SO IMPORTANT: SAVE THESE BEAUTIFUL ROOTS NOW

Our roots are our heritage. We are a sum total of all that came before us. We celebrate & protect these roots in World Heritage Sites. But now, over 1/2 are threatened by both industry & war, per a recent report by the World Wildlife Fund & the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN).

We take a look at 3 important, achingly beautiful endangered Natural World Heritage Sites below.

THE WESTERN GHATS -- INDIA

The Western Ghats is a region of extreme beauty in southwest India, spanning the States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat, covering an area 140,000 km² in a 1,600 km long stretch.

Its mountain chain is older than the Himalayas and represents geomorphic features of immense importance with a unique ecosystem that influences India’s monsoons.

The Western Ghats support exceptionally high levels of biodiversity and endemism, and is recognized as one of the world’s eight ‘hottest hotspots.’ It also hosts the single largest population of endangered Asian elephants and Indian bison.

The Western Ghats are home to at least 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish species.

According to IUCN’s World Heritage Outlook, the Western Ghats are facing “extractive threats” in the form of “oil and gas concessions” & “mines and mining concessions.”

Beyond wildlife and forests, the IUCN survey estimates that 11 million people directly depend on India’s Natural World Heritage Sites for food, water, shelter, and medicine.

Help save the Western Ghats.

TASMANIAN WILDERNESS

The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area protects one of the last true wilderness regions. It encompasses a greater range of natural and cultural values than any other region on Earth.

Spanning approximately 1.6 million hectares, this Wilderness covers about 1/5 of the area of Australia’s island state of Tasmania.

Steep gorges, carved by glaciers, are thick with one of the last expanses of temperate rainforest in the world. Some of the deepest, longest caves run through. There are rocks here from almost every geological period since Precambrian, over 1 million years ago.

The Wilderness has a remarkable diversity of flora, including some of the oldest trees (Huon pines, Lagarostrobos) and tallest flowers (Eucalyptus regnans) in the world.

The wilderness, which forms a wide array of microclimates, with both Australian and Arctic influences, is home to an unusually high proportion of endemic species, many of which descended from species present on the supercontinent of Gondwana. 

Several animals that are either extinct or threatened on mainland Australia, live here, including the Tasmanian devil, Tasmanian pademelon, eastern quoll, and the last wild breeding population of the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot. 

Hunter/gatherer human remains found in limestone caves here date back more than 20,000 years.

The hotter temperatures & drier conditions of climate change sparked massive wildfires, in early 2016, burning over 260,000 acres of ancient forest in NW Tasmania. It killed both trees & their seeds, making natural regeneration virtually impossible.

Help save the Tasmanian Wilderness.

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

The Great Barrier Reefis the world’s most extensive coral reef ecosystem, covering an area of more than 134,000 square miles. The entire ecosystem was inscribed as World Heritage in 1981.

The GBR is made up of about 2,500 individual coral reefs and more than 900 islands. Together, they are home to some of the most spectacular marine biodiversity in the world, with 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.

Higher sea temperatures, ocean acidification, and pollution are killing the coral and are threatening the entire ecosystem here. Port expansion and coastal industries add to the threat.

Help save the Great Barrier Reef.

To help UNESCO save these and other threatened Natural World Heritage Sites, donate now.

Read more about Beautiful Roots in 10 Wonderful Images & Ideas About the Roots of Beautiful Now.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Navaneeth Ashok. A Small Road Trip. The Western Ghats, India.
2. Image: by Navaneeth KN. Save the Western Ghats… The Western Ghats, India.
3. Image: by Motographer. In awe… The Western Ghats, India.
4. Image: by Yogendra Joshi. Kerala Wild Elephants. The Western Ghats, India.
5. Image: by Ajith U. The Fungoid Frog (Hylarana malabarica). Western Ghats, India.
6. Image: by Manu M G. Tea Estate in Munnar. Western Ghats, India.
7. Image: by Tatters ❀. Scoparia with Mount Barn Bluff. Tasmania.
8. Image: by Tim Cooper. Twisted Reflections. Twisted lakes at Cradle Mountain. Tasmania.
9. Image: by JJ Harrison. Horseshoe Falls in Mt Field National Park. Tasmania, Australia.
10. Image: Courtesy of Tasmania's Giant Trees. The Prefect. Southern Tasmania.
11. Image: by Ron Knight. Orange-bellied Parrot (Neophema chrysogaster). Melaleuca, Tasmania.
12. Image: by jeaneeem. Tasmanian Devil. Tasmania.
13. Image: by Diego Delso. Marakoopa Cave, Tasmania, Australia.
14. Image: by JJ Harrison . Mt. Anne From High Shelf Camp. Tasmania.
15. Image: by Nathan Hughes Hamilton. Great Barrier Reef.
16. Image: by Kyle Taylor. The Great Barrier Reef.
17. Image: by Tchami. Great Barrier Reef.
18. Image: by Robyn Jay. The Franklin Flowing Free. Tasmania.
19. Image: by Nagesh Jayaraman. Might Is Right/ Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary. Kerala, India.
20. Image: by -Reji. Kerala, Land of Coconut Trees. Kerala, India
21. Image: by BN App - Download now!
22. Image: by Hari Ratan. Bison in Tea Garden. Western Ghats, India.