Syllabus Section: Environment, Ecology and Biodiversity

 

Why in news?

The IUCN has published the World Heritage Outlook 3 recently. The IUCN report highlights that Western Ghats of southern India is threatened by population pressure, urbanization and climate change.

Key findings of the report

• The IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3 is builds on previous reports from 2014 and 2017.

• The report states that the conservation outlook of the mountain chain in the Western Ghats is of significant concern.

• The report further says, the state of values in the Western Ghats was considered as good at time of inscription. The state still remains so. However, there exists some concern regarding outside threats.

• The report also highlights that, the fragmentation caused because of the development pressure such as construction of roads, broadening of existing roads etc. in the Western Ghats is shrinking the availability of the wildlife corridors and other habitat outside the protected areas.

• Urbanisation, agricultural expansion, livestock grazing and forest fragmentation also pose treats to the species and habitats of the Western Ghats as per the report.

• Climate change will also exacerbate the system and has the potential to impact the large- scale monsoonal processes. This would impact the Western Ghats on a large scale.

 

Source: The Economic Times