NEWS – The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in its World Heritage Outlook 4 report (2025), has classified India’s Western Ghats, along with Assam’s Manas and West Bengal’s Sundarbans National Parks, as sites of “significant concern.”

The report evaluates the conservation status of over 200 global natural World Heritage Sites across four assessment cycles (2014–2025).

HIGHLIGHTS

Key Findings of the IUCN Report:

• The IUCN ranks natural sites as “Good”, “Good with some concerns”, “Significant concern”, or “Critical.”
• For the first time, the percentage of sites with a positive conservation outlook has fallen from 63% (2014–2020) to 57% in 2025.
• The IUCN highlights four major threats to habitats and species in South Asia:
  1. Climate Change
  2. Tourism Activities
  3. Invasive Alien Species
  4. Road Infrastructure and Development

The Western Ghats: India’s Biodiversity Hotspot

• Older than the Himalayas, the Western Ghats host 325 globally threatened species of flora and fauna.
• Despite being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it faces increasing environmental degradation and biodiversity loss.

Major Threats to the Western Ghats:

• Hydropower Projects: Massive dams like the ₹5,843 crore Sillahalla Pumped Storage Project threaten fragile ecosystems.
• Unregulated Tourism: Garbage pollution and human–wildlife conflict are rising.
• Plantations & Land Use Change: Replacement of forests by monoculture crops.
• Climate Change: Shifts in species distribution (e.g., Nilgiri flycatcher).
• Exotic Species: Eucalyptus and acacia replacing native flora.

 Sundarbans under Stress:

• Threatened by salinity, heavy metal contamination, sea-level rise, and storm surges.
• Mangrove biodiversity and tiger habitats are shrinking due to unsustainable resource use.

 Hope and Global Outlook:

• Some regions, like China’s seven protected sites, show positive management models.
• Though World Heritage Sites cover <1% of Earth’s surface, they sustain 20% of global species richness.
• The report aligns with the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, calling for urgent conservation action.