Western Ghats: Plan for in-depth survey

By Sahana Charan

BANGALORE, JAN. 13. In order to undertake an in-depth ecological survey of the Western Ghats region, the City-based Eco-Watch Environment Centre proposes to set up the Centre for Studies on Tropical Forests and Culture of Western Ghats, in Uttara Kannada.

Identified as one of the "hot spots" of biodiversity in the world, the Western Ghats is home to a plethora of exotic species of flora and fauna and numerous indigenous communities. The region is now faced with the threat of depletion of its rich tropical forests due to over-exploitation of its resources.

Mr. Suresh Heblikar, environmentalist and Chairman of Eco-Watch, told The Hindu that the centre would be set up sometime in the first half of this year. The centre was likely to be headed by Mr. Subhash Chandran, co-ordinator for the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), Uttara Kannada, and Professor of botany. There were plans to affiliate the centre to Dharwad University at a later stage.

The activities of the Centre would include study and documentation of indigenous cultures, traditional lifestyles of the people inhabiting the area and analytical studies of composition and diversity, he said.

The Western Ghats shelters some of the rarest species of plants and animals, most of which are exclusive to it. Wetlands and mangroves with ancient rocks, soils and remains of ancient ecosystems are found here. There are around 586 species of birds in this region which also houses a wide range of medicinal plants.

"The region forms the fulcrum of the entire ecology of South India and is on a par with the evergreen Malaysian, Madagascar and Latin American forests," observed Mr. Heblikar.

According to studies, the area under forests in the Western Ghats is declining with Kerala losing almost 50 per cent of its evergreen forest within a span of 25 years, from 1963 to 1988. There is a dramatic increase in deforestation. The proposed centre will address these issues and try to find solutions to promote conservation of the forests, Mr. Heblikar observed.

"The idea is to provide valuable data regarding the diversity of the region to environmentalists and students alike. The centre will publish its findings on a regular basis and the output of the centre's research work will facilitate environment researchers in their studies of the region. It will be unique as Eco-Watch wants to involve not only environmentalists but also prominent people from different disciplines in this project."

According to Mr. Heblikar, the centre's experiments and contributions in the field would have practical applications in the field of forest and ecosystem conservation in the Western Ghats. He hoped that the work carried out on the culture and habits of ethnic groups in the region would open up new research in medicinal and food plants and provide new options in nature conservation.

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