Page - 224 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

224 which are often rich in biodiversity, “can contribute to biodiversity conservation strategies” due to the special precautions associated with them (p.  575). Additionally, conservation of these sites aids the preservation of local cultures and their tradi- tional ecological knowledges. Of particular interest amongst researchers in this area are sacred groves and sacred forests (e.g. Juhé-Beaulaton 2008; Ormsby and Bhagwat 2010; Sheridan and Nyamweru 2008; Sponsel 2012; Tomalin 2009). Sacred groves are patches of natu- ral vegetation dedicated to local deities and protected by religious tenets and cul- tural traditions; they may also be tree-stands raised in honor of heroes and warriors and maintained by the local community (Ramanujam and Cyril 2003). Taboos against over-harvesting, harming particular sacred species or disrupting the ecologi- cal balance of sacred groves and forests can preserve species richness. For example, the Nkodurom and Pinkwae sacred groves in Ghana have been protected through traditional beliefs and taboos, resulting in preservation of threatened mollusk, turtle, monkey and heron species (Ntiamoa-Baidu 2008). In India, the number and spatial distribution of sacred groves creates a network that preserves “a sizable portion of the local biodiversity in areas where it would not be feasible to maintain large tracts of protected forests” (Bhagwat and Rutte 2006, p.  520). Local traditions that include worshipping trees in a sacred grove helped to preserve a rare bat species, and, in another area, spiritual beliefs about a hidden shrine within a sacred grove preserved riparian forests and streams (Bhagwat and Rutte 2006). In central Italy, local Catholic practices around pilgrimage sites have helped to conserve biodiversity through preserving relic habitats and vegetation assemblages, protecting old growth forests and tree species, and maintaining greater habitat heterogeneity due to sacred grottos and water sources (Frascaroli 2013). Reflecting on forest preservation by the official association of Shinto shrines in Japan, Rots (2015) observes: “The signifi- cance of these forests … extends well beyond ecology and nature conservation proper. Constituting continuity between the present and the ancestral past, they have come to be seen as local community centers that provide social cohesion and spiri- tual well-being” (p.  209). Many studies of biodiversity at sacred sites have used standard ecological survey techniques of tree species diversity, tree species richness, regeneration status, floris- tic surveys of vegetation composition and ethnobotanical uses of species (Bharathi and Devi Prasad 2017; Hu et  al. 2011; Khumbongmayum et  al. 2005). An alterna- tive approach was taken by Anderson et  al. (2005) in documenting the biodiversity of sacred mountains in the Himalayas of Tibet. Existing vegetation maps and geo- graphic information systems (GIS) were used to remotely assess species composi- tion, diversity and frequency of useful and endemic plant species. Sacred mountains had significantly greater overall species diversity than surrounding areas. These studies highlight the various measures being used to document biodiversity preser- vation in sacred protected areas. K. N. Irvine et al.