Sacred groves as sanctuaries for mistletoe conservation in kathmandu valley

Abstract

Establishment of small patches of forest in the form of sacred groves is a universal human phenomenon not associated with any specific religion or worldview but with strong religious context influenced by traditional local beliefs. In many regions of the world, sacred groves have major effects on conservation due to taboos and restrictions associated with them. It has been believed that sacred virgin forests date back to several thousands of years when human society was in the primitive state and all forms of vegetation in the sacred groves were supposed to be under the protection of the reigning deity of that grove, and the removal of even a small twig was taboo. Long before the existence of officially protected areas as we now know them, people were protecting sacred lands. Sacred groves are probably the oldest method of habitat protection on the planet and still form a large and mainly unrecognized network of sanctuaries around the world. Thus the role of sacred groves in the conservation of biodiversity has long been recognized (reviewed in Bhagwat and Rutte 2006; Khan et al. 2008).