The race for the perfect monsoon photograph and viral reel is putting some of the Western Ghats’ rarest flowering plants at risk, with botanists and wildlife experts warning that irresponsible tourism across the rocky lateritic plateaus of Lonavala and the Maval region could push several species towards local extinction.

Visitors are increasingly venturing onto fragile plateaus for photographs, trampling delicate plants, plucking flowers and, in some cases, driving off-road vehicles across the habitat. Species bearing the brunt include the Sahyadri lantern flower (Ceropegia sahyadrica), Pinda concanensis, ground orchids such as Habenaria foliosa, H grandifloriformis and H rariflora, black musli (Curculigo orchioides) and the iconic Karvi (Strobilanthes callosa).