Sacred Groves as the Source of Local Medicinal Plants and Sites of Biodiversity Conservation in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal

Abstract

A Sacred Grove (SG) is any grove of trees, shrubs and even herbs of special religious importance to a particular culture. SGs are consideredas distinct patches of vegetation (ranging in size from a small cluster of a few trees to a large forest stand spanning several hundredacres) which are venerated in the name of local deities or ancestral spirits, promoting conservation. Conservation of biodiversity insacred groves is a consequence of the sacred physical space of the sacred grove which is communally shared as commons and used toobserve crucial social ceremonies in indigenous societies. While documenting the sacred groves in the district of North 24 Parganas ofWest Bengal through a detailed field survey, plants of local medicinal importance were identified in these patches in which the localpeople traditionally conserved the medicinal plants since time immemorial. An extensive field survey to potential district areas anddocumentation of major flora, including their correct identification and their related Traditional Knowledge (TK) in each SG was done.More than 120 local medicinal plants were found and traditional knowledge associated with these plants was documented whichincluded Adhatoda vasica, Abroma agustum, Andrographis paniculata, Bacopa monnieri, Centella asiatica, Cocculus hirsutus, Gloriosasuperba, Tinospora cordifolia to name very few. Out of these purified aqueous extract of Cocculus hirsutus has also been reported inCOVID-19 treatment in many research papers. Traditional knowledge associated with these plants found in the sacred groves is a hiddentreasure from where further research, learning and dissemination of potential information can ensue. These SGs are examples of in-situconservation traditionally by local people and gene pool for various medicinal plants.