The religious forests of Nepal and India: a need for concern?

Abstract

Religious forests are conserved by cultural and traditional beliefs. Although India has the highest number of religious forests globally, the protection provided to these forests is insufficient, a situation that is also commonplace in Nepal. This paper examines a Nepali sacred grove which reflects the diversity of tree species and their role in conserving biodiversity that is common to religious forests. The sacred grove is one of the pioneers of the community-based management regimes indicative of this particular forest resource management system. The paper highlights how religious forests have been preserved in Nepal and indicates that in order to provide greater protection to religious forests, along with their tradition and spirituality, a creative solution of policies and law will be required.