ALAPPUZHA: Alappuzha has the most number of sacred groves in the state. A census led by M. S. Nair, the managing member of the Institution of Forestry, a forest department aided entity, discovered 2,250 groves in the district. Kozhikode stood second with 1,231 followed by Kollam (895), Thrissur (890) and Thiruvananthapuram (537). Sacred groves, which could be of one to 35 cents, play a pivotal role in maintaining biodiversity and a majority of them in the Alappuzha are of five cents. "Ninety per cent of them are in private hands. In each ward at least two families have groves,” Mr Nair said. “We are also collecting information on its cultural and local history along with GPS mapping. There's a widespread tendency of destructing them for buildings. They have most valuable resources, including medicinal and edible plants and rare trees."
The surveyors also found 475 species of birds, 100 species of mammals, 156 species of reptiles, 91 species of amphibians, 196 species of fishes and 150 varieties of butterflies in them across the state. He said there were about 10,000 groves in the princely state of Travancore before the formation of Kerala. Both Union and state governments are now trying to preserve the rich gene pool and local biodiversity. In October, the Union environment ministry framed rules to help states to use a Rs 40,000-crore corpus earmarked to restore forests.
Each state now stands to receive Rs 6,000 crore per annum for conservation, protection, improvement and expansion of forest and wildlife resources. N.N. Gopikuttan, secretary, Kavu Samrakshana Samithi, says regular surveys and planning would help conserve the remaining patches of biodiversity. "A grove is a useful tool of nature to preserve the diversity of indigenous medicinal plants, maintain ecological balance and enhance groundwater resources," he said.
