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Community-linked conservation using Devakad (sacred groves) in the Kodagu Model Forest, India

by C.G. Kushalappa1 and S. Raghavendra2

ABSTRACTKodagu District in Karnataka State, South India, part of the Western Ghats region, is described as one of the hottest hotspots of biodiversity in the world. This district can also be called a hot spot of sacred forest tradition due to the densityand diversity of deities and communities that are part of an informal conservation concept based on Devakad, or sacredgroves. This paper discusses the current status, threats and conservation initiatives undertaken by different stakeholdersto revive this unique conservation concept and highlights the role of the Kodagu Model Forest as a key facilitator in theconservation effort.

Key words: Model Forest, conservation, sacred groves

RÉSUMÉLe district de Kodagu, dans l’État du Karnataka (sud de l’Inde), fait partie de la région des Ghats occidentaux, décritecomme l’un des points névralgiques de biodiversité les plus chauds du monde. Le district peut également être perçucomme l’un des points névralgiques de la tradition des forêts sacrées en raison de la densité et de la diversité des divinitéset des collectivités qui font partie d’un concept de conservation informel fondé sur Devakad, ou les bois sacrés. Ce docu-ment trace un portrait de la situation, des menaces actuelles et des initiatives de conservation entreprises par différentsintervenants pour réanimer ce concept unique de conservation. Il souligne également le rôle de facilitatrice clé de la ForêtModèle de Kodagu dans l’effort de conservation.

Mots clés : forêt modèle, conservation, bosquets sacrés

1Professor and Head, Department of Forest Biology and Tree Improvement, College of Forestry (UAS, Bangalore) and Vice-Chairman,Kodagu Model Forest Trust, Ponnampet-571216, Kodagu, Karnataka, India. E-mail: kushalcg@gmail.com2Research Fellow and Consultant, UAS, Bangalore.

C.G. Kushalappa S. Raghavendra

IntroductionWorship of God in different forms is prevalent in all parts ofthe world. Of all forms of worship, nature worship is probablythe earliest, since humans lived in the forest and nature pro-vided all their needs. This tradition of nature worship existseven to this day in different parts of the world under diversesystems of worship. In particular, once more permanent set-tlements began to develop, residents started to worship theforest, and certain elements such as plants and animals wereconsidered sacred. This instilled fear and belief systems

among people. Trees, such as peepal and banyan, and animalslike elephants, tigers and monkeys were worshipped and, inmany instances, protected. With changes in the socio-reli-gious environment, forms and practices of worship alteredover the years. Stone figures placed under sacred trees werethe first objects of worship. With advancements, an altar, andlater fences and temples, were built around these stone forms.

Sacred groves were part of most agrarian cultures in theworld. Countries in South America, Africa, Australia andEurope had sacred groves (Hughes 1984, 1996; Dorm-Adzobou et al. 1991; Molyneaux 1995). Studies (Frazer 1935,Hughes and Chandran 1998) also indicate the presence ofsuch groves in all Asian countries. Looking into the religioushistory of India, it is easy to realize the importance attachedto forests, trees and animals, and that nature worship is thefoundation of Indian culture. Sacred groves are known underdifferent names in different states in India, for example,“Devakad” in Kodagu, “Sarana” in Bengal and Bihar, “Varaan”in Rajasthan, “Devari” in Maharastra, and “Kavu” in Kerala.In India there are approximately 4125 sacred groves covering39 063 ha of forest (Malhotra et al. 2007).

Though sacred groves are seen in many other parts of theworld and in India, Kodagu District, Karnataka State in SouthIndia is a unique landscape known for sustaining the tradi-tion of sacred groves. Kodagu District is found within the

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Western Ghat region, which has been identified as one of theeight hottest hot spots of biodiversity in the world (Mitter-meier et al. 2005). The district is one of the largest woodeddistricts in the country with 81.4% of the land area under treecover (Anonymous 2009). Diverse types of natural tropicalforests cover 45% of the wooded area, which includes anational park and three wildlife sanctuaries supporting one ofthe country’s largest populations of large mammals such ele-phants and tigers in addition to a range of endemic fauna andflora. Privately owned coffee and cardamom plantationscover 30% of the area and the district is the largest shade-grown coffee-producing region in India, contributing to 35%of the nation’s coffee production (Coffee Board of India2011). The indigenous communities of the district are natureand ancestral worshipers, and sacred groves called “Devakad”are community-managed informal conservation sites. Whilecovering only 2% of the district, the sacred groves are dis-persed throughout the district, representing the diverse topo-graphic, climatic and vegetation conditions found there.

Kodagu Model ForestThe Kodagu Model Forest is currently the only Model Forestin India (Fig. 1). The Model Forest was legally registered in2003 as the Kodagu Model Forest Trust, a public–privatepartnership comprising diverse stakeholders workingtowards sustainable management of natural resources. TheModel Forest encompasses the entire district of Kodagu cov-ering over 400  000 ha of diverse landscapes under govern-ment, individual and community ownership. The Model For-est does not own or manage any land but works withstakeholders who do on key issues ranging from restorationof natural degraded forests, joint forest management of com-munity forests, promoting sustainable production of planta-tion crops like coffee, mitigation of man–animal conflict andimproving the livelihood of local communities. The Trust islocated at the College of Forestry of the University of Agricul-tural Sciences (Bangalore) and is involved in conducting out-reach programs for farmers, students and the general publicon the need to manage the diverse landscape of the region in

Fig. 1. Location of the Kodagu Model Forest.

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a sustainable manner. One of the key activities of the ModelForest is the revival of the sacred forest management activitiesthrough involvement of stakeholders from the governmentagencies that own the sacred forests to the communities thatare traditionally attached to these temple forests.

Uniqueness of Kodagu District’s Sacred GrovesTen types of sacred groves have been identified for KodaguDistrict (Chandrakanth and Nagaraja 1997), illustrating theirdiversity. The classifications are based on ownership (e.g., pri-vate, joint government and community, common property)and use (e.g., different religious and cultural events, worship).While sacred groves have vanished in many parts of theworld, they continue to thrive as a living tradition in KodaguDistrict supported by the Forest Department and local com-munities. Considering the unique features and managementof sacred groves, Kodagu District could be called the “hotspot of sacred groves in the world”:1. According to a survey conducted by the Forest Depart-

ment, Kodagu District has 1214 sacred groves covering anarea of 2500 ha representing around 2% of the land area ofthe district—essentially, there is one sacred grove for every300 ha of land and, as such, this density of sacred grovescould be one of the highest in the world.

2. The sacred groves are owned by the Forest Departmentand declared as Protected Forests. However, they are man-aged by local communities and, as such, are commonproperty resources.

3. Every village in the district has at least one sacred groveand there are 24 villages that have 10 or more sacredgroves under their jurisdiction.

4. There are 121 deities and there are unique rituals associ-ated with worship of these deities.

5. All the original inhabitants belonging to 18 communities,including Muslims, collectively offered worship to deitiesof sacred groves of the particular village symbolizing com-munal unity.

6. Since the sacred groves are distributed throughout thelandscape, they represent diverse microclimatic conditionsand associated biodiversity.

Gods of the Sacred GrovesThe concept of nature worship, which formed the basis ofsacred groves, evolved with time and movement of people toKodagu District (Fig. 2). There are many songs as to howthese gods came to Kodagu District and these songs are sungat annual festivals. There is diversity in the deities being wor-shipped in the sacred groves among the three taluks, oradministrative units, in Kodagu District. Of the 508 sacredgroves in Virajpet taluk, 171 forests are dedicated to LordAiyappa (Hunter God), 62 for the Goddess Bhagvathi, 33 areBadrakali forests, 25 for Madeva, 20 for Goddess Chamundi,19 for the tribal gods, and 14 for Vishnumurthi temples.Additionally, in 136 sacred groves, prayers are offered tomany other deities. Since this taluk adjoins Kerala State,increasing contacts with people from Kerala has had pro-found impact on social life style and, in turn, religious wor-ship. The architecture of temples, the religious rituals andeven the forms of worship have been strongly influenced bythe sacred grove worship culture of northern Kerala. Theselinks are being maintained as local people visit temples in

Kerala with offerings of rice and other gifts. In some templesin Kodagu District, the oracles of the deities still communi-cate in Malayalam, the official language of Kerala State. InMadikeri taluk, in addition to links with people of Kerala,there is profound influence of the culture of the adjoining dis-trict of Dakshina Kannada. There is a large number of “Naga-banas” (forests for serpent deities) in the villages adjoiningDakshina Kannada district, where it is the most dominantworship form in the sacred groves. As well, Somwarpet talukin the eastern part of the district has people who migratedfrom neighboring Hassan and Mysore districts. The sacredgrove worship in this taluk is different from the other twotaluks as it is more influenced by the culture of people fromthe plains rather than forested areas. Therefore, it is evidentthat the deities have followed people in their journey fromadjoining areas or from contact with other communities inneighboring regions, increasing regional and local variations(Kushalappa and Bhagwat 2001).

Communities Involved in Worship in Sacred GrovesThe original inhabitants of Kodagu District—such asKodavas, Heggades, Irees, Koyavas, Kumbaras, Kudiyas,Maleyas, Golla, Kannia, Pannika, Banna, Kaapala, Kembati,Madivala, Medha, Adiya, Koleya, Vakkaligowda, Gowda, Lingayaths, Kuruba, Yerava, Brahmin, Adi Karnataka,Halumatha and Jamma Mapillas—are part of the sacred grovetradition. Each community had its specific roles in manage-ment of the temple and its rituals, thereby bringing commu-nal harmony. Traditional systems of temple management, bydesignating certain families as temple heads, guardians oftemples treasures, dancers and priests, indicate very uniquesystems of communal integration. These nature temples werealso the institutions that administered social justice, whereheads of communities formulated rules of social order andlocal governance with the blessings of local deities.

Distribution of Sacred Groves in Kodagu DistrictOut of the 1214 sacred groves in the district, 508 are presentin Virajpet taluk, 306 in Madikeri taluk and 400 in Somwar-pet taluk (Table 1). The density of sacred groves is very high(i.e., one sacred grove for every 300 ha of land) and possiblythe highest in the world. Every village in Kodagu District hasat least one sacred grove and in many cases more than one.There are 39 villages which have more than seven sacredgroves. Considering the density of sacred groves on the land-scape, the wide diversity of vegetation features and deitiesworshipped, and the number of communities involved inconservation, Kodagu District could be regarded as a“hotspot” of sacred grove tradition in the world (Kushalappaand Bhagwat 2001).

Size Class Distribution of Sacred Groves of KodaguDistrictMore than 80% of the sacred groves in Kodagu District areless than 2 ha in size with 45.8% of the sacred groves coveringless than 0.4 ha (Table 2). There are only 123 groves (10.1% ofthe total) that have a recorded area of more than 5 ha. Assuch, a very large proportion of the sacred groves in the dis-trict are small “islands” (Fig. 3) surrounded by other land uses(Kushalappa and Kushalappa 1996).

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Fig. 3. A typical “island” sacred grove found throughout the Kodagu Model Forest.

PHOTO: BRIANBONNELL

Fig. 2. Example of a monolith found within a sacred grove.

PHOTO: BRIANBONNELL

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Changes in the Sacred Groves of Kodagu DistrictAs in many other parts of the world, there are changesobserved in the sacred groves. The first survey was under-taken by the British in 1873 when 873 sacred groves with atotal area of 4398 ha were recorded (Kushalappa and Kusha-lappa 1996). In 1905 the total area increased to 6277 ha. Aftera long gap, a 1991 survey by the Forest Department indicatedthe presence of 1214 sacred groves with an area of 2550 ha.This clearly shows a loss of 3727 ha in the last 80 years.Because of this loss many large sacred groves became frag-mented into smaller areas and, as such, although the total areaof sacred groves has been reduced, there is an increase in thenumber of sacred groves in Kodagu due to fragmentation. In1997, the status of 88 sacred groves in Kodagu District wasassessed by the College of Forestry, Ponnampet. The assess-ment indicated that nine were fully encroached, in 30 therewas partial encroachment and 40 have remained intact. Innine sacred groves the native trees were harvested andreplanted by the Forest Department. The study indicated thatthough a large proportion of the sacred groves was well pro-tected, there was loss in area (Kushalappa and Kushalappa1996). An estimate based on personal observations indicatesthat around 30% of the larger sacred forests are affected bythis phenomenon (Garcia 2003).

The major cause of loss in area is encroachment due tolack of clarity regarding ownership. Though the ForestDepartment was the legal owner, there are instances when theRevenue Department has allocated these lands for habitationand cultivation (Kalam 1996). Making use of the confusion,

migrants and local farmers have encroached and convertedthe sacred groves into residential areas and coffee plantations.In addition, changes in the socio-cultural and religious atti-tudes of the community have also resulted in degradation ofsacred groves. In many cases of forest temples where annualworship of the deity was practised under a tree, these havebeen transformed to temple forests where a structured templehas become more prominent than the forest and daily wor-ship is practised. Under the Kodagu Model Forest, a compila-tion of the existing notifications and laws related to landtenure and rights was published. In this publication a separatesection on laws related to ownership and management of

sacred groves has been provided and hashelped in resolving many of the con-tentious issues related to ownership andmanagement. Thanks to this publication itis now clear that the sacred forests inKodagu are under the ownership of theForest Department and any encroach-ment is illegal. Action can be initiatedaccording to the Indian Forest Act(Uthappa 2004). Support through theModel Forest is also provided for threetemple committees that are seeking legalsupport for eviction of encroachments insacred groves.

Studies on the Sacred Groves ofKodagu DistrictThere have been numerous studies on thesacred groves of Kodagu District. Thesehave mainly focused on the vegetation

and overall biodiversity of the sacred groves. These studieswere undertaken by teams from the College of Forestry andpartners from within and outside India. As a key partner andhost to the Kodagu Model Forest, the College of Forestry hasplayed a key role in generating information on the ecologicaland social significance of sacred groves that was essential toformulate the management policy. Some of the importantoutcomes of the study are highlighted below.

Sacred groves in Kodagu District are patches of forest in alandscape that probably once had continuous tree cover. Thebiogeographic processes related to species loss from forestremnants have had an obvious effect on the sacred groves, butit appears that the tree-covered nature of the surroundinglandscape may have reduced the intensity of the species lossand maintained the similarity in species composition ofsacred groves and the forest reserve despite the distancebetween them. Furthermore, the distribution of biodiversityin the forest reserve, sacred groves and coffee plantations isremarkably similar (Bhagwat et al. 2005a) and the diversitydoes not decline with decrease in patch size or with increasein distance from the forest reserve (Bhagwat et al.2005b).Vegetation structure of the sacred groves is greatlyinfluenced by the level of disturbance. The majority of the for-est structure of the sacred groves in Kodagu District has suf-fered either from landscape fragmentation or from humanpressure (Garcia 2003). However, in the sacred groves, prob-ably because of the nature of the matrix (coffee plantationsand natural forests), the edge effects do not seem to be highlypronounced (Bhagwat and Kushalappa 2004; Bhagwat et al.2005a,b; Tambat 2001).

Table 2. Size class distribution of sacred groves in three taluks of Kodagu District

Virajpet Madikeri Somwarpet Kodagu taluk taluk taluk District

Extent (ha) (N = 508; %) (N = 284; %) (N = 422; %) (N = 1214; %)

< 0.4 41.3 38.4 56.4 45.9< 0.8 17.1 15.8 16.6 16.8< 1.2 9.0 6.7 6.9 7.7< 1.6 7.5 5.6 4.3 5.9< 2.0 4.9 4.9 3.1 4.5< 2.4 9.8 12.0 6.6 9.2< 6.0 1.4 5.3 1.6 2.4< 8.0 3.1 3.2 1.6 2.6< 10.0 1.8 1.8 0.2 1.2> 10.0 3.5 6.3 2.6 3.9

(Kushalappa and Kushalappa 1996)

Table 1. Number of sacred groves in different taluks ofKodagu District

Taluk Area (Administrative unit) Number Percent (ha) Percent

Virajpet 508 41.8 872.13 41.8Madikeri 306 25.2 534.23 20.9Somwarpet 400 32.9 1144.09 44.8

Total 1214 2550.45(Kushalappa and Kushalappa 1996)

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Extensive floristic surveys in the sacred groves have beenundertaken by several workers. Bhagwat and Kushalappa(2000) observed that, on average, 47% of the families ofwoody plants (excluding lianas) that could potentially befound in the wet evergreen forests of Kodagu were found inthe sacred groves. In a study by Boraiah et al. (2001), speciesrichness was compared among the reserve forests and sacredgroves. The species richness, i.e., number of species (160) washighest for the reserve forest followed by disturbed sacredgroves (156) and conserved sacred groves (146). There is aslight decrease in the number of species from the reservedforest to disturbed sacred groves and the shrubs and climberswere higher in the sacred groves. The alteration of speciescomposition could be attributed to prevailing disturbanceparameters in disturbed sacred groves. Tambat (2001) foundthat the number of species increased with the size of thesacred grove. Additionally, species richness was generallyhigh in the larger sacred groves.

Bhagwat (2002) recorded a total of 215 tree species in theforest reserve, sacred groves and coffee plantations and foundthat 45% of all species are ubiquitous, 26% shared, and 29%unique to each landscape. Garcia (2003) reported that thediversity, as indicated by Shannon’s index, in the larger frag-ments of sacred groves in Kodagu District was actually higherthan in the natural forests and species richness was equal oreven higher than the natural forest. On the other hand, thesmaller fragments of sacred groves exhibit 20% to 50% ofspecies lost when compared to the bigger sacred groves andthe natural forests.

Boraiah et al. (2001) reported that although the sacredgroves are small, they are repositories of endemic flora andhave a high conservation value. Kushalappa and Bhagwat(2001) reported that there are 25 medicinal tree species inrare, endangered and threatened categories present in thesacred groves of Kodagu. Bhagwat (2002) reported thatsacred groves have a higher number of threatened species andare comparable to reserve forests with respect to endemic treespecies (Table 3). The adjoining coffee plantations have lowernumbers of endemic and threatened species. Raghavendra(2004) reported that there were 16 rare, endangered or threat-ened medicinal tree species in the sacred groves of semi-ever-green vegetation type and 11 in the sacred groves of moistdeciduous vegetation. It was found that 10 rare, endangeredor threatened medicinal tree species were common to boththe vegetation types.

Kushalappa and Bhagwat (2001) reported that of the 25medicinal tree species in rare, endangered and threatened cat-

egories present in the sacred groves ofKodagu (Kushalappa and Bhagwat 2001),one tree species is categorized as globallyendangered, three are categorized asregionally endangered, nine are in theglobally vulnerable category, eight are inthe regionally vulnerable category, andtwo each are categorized as globally lowrisk/near threatened and regionally lowrisk/near threatened.

Conservation EffortsThe inventory and biodiversity studiesindicate that while a large majority of the

sacred groves in Kodagu District are small islands, they con-tain a highly diverse flora and fauna. It is evident that thesacred groves, which are intact and rich in biodiversity, arewell managed by the local communities. Kalam (2000)reported that encroachment of sacred groves in Kodagu Dis-trict is due mainly to their accessibility and proximity toother resource-based activities. He also explained the varioussocial issues related to future management of the sacredgroves. It is clear from the existing situation that manydiverse groups need to be involved for effective conservationof sacred groves, including the Forest Department as legalowners, temple committees as managers, community lead-ers, non-governmental organizations, researchers, teachersand students and media. In this regard a festival of sacredgroves (Devarakadu Habba) was held in 2000 at Virajpet toformulate an action plan for the conservation of the sacredgroves in of Kodagu District. Members of 85 temple commit-tees, community leaders, forest officials, researchers, teachersand students from six colleges, seven non-governmentalorganizations and representatives from 20 local and statemass media took part in the festival. This was the first effortto bring the different stakeholders to a common platform todiscuss effective conservation. The Devarakadu Habbaresolved that:1. Sacred groves should be conserved as an important ele-

ment of the bio-cultural landscape and should not belooked at as a means of generating revenue.

2. For effective conservation it is necessary to form a federa-tion of temple committees to strengthen the traditionalmanagement.

3. It is essential to devise a mechanism for joint forest plan-ning and management of sacred groves involving all themajor players, such as government departments, templecommittees, community leaders, researchers and non-government organizations.

4. The College of Forestry, Ponnampet will host a workinggroup on the sacred groves to co-ordinate the variousactivities for management of sacred groves.

5. Non-government organizations and educational institu-tions need to participate in documenting information onsacred groves and undertake awareness-generation pro-grams.

6. The Forest Department will resurvey and demarcate thesacred groves and provide the needed legal help for futureprotection and eviction of encroachments.Following the festival of sacred groves, efforts are being

undertaken by the different stakeholders for revival of the

Table 3. Comparison of utility value and medicinal value of different species insacred groves with other landscapes

Distribution of species (useful trees ≥10 cm DBH)

Utility value Medicinal value

Land use type Useful No known use Medicinal Not medicinal

Forest reserve 83 (62) 50 (38) 32 (24) 101 (76)Sacred forests 113 (67) 55 (33) 42 (25) 126 (75)Coffee plantations 118 (73) 44 (27) 48 (30) 114 (70)

(Bhagwat 2002)

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unique sacred groves tradition. The Kodagu Model Forest isactively involved in conservation activities being undertakenthrough the active participation of the Trustees of the ModelForest. Some of the initiatives are described below.

The major success of the program is due to the supportprovided by the Forest Department, the legal owner of thesacred groves. The department is undertaking protectionthrough surveys, fixing boundaries and fencing. Anotherunique program is the financial incentive provided to thetemple committees through the sale of dead and fallen trees.The department took the lead in organizing interactions toformulate a joint forest management plan for the sacredgroves and an order was issued in 2002 for formation of man-agement committees in villages and district. Under theNational Afforestation Project, 45 Eco-Development Com-mittees have been constituted to protect and reforest thesacred groves. Since 2010, the state government has provideda separate grant in the budget for protection of sacred grovesand this will be continued in the coming years. The KodaguModel Forest actively participated in drafting the Joint ForestManagement Plan, providing valuable inputs for the manage-ment plan. Management plans were prepared for 25 largesacred groves in consultation with local communities and theForest Department. Karnataka Forest Departments KodaguCircle organized a meeting with presidents and members ofDevarakadu management committees at Aranya Bhavan,Madikeri in 2010. The meeting was held to seek suggestionsfrom the members of Devarakadu management committeesregarding issues related to protection and management ofsacred forests of the district. Eighty-four members of differenttemple committees participated in the meeting along with allthe officers of the Forest Department and resource personsfrom the College of Forestry.

The College of Forestry of the University of AgriculturalSciences, Bangalore, the host of the Model Forest and keymember of the Trust, has been the facilitator of the revivalprogram with inputs from research and outreach activities.Some of the important studies undertaken at the collegeinclude Kushalappa and Kushalappa (1996), Boraiah (2001),Tambat (2001), Bhagwat (2002), Garcia (2003) andRaghavendra (2004). The college is currently a centre foractive research in sacred groves and associated forested land-scapes in Kodagu District with partnering institutions fromwithin and outside India. Oxford Forestry Institute, UK; University of Claude Barney, France; French Institute,Pondicherry; ETH Switzerland; Centre for Ecological Sci-ences, Bangalore; Wildlife Institute of India; Universities ofAgricultural Sciences, Bangalore and Dharwad are involvedin the collaborative research projects.

The Centre for Environmental Education (CEE), one ofthe Trustees of the Kodagu Model Forest, is mainly involvedin conducting outreach activities. Eco-club activity in highschools, a biodiversity inventory of sacred groves for collegestudents, an exhibition on sacred groves, training programmefor teachers, publication of booklets and posters, and produc-tion of video film and cassettes have been undertaken. TheKodagu Model Forest, in association with the College ofForestry and Karnataka Forest Department, organized asacred grove festival in November 2007 through financialassistance from the Ministry of Culture, Government ofIndia. This second sacred grove festival in Kodagu was an

important event to review the various activities undertakenduring the period 2000 to 2007 by different stakeholdersinvolved in the management of sacred groves and the eventprovided opportunity for the stakeholders to come togetheragain to discuss future programs. The current year’s emphasison bringing a large number of students to view the travelingexhibition has been the major achievement, with over 4500students visiting the exhibition; it is proposed to involve themin future activities.

The Model Forest is an active catalyst of the sacred groverevival program through activities undertaken by the ModelForest as well as joining hands with other Trustees like theCollege of Forestry in supporting research and outreachactivities and the CEE in undertaking awareness activities.Through this multi-stakeholder program there has been achange in the perception of the community regarding owner-ship, management and importance of conservation of sacredgroves as centers of biocultural diversity of the region. Thisinitiative has been highlighted in the National BiodiversityStrategy and Action Plan (NABSAP) and Karnataka StateBiodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (KABSAP) documentprepared by the national and regional governments.

Conclusion To conclude, this initiative to revive a unique community-linked informal conservation concept through a multi-stake-holder approach has been successful in conserving the sacredgroves in a biodiversity hot spot. Efforts undertaken by thestakeholders have also been highlighted in international sci-entific fora facilitating collaboration and support for theseconservation initiatives. We are confident—thanks to thismulti-stakeholder effort—that the sacred groves will continueto offer socio-religious and ecological services to native com-munities and revive the unique nature worship concept withthe blessings of the deities and support of communities. TheKodagu Model Forest has been a key player in resurrectingtraditional community-based conservation efforts throughthe sacred groves found in the region. The overall program ofthe Model Forest addresses the key principles of ModelForests—landscapes, partnerships and sustainability.

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