SHILLONG : Meghalaya’s sacred groves, protected for generations by Khasi and Jaintia communities through customary beliefs and practices, have been singled out by a Parliamentary panel as an example of how traditional institutions can protect forests and biodiversity.
The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, in its report on forest fires in the Himalayan region, has called for greater recognition of sacred groves and similar community-protected forests across the Northeast and the Himalayan region.
The Committee noted that Meghalaya’s sacred groves are regarded by Khasi and Jaintia communities as abodes of local deities and ancestral spirits. Within these forests, traditional rules prohibit felling trees, hunting and even removing fallen wood.
It was observed that these groves, protected through customary belief and community enforcement rather than statutory mechanisms, have in many instances preserved old-growth forests and rich biodiversity for longer and more effectively than formally notified protected areas.
The importance of these forests goes beyond their religious and cultural value. Sacred groves in Meghalaya provide a range of ecosystem services, including helping check soil erosion, maintaining the hydrological cycle, protecting water sources and supporting the natural dispersal of seeds. They also provide refuge for pollinators and predators and help conserve biodiversity and carbon.
Calls for mapping and recognition:
The Parliamentary panel has recommended systematic documentation and mapping of sacred groves and similar community-protected forest patches across the Himalayan and Northeast regions.
It has also called for institutional support for the customary institutions that protect them, while making it clear that government intervention should strengthen these traditional systems rather than displace them.
The recommendation is particularly significant for Meghalaya, where questions of recognition and protection of sacred groves have been under discussion for some time. A Meghalaya Forest Department inventory had earlier pointed to the need for registration and stronger legal protection of such forests, including through their notification as Community Reserves.
The Committee wants the cultural idea behind sacred groves to be used more widely in forest and fire-prevention campaigns. It said concepts of sanctity and ancestral responsibility could resonate with communities more strongly than administrative conservation messages alone.
More than forests:
The panel has placed sacred groves within a larger discussion on rebuilding the traditional relationship between communities and forests.
It said forests were historically treated as commons closely connected to community identity, livelihoods and cultural practices, and argued that restoring this relationship should become a distinct policy objective.
At the same time, the Committee said conservation cannot depend on tradition alone. It recommended creating livelihood opportunities linked to sustainable forest produce, including non-timber forest products, medicinal and aromatic plants, handicrafts and other forest-based enterprises, giving communities a continuing economic stake in keeping forests intact.
The panel has also recommended that tourists visiting Himalayan destinations be made aware of local conservation traditions, including the significance of sacred groves, through signage, orientation material and guided interpretation.
For Meghalaya, the report effectively puts a national spotlight on something the state has preserved for generations: a forest conservation system where culture, customary law and community stewardship have worked together to keep patches of ancient forest standing.
