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

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 northeastern 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

Traditional use of medicinal plants by the Jaintia tribes in North Cachar Hills district of Assam, northeast India

The study of ethnobotany relating to any tribe is in itself a very intricate or convoluted process. This paper documents the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants that are in use by the indigenous Jaintia tribes residing in few isolated pockets of northeast India. The present study was done through structured questionnaires in consultations with the tribal practitioners and has resulted in the documentation of 39 medicinal plant species belonging to 27 families and 35 genera. For curing diverse form of ailments, the use of aboveground plant parts was higher (76.59%) than the underground plant parts (23.41%). Of the aboveground plant parts, leaf was used in the majority of cases (23 species), followed by fruit (4). Different underground plant forms such as root, tuber, rhizome, bulb and pseudo-bulb were also found to be in use by the Jaintia tribe as a medicine. Altogether, 30 types of ailments have been reported to be cured by using these 39 medicinal plant species. The study thus underlines the potentials of the ethnobotanical research and the need for the documentation of traditional ecological knowledge pertaining to the medicinal plant utilization for the greater benefit of mankind

On the typology and the worship status of sacred trees with a special reference to the Middle East

This article contains the reasons for the establishment of sacred trees in Israel based on a field study. It includes 97 interviews with Muslim and Druze informants. While Muslims (Arabs and Bedouins) consider sacred trees especially as an abode of righteous figures' (Wellis') souls or as having a connection to their graves, the Druze relate sacred trees especially to the events or deeds in the lives of prophets and religious leaders. A literary review shows the existence of 24 known reasons for the establishment of sacred trees worldwide, 11 of which are known in Israel one of these is reported here for the first time. We found different trends in monotheistic and polytheistic religions concerning their current worship of sacred trees

The supernatural characters and powers of sacred trees in the Holy Land

This article surveys the beliefs concerning the supernatural characteristics and powers of sacred trees in Israel; it is based on a field study as well as a survey of the literature and includes 118 interviews with Muslims and Druze. Both the Muslims and Druze in this study attribute supernatural dimensions to sacred trees which are directly related to ancient, deep-rooted pagan traditions. The Muslims attribute similar divine powers to sacred trees as they do to the graves of their saints; the graves and the trees are both considered to be the abode of the soul of a saint which is the source of their miraculous powers. Any violation of a sacred tree would be strictly punished while leaving the opportunity for atonement and forgiveness. The Druze, who believe in the transmigration of souls, have similar traditions concerning sacred trees but with a different religious background. In polytheistic religions the sacred grove/forest is a centre of the community's official worship; any violation of the trees is regarded as a threat to the well being of the community. Punishments may thus be collective. In the monotheistic world (including Christianity, Islam and Druze) the pagan worship of trees was converted into the worship/adoration of saints/prophets; it is not a part of the official religion but rather a personal act and the punishments are exerted only on the violating individual

Ethnomedicinal plants in the sacred groves of Manipur

21-32Ethnobotanical studies carried out in the four sacred groves of Manipur revealed therapeutic applications of 120 plant species representing 106 genera and 57 families. Tree species contributed the maximum having 42% while herbs recorded 33% of the total medicinal plants. These plants are used for a wide range of common ailments like skin disorders, ulcer, rheumatism, bronchitis, etc. Majority of the preparations are taken orally in the form of juice extracted from the freshly collected plant parts. Leaves are the major plant parts used for the preparation of medicine by the medicine-men (Maibas). Most of the plant parts are harvested from the wild. It has been observed that the species that are scarce locally in the forest due to various developmental activities, deforestation, over-exploitation, etc. are abundant in the ‘sacred groves’. Information on medical claims was collected from the elderly people residing in the vicinity of sacred groves and also from the traditional healers called ‘Maibas’. The study describes details of botanical identity, family, local name, parts of the plant used, therapeutic uses, and mode of application of the drug

Importance of traditional protected areas for the collection of medicinal plants, Kongo-Central (DRC)

The Mbanza-Ngungu region (Kongo-Central province, DRC) currently faces continued forest deterioration. Many of these forests were traditionally protected areas of which to date, only traces are left. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the importance of forest remnants and other components of the landscape for the collection of medicinal plants in the Mbanza-Ngungu Region, DRC. Between February 2009 and May 2012, semi-structured interviews and participatory observations were conducted in this region with 51 traditional healers selected by means of the 'snowball method'. Local importance of medicinal plants was determined by the medicinal Use Value parameter. Statistical analyses were carried out with SPSS 20.0 and based on chi-square test, analysis of variance and post hoc comparison of means. Our results show that the forest remnants remain the main medicinal species provider: 68 species against 62 for agro-ecosystems. However, the total number of citations for medicinal species uses is higher for agro-ecosystems (293) than for forest remnants (233), and this difference is significant (P < 0.05). This could be explained, among others, by the fact that some forest remnants are respected or protected by the villagers for religious and ritual purposes (Sangi). This also points to the importance of agro-ecosystems and secondary vegetation as provider of medicinal plants around rural villages, as seen elsewhere in the tropics