Habitat loss due to tourism in the Western Ghats pushes endangered frogs to the edge

Subject: Environment

Section: Places in news

Increasing fragility of Western Ghats:

Plant species found there are: Groves of eucalyptus, black wattle and acacia — trees grown for firewood and timber, Neem, rubber bush, etc.
- Patches of shola forests — stunted tropical montane forests which once covered all these hills — lie scattered across the landscape.
- Coffee and cardamom plantations intersperse the tea gardens, giving this lofty range the name Cardamom Hills.
- Today, forests blanket just over half of Idukki are mostly found inside protected areas, including Eravikulam National Park, Anamudi Shola National Park, and Periyar National Park.
Fauna species: Elephants (Elephas maximus indicus) or the endemic Nilgiritahrs (Nilgiritragushylocrius), tiny frogs and toads, Lion-tailed macaque, Gaur, Sloth bear, Nilgirilangoor, nilgiri marten, King Cobra, Great Hornbill among others.

Tree cover loss threatens endemic frogs:

The vast amphibian diversity of the southern Western Ghats is now at risk. As frogs are extremely sensitive to small changes in their environment, climate change and other human-caused disturbances can decimate their numbers.
Habitat loss
Beginning in the late 19th century, large swathes of montane shola forests were cut down by the British colonists to grow coffee, tea and spices like cardamom.
Over the years, as plantations expanded, the forest cover shrank.
A 2016 satellite-based study showed that in 1925, most (93.2%) of the landscape was forested, but by 2012, it dwindled to just over half (52.1%).
This loss is despite the fact that logging of shola forests — both in and outside of protected areas — is legally prohibited.

Protection efforts of amphibian species:

Amphibians contribute to regulating services by reducing mosquito recruitment from ephemeral wetlands, potentially controlling other pest species, and indirectly through predation of insect pollinators.
India lacks proper legal protection for its amphibians.
- India don’t have any protected areas dedicated to frogs.
- Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972—aimed at protecting the country’s biodiversity—lists a handful of freshwater frogs in its Schedule IV section, which bans hunting or trade of these species.
In the 2022 amendment to the Act, species belonging to the Nasikabatrachus genus (like the purple frog), have been added to Schedule I and get as much protection as tigers or elephants per the law.

Gadgil Committee Recommendations on Western Ghats:

The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) designated the entire hill range as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
The panel, in its report, has classified the 142 taluks in the Western Ghats boundary into Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZ) 1, 2 and 3.
ESZ-1 being of high priority, almost all developmental activities (mining, thermal power plants etc) were restricted in it.
The Gadgil report recommended that “no new dams based on large-scale storage be permitted in Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1. Since both the Athirappilly of Kerala and Gundia of Karnataka hydel project sites fall in Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1, these projects should not be accorded environmental clearance,” it said.
Gadgil Committee report specifies that the present system of governance of the environment should be changed. It asked for a bottom to top approach (right from Gram sabhas) rather than a top to bottom approach. It also asked for decentralization and more powers to local authorities.
The commission recommended constitution of a Western Ghats Ecology Authority (WGEA), as a statutory authority under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, with the powers under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Kasturirangan committee Report Recommendations on Western Ghats:

Instead of the total area of Western Ghats, only 37% (i.e. 60,000 sq. km.) of the total area be brought under ESA under Kasturirangan report.
A complete ban on mining, quarrying and sand mining in ESA.
Distinguished between cultural (58% occupied in the Western Ghats by it like human settlements, agricultural fields and plantations) and natural landscape (90% of it should come under ESA according to the committee).
Current mining areas in the ESA should be phased out within the next five years, or at the time of expiry of mining lease, whichever is earlier.
No thermal power be allowed and hydropower projects are allowed only after detailed study.
Red industries i.e. which are highly polluting be strictly banned in these areas.
The Kasturirangan report on the Western Ghats has made several pro-farmer recommendations, including the exclusion of inhabited regions and plantations from the purview of ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs).
The Kasturirangan report had said 123 villages fall under the ESA purview.