Sacred Groves Management in Odisha
Ananya Behera & Mihir Kumar Jena
Odisha Environment Congress 2011
Sacred Groves
Sacred Groves and Sacred Patches
are socio ecological complexes
Cognitive thinking towards Nature is
the main attribute for maintenance
and management
Sacred groves centers of cultural and
religious life - social and cultural
resources
In Odisha several tribal communities
have been maintaining sacred groves
Sacred Groves – finest instances of conservation
practice
•As refugia provides micro-habitat
for keystone resources
•Cultural cradle of biodiversity and
eco-cultural landscapes
•Traditional restrains guarding
against resource depletion
•A good example of traditional form
of forest preservation – Brandis,
1897
•Rules are bound to be arbitrary,
implemented on the basis of
magico-religious sanctions and
social conventions
Traditional management and social capital
Customary institutions as a form of social
capital matter in the management of
collective resources e.g. sacred groves and
forests
These institutions are local equivalents of
rules of law as they are tied to local
notions of identity
High level of cohesion and traditional
norms among the community members is
a success factor
Community management is assumed to
be form of enhanced local participation
Endowment of community social capital
play vital role in determining success or
failure of management
Some observations
Sacred groves as part of forests have
their place in shared knowledge,
religious practices, economic welfare
and custom of tribal people
Community social capital bonded by
trust have maintained the repository of
endemic biodiversity
For better management and
development of such regenerative
resources building and linking social
capitals are equally important
The stock of social capital and their
mutual interaction is needed for better
management of such sacred forests
and the biodiversity within, and hence
should be promoted
Thank You