India’s much-celebrated principle of ‘Unity in Diversity’ evokes not only its remarkable cultural tapestry but also the deep biological richness that the country sustains. From the lush rainforests of the Western Ghats and northeastern states to the arid deserts of the west and alpine meadows of the north, India’s flora and fauna manifest one of the world’s most compelling natural heritages. Indeed, India is ranked among the seventeen ‘megadiverse’ nations globally — recognised for harbouring a disproportionately large share of Earth’s species.
The country’s botanical and zoological diversity is especially concentrated in four internationally recognised biodiversity hotspots- the Western Ghats & Sri Lanka (southwestern India), Indo-Burma (northeast), the Himalayas (north/northeast) and Sundaland (Nicobar Islands). These regions harbour endemic species found nowhere else on the planet and serve as the epicentres of evolutionary creativity. Yet, many of these hotspots face a silent crisis: rampant deforestation, land-use change, mining, road construction and the erosion of traditional land-use systems have already degraded significant tracts of habitat — sometimes obliterating species before science could document them.
In this complex landscape of ecological change, one enduring tradition stands out: the institution of sacred groves. These are patches of forest, woodland, or thicket that local communities — such as village councils, temple trusts, and tribal societies — have protected through ritual, taboo, and cultural norms for generations. Found across India and in many other parts of the world, they are known by different local names: devrai, kavu, sarna, oran, literally translatable into sacred forest. Across India alone, estimates vary from tens of thousands to over a hundred thousand such groves, of varying sizes and conditions.
Although many are small (some just a few trees around a shrine), their ecological value is immense: their vegetation is often relatively undisturbed, housing rare or endangered species, preserving genetic diversity, protecting water catchments, and stabilising microclimates.
Origins and cultural foundations
The tradition of leaving trees, woodland patches and even entire groves unharmed due to sacred beliefs is ancient. References to tree-worship and forest-shrines appear in the Vedas, Puranas and later temple epigraphy.
For villagers and tribal communities, the grove may be the dwelling of a deity (e.g., a serpent-god, tree-spirit, goddess of nature), and cutting a tree or hunting animals within the grove is taboo. Over time, these customary protections became encoded in local governance: assemblies of elders, temple trusts or clan custodians maintained the grove, and only very limited use (e.g., leaf collection, ritual offerings) was permitted. In many places, the grove served both spiritual and ecological functions — a resting place for the deity, a site of communal festivals, and a reservoir of forest species.
Biodiversity and ecological functions
Sacred groves often retain older growth trees, dense canopy, undisturbed litter layer and hydrological features (ponds, streams). Because of this, they harbour disproportionately high biodiversity compared with surrounding disturbed forest or agricultural landscapes. For example, in one study in the Western Ghats, sacred groves contained 144 tree species, whereas the adjacent rural forest had just 91 species.
In Meghalaya, sacred groves were found to hold many endemic species otherwise absent from the more harvested forest.
Ecologically, they function as miniature refugia, preserving species, genetic lineages and ecological interactions that may otherwise be lost. They provide ecosystem services: they regulate microclimate, stabilize soils and slopes, recharge groundwater, act as carbon-sinks, reduce erosion and serve as stepping stones for dispersal.
In landscapes where large contiguous forests no longer remain, sacred groves may be the only remaining pockets of original vegetation — a ‘last holdout’ of native forest.
Importantly, they act as living museums of biodiversity. Some house species that have become extinct in nearby ‘managed’ forests or agricultural zones. Because they often lie close to settlements, they offer opportunities for community conservation, education and reconciliation of human-nature relationships.
Despite their formidable ecological importance, sacred groves are increasingly vulnerable. Urbanisation, land-conversion, road or rail construction, changing religious beliefs, commercial exploitation, tree-cutting for fuelwood, invasive species, and erosion of customary governance all threaten their integrity.
In many rural areas, younger generations no longer uphold the taboo systems; temples may expand into groves; logging or mining may encroach. Some groves shrink in area or become degraded fragments. Because the groves are typically small and unprotected by formal laws, their heritage is often invisible in official conservation planning.
Moreover, their very virtue — being embedded in local culture rather than state-driven protection — can work against formal recognition.
In India, this means many groves exist outside forest-department records or legal categories; for many, the legal status, ownership, boundaries, and conservation obligations are ambiguous.
Strategy and future directions
Protecting sacred groves calls for an integrative approach — one that honours the cultural, ecological and economic dimensions simultaneously. Key elements include:
Documentation and mapping: Many groves remain undocumented; accurate surveys, species inventories and boundary mapping are required to prioritise and integrate them into conservation planning.
Community governance and empowerment: Since local communities are the custodians, conservation efforts must build on their traditions, strengthen customary rules, provide alternative livelihoods, and raise awareness.
Legal recognition and connectivity: Governments should recognise sacred groves as formal components of the protected-area network or as community reserves, granting them legal safeguards and integrating them into larger ecological corridors.
Invasive species and edge-effect management: As groves are small and often surrounded by agriculture or urban areas, invasive plants, fire, livestock grazing and edge degradation pose a high risk. Management plans must include buffer zones, restoration planting of natives, and control of invasives.
Scientific research and monitoring: Studies of ecology, evolution, species turnover, genetic diversity, hydrology and fire dynamics in sacred groves can highlight their value and guide restoration. One recommended direction is eco-evolutionary research that links the groves’ flora and fauna with neighbouring biodiversity hotspots or refugia.
Urban integration: In city settings, sacred groves serve as ‘green lungs’ or urban biodiversity islands. City-planning must consciously protect these patches, avoid planting invasive avenue trees, maintain natural understory and connect them with other open spaces. The preservation of grove edges, natural vegetation and microhabitats is crucial.
A call for awareness
Next time you find yourself walking through a busy urban neighbourhood, park or village lane, look for that patch of forest, shrub or grove that may be quietly protected by local tradition. It may look small or ordinary — a few old trees, sacred stones, temple or shrine — but it may hold thousands of years of evolutionary history, rare species and community memory. These are not just relics of the past: they are living ecosystems that continue to function, provide services and sustain biodiversity. As forest cover shrinks and species face extinction, sacred groves are custodians of resilience — the cultural-ecological networks that remind us that humans and nature can coexist in mutual respect.
In India’s ‘rich heritage of diversity’, sacred groves offer a unique intersection of faith, ecology and conservation. They are simultaneously cultural artefacts and ecological strongholds. Their protection is not optional: in a world of habitat fragmentation and climate change, they are indispensable refugia for biodiversity, climate mitigation and sustainable futures.
Let us value them, research them, protect them — for the sake of our heritage and the sake of the living world.
(The writers are respectively post-doctoral researcher at University of Naples Federico II, Italy and Dean -Academic Affairs, Garden City University, Bangalore and an adjunct faculty at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore,)