Government asked to protect Sacred Groves

KOLLAM: The Kerala Environmental Researchers Association has urged the government to take steps for the protection and conservation of all Sacred Groves in the state.

 The State Government has undertaken the care of 28 Sacred Groves in the state as part of a project launched by the Central Government. However, this is not sufficient to protect the Sacred Groves - which forms part of the biological and cultural heritage of the state, according to president of Kerala Environment Researchers Association Sainudeen Pattazhi,  who had conducted a detailed study on Sacred Groves as part of the UGC project a couple of years ago.

 He had visited a total of 761 Sacred Groves, of which 361 have an area exceeding 200 sq. metres, and enumerated them. Sainudeen Pattazhi had identified 721 species of plants, 5 species of amphibia, 12 species of reptiles and 88 species of birds in these groves.

 Sacred Groves are small patches of native vegetation traditionally protected and managed by local communities. All Sacred Groves are islands of greenery in the landscape protecting bio diversity and enhancing environmental qualities. The rich biodiversity Sacred Groves are the miniature forests and perform all functions like forests, he said.

 The generally accepted principle is that one third of the total land mass should be under forest cover. But in our country, it is much less than that. According to a report prepared by the State Government, only 24 percent of the land is under forest cover, which include the plantations also. Plantations are entirely different from forest and will not support all biota as in forests, he said.

 According to the census of Sacred Groves in the erstwhile Travancore in 1891, there were 15,000 Sacred Groves.

 However, they have been reduced to less than 2,000 now. Most of the Sacred Groves in Kerala are below 0.5 hectares and they are owned by individuals, families, trusts, Devaswom Board, Revenue Dept. etc.

It is noticed that the Sacred Groves in the state are facing destruction owing to the ignorance of the people about the importance of them, Pattazhi said.

 Due to changing socio-economic conditions as well as land use system, many groves have  altered in terms of size, vegetation structure and species composition.

 It has been the experience that the damage to these protected forests are due to interference like illicit felling, planting species not suitable to the place, grazing, fires, encroachments, weakening of faith, belief related to the Sacred Groves, collection of green manure and fuel wood, mining china clay and bricks,  Pattazhi said.

 Rapid expansion of population and high pressure on land is also another cause driving the Sacred Groves to the edge of extinction, says Sainudeen Pattazhi.

He stressed the need for bringing all the Sacred Groves in the state under a single agency of the government for the protection and conservation of them.