Coimbatore: With the three days Ecological Festival for the Western Ghats entering serious discussions, K.C. Malhotra, Founder Chairperson of the Save Western Ghats Movement that is organising the event said that the focus of the 9th edition of the conference would be on the eco sensitive zones that lie outside protected areas.
Coimbatore: With the three days Ecological Festival for the Western Ghats entering serious discussions, K.C. Malhotra, Founder Chairperson of the Save Western Ghats Movement that is organising the event said that the focus of the 9th edition of the conference would be on the eco sensitive zones that lie outside protected areas.
Malhotra who began the movement in 1987 by walking 2000 kilo meters in 100 days in an attempt to create awareness about the mountain range, said that it was essential to protect those areas also as they were rich in biodiversity and were also vulnerable.
“More than 20 per cent of such areas remain outside protected areas. They host good number of flora and fauna. But unfortunately, it does not come under the forest cover per se, which could lead in their destruction,” he said.
Claiming that even important reports on the Western Ghats did not carry this matter strongly, Malhotra opined that it was imperative to focus more on those lands and prevent them from being destroyed.
“It also becomes imperative to consider individual land holdings in the Western Ghats, where the land use pattern has been changing rapidly. It is important to study what they are doing to their land with regards to the type of cultivation and construction,” he opined.
Talking about the increased number of development projects in the mountain chain, Malhotra suggested that norms should be followed to reduce damage adding that certain areas including the grasslands should be left untouched.
Commenting on how the Save Western Ghats Movement has grown over the last 30 years, Malhotra felt happy that the younger generation is involved in it. “We should prepare literature for the next generation about the Western Ghats and its importance and spread it among schools and colleges in local language. Efforts are being made,” he said.
Malhotra who began the movement in 1987 by walking 2000 kilo meters in 100 days in an attempt to create awareness about the mountain range, said that it was essential to protect those areas also as they were rich in biodiversity and were also vulnerable.
“More than 20 per cent of such areas remain outside protected areas. They host good number of flora and fauna. But unfortunately, it does not come under the forest cover per se, which could lead in their destruction,” he said.
Claiming that even important reports on the Western Ghats did not carry this matter strongly, Malhotra opined that it was imperative to focus more on those lands and prevent them from being destroyed.
“It also becomes imperative to consider individual land holdings in the Western Ghats, where the land use pattern has been changing rapidly. It is important to study what they are doing to their land with regards to the type of cultivation and construction,” he opined.
Talking about the increased number of development projects in the mountain chain, Malhotra suggested that norms should be followed to reduce damage adding that certain areas including the grasslands should be left untouched.
Commenting on how the Save Western Ghats Movement has grown over the last 30 years, Malhotra felt happy that the younger generation is involved in it. “We should prepare literature for the next generation about the Western Ghats and its importance and spread it among schools and colleges in local language. Efforts are being made,” he said.