Paper short abstract:

Sacred groves in Konkan region of Maharashtra state reflects the local, religious cultural tradition of biodiversity conservation by providing protection to forest patches dedicated to deities or ancestral spirits.

Paper long abstract:

Sacred groves have existed in India from time immemorial as patches of densely wooded areas, venerated on religious grounds. They represent the ancient Indian culture of in situ conservation of genetic diversity. About 13,720 sacred groves have been reported from India. Ratnagiri district is one of the four districts falls within the Konkan region of Maharashtra state. Out of the 2837 sacred groves documented for Maharashtra state, Ratnagiri district has about 834 sacred groves, occupying an area of 1204.45 ha. These groves were protected by local communities as tradition of nature worship dedicated to deities or ancestral spirits. Locally they are known as 'Deorai', 'Devrai', 'Rai', 'Rahati', 'Devrahati' and 'Gothan'. They are acting as sanctuaries for ayurvedic, tribal and folk medicines and protect freshwater sources and have great value for conservation ecology. As a part of research work commenced in 2005, ethnobotanical survey and inventory of floristic diversity of this area has been completed. Out of 834 sacred groves, 755 have been visited for documentation. The deities of each sacred grove of which majority are mother goddesses, festivals and rituals have been documented. Development projects like mining, dams and road construction are the major reasons responsible for deterioration of these gardens of gods and their valuable natural bioresources. Many groves are suffering what is called 'Sanskritization', the transformation of primitive nature worship into formal Hindu practice. The paper will highlight the role of regional culture of Konkan area in conserving these natural Islands of biodiversity in past, present and future.