The government has taken several steps, including establishment of protected areas, to conserve the rich biodiversity of Western Ghats, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan has said.

A large number of protected areas comprising national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves and elephant reserves have been established to provide stringent protection to both flora and fauna, the Minister informed the Parliament.

Nearly 10 per cent of the total area of Western Ghats is currently covered under the Protected Area category, she said.

Hotspots

“The largest Protected Area in Western Ghats is the Bandipur National Park in Karnataka. The Silent Valley National Park in Kerala and the Kudremukh National Park in Karnataka are among the important tracts of virgin tropical evergreen forests in India, serving as home to a healthy population of globally threatened fauna,” the Minister said.

The ecosystems of the Western Ghats include the tropical wet evergreen forests and moist deciduous forests.

“There are over 4,000 species of angiosperms (1,500 endemic), 332 species of butterflies (37 endemic), 288 species of fishes (116 endemic), 156 species of amphibians (94 endemic), 225 species of reptiles (97 endemic), 508 species of birds (19 endemic) and 137 species of mammals (14 endemic) reported from Western Ghats,” she said.

Restrictions have been put in place for setting up of industries in certain ecologically significant areas of Western Ghats, Natarajan said.

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