New Checklist Records 3,261 Flowering Plant Species in Agasthyamalai Reserve

The Western Ghats are recognised as one of the world's major biodiversity hotspots and were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although India holds only about 2.4% of the world's land area, it accounts for roughly 8% of global species diversity, making it one of the world's mega-diverse countries. This diversity is not spread evenly; it is concentrated in specific regions such as the Western Ghats and North-East India, which combine high rainfall, varied altitude, and long biogeographic isolation.

India designates Biosphere Reserves under the international Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme to protect large, representative ecosystems that include multiple protected areas within a single landscape. The Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve (ABR) lies at the southern tip of the Western Ghats, spanning Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Its core protected-area network consists of the Neyyar, Peppara, and Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuaries in Kerala and the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu, together forming one contiguous conservation landscape. South India has four such reserves in all: Agasthyamalai, Nilgiri, Gulf of Mannar, and Seshachalam Hills. Conservation within ABR is governed by the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the institutional oversight of the National Biodiversity Authority.