{"id":33950,"date":"2024-12-19T18:35:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T13:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=33950"},"modified":"2024-12-19T18:35:21","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T13:05:21","slug":"policy-for-protecting-sacred-groves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/19-12-2024\/policy-for-protecting-sacred-groves","title":{"rendered":"SC Recommends Centre to Develop Policy for Protecting Sacred Groves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Polity and Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court has directed the Union Government to create a comprehensive policy for the protection and management of sacred groves across the country.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are Sacred Groves?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sacred groves are patches of trees or forest areas that are <strong>traditionally protected by local communities<\/strong> for their religious, cultural, and ecological significance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>They are known by diverse names:<\/strong> Devarakadu in Karnataka, Kavu in Kerala, Sarna in Madhya Pradesh, Oran in Rajasthan, Devrai in Maharashtra, Umanglai in Manipur, Law Kyntang\/Law Lyngdoh in Meghalaya, Devan\/Deobhumi in Uttarakhand etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sacred groves preserve<\/strong> biodiversity, regulate climate, conserve water, support livelihoods, protect cultural heritage, and promote environmental awareness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Threats to Sacred Groves<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Urbanization and Encroachment:<\/strong> Increasing human settlements and infrastructure development have led to the loss of sacred grove areas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Deforestation and Resource Exploitation: <\/strong>Unsustainable extraction of wood, medicinal plants, and other resources threatens the ecological balance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cultural Erosion:<\/strong> Changing socio-cultural values and diminishing community practices weaken traditional protections.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Supreme court ruling<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There is a need for a nationwide survey of sacred groves under the guidance of the <strong>Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&amp;CC).<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The survey must identify the area and extent of the groves.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The court recommended protection of sacred groves under the <strong>Wildlife Protection Act, 1972<\/strong>, particularly through <strong>Section 36-C<\/strong>, which enables the declaration of &#8220;community reserves.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The preservation of these groves was seen as critical for maintaining biodiversity and safeguarding the cultural heritage of entire communities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Current Policy on forest protection<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Under the <strong>Wildlife Protection Act, 1972<\/strong>, state governments can declare any private or community land as a community reserve to protect biodiversity and cultural values.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The National Forest Policy of 1988<\/strong> encourages local communities to protect and improve forest patches through customary rights.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Supreme Court, through the <strong>T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad case<\/strong> and other judgments, has reinforced the role of communities in protecting forest ecosystems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Constitutional Safeguards<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP):<\/strong> <strong>Article 48A<\/strong> of the Constitution directs the State to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fundamental Duties:<\/strong> <strong>Article 51A(g) <\/strong>enjoins citizens to &#8220;protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Examples of Successful Community Efforts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Piplantri Village, Rajasthan:<\/strong> Local efforts transformed barren land into lush green groves, demonstrating the power of community-driven conservation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mawphlang sacred grove:<\/strong> Located in the <strong>East Khasi Hills<\/strong> district of<strong> Meghalaya,<\/strong> this grove is a popular tourist destination and an important educational center<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sacred groves should be granted legal protection under the <strong>Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 <\/strong>and declared as community reserves.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The government must recognize and empower local communities and tribes under the <strong>Forest Rights Act, 2006<\/strong>, as custodians of sacred groves.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Communities should be given the authority to regulate excess exploitation or harmful activities within sacred groves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/formulate-policy-to-manage-sacred-groves-supreme-court-tells-centre\/article68999363.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court has directed the Union Government to create a comprehensive policy for the protection and management of sacred groves across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33955,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33950\/revisions\/33955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}