Biodiversity Conservation through Religious Belives in Sacred Groves of Jabalpur Forest Division (Madhya Pradesh)

Sacred Groves are the one form of nature worship, w hich is considered as “Sacred Natural Sites”. Signi ficant tradition of nature worship is provides protection to patches of forests dedicated to deities and ance stral spirits by the tribal and forest dwellers. The survey work was carried ou t from 2013-2016 in Jabalpur forest division, to as sess the role of sacred groves in biodiversity conservation. Histori cal background, ethnic belief and the socio-cultura l importance about sacred groves were collected from each sacred grove . Total 105 sacred groves had been identified from the seven forest ranges of Jabalpur forest division. The 129 plant s pecies belonging to 56 families and 105 genus are c onserved in these sacred groves, due to their socio-religious importa nce. According to their mode of use such as during different festivals and religious ceremonies are discussed in this paper, i n detail.