Faced with enormous population pressure, the lush mountains are at risk of a biodiversity crisis. The forests include non-equatorial tropical evergreen forests and are home to at least 325 globally-threatened flora, fauna, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish species, according to Unesco. The mountains are also recognised as one of the world’s eight “hottest hotspots” of biological diversity, and its forests influence the Indian monsoons. At a meeting in the Russian city of St. Petersburg late on Sunday, Unesco delegates decided to give World Heritage Site status to 39 sites of the Western Ghats, reports say.
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