nature
It is this favourable geography which makes Kerala unique. The monsoon winds, pinned above Kerala by the Western Ghats, are forced to release their precious content on this thin strip of land. The rivers that originate in these rainforests are short-lived. On their way to the sea, they haven’t the strength to keep the sea from backing up into their mouths. The low-lying lands that separate the ancient towns of Kottayam and Thripunithara, were thus carved by the Arabian Sea, giving birth to Kerala’s USP – the massive Vembanad and Ashtamudi backwaters.
The monsoon-drenched Ghats bestowed a fecund land, a land whose produce the whole world would seek. From the time of the early Cheras, when pepper grew wildly around Travancore and north Malabar, when cinnamon trees and sandalwood grew tall in its dense forests and Buddha’s teachings permeated the air. She gave the world pepper and pearls. And thus started her trade with the West. An affair in which exchange of ideas matched that of the commodities, stride for stride. Kerala can be credited with a huge contribution to the diversity of faith in this country.
flora and fauna
Kerala's notable biodiversity is concentrated in the east.
Almost a fourth of India's plant species, some 10,000 plant species, are found in the state. Among the almost 4,000 flowering plant species (1,272 of which are endemic to Kerala and 159 threatened) are 900 species of highly-sought medicinal plants. Its 9,400 km² of forests include tropical wet evergreen and semi-evergreen forests (lower and middle elevations — 3,470 km²), tropical moist and dry deciduous forests (mid-elevations — 4,100 km² and 100 km², respectively), and montane subtropical and temperate (shola) forests (highest elevations — 100 km²). Altogether, 24% of Kerala is forested.[28] Two of the world’s Ramsar Convention-listed wetlands — Lake Sasthamkotta and the Vembanad-Kol wetlands — are in Kerala, as well as 1455.4 km² of the vast Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Subjected to extensive clearing for cultivation in the 20th century, much of Kerala's forest cover is now protected from clearfelling.
Kerala's fauna are notable for their diversity and high rates of endemism: 102 species of mammals (56 of which are endemic), 476 species of birds, 202 species of freshwater fishes, 169 species of reptiles (139 of them endemic), and 89 species of amphibians (86 endemic). These are threatened by extensive habitat destruction (including soil erosion, landslides, salinization, and resource extraction).
