From the ENVIS Desk...

April 2008 — September 2008, Vol. VII, No.1

Thematic Area: Conservation of Ecological Heritage and Sacred Sites of India

C.P.R. EnviRonmEntal EduCation CEntRE

ECO-HERITAGE.COMENVIS Newsletter

Patronised by Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India

In this issue

/ From the ENVIS Desk ......................1

/ Totemism ..........................................2

/ News in View.....................................4

/ Abstracts of Recent Publications......6

/ Forthcoming Events..........................8

C. P. R. Environmental Education Centre’s (CPREEC) ENVIS has been active in updating information. The information on the website has been updated in 2008 to include the following :

v 6828 Sacred Groves & Gardens v 41 Sacred Waterbodies v 278 Sacred Tanks v 84 Sacred Plants v 45 Sacred Animals v 25 Sacred Mountains & Hills

A major contribution is the inclusion of primary data in the form of listing. This has been very helpful to scholars working in this field and has encouraged research. We now have several students who are working on sacred ecology and biodiversity conservation.

On November 4, 2008, CPREEC is organizing a one-day seminar in Goa on “The Ecological Traditions of Goa”. This will be followed by similar seminars in West Bengal and Orissa.

Scholars who wish to present papers or who know of people doing research in this field are kindly requested to contact us at the earliest.

www.ecoheritage.cpreec.org e-mail: ecoheritage_cpreec@vsnl.net2

ENVIS Newsletter Vol. VII, No. 1

Totemism By Nanditha Krishna

- “the belief of many primitive societies in a mystic relationship between individuals or groups of individuals and certain animals, plants or…natural phenomena”

Native American culture is defined by totems and totemism, “the belief of many primitive societies in a mystic relationship between individuals or groups of individuals and certain animals, plants or…natural phenomena”. Members of a clan trace their origin to a single ancestor – plant, animal or natural phenomenon such as the sun, stars or rainbow – which is the totem. They call themselves “children of” the totem, such as the children of the Bear or the Raven. There is a myth behind the founding of each clan by the totem ancestor, who is worshipped as a supernatural being. Devotional rites, such as singing and dancing, and ritual ceremonies strengthen the ties that bind. The totem is the symbol of this unity, the herald of the clan. The transformation of animals into humans and vice versa is an important feature of totem pole stories. Called “putting on” or “taking off” a skin, transformation can occur without leaving any evidence of the original figure. The transformation may take place to partake in human events. The Raven, a trickster, can adapt or incarnate at will.

Totems are carved wooden statues made by American Indians. Those found in south and central USA consist of one animal sitting over another. When one tribe conquers another, it attaches the totem or symbol of the conquered tribe beneath its own totem, symbolizing its own superior position. The more the number of conquered tribes, the more the totems on the pole. However, the totem poles of north-west America – Alaska and Canada - do not necessarily represent clans, nor are they used in rites of worship. Some illustrate the lives and legends of heroes or even the homes where they are built, while others may be grave markers or mortuary figures that were never worshipped. Many narrate an environment story, as we shall see below. Totem poles are generally carved in the round and coloured with paint. They are exactly balanced,

with the right and left sides made as mirror images of each other. Whether it is the outstretched wings of a bird, facial or physical features, decoration or colour, each side will replicate the other exactly, giving the totem a machine-produced appearance. The wood used is generally untreated cedar from the temperate rain forests of the north-west, which is soft to work with and resistant to insects and fungi. Decorative techniques include “feathering”, a chipping technique that adds richness to the surface; sand blasting, to reveal the grains; natural smooth finish; and painted surfaces, which are least popular since they need regular repainting and maintenance. There are also several unique shapes - ovoid (flattened oval), elongated u and split u, besides elongated shapes and circles. There are different types of totem poles. The tall ones mark a special occasion and take years of planning and execution. The concepts are important and are layered with meanings. They are carved by a master carver assisted by a team of apprentices. Short totem poles illustrate a single family crest or a single story. Frontal totem poles function as load-bearing posts holding the main beam of a house. Generally these are taller than the house and announce the prestige and origins of the clan that lives inside. House boards generally decorate the inside or outside of a large house. Some mortuary poles have a large panel that make up the front of a box containing human remains, while others replicate the human being who is dead.

Welcome poles are a modern development, placed outside parks and institutions, especially in Western Canada. They greet visitors to the area. Miniature totem poles sold to tourists originally served as models to be approved and checked out

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for effect. Thus modifications and changes can be made before the main totem is carved. Due to the slow and painstaking work involved, authentic totem poles, even miniatures, are quite expensive.

Totem poles are more than stories: they have layers of interconnected meanings. A totemic figure may be a crest, a quality (such as courage), or a memorial, or all three in one. Some represent the right to tell a story; others heroic events, tragedies or natural disasters. Pride in the native heritage has produced some of the most beautiful totem poles. Some may be amusing events, others memorials and still others heraldic crests, displaying the right of the owners to display their association with the totem. There is as much stylistic variety in American totem poles as in any other art form: Haida, Coast Salish, Tsimshian, Kwakiuti, Nuxälk are among the best-known styles. The popular animals in North American totems reflect the local wildlife: the bear (generally shown along with salmon), beaver, wolf, frog, eagle, hawk, woodpecker, owl, thunderbird, raven and so on.

Raising a totem pole is accompanied by ceremonies, invocations, dance and music. The carvers are specially honoured on the occasion. The important event is the “awakening” of the totemic spirit.

Native Americans are not the only people to have

totems. Maori hardwood sculpture – similar to

totem poles - commemorated ancestors. The Ainu,

the aboriginals of Japan’s northern Hokkaido

islands, construct totem-like poles to tell tales of a

people closely connected to the water. The British

heraldry system registers arms, approves the design

and sanctions the right to display and use it. No

two coat of arms are identical and each symbol

has a meaning. In India, each Jaina Tirthankara is

identified by a plant and an animal with which he

is associated. Many of the Hindu vahanas represent

the gods of animistic tribes included in the Hindu

pantheon and represented by a god seated on an

animal, once worshipped by a small tribe.

Although totems were never worshipped, early

missionaries believed they were gods and forced

the natives to chop, burn and destroy their totem

poles. It was only in the 1800s that museums came

forward to collect and display what was left. Canada

has done much to preserve its indigenous culture,

unlike the USA, where, today, totems made in China

are sold to unthinking tourists. In Canada, totems

are given pride of place and are still commissioned

in west coast cities during the construction of a new

building or establishment of a park. Many totems

can be seen in their natural surroundings in Alaska

and Western Canada, where totemism continues to

be a part of Innuit culture.

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ENVIS Newsletter Vol. VII, No. 1

Abstracts of Recent Publications Adhikari, S.D.,1 and B.S. Adhikari, B.S.,2. 1Department of Botany, P.D. Barthwal Himalayan P.G. College, Kotdwara, Pauri, Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India. 2Habitat Ecology Department, Wildlife Institute of India, P.O. Box No. 18, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. Veneration of a Deity by Restoration of Sacred Grove in a Village Minar, Kumaun Region of Uttarakhand: A Case Study. Journal of American Sciences, 2007; 3 (2): 45-49.

Golu Devta is a famous deity of Kumaun region of Uttarakhand, which is worshipped by the locals. It is believed that this deity resides in the forests; however, these days due to heavy anthropogenic pressure viz. lopping, grazing, collection of Non-Timber Forest Produce and subsequent loss of forest area, the deity seems to be loosing ground to the evils of development. The local religious custom, however, protects the part of the forests where this deity resides and is worshipped. In this context, it becomes necessary to document the abode as a Sacred Grove.

The article enlightens as to how a religious custom restores and preserves an area as a Sacred Grove and brings people of different opinions and status on one platform. It discusses the views of some locals about the sanctity of the place and its environmental usefulness. Most of the people are unaware of the ecological benefits of the Sacred Groves and feel that wherever this deity rests, the place becomes sacred and the trees are protected and thrive. Cutting of the trees inside the groves is taboo and prohibited, even climbing on the trees is said to be avenged by the deity. The villagers believe that once the deity is established the conservation of the forest in that area is automatic and natural due to the blessings of the deity.

This is an indigenous means of conserving nature. To restore these traditional customs is to restore the biodiversity. At a time when the number of groves is declining due to modernization, urbanization and expansion of market economy, the restoration of a sacred grove indicates the attitude and behavior of community towards the environment is commendable and must be backed by all means possible, financial and administrative.

Bhakat, R.K., Sen, U.K. and Pandit, P.K.*, Department of Botany and Forestry, Vidyasagar University,

Midnapore (West Bengal), *Divisional Forest Officer, Jhargram forest Division, West Midnapore, West Bengal. Role of Sacred Grove in Conservation of Plants, The Indian Forester, July 2008, Vol. 134 (7), 866- 874.

Many traditional conservation ethics of people directly or indirectly protect forest patches by dedicating them to local deities. Such forest pockets, referred to as sacred groves, are more or less small to large chunks of traditionally maintained near-virgin forests protected on socio-cultural grounds. Named differently in different states of India, these groves are said to be concentrated in tribal areas and are managed by local people for various purposes. Irrespective of their origin, size and management regimes, all sacred groves are islands of biodiversity protecting a host of plant and animal species including some rare and threatened taxa.

With this background, this paper attempts to highlight the role played by a 4-acre sacred grove (popularly known as ‘Sitabala than’) of West Midnapore District in West Bengal towards conservation of plant diversity. The study records 80 species of angiosperms covering 42, 10, 16 and 12 species of herbs, shrubs, trees and climbers respectively. Moreover, the grove supports some locally-useful medicinal plants. Owing to the protection offered on socio-religious grounds, the sacred grove provides optimum conditions congenial for the growth of plants. As a result, some of the trees attain maximum dimensions in terms of size and growth patterns. Therefore, there is an urgent need not only to protect the sacred forest, but also to revive and reinvent similar traditions of nature conservation.

Dhawan, V.K., Joshi, S.R., and Bana, I., Silviculture Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun (India), Protected Trees in the Forests of Uttarakhand, The Indian Forester, July 2008, Vol. 134 (7), 937-946.

Hundreds of trees are protected as living natural monuments and are associated with wisdom and immortality in India. In Uttarakhand, some trees hold special cultural and religious significance like peepal, banyan, mango, etc. it was at the International Forestry Conference at Rome in 1926 that Protection of Natural Features was discussed. In 1929, Sir H.G. Champion, Silviculturist, Forest Research Institute mooted

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the idea of preservation of elite trees along with establishment of Preservation Plots and resolution No.22 was passed. In 1952 Seth distinguished 3 types of preservation plots. By the time the country became independent, the subject of protected trees appeared to have fallen into neglect. In 1958, Bhadran, however, gave the first comprehensive account of Giant Trees of India including trees with a girth of more than 100 inches at breast height.

The growth of trees depends on many factors like seed origin/parent material, inheritance characters, edaophic, climatic etc. Growth of trees has found to be more in Tropical Wet evergreen/Semi evergreen forests than trees in other forest type. In 2007-08, authors from Silvicultural Division of Forest Research Institute visited the Preservation Plots of Uttarkhand and adjoining Shiwalik forests of Uttar Pradesh and surveyed Protected Trees which still have markings on their stem. Fresh enumeration was also done at sites and presented in the present paper. It was concluded from the study that due to global warming and intense biotic pressure, regeneration has found to be abnormal. Increased biotic pressure threatened some existing species. There is need to examine the causal inhibitor factors responsible for establishment of regeneration and elimination of some species.

Ghildiyal, J.C., Bisht, S., and Jadli, R., Department of Botany, Dr.P.D.B.H. Government Post Graduate College, Kotdwar, Garhwal (Uttarakhand), A Contribution to the Biological Diversity of Tarkeshwar Sacred Grove in Garhwal Himalayas, The Indian Forester, June 2008, Vol. 134 (6), 789-799.

Tarkeshwar, a sacred grove in Garhwal Himalayas, is situated in Tarasar Reserve Forest occupying 825.5 hectares in Garhwal Forest Division out of which 314 hectares are generally considered as a sacred grove. The sacred grove is named after the centrally located 600 year old temple of Lord Shiva called Tarasar or Tarakeshwar. There are many legends and myths which are associated with this sacred grove according to the nearby villagers. In a round-the-year collection, this sacred grove revealed 372 taxa of phanerograms and cryptograms. Out of 372 plant species, 311 were angiosperms, 4 gymnosperms, 16 pteridophytes, 15 bryophytes, 23 fungal species. Amongst angiosperms, 261 were dicots belonging to 78 families and 50 were monocots belonging to 10 families. The dominant family of angiosperms in the area was Asteraceae followed by Fabaceae, Laminaceae, Acanthaceae, Rosaceae, Polygonaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Scorphulariaceae, Urticaceae, Amaranthaceae and Cucurbitaceae. The most dominant genera were Ipomea and Hypericum.

Kumar, P.1, Channabasappa, K.S.2, and Hanchinal, S.N.3, 1Research Fellow, NMPB Project, Department of Agroforestry, College of Forestry, Sirsi, 2Associate Professor, NMPB Project, Department of agroforestry, College of Forestry, Sirsi, 3Professor of Agriculture Extension education, Extension Co-ordinator, KVK, Gulbarga, Karnataka. Sacred Groves: Increasing Disturbance - Declining Diversity of Medicinal Plants. My Forest, September 2007, Vol. 43 (3), 423-433.

The study was carried out in sacred groves of Sagar and Sorab range during 2004-05 to assess the diversity of medicinal plants and to estimate the extent of loss in terms of natural wealth due to increasing demand in medicinal plants trade. Simpson’s index of 0.04 suggests that kans of Sagar was only moderately diverse which was also corroborated by the Shannon’s index of 3.28. An evenness index of 0.94 indicates that no single species was dominant in this forest. A Simpson’s index of 0.02 and Shannon’s index of 3.49 suggests that the Sorab range was bestowed with moderate diversity and an evenness index of 0.95 indicates no single species dominating these forest areas. The results showed comparatively less richness and diversity in protected forests like sacred groves as against other forest types. Due to over exploitation and uncontrolled developmental activities, there is a danger of loss of the last vestiges of well preserved medicinal plants of the country, of which sacred groves are notable reserves.

Sinha, B.C. and Sinha, S.P., Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehra Dun (India), Impact of Religious Tourism on Gir National Park, Gujarat, The Indian Forester, Vol. 134 (5), May 2008, 667-673.

Many protected area managers are encountering difficulties balancing the demands of conservation and visitors. An essential component of sound management planning for these areas is objective data on visitor use impacts and needs. Gir National Park attracts a large number of visitors, both pilgrims and tourists. What matters is not the large number of visitors, but the type of visitors, the pattern of resource use and the quality of management to achieve compatibility between activities undertaken by the visitors and the protected area objectives. Most research in the protected areas in the country has dealt with biological issues and little attention has been given to researching visitor management issues. The preliminary study aimed to collect information on the present status of pilgrimage and its management in Gir National Park, and also identify and quantify the impacts on the habitat, flora and fauna.

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ENVIS Newsletter Vol. VII, No. 1

Homepage of CPREEC ENVIS Centre.

Web : http://www.ecoheritage.cpreec.org/

http://www.cpreecenvis.nic.in/

ENVIS Team :

1. Dr. Nanditha Krishna Hon. Director & ENVIS Co-ordinator

2. M. Amirthalingam Assistant Co-ordinator, ENVIS

3. Lalitha Ramadurai Sr. Programme Officer

4. M. Vaithiyanathan Web Assistant

5. R. Sathyanarayanan Data Entry Operator

ENVIS CentreC.P.R. Environmental Education Centre1, Eldams Road, Alwarpet, Chennai - 600 018, Tamil Nadu, India.Phone: 044 - 24346526 / 24337023 Fax: 91 - 044 - 24320756E-mail: cpreec@vsnl.com Website: www.cpreec.org

Sacred Groves of India – Seminar & Exhibition in 3

districts of West Bengal

September 5-14, 2008

Organised by - Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav

Sangrahalaya, Bhopal & Centre for Interdisciplinary

Studies, Kolkata.

URL: http://www.cintdis.org/

Maharashtra State River Conference

October 18-19, 2008

Place – Karanja Lad, Maharashtra, India

Organised by – Samvardhan (Society for the

Conservation of Wetland Resources)

URL: http://www.samvardhan.page.tl

Asian Regional Cooperation Conference -

Heritage Management, Conservation, Education

and Tourism

December 02-04, 2008

Organised by – Indian National Trust for Art and

Cultural Heritage (INTACH)

URL: http://www.intach.org/arcc.htm

Renaissance of the Ancient Traditions: Challenges

and Solutions

January 31– February 05, 2009

Place – Nagpur, Maharashtra

Organised by – International Center for Cultural

Studies USA Inc.

Forthcoming Events

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