Local Guardians of the Western Ghats

The main objectives of the study are to understand the major environmental problems of Western Ghats region of Kerala in the era of globalization and to find out the manner in which the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the region address such problems. To accomplish that goal, the study selected three grama panchayats that are located in the Western Ghats region of Kerala and studied their policy initiatives and programmes with respect to addressing the environmental problems in their respective localities. The research focused on the environmental conditions of the Western Ghats region in the contemporary era. The ongoing era is considered as the era of globalization. The UN's Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved in 2030, which envisages eradicating poverty, inequalities and achieving environmental sustainability, also calls for the importance of local action by local governments in realizing them.The Western Ghats play a key role in rainfall and ecological balance in the state of Kerala and is a source of major rivers flowing through the state. They also add to the rich biodiversity of the region. The maintenance and preservation of ecology of the state is largely dependenton the Ghat region.