Sacred Forests of Pithoragarh, Western Himalaya, India

Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Floristic diversity of sacred forests. 3. Socioeconomic and ethnobotanical assessment. 4. Soil properties of sacred forests. Selected bibliography. Index Botanical names.

Sacred means for religious beliefs. These are traditionally managed community forests for conservation and sustainability. The traditionally rich sacred forests are of the great ecological interest and also play important role in conservation of flora and fauna in natural sites. Sacred grooves are very ancient and widespread phenomenon in world culture. The Sacred Forests of Pithoragarh, Western Himalaya, India is an attempt to explain the composition of angiosperms (310 spp) and gymnosperms (3 spp) of Sacred Forests of Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand. The Present study describes Kalika, Chamunda, Kanalichina, Pasupathinath, Ratwali, Thal Kedar sacred forests.