1868 m high Agastya Malai mountain

Thenmala Adventure Zone

Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve Agasthyamalai BR Agasthyamalai BR on the map of India
Location:	Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram and Tirunelveli Districts
Coordinates:	8°37′″N, 77°17′″E
Area:	900 km²
Established:	2001
Visitation:	# People (in year)
Governing body:	Ministry of Environment & Forests

The Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve (ABR) was Established in 2001 and includes 1701 km² ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1544x1024, 574 KB) Agasthyarkoodam View from base camp. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1544x1024, 574 KB) Agasthyarkoodam View from base camp. ... Image File history File links India-locator-map-blank. ... Image File history File links Red_pog. ... For the town with the same name, see Kollam. ... Thiruvananthapuram District is the southernmost district of the Indian state of Kerala. ... Tirunelveli District Tirunelveli District is a district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Location

ABR straddles the border of Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram Districts in Kerala and Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari Districts in Tamil Nadu, South India at the southern end of the Western Ghats. Central location is 8°37′N 77°17′E. It is composed of Neyyar^[1], Peppara^[2] and Shendurney^[3] Wildlife Sanctuaries and their adjoining areas of Achencoil ^[4], Thenmala, Konni^[5], Punalur, Thiruvananthapuram Divisions and Agasthyavanam Special Division in Kerala^[6]. Inclusion of ajoining areas of Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu is under consideration. For the town with the same name, see Kollam. ... Thiruvananthapuram District is the southernmost district of the Indian state of Kerala. ...   (IPA: ; , Written as േകരളം in the native language Malayalam) is a state on the Western Coast of south-western India. ... Tirunelveli District Tirunelveli District is a district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. ... Kanyakumari District Kanyakumari district is one of the 30 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. ... Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ... South India is a linguistic-cultural region of India that comprises the four Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry, whose inhabitants are collectively referred to as South Indians. ... The Agasthiyamalai range of the Western Ghats The Western Ghats are a mountain range in India. ... Thenmala is a beautiful tourist place near Punalur city, Kollam district in Kerala. ... Punalur is a town in the Indian state of Kerala. ... Thiruvananthapuram   (Malayalam: തിരുവനന്തപുരം TiruvanÅ­ntapuraṁ), formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. ...

Ecology

ABR includes the Indian Ecoregions of South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests, South Western Ghats montane rain forests and Shola. It is the habitat for 2,000 varieties of medicinal plants, of which at least 50 are rare and endangered species. Rare animals include the tiger, Asian Elephant, and Nilgiri Tahr. Agastyamalai is also home to the Kanis^[7][8], one of the oldest surviving ancient tribes in the world.^[9]. Ecotourism is popular in the area. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southern India. ... The South Western Ghats montane rain forests are an ecoregion of southern India, covering the southern portion of the Western Ghats range in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, at elevations over 1000 meters. ... Shola is a type of high-altitude stunted evergreen forest found in southern India. ... Binomial name Panthera tigris altaica (Linnaeus, 1758) Distribution of tigers in 1900 (red) and 1990 (green) Synonyms Felis tigris Linnaeus, 1758 Tigris striatus Severtzov, 1858 Tigris regalis pink, 1867 Tigers (Panthera tigris) are mammals of the Felidae family and one of four big cats in the Panthera genus. ... Binomial name Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758 Asian Elephant range The Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus), sometimes known by the name of its nominate subspecies (the Indian Elephant), is one of the three living species of elephant, and the only living species of the genus Elephas. ... Binomial name Nilgiritragus hylocrius (Ogilby, 1838) The Nilgiri Tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius) ungulate native to the Nilgiri Hills and the southern portion of the Western Ghats range in Tamil Nadu and Kerala states of southernmost India. ... Ecotourism means ecological tourism, where ecological has both environmental and social connotations. ...

Management

A local committee and a state level Biosphere Management Committee co-ordinate the activities of various departments in the ABR area and ensure the scientific management of the ABR according to guidelines of the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests. ^{[10] [11]}. ABM is awaiting approval as participant in the UNESCO-Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme^[12].

References