The Maharashtra state government on March 31, 2021 declared an area at Amboli in Western ghats in Sindhudurg district as a biodiversity heritage site.
- Schistura Hiranyakeshi-a rare freshwater fish species was discovered in this area by a team of researchers including Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s Tejas Thackeray. The fish species was named after the Hiranyakeshi river near Amboli village.
What are Biodiversity Heritage Sites?
- Under Section 37 of Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (BDA) the State Government in consultation with local bodies may notify in the official gazette, areas of biodiversity importance as Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS).
- Under sub section (2) of Section 37, the State Government in consultation with the Central Government may frame rules for the management and conservation of BHS.
- According to the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), Biodiversity Heritage Sites are well defined areas that are unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems – terrestrial, coastal and inland waters and, marine having rich biodiversity comprising of any one or more of the following components: richness of wild as well as domesticated species or intra-specific categories, high endemism, presence of rare and threatened species, keystone species, species of evolutionary significance, wild ancestors of domestic/ cultivated species or their varieties, past pre-eminence of biological components represented by fossil beds and having significant cultural, ethical or aesthetic values and are important for the maintenance of cultural diversity, with or without a long history of human association with them.
Biodiversity Heritage Sites in India
- Nallur Tamarind Grove: Karnataka
- Hogrekan: Karnataka
- University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bengaluru: Karnataka
- Ambaraguda: Karnataka
- Glory of Allapalli: Maharashtra
- Tonglu BHS under the Darjeeling Forest Division: West Bengal
- Dhotrey BHS under the Darjeeling Forest Division: West Bengal
- Dialong Village: Manipur
- Ameenpur lake: Telangana
- Majuli: Assam
- Ghariyal Rehabilitation Centre: Uttar Pradesh
- Chilkigarh Kanak Durga: West Bengal
- Khlaw Kur Syiem KmieIng: Meghalaya
- Mandasaru: Odisha
- Purvatali Rai: Goa
- Naro Hills: Madhya Pradesh
- Patalkot: Madhya Pradesh
- Asramam: Kerala
- Bambarde Myristica Swamps: Maharashtra
- Ganeshkhind Garden: Maharashtra
- Landorkhori: Maharashtra
- Amboli: Maharashtra (Source: National Biodiversity Authority )
