Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T10:42:32.009Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sacred forests of India: a strong tradition of community-based natural resource management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2010

ALISON A. ORMSBY  and
SHONIL A. BHAGWAT
ALISON A. ORMSBY*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Studies, Eckerd College, 4200 54th Avenue S, St Petersburg, FL 33711, USA
SHONIL A. BHAGWAT
Affiliation:
School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
*
*Correspondence: Dr Alison Ormsby Tel: +1 727 864 8379 Fax: +1 727 864 7967 e-mail: ormsbyaa@eckerd.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Sacred forests represent an important long-held tradition of conserving specific land areas that have cultural, and often religious, significance. India, with its diversity of cultures and traditions, has over 100 000 sacred forests. Many of these groves are forest fragments in agricultural landscapes. In most cases, community members are at least aware of these fragments, if not actively involved in their protection and management. This review focuses on the Western Ghats in southern India and Meghalaya state in north-eastern India, both international biodiversity hotspots. In addition to the cultural significance of sacred forests, a number of studies have suggested that they are important refuges for conservation of biological diversity, including medicinal plants, within highly anthropogenic landscapes. Whilst sacred groves have been successful conservation areas, current threats to these forests are numerous, ranging from pressures for use of timber and other forest products to clearing for agriculture or general changes in cultural traditions. A variety of arrangements exist for ownership and management of sacred forests, making it necessary to identify solutions on a case-by-case basis. Support for the continued practice of the tradition of sacred forest protection is needed in order to provide a culturally sensitive model for community-based natural resource management.

Keywords

community-based conservationcustomary conservationecosystem servicesprotected areassacred grovestraditional conservation practices
Type
THEMATIC SECTION: Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM): designing the next generation (Part 2)
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 37 , Issue 3: Thematic section. Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM): Designing the next generation (Part 2) , September 2010 , pp. 320 - 326
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aerts, R., Van Overtveld, K., Haile, M., Hermy, M., Deckers, J. & Muys, B. (2006) Species composition and diversity of small afromontane forest fragments in northern Ethiopia. Plant Ecology 187: 127–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arora, V. (2006) The forest of symbols embodied in the Tholung sacred landscape of North Sikkim, India. Conservation and Society 4 (1): 55–83.Google Scholar
Barre, R.Y., Grant, M. & Draper, D. (2009) The role of taboos in conservation of sacred groves in Ghana's Tallensi-Nabdam district. Social and Cultural Geography 10 (1): 25–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkes, F. (2004) Rethinking community-based conservation. Conservation Biology 18 (3): 621–630.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkes, F. (2009) Community conserved areas: policy issues in historic and contemporary context. Conservation Letters 2: 19–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhagwat, S.A. & Rutte, C. (2006) Sacred groves: potential for biodiversity management. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 4 (10): 519–524.Google Scholar
Bhagwat, S.A., Kushalappa, C.G., Williams, P.H. & Brown, N.D. (2005 a) The role of informal protected areas in maintaining biodiversity in the Western Ghats of India. Ecology and Society 10 (1): 8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhagwat, S.A., Kushalappa, C.G., Williams, P.H. & Brown, N.D. (2005 b) A landscape approach to biodiversity conservation of sacred groves in the Western Ghats of India. Conservation Biology 19 (6): 1853–1862.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blench, R. (2004) Cultural and biological interactions in the savanna woodlands of northern Ghana: sacred forests and management of trees. Paper presented at the conference Trees, Rain and Politics in Africa, Oxford University [www document]. URL http://www.rogerblench.info/Ethnoscience%20data/Oxford%20paper%202004.pdfGoogle Scholar
Bon, E. (2000) An economic framework to land extensification. In: Chapter 5. The Dynamics of Land Use. Mountain Biodiversity, Land Use Dynamics, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, ed. Ramakrishnan, P.S., Chandrashekara, U.M., Elouard, C., Guilmoto, C.Z., Maikhuri, R.K., Rao, K.S., Sankar, S. & Saxena, K.G., pp. 79–88. Man and the Biosphere Programme. New Delhi, India: Oxford and India Book House.Google Scholar
Boraiah, K.T., Vasudeva, R., Bhagwat, S.A. & Kushalappa, C.G. (2003) Do informally managed sacred groves have higher richness and regeneration of medicinal plants than state-managed reserve forests? Current Science 84 (6): 804–808.Google Scholar
Castro, P. (1990) Sacred groves and social change in Kirinyaga, Kenya. In: Social Change and Applied Anthropology, ed. Chaiken, M.S. & Fleuret, A.K., pp. 277–289. Boulder, CO, USA: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Chandrakanth, M.G., Bhat, M.G. & Accavva, M.S. (2004) Socio-economic changes and sacred groves in South India: protecting a community-based resource management institution. Natural Resources Forum 28: 102–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chandrakanth, M.G., Gilless, J.K., Gowramma, V. & Nagaraja, M.G. (1990) Temple forests in India's forest development. Agroforestry Systems 11 (3): 199–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chandran, M.D.S. (1998) Shifting cultivation, sacred groves and conflicts in colonial forest policy in the Western Ghats. In: Nature and the Orient: the Environmental History of South and Southeast Asia, ed. Grove, R.H., Damodaran, V. & Sangwan, S., pp. 674–707. Dehli, India: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Chandran, M.D.S. & Hughes, J.D. (1997) The sacred groves of south India: ecology, traditional communities and religious change. Social Compass 44: 413–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chandran, M.D.S. & Mesta, D. (2001) On the conservation of the Myristica swamps of the Western Ghats. In: Forest Genetic Resources: Status, Threats, and Conservation Strategies, ed. Shaanker, U.R., Ganeshaiah, K.N. & Bawa, K.S., pp. 1–19. New Delhi, India: Oxford and India Book House.Google Scholar
Chandrashekara, U.M. & Sankar, S. (1998) Ecology and management of sacred groves in Kerala, India. Forest Ecology and Management 112 (1–2): 165–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colding, J. & Folke, C. (2001) Social taboos: ‘invisible’ systems of local resource management and biological conservation. Ecological Applications 11: 584–600.Google Scholar
Dash, S.S. (2005) Kabi sacred grove of North Sikkim. Current Science 89 (3): 427–428.Google Scholar
Dudley, N., Higgins-Zogib, L. & Mansourian, S. (2009) The links between protected areas, faiths, and sacred natural sites. Conservation Biology 23 (3): 568.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fargey, P.J. (1992) Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary. An example of traditional conservation in Ghana. Oryx 26 (3): 151–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gadgil, M. & Vartak, V.D. (1976) The sacred groves of Western Ghats in India. Economic Botany 30: 152–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gandhi, K. (1997) Kesar Chirkav: traditional system of forest protection. Newsletter, Sevamandir, Udaipur, India [www document]. URL http://sevamandir.org/publications.htm#newsletterGoogle Scholar
Garcia, C. & Pascal, J.P. (2006) Sacred forests of Kodagu: ecological value and social role. In: Ecological Nationalisms: Nature, Livelihoods, and Identities in South Asia, ed. Cederlöf, G. & Sivaramakrishnan, K., pp. 199–229. Seattle, WA, USA and London, UK: University of Washington Press.Google Scholar
Garcia, C., Bhagwat, S., Ghazoul, J., Nath, C., Nanaya, K., Kushalappa, C., Raghuramulu, Y., Nasi, R. & Vaast, P. (2010) Biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes: challenges and opportunities of coffee agroforests in the Western Ghats, India. Conservation Biology 24 (2): 479–488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gokhale, Y. (2004) Reviving traditional forest management in Western Ghats: study in Karnataka. Economic and Political Weekly July 31: 3556–3559.Google Scholar
Greene, S.E. (2002) Sacred sites and the Colonial Encounter: a History of Meaning and Memory in Ghana. Indiana, USA: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Hardin, G. (1968) The tragedy of the commons. Science 162 (3859):1243–1248.Google Scholar
Hill, J.L. & Curran, P.J. (2001) Species composition in fragmented forests: conservation implications of changing forest area. Applied Geography 21: 157–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, J.D. & Chandran, M.D.S. (1998) Sacred groves around the earth: an overview. In: Conserving the Sacred for Biodiversity Management, ed. Ramakrishnan, P.S., Saxena, K.G. & Chandrashekara, U.M., pp. 69–86. New Delhi, India: Oxford and India Book House.Google Scholar
Jamir, S.A. & Pandey, H.N. (2003) Vascular plant diversity in the sacred groves of Jaintia Hills in northeast India. Biodiversity and Conservation 12 (7): 1497–1510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jamir, S.A., Upadhaya, K. & Pandey, H.N. (2006). Life form composition and stratification of montane humid forests in Meghalaya, northeast India. Tropical Ecology 47 (2): 183–190.Google Scholar
Kalam, M.A. (1996) Sacred groves in Kodagu District of Karnataka (South India): a socio-historical study. Pondy Papers in Social Sciences 21. Pondicherry, India: Institut Français de Pondicherry.Google Scholar
Khan, M.L., Khumbongmayum, A.S. & Tripathi, R.S. (2008) The sacred groves and their significance in conserving biodiversity: an overview. International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 34 (3): 277–291.Google Scholar
Khan, M.L., Menon, S. & Bawa, K.S. (1997) Effectiveness of the protected area network in biodiversity conservation: a case-study of Meghalaya state. Biodiversity and Conservation 6: 853–868.Google Scholar
Khiewtam, R.S. & Ramkrishnan, P.S. (1989) Socio-cultural studies of the sacred groves of Cherrapunji and adjoining areas in North-Eastern India. Man in India 69: 64–71.Google Scholar
Khumbongmayum, A.D., Khan, M.L. & Tripathi, R.S. (2006). Biodiversity conservation in sacred groves of Manipur, north east India: population structure and regeneration status of woody species. Biodiversity and Conservation 15: 2439–2456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khumbongmayum, A.D., Khan, M.L. & Tripathi, R.S. (2005 a) Ethnomedicinal plants in the sacred groves of Manipur. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 4 (1): 21–32.Google Scholar
Khumbongmayum, A. D., Khan, M. L. & Tripathi, R.S. (2005 b) Sacred groves of Manipur, northeast India: biodiversity value, status and strategies for their conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation 14: 1541–1582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khumbongmayum, A.D., Khan, M.L. & Tripathi, R.S. (2004) Sacred groves of Manipur: ideal centre for the conservation of biodiversity. Current Science 87 (4): 430–433.Google Scholar
Kosambi, D.D. (1962) Myth and Reality: Studies in the Formation of Indian Culture. Bombay, India: Popular Press.Google Scholar
Kushalappa, C.G. & Bhagwat, S. (2001) Sacred groves: biodiversity, threats and conservation. In: Forest Genetic Resources: Status, Threats, and Conservation Strategies, ed. Shaanker, U.R., Ganeshaiah, K.N. & Bawa, K.S., pp. 21–29. Oxford, UK and New Delhi, India: IBH.Google Scholar
Leach, M., Mearns, R. & Scoones, I. (1999) Environmental entitlements: dynamics and institutions in community-based natural resource management. World Development 27 (1): 225–247.Google Scholar
Lebbie, A.R. & Freudenberger, M.S. (1996) Sacred groves in Africa: forest patches in transition. In: Forest Patches in Tropical Landscapes, ed. Schelhas, J. & Greenberg, R.S., pp. 300–324. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press.Google Scholar
Malhotra, K.C., Gokhale, Y., Chatterjee, S. & Srivastava, S. (2007) Sacred Groves in India. New Delhi, India: Aryan Books International.Google Scholar
Mani, S. & Parthasarathy, N. (2005) Biodiversity assessment of trees in five inland tropical dry evergreen forests of peninsular India. Systematics and Biodiversity 3: 1–12.Google Scholar
Myers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier, C.G., da Fonseca, G.A. & Kent, J. (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403 (6772): 853–858.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y. (1995) Indigenous vs. Introduced Biodiversity Conservation Strategies: the Case of Protected Area Systems in Ghana. Washington, DC, USA: WWF Biodiversity Support Program Volume 1, African Biodiversity Series [www document]. URL http://www.worldwildlife.org/bsp/publications/africa/indigenous_vs_eng/yaaeng.htmGoogle Scholar
Ormsby, A. (2011) Cultural and conservation values of sacred forests in Ghana. In: Sacred Species and Sites: Advances in Biocultural Conservation, ed. Pungetti, G., Oviedo, G. & Hooke, D. (in press). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ormsby, A. & Edelman, C. (2010) Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary, Ghana: community-based ecotourism at a sacred site. In: Sacred Natural Sites: Conserving Nature and Culture, ed. Wild, R. & Verschuren, B. (in press). London, UK: Earthscan.Google Scholar
Pretty, J.N., Guijt, I., Thompson, J. & Scoones, I. (1995) Participatory Learning and Action: a Trainer's Guide. London, UK: International Institute for Environment and Development.Google Scholar
Ramakrishnan, P.S. (2003) Conserving the sacred: the protective impulse and the origins of modern protected areas. In: The Full Value of Parks: from Economics to the Intangible, ed. Harmon, D. & Putney, A.D., pp. 27–41. Lanham, MD, USA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar
Ramanujam, M.P. & Kadamban, D. (2001) Plant biodiversity of two tropical dry evergreen forests in the Pondicherry region of South India and the role of belief systems in their conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation 10: 1203–1217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramanujam, M.P. & Praveen Kumar Cyril, K. (2003). Woody species diversity of four sacred groves in the Pondicherry region of South India. Biodiversity and Conservation 12 (2): 289–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saj, T.L., Mather, C. & Sicotte, P. (2006) Traditional taboos in biological conservation: the case of Colobus vellerosus at the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, Central Ghana. Social Science Information 45 (2): 285.Google Scholar
Sheridan, M.J. & Nyamweru, C., eds (2007) African Sacred Groves: Ecological Dynamics and Social Change. Athens, OH, USA: Ohio University Press.Google Scholar
Tabarelli, M. & Gascon, C. (2005) Lessons from fragmentation research: improving management and policy guidelines for biodiversity conservation. Conservation Biology 19: 734–39.Google Scholar
Tiwari, B.K., Barik, S.K. & Tripathi, R.S. (1998) Biodiversity value, status, and strategies for conservation of sacred groves of Meghalaya, India. Ecosystem Health 4 (1): 20–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Upadhaya, K., Pandey, H.N., Law, P.S. & Tripathi, R. S. (2003) Tree diversity in sacred groves of the Jaintia hills in Meghalaya, northeast India. Biodiversity and Conservation 12 (3): 583–597.Google Scholar
Wadley, R.L. & Colfer, C.J.P. (2004) Sacred forest, hunting, and conservation in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Human Ecology 32: 313–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Western, D., Wright, R.M. & Strum, S.C. (1994) Natural Connections: Perspectives in Community-based Conservation. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press.Google Scholar
Wild, R.W. & McLeod, C.M., eds (2008) Sacred Natural Sites: Guidelines for Protected Area Managers. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.CrossRefGoogle Scholar