06/07/2020 - Environment | Mainstorming

IAS Parliament 4 years

KEY POINTS

· The Sundarbans is one of the most ecologically vulnerable terrains in the world. Shrines to Bon Bibi and her twin brother Shah Jongoli dot the landscape of the Sundarbans.

· The followers of Bon Bibi are fishermen, crab-collectors and honey-gatherers a large chunk of the population of the islands, many of them impoverished who go into the wild mangroves, teeming with wild animals such as tigers and crocodiles, to earn a livelihood.

· Traditionally, the performances are held near Bon Bibi temples or villages bordering the forests in the light of solar lamps or bulbs powered by generators.

· The Bon Bibi faith is a check on human greed and acquisition. An unwritten code prohibits islanders from carrying guns or weapons into the forest.

· They must not desecrate the forest in any way, by smoking, defecating or washing utensils. According to local lore, poachers, pirates and those who disobey Bon Bibi are attacked by tigers as punishment.

Concept of Sacred grooves

· Sacred groves in India refer to tracts of usually virgin forests of varying sizes that are commonly protected and usually have a significant religious connotation for the protecting community.

· Ownership of the groves and the belief of the people on Gods "living" inside the grove are the two decisive factors which decide the conservation of the sacred groves in Kerala.

· The fact that about 79% of them are small i. e., less than 0.02 ha in extent should never be taken as a criterion to neglect them. By appropriate management practices, many of them can be developed or at least kept in their existing condition with the possibility of improving the vegetation.

· Sacred groves, in general, act as a nursery and storehouse of many local ayurvedic, tribal and folk medicines.

· India provides two third of the plants used in modern system of medicine and the health care system of rural population depend on indigenous system of medicine, especially Ayurveda.