Village Level Distribution Mapping of Threatened Fauna of the Western Ghats

India is one of the 17 megadiverse countries with high species richness and endemism which is largely restricted to the four biodiversity hotspots. Among this, the Western Ghats with its long evolutionary history has a unique species composition with a higher incidence of threatened species and an exceptional concentration of endemic species. Several species of the endemic and threatened fauna of the region are found outside the protected areas as well. Hence, for the long-term conservation of biodiversity, it is important to map the distribution of the threatened species at a fine scale and develop strategies for conserving species outside the protected area network. Further, such an exercise will also provide crucial inputs for identifying eco-sensitive villages and involve the public in conserving species. Towards this goal, the present study collated data on regionally or globally threatened fauna of the Western Ghats from published sources. A GIS database of 512 species was created which includes 133 species of fishes, 81 species of birds, 91 species of reptiles, 79 species of amphibians, 47 species of insects, 37 species of mammals, 31 species of malacostraca, 7 species of arachnids, 4 species of gastropods,1 species of maxillopoda and 1 species of bivalves. The data was analyzed and villagelevel distribution maps for the Western Ghats states were prepared in the QGIS platform. Among the 512 species, 27 were Critically Endangered, 131 Endangered, 117 Vulnerable, and 88 Near Threatened species and the rest of the species were Least Concern, Data Deficient or Not Evaluated under IUCN threat categories but these non threatened species in the Redlist were assessed as regionally threatened and were included in this study. Our study shows that the distribution of threatened species varies across taxa and geography with a higher concentration of threatened species in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The study maps and identifies key villages for the conservation of threatened fauna in the Western Ghats and highlights the need for strategies to conserve species outside protected areas.