“Sacred sites as habitats of culturally important plant species in an Indian megacity”, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, Vol. 32, pp. 113 – 122.

Cultural ecosystem services related to urban green spaces contribute significantly to liveable cities. While previous studies highlight the intersection of cultural ecosystem services with societal values, spiritual or religious values associated with urban nature have received less attention. In India, as in other parts of the world, sacred sites are known for their biological richness, but analyses from urban sacred sites are largely missing. Based on a stratified random sampling approach, we analysed the cultivated and wild plant species assemblages of 69 sacred sites in the megacity of Bengaluru, India, in relation to biological and cultural features, and parameters related to the urban matrix and type of sacred sites (temple vs. katte). Unlike other urban studies, we found a dominance of native species in the cultivated and spontaneous species pools (121 species in total), with Ficus religiosa and Azadirachta indica as most frequently planted species. Culturally relevant species prevailed in the species pool (89%), with overlaps between religious (36%), medicinal (50%) and ornamental (62%) plants; only 11% of species were weeds. Urban matrix parameters (age of development, housing density) and size and type of sacred sites were related to differences in species assemblages. We identified key species for different classes of age and housing density, and for types of sacred sites. Our study demonstrates that urban sacred sites have an important potential in harbouring both native culturally significant species that can support urban livelihoods in developing countries by a range of cultural and provisioning ecosystem services, including medicinal uses. As such sites are conserved by communities for spiritual or cultural beliefs, local biodiversity can be enhanced, e.g. by adapting management practices through community participation. This would strengthen the important contribution of sacred sites within the green infrastructure of rapidly growing megacities.

Keywords: Cultural ecosystem services; wild plant species; Spiritual-religious values
Urban biodiversity; green infrastructure.

Wildlife Crime Data Integration from Multiple Sources: A Way Forward to ensure Public access to Information and Data Analytics

Over a while, the activities of criminals have expanded due to advancements in information and communication technologies. In this background, police and intelligence agencies have been developing a robust crime database in order to anticipate, prevent and monitor criminal activities. Hence, wildlife crime databases become a vital information system that help enforcement officers to detect and prevent wildlife crimes and to pursue wildlife criminals. Therefore, an attempt has been made in this paper to shed light on the available wildlife crime databases in India. Further, an appeal has been made for the integration of wildlife crime data from various sources and make it available in the public domain. This article has also touched upon the importance of data analytics and crime analysts to handle wildlife crime data.

Keywords: Crime Data, Database, Forest, Police, NCRB, WCCB, Wildlife Crime, Crime Analysis

By Shankar Prakash Alagesan

Early Ecological Knowledge of Ancient Indian People

This article deals with early ecological knowledge that can be gleaned from the ancient Indian scriptures. The early Indian religious texts such as the Vedas, Upanishads, Arayanyakas, Epics, Puranas and the entire classical Sanskrit literature are the basis of our understanding of the conservation, preservation and management of forests of ancient India. Ancient Indian texts like the Arthasastra, Sathapatha Bhramana, Manusmrti, Brhat-Samhita, Ramayana, Mahabharatam and Rajtarangini mirrored the ideas of forest ecology and conservation. Sacred gardens are associated with ancient traditions in several major cultures, as well as Hinduism. Sacred groves are patches of natural vegetation demarcated by ancient societies and guarded on the premise of non-secular practices and cultural traditions. Ancient Indian people knew the importance of resource conservation, protection of sacred groves, sacred trees, medicinal plant species, etc. At the time of Sanskrit literature, thick forests abounded in India.

Key words: Forest conservation; ecological knowledge; sacred groves, environment.

by M. Amirthalingam

Ornamental Gardening and Parks in Chennai – A review

Ornamental gardening is an aesthetic blend of art, nature and science. Gardens have existed throughout the world in most ancient civilisations. Rapid growth of public gardens with plant collections from several parts of the world began in the 17^th century. Scientific gardens were established with a number of introduced species of economic and aesthetic importance, as well as native species of conservation importance. These botanical gardens were centres of germplasm collection, nature education and economic activity. British gardens spread the passion for horticulture and were resources for seeds and other planting materials for the public. Parks as primary recreation spaces were established in the urban landscapes which become places for solitude and contemplation, festivities, social gatherings, study, leisure, painting, poetry, music and everyday activities. In this trend of urbanisation, parks being the green spaces and lungs of the cities are the need of the hour. Green space is one component of biodiversity management and the most obvious.

Keywords : Garden, Parks, green space, green cover, conservation

by Dr. P. Sudhakar