Tropical forest recovery in a sacred grove

Abstract

Sacred groves are patches of forest protected for their religious significance. In Kodagu district in the Western Ghats of India sacred groves are believed to be home to ancestral spirits and have therefore been protected by generations of Kodava people. What is not known, however, is the length of time for which these forests are under religious protection. The documented history of many sacred groves goes back to c. 200 years when some of the first land surveys were conducted during the British colonial period. In order to unravel the history beyond this time period palaeoecological studies are needed. Such studies provide information that allows reconstruction of vegetation, human activity, land use and climate change. A sediment core was obtained from a sacred grove in Kodagu and analyses of fossil pollen as well as microfossil charcoal were carried out. Based on these analyses, we speculate when the religious forest conservation might have started in this sacred grove. In this presentation, we demonstrate how tropical forest in this sacred grove recovered over a period of 900 years.

Speaker

Dr. Shonil Bhagwat, University of Oxford

Organisers

Department of Ecology, French Institute of Pondicherry

Venue

Jawaharlal Nehru Conference Hall, French Institute of Pondicherry, 11, Saint Louis Street, Pondicherry - 605 001

Time

16h30