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Sacred Groves of North-East India and Their Floristic Richness and
Significance in Biodiversity Conservation
By:
R. S. Tripathi*
Declaring a patch of forest near the villages as sacred and protecting
it on the grounds of religious and cultural beliefs is an age-old
practice with the tribal communities in the north-eastern hill region of
India.
There are a large number of sacred groves in the states of Meghalaya,
Manipur and Karbi-Anglong area of Assam. These sacred groves in
existence in the region since time immemorial and are considered to be
the relic of the original forest vegetation of the region. These are
among the few least disturbed forest patches in the region serving as
the original treasure house of biodiversity. Over the past one decade or
so, a considerable amount of interest has been generated in the studies
of sacred groves among the ecologists, taxonomists, foresters,
environmentalists and anthropologists. We have documented as many as 79
sacred groves in Meghalaya alone. These sacred groves (called as ‘law
Kyntang’, ‘Law Niam’ and ‘Law Lyngdoh’ in Khasi hills, ‘Khloo Blai’ in
Jaintia hills, and ‘Asheng Khosi’ in Garo hills) are owned by
individuals, clans or communities, and are under direct control of the
clan councils or local village Dorbars/Syiemships/Dolloiships/
Nokmaships. They show a wide variation in their size and forest canopy
cover. The information collected on the status of 56 sacred groves of
Meghalaya showed that 12.5% of them are undisturbed (100% canopy cover),
25% are dense (> 40% canopy cover), 20% are sparse (10-40% canopy
cover), while 42.5% of the groves are highly degraded and have even less
than 10% canopy cover. The fact that 57.5% of the sacred groves are
still in good condition, and some of them are quite intact despite
various kinds of anthropogenic disturbances such as shifting
cultivation, unregulated tree felling, forest fires and deforestation
prevalent in the area, shows that the religious beliefs and taboos have
certainly contributed to the protection of the sacred groves. Some of
the undisturbed/least disturbed sacred groves of Meghalaya (Law Lyngdoh
at Mawphlang, Law Rynkiew Swer at Swer, and Mawiong sacred grove at
Mawsmai in East Khasi hills; Law Adong/Law Lyngdoh Mawlong at Mairang in
West Khasi hills, and Raliang and Ialong sacred groves in Jaintia hills
districts) have been studied in detail by the author and his
collaborators at the NorthEastern Hill University, Shillong.
The abovementioned sacred groves are extremely rich in floral and faunal
elements. The species content in these sacred groves is very high. The
information on floristic richness of the sacred groves of Meghalaya
collected from various primary and secondary sources revealed that at
least 514 species representing 340 genera and 131families are present in
these sacred forests. The sacred groves contain several valuable
medicinal and other economically important plants. Some of the
endangered taxa are to be found only in the sacred groves. Apart from
trees and shrubs, a wide variety of lianas, orchids, ferns, bryophytes
and microbes abound in these sacred forests. The sacred grove
biodiversity compares favourably with the biodiversity in the core area
of some of the biosphere reserves in this region (e.g. Nokrek Biosphere
Reserve), which are being managed by the state forest departments. This
bears testimony to the efficacy of the traditional forest management
systems practiced by the local communities.
Besides being the repository of
biodiversity, the sacred forests
provide a myriad of valuable ecosystem services, and serve as ideal
study sites to address many ecological issues related to forest
ecosystem dynamics and management. Extensive researches have been
carried out by the Ecologists at NEHU, Shillong on various aspects of
sacred groves. They have compared the plant community attributes and
tree population structure of Mawphlang sacred grove and disturbed forest
stands. Most of the primary (late successional) tree species have much
greater density and IVI values in the sacred grove as
compared to the
disturbed subtropical humid forest stands around Shillong. The
populations of several tree species in the sacred grove at Mawphlang
comprise relatively higher proportion of older trees as compared to
their saplings and seedlings, which is attributable to the regeneration
of these trees due to increased shade caused by the dense canopy of the
sacred grove. The regeneration in the well protected sacred groves
occurs mostly in the gaps created due to natural tree fall. A detailed
analysis of the relationship between tre regeneration and gap size and
microenvironmental variability has been done by the author and his
associates. The studies on the effects of microsites on germination of
Quercus griffithii, Lithocarpus dealbatus and Schima khasiana
and microsite characteristics-oak seedling fitness relationship
indicate that the primary species which are shade-tolerant, perform
better in the undisturbed sacred groves than in the disturbed forests,
which tend to be favourable for the secondary successional species.
It seems reasonable to assume that proper regeneration, growth and
perpetuation of such important trees as oaks in the forests would be
possible only when the cultural disturbances are reduced to the minimal
level and adequate protection is afforded to the sacred groves. The big
trees of these
species present in the sacred groves
can serve as a perennial source of propagules, which may be dispersed to
the newer habitats to initiate successful invasion. The religious
beliefs and rituals central to the sacred grove preservation are being
eroded fast, and therefore, these biodiversity-rich forests cannot be
protected only through religious beliefs. External intervention has
become essential for the protection of the sacred groves. The suitable
packages of conservational and eco-restoration
strategies need
to be evolved for the
protection of sacred groves with the full involvement and
participation of the local communities. It may be mentioned that the
protection of the sacred groves in Meghalaya, could be attributed not
only to the religious beliefs and taboos, but also to the wisdom of the
people residing in the adjoining areas. For instance, the villagers are
fully aware of the importance of the sacred groves as perennial source
of clean water to them. They also know that sacred groves help in
reducing loss of top fertile soil due to erosion caused by heavy rain,
and some of the medicinal plants they can get only from the sacred
groves.
If the religious beliefs associated with the sacred groves, and
traditional wisdom contributing to forest protection could be suitably
integrated with the modern scientific forest management practices, these
sacred groves could become a very useful model for biodiversity
conservation in the region. Evidently, there is a strong need to
perpetuate and
promote the concept of sacred groves, and to evolve a mechanism whereby
the forest
departments
could provide technical
inputs to improve the
canopy cover and regeneration of trees in the degraded sacred groves of
the region.
*
Formerly, Professor of Botany, North-Eastern Hill University,
Shillong-793022, India.
INSA Senior Scientist, National Botanical Research Institute
(Eco-education Division), Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow-226001, India |
