The Nilgiri biosphere reserve

Kunal Sharma, Keystone Foundation, Tamil Nadu, India

The Nilgiri Mountains lend their name to the first designated Biosphere Reserve of India. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR) was selected to represent the bio-geographical zone of the Western Ghats. The Reserve was established in 1986 to conserve large tracts that are rich in biodiversity and to promote sustainable use of resources.

The Reserve is located in south-west India at the trijunction of the three southern states Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The NBR completely encircles the massive Nilgiri plateau and extends over diverse ecological, geological, cultural, climatic and geographical zones. Due to the enormous diversity, there are distinct forest types and numerous endemic species. It represents one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots with more than 3,700 plant species and 684 vertebrates species, of which 156 are endemic. The NBR includes all the important forest types that are found in South India.

The NBR has a significant percentage of indigenous people, who depend on the natural resources for their livelihoods. The indigenous people of the Nilgiris are amongst the most ancient community groups in southern India. They are traditionally hunter-gatherers and depend on the forest for their existence. The diverse communities had co-operative relationships in the past, but are now fragmented and few in number, yet culturally connected.

The richness of the Reserve has attracted many adventurers, researchers and anthropologists. The NBR is ecologically sensitive and vulnerable to changes that threaten to engulf this fragile region. There has been much change over the past decades: large tracts of forested hills have been exploited and there have been alterations to original land use.