Tourism boom in Western Ghats causes exotic habitat loss

Located within the elevated Cardamom Hills, which creates a part of the Western Ghats, the World Heritage Site under UNESCO, can be found the charming town of Munnar, Kerala.

Verdant green tea gardens engulfing the undulating hills of the Western Ghats, is a biodiversity hotspot. It’s mixed together by coffee and cardamom plantations. There are eucalyptus groves, black wattle and acacia trees are developed for firewood and timber are infused within these plantations.

A bit of shola forests, underdeveloped tropical montane cloud forest which had covered all these areas at one point of time with woods; lie scattered all over the region as bits and pieces of the past. These days, forests cover over half of Idukki district where Munnar is located, and are typically found inside protected areas, like, Anamudi Shola National Park, Eravikulam National Park and Periyar National Park.

The hills touching the sky and expansive valleys of tranquil Munnar lure several wanderlusts with nature love. However, as tourism rises in Munnar, the roads, lines of electricity and other means of communication have grown, and forested land is more and more encroached upon to make way for additional plantations and resorts. To all magnetic animals, like the elephants, protected areas act as a safe haven, which often stroll into tea plantations or the widespread Nilgiri tahrs, toads and small frogs, frequently not noticeable but extremely diverse, are in danger of being lost in the shuffle.

The post Tourism boom in Western Ghats causes exotic habitat loss appeared first on Travel And Tour World.

from Travel And Tour World https://ift.tt/PHoG3Ei