Sacred Grove: its significance in Biodiversity Conservation

In India, sacred groves are scattered all over the country and do not enjoy protection via federal legislation. Some NGOs work with local villagers to protect such groves. Each grove is associated with a presiding deity and the grove are referred to by different names in different parts of India. They were maintained by local communities with hunting and logging strictly prohibited within these patches. While most of these sacred deities are associated with local Hindu gods, sacred groves of Islamic and Buddhist origins are also known. Sacred groves occur in a variety of places - from scrub forests in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. The present study highlights the importance sacred grove in Indian Civilization. A focus was given to Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan to study the effectiveness of sacred grove. It was seen that, the forest outside sacred grove in Sariska is being degraded year after year, but the forest inside sacred grove shows high density. Vegetation cover and disturbance parameters were also studied to see the extent of effectiveness of scared grove for the conservation of Sariska Tiger Reserve.