The Western Ghats of India
So many species can be saved by reconnecting habitat
in one of the hottest of the biodiversity hotspots.
India’s Western Ghats are older than the Himalaya mountains, and have more biological diversity than almost anywhere else on the planet.
Pressures from creeping development and spreading of human settlements into formerly untouched forests are a relentless threat to this UNESCO World Heritage Site’s biodiversity and tropical forests.
Human settlements inside or adjacent to Kudremukh National Park are fragmenting forests with infrastructure and putting additional strain on natural resources that biodiversity desperately needs.
Livestock are crowding out biodiversity and the demand for social services is increasing pressure to extend fragmenting infrastructure into the protected area.
Re-integrating isolated forest parcels throughout the Ghats will be an enormous gain for conservation. By reconnecting, expanding, and buffering protected areas, our projects help slow the growth of settlements.
We are working with our local partner relocate settlers outside the park, providing better access to social services and relieving pressure on elephants, tigers, and other native species.
30,707
Acres of Forest Destroyed by Stip Mining
5,064
Species Impacted
30
Acres Restored
2,000
People Impacted
312
Tons CO2 removed per year
India’s Western Ghats Bear the Scars of Exploitation
This ancient mountain range is immense, running inland along much of the length of India’s West Coast. Its innumerable valleys and forests stretch for about 1,600 kilometers (just under a 1,000 miles). Sky islands with waves of golden grasslands dot the mountain range. In addition, the montane forests in the Western Ghats influence India’s monsoon weather pattern and are home to at least 325 globally threatened species.
Decades of forest clearing for crops like tea, coffee, rubber and oil palm, and intense population growth have taken their toll on the Western Ghats. Strip mining for iron ore has scarred the mountains and polluted rivers. As a result, forests are now badly fragmented, isolating populations of wildlife from one another. Furthermore, invasive species are overtaking the forests and grasslands, slowly crowding out native species. Endangered tigers, Asian elephants, and many more species are imperiled in India. As India’s human population continues to boom, time is truly of the essence.
Also scattered in this area are multiple settlements, a rusting abandoned mining operation, and miles of deteriorating infrastructure. Encroachment of road and electricity, is the next serious threat to the last of nature’s seclusion. This development significantly disrupts connectivity and movement of large dispersing mammals like tigers, elephants, and gaur. It also invites further destruction of the landscape that all wildlife depends on for survival.
The diversity of plants, birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles is spectacular. Covering just five percent of India’s land, the Western Ghats contains 27% of India’s higher plant species (4,000 of 15,000 species) – 1,800 are found nowhere else in the world. The short list below shows is reason enough to fight for India’s Western Ghats. This is the kind of biodiversity hotspot where scientists regularly find new species, like the nine new frog species discovered in 2014. There are literally hundreds of endemic species here that can be found nowhere else on the planet.
500 Birds including 22 endemics. Species include: Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus, CR), Nilgiri Blue Robin (Myiomela major, EN), Blackchinned (Nilgiri) Laughing thrush (Strophocincla cachinnans, EN).
120 Mammals including 18 endemics. Species include: Malabar Civet (Viverra civettina, CR), Tiger (Panthera tigris, EN), Lion tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus (EN), Leopard (Panthera pardus), Elephant (Elephas maximus), Asiatic Wild Dog (Cuon alpinus), Sambar (Cervus unicolor), Chital (Cervus axis), Muntjak (Muntaicus muntjak), Gaur (Bos gaurus).
219 Amphibians including 170 endemics. Species include: Raorchestes ponmudi (CR), Pseudophilautus amboli (CR), Ramanella mormorata (EN), Gundia Indian frog (Indirana gundia), Dattatreya Night Frog (Nyctibatrachus dattatreyensis).
225 Reptiles including 139 endemics. Species include: Cochin Forest Cane Turtle (Vijayachelys silvatica, EN), Perrotet’s Vine Sanke (Ahaetulla perroteti), Indian Kangaroo lizard (Octocryptis beddomii).
Following the closure of the iron mine and the abandonment of its employees, we had the opportunity to purchase inholding settlements inside Kudremukh National Park from people who wanted to relocate. Working with our partners, Bangalalore-based Centre for Wildlife Studies and the Wildlife Conservation Society-India, we identified core areas of forests to purchase and add to existing protected areas.
Our first step was to purchase land adjacent to two protected areas, Kudremukh National Park and Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary. This once ecologically vibrant area is now an uneasy patchwork of forest islands amidst coffee, rubber, and palm oil plantations.
The project will improve the environment of the Park and protect its endangered biodiversity. Focusing on even small parcels in the Ghats will add to existing forest protected areas and improve the ability for wildlife to disperse and find food, and even other mates. More importantly, purchasing these properties and placing them into protected status, impedes further infrastructure encroachment, and development.
Our restoration project in the Western Ghats has achieved several milestones since its launch in 2016. We completed the land acquisition and helped dozens of families relocate to places were they now have access to electricity, transportation, healthcare, and education. Along with the families, the cattle are now gone from the National Park, giving the native plants time to recover, along with the species that depend on them for habitat.
On a recent project visit, we spent time with a number of the families who shared their stories of a better life for themselves and their children in supportive communities outside the National Park.
Photo Credits:
1. Kudramukh Mine photo by Shyamal [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
2. Crested serpent eagle photo by Xavier Munoz
3. Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) photo by Xavier Munoz