The Nilgiri Documentation Centre (NDC) has called on the Tamil Nadu Governor to recommend to the State government, the formulation of a “comprehensive Mountain Policy,” for the sustainable development of mountain resources.
Dharmalingam Venugopal, the honorary director of the NDC, in a press release, said that the State’s mountains and their resources were under multiple threats including real estate development, invasive species, monoculture, urbanisation leading to problematic man-animal interactions and power projects.
Highlighting the case of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, which has enacted a law to protect mountain ecosystems by following the recommendations of the UN Mountain partnership, Mr. Venugopal appealed for the formulation of a similar law that would “protect mountain environments in an integrated way by encouraging environmentally sustainable economic activities and improving the quality of life of its residents, resulting in benefits for society as a whole.”
