The panel submitted the report to Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan. Roughly 37 per cent of the total area defined as the boundary of the Western Ghats is ecologically sensitive. Over this area of some 60,000 km2, spread over the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the working group has recommended a prohibitory regime on those activities with maximum interventionist and destructive impact on the environment, the panel says in its report. The Working Group was constituted to advise the government on the recommendations of an earlier report of ecologist Madhav Gadgil-led "Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel" (WGEEP). The WGEEP had recommended 64% of Western Ghats to be declared as an ecologically sensitive area. It had suggested three levels of categorization where regulatory measures for protection would be imposed and had recommended the establishment of the Western Ghats Ecology Authority for management of the Ghats. The 10-member Working Group, headed by Planning Commission member Kasturirangan, has environmental experts and other professionals as its members. ""The Western Ghats is a biological treasure trove that is endangered, and it needs to be protected and regenerated, indeed celebrated for its enormous wealth of endemic species and natural beauty"", the report says. Natarajan said that the recommendations would be looked into urgently so that action can be taken to address these challenges. Kasturirangan said, ""The message of this report is serious, alarming and urgent. It is imperative that we protect, manage and regenerate the lands now remaining in the Western Ghats as biologically rich, diverse, natural landscapes"".