Role of culture for in-situ conservation of plant diversity

Sacred groves are near climax forest patches conserved by the indigenous communities intertwined with their socio-cultural and religious practice. An inextricable link between present society and past in terms of biodiversity, culture, religious and ethnic heritage exists in sacred groves. In this perspective, the present study was carried out to exploring the biological spectrum, leaf size spectra, conservation status, management and utility of the existing vegetation of a sacred grove in the West Midnapore district of West Bengal state in India. The vegetation of the grove was diverse and composed of 177 species belonging to 165 genera distributed in 59 families from 31 orders according to APG IV classification. The study area being a sacred grove may be well protected by further understanding its importance to the ecosystem of the locality and its useful resources for the future as well.