Environmentalists working to conserve the plants, animals and biodiversity of the Eastern Ghats have been lamenting for long that this range of hills is not getting the same attention as its counterpart, the Western Ghats.
The rare and unique flora and fauna of the Eastern Ghats are still waiting to be discovered.
Conservation biologist and founder of the Eastern Ghats Wildlife Society Murthy Kantimahanti said the world of conservation was finally focussing its attention on the Eastern Ghats.
Mr. Murthy, who just returned from an Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leadership programme conducted by the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders (EWCL) in Washington D.C. early this month, said the EWCL was a collaborative project between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Defenders of Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation Network, International Fund for Animal Welfare and the White Oak Conservation Center.
Mr. Murthy, who has been working for the conservation of the Fishing Cat, Rusty Spotted Cat and several reptiles, snakes in particular, was the only Indian to be invited for the training programme.
More than 3,000 different species of plants are found in the Eastern Ghats that comprises varying habitats like wetlands, hill and mangrove forests, grasslands and coastal vegetation. They are home to some of the lesser-known nevertheless endangered mammals like the Fishing Cat, Rusty Spotted Cat, Indian Pangolin, Barking Deer and the Mouse Deer.
The Eastern Ghats also house several rare reptiles, birds, fish and countless insects. Several species were facing the threat of extinction locally due to habitat fragmentation, poaching and encroachment of forest lands, he said. The Eastern Ghats also have the largest Tiger Reserve – The Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam Sanctuary – in the country. This reserve had both the largest cat, the Royal Bengal Tiger and the smallest cat, the Rusty Spotted Cat, in the wild.
Networking and conservation vital
Networking, conservation campaigning skills, planning and execution of conservation projects were very important. International wildlife conservation training programmes with a network of trained professionals spread across the world was very useful in these conservation efforts, Mr. Murthy said.
He said the training programme and the skillsets he developed would be immensely useful in addressing the unique conservation challenges of the Eastern Ghats.
