Biodiversity heritage site

Why is in news? Tamil Nadu gets its first biodiversity heritage site

The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday issued a notification declaring Arittapatti and Meenakshipuram villages in Madurai district the first biodiversity heritage site in the State.

Biodiversity heritage sites are well-defined areas that are unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems with high diversity of wild and domesticated species, presence of rare and threatened species, and keystone species.

The significance and aims of Biodiversity Heritage Site are outlined in Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act of 2002.

India has many Biodiversity Heritage Sites in total and they have made it to the list because of their unique and fragile nature.

Ameenpur Lake, Telungana becomes the first Biodiversity Heritage Site in the country. Fish and birds return, but much remains to be done. On the western fringes of Hyderabad, surrounded by fantastic primordial rock formations, modern apartments, factories and a village, is a sprawling and ancient man-made lake.

Some of the biodiversity heritage sites are

1. Nallur Tamarind Grove - Bangalore, Karnataka

2. Hogrekan - Chikmagalur, Karnataka

3. University of Agricultural Sciences -Bengaluru, Karnataka

4. Ambaraguda - Karnataka

5. Glory of Allapalli - Maharashtra

6. Tonglu BHS and Dhotrey BHS under the Darjeeling Forest Division - Darjeeling, West Bengal

7. Mandasaru - Odisha

8. Dialong Village - Manipur

9. Ameenpur lake - Telangana

10. Majuli - Assam

11. Gharial Rehabilitation Centre - Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

12. Chilkigarh Kanak Durga - West Bengal

13. Purvatali Rai - Goa

14. Naro Hills - Madhya Pradesh

15. Asramam - Kerala