to be one of the world’s ten “Hottest biodiversity hotspots” and has over 7,402 species of flowering plants,1814 species of non-flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species, 179 amphibian species, 6000 insects species and 290 freshwater fish species. At least 325 globally threatened species occur in the Western Ghats. It would be safe to say that many undiscovered species reside in these Ghats as well.
This area of our country is ecologically sensitive and was declared an ecological hotspot in 1988. Even though this region covers only 5% of India’s land, it has 27% of all species of higherplants in India and 1,800 of them are endemic to this region. The range is presided over by atleast 84 amphibian species, 16 bird species, 7 mammals, and 1,600 flowering plants which are not found elsewhere in the world. The Government of India took various initiatives to preservethese lands by establishing, 2 Biosphere Reserves, 13 National Parks, several Wildlife Sanctuaries and Reserve Forests, to protect this region enriched with wildlife.
These hills serve as important corridors to wildlife as they form an integral part of the Project,Elephant and Project Tiger reserves. After the Sunderbans, the Western Ghats are known to have the highest population of tigers, with an estimation of 336 to 487 tigers. From the 7,402 species of flowering plants found in the Western Ghats, 5,588 species are indigenous. Among the indigenous species, 2,253 species are endemic to India and of them, 1,273 species are exclusively confined to the Western Ghats.
Western Ghats are rich with wildlife, which needs to be protected and preserved. The wildlife occurring in these hills, form a part of its beauty. Thus, making it a UNESCO recognized World Heritage Site.