Role of Sacred Groves in Phytodiversity Conservation in Rajouri (J & K)

Sacred groves are a group of trees or a patch of vegetation protected by the local people through religious and cultural practices evolved to minimize destruction. Nature worship is an ancient Indian tradition and all forms of life have been considered as sacred. The present study was conducted to study the sacred groves from ecological and floristic point of view in Rajouri tehsil of Rajouri district, J& K. For this the tree diversity in some prominent sacred groves of Rajouri was studied by random sampling using Quadrat method. Altogether, 75 plant species were enumerated from the sacred groves, which include 48 tree species. Based on the calculations of frequency, density and abundance, IVI of each species was calculated. Some important trees in the area are Ficus religiosa, Olea ferruginea, ficus palmata, Grevillea robusta etc.