"Human impacts, such as human settlements and parts of reservoirs, are evident across the Western Ghats World Heritage site. Villages located within the site cause inevitable issues such as encroachment, livestock grazing, fodder and fuelwood collection, illegal hunting and increasing interest in tourism-related activity among others," says a recent report by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Citing the example of iron-ore mining which was active till recently in the centre of Kudremukh National Park in Karnataka, IUCN says that "mining has been identified as a major threat" for Western Ghats--one of the world's hotspots of biodiversity.
"Hydroelectricity, irrigation and wind farms are cause for further concern," says the organisation, which included the mountains in its list of "Inspiring Places" in the world.
The 1600 km Western Ghats mountain chain running almost parallel to western coast and spanning six Indian States-- Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa in the north down to Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south.
The serial World Heritage site covers a total of 795,300 hectares, which is equal to about 5 per cent of the area of the whole Western Ghats mountain chain.
The mountains are home to rain forests, rivers, waterfalls and a number of mammals including the endemic lion-tailed macaque, the endangered Asian elephant and tiger.
More From This Section
IUCN had reservations in giving UNESCO heritage tag to Western Ghats -- though it holds "spectacular natural values". In its evaluation, the world's largest conservation organisation had opined that "more work" was needed to meet the international standards.
The Western Ghats was inscribed to the World heritage List during the 36th Session of the World Heritage Committee meeting held at St. Petersburg, Russia, in June this year.