Biocultural approaches to sustainability: role of indigenous knowledge systems in biodiversity conservation of West Bengal, India

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sacred groves are tracts of richly diverse virgin forest, protected for centuries by the local people for cultural and religious beliefs and taboos. They believe that the deities live in these groves and save the villagers from various calamities. In terms of biodiversity, history, and religious and ethnic heritage, sacred groves form an inextricable link between the present society and the past. Sacred groves are scattered throughout the world, and various cultures identify them in multiple ways that encode different rules for their protection. Depending on such assumption, this paper highlights the conservation and cultural values of the Santal community surrounding the sacred groves of Binpur II block under the Jhargram district in West Bengal. In addition to the conservation of 210 species of angiosperms, the study shows that these groves have specific direct and indirect socio-economic impacts.