The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked the state government to disclose its stand on the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report. The court had earlier said the report must be made public. The state government has been asked to file an affidavit by March 12.

The WGEEP report pertaining to the ecosystem of the western ghats was prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in 2010. The report covers the 35-km narrow strip of Sawantwadi-Dodamarg corridor that consists of 30 villages.

Pune: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) recently shortlisted the Western Ghats for inclusion in the World Heritage list, taking this biodiversity rich area a step closer to protection from landuse change and other developmental activities.

The 39 serial sites in the Unesco shortlist include four sites in Maharashtra (Sahyadri)