Role of sacred grove in conservation of plants

Many traditional conservation ethics of people directly or indirectly protect forest patches by dedicating them to local deities. Such forest pockets, referred to as sacred groves, are more or less small to large chunk of traditionally maintained near virgin forests protected on socio cultural grounds. Named differently in different states of India, these groves are mainly concentrated in tribal areas and are managed by local people for various purposes. Irrespective of their origin, size and management regimes, all sacred groves are islands of biodiversity protecting a host of plant and animal species including some rare and threatened taxa.