Background to Western Ghats of Karnataka

The Western Ghats of South India are rich in culture and ecology. The biodiversity contained in this mosaic of tropical forest types, from wet evergreen forest to mangrove swamp, is considered worthy of global protection efforts. At least 4050 flowering plants have been identified in the Ghats, of which about 1600 are endemics. Noticeable reptile fauna in the evergreen forests include the limbless frogs (caecilians), burrowing snakes (uropeltids) and the king cobra. In total, 112 endemic species of salamanders, caecilians, frogs and toads occur in the Western Ghats. The Nilgiri langur, lion-tailed macaque, Nilgiri tahr and Malabar large spotted civet are examples of endangered endemic mammals and the area also contains potentially valuable genetic material for agriculture in the form of wild relatives of pepper, cardamom, mango, jackfruit and other widely cultivated plants. The moist deciduous forests of lower rainfall zones contain a rich mega-fauna which includes populations of elephant, tiger, chital deer, sambar deer, leopard and gaur. The rarity of the moist deciduous forest type, high degree of species endemism, unique variety of forest types, uniqueness of lowland evergreen forest in a monsoonal climate and the biogeographical significance of this isolated area between the African and Indo-Malaysian forest blocks combine to make the Western Ghats a very important biological resource. Sadly, it is also an extremely endangered one.