The Odisha government has declared the Gupteswar forest in Koraput district as its fourth Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS).

• The forest is adjacent to the Gupteswar Shiva temple in the Dhondrakhol reserve forest under the Jeypore forest division.
• Earlier, the State government had declared Mandasaru in Kandhamal district, Mahendragiri in Gajpati, and Gandhamardan in Bargarh and Bolangir districts as Biodiversity Heritage Sites.
• The Gupteswar forest site spread over 350 hectares of area is having sacred grooves traditionally worshiped by the local community and bestowed with a wide range of flora and fauna.