Gurgaon: Haryana has launched a first-of-its-kind exercise to identify and map sacred groves across the state — culturally protected biodiversity zones where faith, tradition and ecology intersect.In south Haryana, forest officials have shortlisted four sites in Gurgaon district — Bhondsi near the Bhuvaneshwari temple, Gairatpur Bas, Kasan and Ghamroj. In Faridabad, Mangar Bani and the Badkhal temple zone are also under consideration. The exercise aims to recognize vegetation patches historically preserved by local communities through deity worship, customary laws and spiritual belief systems, often outside formal governance frameworks, and to create a structure for their long-term ecological protection.“As announced in the Haryana Budget 2026-27, the identification of sacred groves is currently underway,” said Subhash Yadav, chief conservator of forests (south Haryana).According to the forest department’s criteria, a sacred grove is typically associated with local deities, ancestral spirits or worship practices; retains active religious or ritual significance; is protected by the community for cultural or spiritual reasons; supports biodiversity with relatively low disturbance; and operates under customary protection systems. Additional considerations include the presence of rare or endemic species, gram sabha or panchayat support and a minimum area of around 2.5 acres.Officials note that many such sites exist across Haryana but have never been systematically mapped or formally recognized despite their ecological and social value.The shortlisted villages are significant due to their location in and around the Aravali belt, where biodiversity-rich landscapes face mounting pressure from urbanization, infrastructure expansion and ecological fragmentation. Identifying sacred groves here could help preserve native vegetation patches, shrine forests and community-protected commons that serve as critical biodiversity refuges.Bhondsi, Ghamroj and nearby Aravali-linked areas are already considered environmentally sensitive due to wildlife movement, old vegetation and groundwater recharge functions. Their inclusion could strengthen protection for these small but vital ecological pockets.In Faridabad, Mangar Bani stands out as one of the last surviving ancient forest patches in the Delhi-NCR Aravalis. Long protected through local reverence, it is often cited as a model of traditional ecological conservation. The Badkhal temple landscape similarly reflects the overlap of sacred geography and biodiversity in south Haryana.Environmental experts say the initiative could deliver multiple long-term benefits, including mapping undocumented community-conserved ecosystems, preserving native flora and fauna outside designated forests, strengthening ecological resilience in fragmented Aravali landscapes, supporting groundwater recharge and microclimate regulation, reinforcing community stewardship and reviving traditional conservation knowledge.Unlike conventional forest protection models, the sacred grove framework recognizes that some of India’s most resilient ecosystems have survived because communities treated them as spiritually inviolable.As ecological pressures intensify across Haryana’s urban and semi-rural regions, the initiative could offer a new conservation template that blends biodiversity protection with cultural heritage. Officials say the broader goal is to ensure that these natural sites — quietly preserved for generations — are formally recognized before they are lost to development pressures.
