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The northern Western Ghats are characterised by plateaus and hilltop carapaces formed from ferricretes rich in aluminium ore. Ferricretes in Western Ghats are home to a high number of endemic species, many with extremely limited distribution. The heterogeneity of microhabitats on ferricretes supports a great diversity of plant and animal communities. With little overburden and a high percentage of recoverable metals they are targeted for mining which leads to removal of all soil, vegetation and microhabitats. Vegetation and faunal diversity of unmined sites from Kolhapur district were studied providing reference data used to discuss restoration efforts on two mined sites in the region. Restoration efforts have faced ecological and legal hurdles. The international literature for the restoration of bauxite mines fails to demonstrate any successful model to return the species assemblage to a pre-mining profile. Restoration practices fail to adequately replicate microhabitat heterogeneity; often restoring sites to a different ecosystem from the original. The present mining policies do not take cognizance of the special nature of plateau habitats, ecology or the ecosystem functions they provide. We suggest a moratorium on mining of the high level lateritic plateaus in Western Maharashtra is justified until the biodiversity value and ecosystem services of the sites are fully understood and can be weighed against the economic gains from mining.

Lateritic Plateaus in the Northern Western Ghats, India; a Review of Bauxite Mining Restoration Practices