Fears of global warming, climate change, and irreversible loss of the planet's life support systems notwithstanding, plants and animals thrive within even the seemingly degraded habitats.
Conservation assessments are critical to the long-term survival of species, communities, ecosystems, landscapes and vast ecological regions. The Western Ghats is amongst the globally recognized biodiversity hotspots that are in dire need of a regional conservation plan. The ecological region is known for high levels of endemism, especially amongst vertebrate animals. Not less than 35% of the 1,282 species of vertebrates known in the region are endemic.
The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India (GOI) has been asked to identify ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs) along the Western Ghats, and to suggest how to manage them. The concept of ESAs has been extensively
discussed in the literature.
