“Getting the World Heritage Site tag of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) would make no difference to the protection of the Western Ghats. Even without the tag, we are quite capable of protecting the unique heritage we have there, and we have done so all these years. The Western Ghats Task Force was formed to take up initiatives to protect the flora and fauna of the area,” said Ananth Hegde Ashisara, chairman, Western Ghats Task Force.
Ashisara admitted that some benefits could accrue from the Unesco tag: “If the state government accepts the Union’s proposal, it would help the state develop tourism in the Western Ghats. The sites would get international recognition, and funds for preserving the area could be raised more easily,” he said.
However, Ashisara underlined the fact that whether or not the World Heritage Site tag was bestowed on the 10 Western Ghats sites in the state, the preservation of the Ghats would continue, as before.
“We will not lose anything if the World Heritage Site tag is not attached to the 10 sites. Political leaders have expressed the opinion that the state government ought to be able to take up development work in the area. The government, I am sure, is mulling over the merits and demerits of accepting the tag,” he added.
Ashisara categorically rejected the suggestion that the timber lobby had a role to play in strengthening the state government’s opposition to the Unesco World Heritage Site tag.
He said that there are human habitations within the Ghats, and forest dwellers’ rights ought to be protected too. The state government did not want to have a situation where it would find it hard to take up developmental work in the Ghats.
“There are already enough laws in place to protect the biodiversity of this hotspot. The question of neglecting the Western Ghats, when we have all these provisions in place, just does not arise,” she said and added that if action had been taken at the appropriate time, the whole issue would never have arisen.
The Centre had suggested the inclusion of Western Ghats sites as World Heritage Sites in 2004, he pointed out.
