Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve
Indian Biosphere Reserve
Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve | |
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Location | Kollam District , Thiruvananthapuram District , Pathanamthitta District , Kanyakumari District and Tirunelveli Districts |
Nearest city | Nagercoil , Thiruvananthapuram , Ambasamudram |
Coordinates | 8°39′0″N 77°13′0″E / 8.65000°N 77.21667°E / 8.65000; 77.21667 |
Area | 3,500.36 km 2 (1,351.50 sq mi) |
Established | 2001 |
Governing body |
Ministry of Environment & Forests
Listed under UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves |
The Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve is a biosphere reserve in India established in 2001, located in the southernmost end of the Western Ghats and includes 3,500.36 km 2 (1,351.50 sq mi) of which 1828 km 2 is in Kerala and 1672.36 km 2 is in Tamil Nadu . It encompasses the following wildlife sanctuaries: Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary , Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary , Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary , and Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve . [1] [2]
Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve became part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 2016. [3]
Location
ABR straddles the border of Pathanamthitta , Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram Districts in Kerala and Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari Districts in Tamil Nadu , South India at the southern end of the Western Ghats . The Biosphere lies Between 8° 8' to 9° 10' North Latitude and 76° 52' to 77° 34' East Longitude. Central location is 8°39′N 77°13′E / 8.650°N 77.217°E / 8.650; 77.217 .
It is composed of Neyyar, [4] Peppara [5] and Shendurney [6] Wildlife Sanctuaries and their adjoining areas of Achencoil, [7] Thenmala , Konni, [8] Punalur , Thiruvananthapuram Divisions and Agasthyavanam Special Division in Kerala. [9] Inclusion of adjoining areas of Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu has been approved. The reserve now covers parts of Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari Districts in Tamil Nadu and Thiruvananthapuram , Kollam and Pathanamthitta Districts in Kerala. [2]
Ecology
ABR includes the Indian Ecoregions of tropical wet evergreen forests, [10] South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests , South Western Ghats montane rain forests and Shola . It is the habitat for 2,000 varieties of medicinal plants, of which at least 50 are rare and endangered species. Animals include the Bengal Tiger , Asian Elephant , and Nilgiri Tahr . Agastyamalai is also home to the Kanikaran , [11] [12] one of the oldest surviving ancient tribes in the world. [13] Ecotourism is popular in the area.
Kanikkarans are the Original tribal Settlers in Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve. [14]
Management
A local committee and a state level Biosphere Management Committee co-ordinate the activities of various departments in the ABR area and ensure the scientific management of the ABR according to guidelines of the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests. [15] [16]
References
- ↑ Kerala Forests & Wildlife Dept, Biosphere Reserves. Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve
- 1 2 Tamil Nadu Forest Department (2007) retrieved 2 September 2007 AGASTHIYARMALAI BIOSPHERE RESERVE Archived 2008-12-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ UNESCO, World Network of Biosphere Reserves, Agasthyamalai. retrieved 19 March 2016 World Network Of Biosphere Reserves
- ↑ Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary Archived 2007-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary Archived 2007-01-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary Archived 2007-12-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Achencoil, Kerala" . Archived from the original on 13 November 2004 . Retrieved 15 February 2007 .
- ↑ Konni, Kerala
- ↑ AGASTHYAVANAM BIOLOGICAL PARK, Kerala
- ↑ "Agasthyamala" . The Hindu . 19 April 2018 . Retrieved 12 July 2019 .
-
↑
Anuradha, R. V., "Sharing with the Kanis, A case study from Kerala, India"
"Archived copy"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 23 November 2006
. Retrieved
15 February
2007
.
{{ cite web }}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link ) - ↑ "Ministry of Forests and Environment-Report Ch10 Biodiversity/Kanis" . Archived from the original on 10 April 2009 . Retrieved 19 February 2007 .
- ↑ "Environment Ministry to soon declare Agastyamalai a biosphere reserve" . The Hindu . 3 January 2006. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013.
- ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Site
- ↑ Kerala Forests & Wildlife Department
- ↑ Wildlife Institute of India
External links
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