Malabar Coast moist forests

The Malabar Coast moist forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southwestern India. It lies along India's Konkan and Malabar coasts, in a narrow strip between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats range, which runs parallel to the coast. It has an area of 35,500 square kilometers (13,700 sq mi), and extends from northern Maharashtra through Goa, Karnataka and Kerala to Kanniyakumari in southernmost Tamil Nadu.

Malabar Coast moist forests
Map of the Malabar Coast moist forests ecoregion
Ecology
RealmIndomalayan
Biometropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Borders
Geography
Area34,219 km2 (13,212 sq mi)
CountryIndia
StatesGoa, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu
Conservation
Conservation statuscritical/endangered
Protected1,251 km² (4%)[1]

The ecoregion extends from sea level to the 250 meter contour of the Western Ghats. It is bounded on the east by the North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests in Maharashtra and Karnataka, and the South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests in Kerala.

Very little of the natural vegetation of the ecoregion remains; it has largely been cleared for agriculture, grazing, and teak plantations.

Protected areas

In 1997, the World Wildlife Fund identified three protected areas in the ecoregion, with a combined area of approximately 300 km², encompassing less than 1% of the ecoregion's area.[2]

See also
  • "Malabar Coast moist forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  • World Wildlife Fund, ed. (2001). "Malabar Coast moist forests". WildWorld Ecoregion Profile. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 2010-03-08.

References
  1. Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b.
  2. Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Island Press; Washington, DC. pp. 311-313

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