THE NEED TO PRESERVE SACRED GROVES

N December 2024, the Supreme Court directed the Rajasthan government to map, identify and formally notify orans or sacred groves as 'deemed forests'.

- NANDITHA KRISHNA Historian, environmentalist and writer based in Chennai

It recommended a nationwide policy for their protection and management by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change by being designated as 'community reserves' under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. The court stressed the importance of mapping sacred groves across the country, emphasizing that they are not just tracts of land but areas of immense ecological and cultural significance.

Sacred groves are areas of ecological significance where local communities have traditionally protected floral and faunal diversity for their religious, cultural and ecological significance. They play a vital role in conserving biodiversity and wildlife, and are often the last refuge for the endemic species in a region, including for medicinal plants. The vegetation improves soil quality, prevents erosion and recharges aquifers, thereby meeting local water requirements too. Hunting and logging are generally prohibited within them.

They are patches of natural vegetation that can be just a few trees or forests covering several acres. Each state has its own name for such groves—from bani in Kashmir to kovilkaadu in Tamil Nadu, and kaavu in Kerala, deovan in Maharashtra to gumpa in Arunachal Pradesh.