Plant Diversity in Sacred Forests in Odisha: A Possible Biodiversity Conservation Model

Rath, Subhani (2020) Plant Diversity in Sacred Forests in Odisha: A Possible Biodiversity Conservation Model. PhD thesis, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata.

Text (PhD thesis of Subhani Rath (13RS001)) 13RS001.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (4MB)

Abstract

Sacred forests are small patches of forests dedicated to deities and ancestral spirits and are protected; preserved from human exploitation. They occur in all major regions of the world but India has the highest number of them owing to the high bio-cultural ethnicity. This is a research work based on the sacred forests of Odisha, a large and densely forested state in eastern India. Through this work, I broadly attempted to understand the sacred forests of Odisha in terms of their prevalence and density in different districts of the state. The question assumes significance since the sacred forests in the state are relatively understudied ecosystems. The entire thesis has three chapters. Each of the chapters has a holistic approach in understanding the status of these forests from both ecological and anthropological perspective. The state lies between longitudes 81 24' E-87° 29' E latitudes 17° 48' N-22° 34' N on the eastern coast of peninsular India The state covers a geographical area of 1,55,707 Km2 and currently has 58,138 Km2 of forest land, which is 37.4% of the state’s geographical area and 7.65% of India’s forest cover. Odisha has among the highest percentages of tribal people in the population and these communities are directly dependent on forest resources for their livelihoods. Using district-level data from government agencies on geographical area, demographics, forest cover, and sacred forest sizes and numbers, I tested what factors influence the observed distributions and abundance of sacred forests. In particular, are sacred forests non-randomly distributed across the landscape and is their abundance correlated with the tribal cultural diversity of the sites? All data on numbers, areas, and locations of sacred forests were obtained from the office of the Prinicipal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Odisha state Forest Department, other state government agencies, non-governmental organizations, temple authorities, local governments (‘Panchayats’), and other stake holders. This data-set is available for only 21 of the 30 districts, but these 21 districts have the highest forest cover; the remaining districts are mostly coastal and heavily urbanized, with perhaps no significant sacred forests. Result show that there are 2166 documented sacred forests in the state of Odisha, with most being small (median =0.2 ha) and most of the forest patches were less than 0.5 ha. At the district level, population size of scheduled tribes was unrelated to total population size. Forest area was greater in larger districts, and where tribal populations were greater, but percent forest cover declined with overall population density. Multiple regression analyses show that the number of sacred forests is unrelated to total forest area but is significantly positively associated with tribal population size. Sacred forests have survived decline during recent deforestation, and indigenous cultural practices appear to promote native vegetation. The second chapter focuses on the biodiversity contained in these forests in a forested and tribal dominated district in the northern part of Odisha where mining is the major land cover change driver. The study site falls in the administrative block called Banspal in Keonjhar district in the state. The tree diversity in the sacred forest patches was taken and matching reserved forest sites which act as control. 10 sacred forest sites and 9 reserve sites were selected. I hypothesized that sacred forest patches would be floristically richer with greater numbers of species and overall species diversity, and show lesser dominance in community structure, Furthermore, if reserve sites experience greater disturbance compared to sacred forest sites, stem size density distributions should also be different and correspond to different levels or kinds of disturbance, as theory would suggest. Quadrats of size dimension 30mx30m were installed in each of the land-use types. Although species diversity and evenness also appeared higher, they were not statistically significant. Basal area was greater, mainly due to greater tree density in the larger sizes. This was evident in stem size density distributions too, with greater abundance of larger trees in sacred forests. There were significant departures from the theoretical expectation of stem density distributions under pure asymmetric competition for both types, which indicated that extraneous mortality increased death rates of large trees, were common for both land uses. This supports the idea that sacred forests can contribute to biodiversity conservation and may preserve a greater component of tree diversity than forests subject to human use. The last chapter is more of a review article which highlights the role of tribes in conserving the forests. It throws a light on the some of the success stories where tribes have played a pivotal role in preserving these forests from the brink of extinction. The state along with its rich forest resources also harbours rich ethnic communities. There are about 62 didtict tribal ommunities out of which 13 are primitive tribal groups mostly distributed in the 12 tribal districts out of 30 districts in the state. The conservation of sacred groves is imperative for many reasons: for maintaining local and regional biodiversity, for preserving the socio-cultural integrity of local communities and for the innumerable number of ecosystem services that these groves provide. Community forest management institutions are significant and have contributed immensely to conservation of biodiversity, promoting it and thus have played a key role in the ecosystem management in the state since time immemorial. There are still many undiscovered sacred groves existing in different parts of the various districts in Odisha whose plant diversity needs to be documented for facilitating better protection and conservation of the wild gene pools. Prioritising these forests; ethnic communities who conserve them and their socio-cultural sentiments is crucial in protecting these forests in the state.

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