Community Linked Biodiversity Conservation: Sacred Groves of Kodagu, Karnataka; India

Community linked Biodiversity Conservation: Sacred Groves of Kodagu, Karnataka; India. Santosh R. Sutar*, RCE Kodugu, Centre for Environment Education (CEE) 12th Block, 5th Main, Kumara Park West, BDA Office, Bengaluru -560020 India [email protected] Natasha Ballal Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Karnataka [email protected] Pooja K.S Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Karnataka Bengaluru, India Manjunath K.S Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Karnataka Bengaluru, India Abstract - Indigenous communities in protection of ten selected grove in many parts of the world have protected Kodagu, Forest Department in forests and worshiped as local deities to collaboration with Centre for protect them from different calamities. Environment Education (CEE), Forestry These forests patches are sacred forests or College, Kodagu Model Forest Trust groves based on spiritual and cultural initiated a project “Conservation values. Kodagu district in Karnataka, Education Programme for Sacred India has over 1214 sacred groves locally Groves”. called as Devarakadu and is located in the Western Ghats-a Biodiversity hotspot. Scientific inventory of flora and fauna These groves are unique and rich in along with the history, belief and myths of biodiversity and every village has at least 10 selected groves in Kodagu are one sacred grove. Today, due to changes documented and published. Oriented in forest structure, religious beliefs, and teachers, students and youths residing perception towards the groves, sacred around the groves experienced and groves face many threats. Realizing the realized the sacred grove importance. importance of community participation Posters and wayside informative panels and a more holistic view towards the helped to spread the message of sacred Santosh R Sutar, Natasha Ballal, and Pooja K.S grove protection among the community. ecosystem is preserved in grove tradition Trail path, signages created inside the along with its regional and local identities as groves enables tourist to enrich their represented in name, practices and experiences. Sensitized students compiled management of groves. interesting stories and facts from their grand-parents and parents about their Sacred groves of India have Pre-Vedic nearby groves. This initiative helps the origin. This age old tradition is still forest department to draw effective grove prevalent today and plays a vital role in the management plan, to mitigate the loss of conservation of resources. They not only biodiversity and manage forest have cultural and spiritual value, but also act sustainably and thereby addressing SDG as reservoirs of the local diversity preserving Goal 15. unique flora and fauna. The level of disturbance varies across many sacred Key Words - Biodiversity, community groves and from their proximity to villages. conservation, scared groves of Kodagu, These groves also act as corridors and can Sustainable development goals. reduce human wildlife interaction. The groves play an important role in water and I. INTRODUCTION soil conservation as well. Sacred forests, often referred to as sacred groves, are sites that have cultural and The earliest documentation in India on religious beliefs. Since time immemorial sacred groves is that of Brandis (1897), the indigenous communities all over the world first Inspector General of Forest. His have always worshiped nature and inherited observation on scared groves is more of a from their ancestors. These patches or travelogue. The Scared Groves are known sections of a forest were believed to have locally by many names in each state across spiritual beings residing there, and where India. In Kodagu, located in Karnataka, everyday activities such as tree felling, India the sacred groves are known as gathering of wood, plants and leaves, “Devarakadu” (Gods forest). Kodugu hunting fishing, grazing of domestic district in Karnataka has 1214 sacred groves animals, lowing or harvesting of crops, and covering an area of 2250 (hha) with every building ordinary dwellings were prohibited village in Kodugu having at least one (Hughes and Swan 1986). Sacred groves are devarakadu or more than one in some cases distributed across many countries extending (Kushalappa & Kushalappa 1996). In terms from Asia, Africa, Europe and America, but of density there is one Devarakadu for every the present occurrence is mostly restricted in 300 acres, possibly the highest in the world. Africa and Asia. In India, sacred groves are The uniqueness of the grove is that each recorded from North-east Himalayan region, devarakadu has its own traditions and Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Coastal culture showcasing the cultural diversity. region; Central Indian Plateau and Western According to a study done, Kodagu can be desert (Rajasri Ray). A diverse range of regarded as a ‘Hotspot” of sacred grove Community linked Biodiversity Conservation tradition in the world (Kushallappa and selected groves sampled were very variable Bhagwat, 2001.) All communities come in size and each grove had variations from together, offer their prayers and participate the level of disturbance from high to low; in the annual activities. This community some sacred groves were patchy. In each participation symbolizes unity and harmony. grove the forest structural studies were done. Today, the sacred groves face many threats Four transects of 25 X 4 meters were laid such as change in religious beliefs, forest and all trees above 30cm girth at breast were structure, landscape and attitudes towards recorded. The dominant species were the groves. Hence, it is vital to motivate and recorded. Regeneration studies were done at include the community in preserving the each grove. The flora included trees, shrubs, sacred groves as common property resources herbs and climbers. Birds, butterflies and (Kushalappa & S. Raghavendra, 2012). mammals (mostly indirect evidence) were recorded. The forestry college, Ponnampete In Kodagu the sacred groves are declared as undertook the primary research for the Protected Forests and owned by the Forest project. To calculate species richness, the Department. The groves are managed by the shannon diversity index was used. local communities. Incorporating the groves into conservation networks could help in the B. Questionnaires effectiveness of protected areas by covering Semi structured interviews were conducted a wider variety of habitats and by harnessing to assess the cultural and management the support of local people. (Shonil A. approach for each of the selected sacred Bhagwat, 1996). groves. In each grove the head/ Committee leader was approached to carry out the II. METHODOLOGY questioning, seek permission for research A. Inventory and other devarakadu related activities. The Sacred groves of Virajpet taluk of Kodagu were selected for the study and to execute the conservation education program. Ten sacred groves were selected from the Virajpet Taluk which was at variable distances from the protected area and from one another. Coffee plantations are predominating, from the perimeter of the protected area to the landscape between sacred groves. These ten scared groves were sampled for their biodiversity. Inventories were done for each grove by doing a rapid assessment of biodiversity in more than one taxon. The Fig 1 Map of Kodagu and study area. Santosh R Sutar, Natasha Ballal, and Pooja K.S C. Capacity Building This approach was used to impart the knowledge and awareness of sacred groves such as its importance, biodiversity, ecological services, and ethical services to various stakeholders – forest department officials, teachers, students, and the community. The duration of the capacity building ranged from 3 hours to 8 hours and Image 1 Enumeration of Species specific modules for each target group was developed and followed for the same. Below info graphic indicate the flow of activities executed as part of this initiative D. Communication Materials resulting into collective efforts to document, These materials act as triggers for people to protect and make sacred groves a learning understand the concepts and issues and are centre for rural students. essential for awareness. As part of this initiative, set of four posters were developed highlighting the importance of and need for Stakehold protection of forest were developed and ers planning distributed to schools. Teachers Trail paths Training E. Outreach Unless the community or the general public Understan Interaction ding about is made aware of the importance and s with groves communit from Collective relevance of groves, any conservation or y parents Initiatives protection efforts of sacred groves may not succeed. Thus, straightforward community outreach activities were initiated that Inventory Children Camps Flora and included outdoor signage’s appreciating the Fauna groves and informative signage’s on selected trees within each grove. Posters / Informatio Signage n Booklets Boards Discussions with community members who manage sacred groves were held for cross Fig 2 The flowchart of collective activities between learning. School children collected multi stakeholders. interesting stories pertaining to local groves from their parents with the help of teachers. Outdoor camp for school children at their nearby sacred groves provided better Community linked Biodiversity Conservation insights among the children about the Analysis from the survey indicates that ecological, ethical, social, biological teachers can play a vital role in spreading diversity and cultural

Load more