Sourav Chandra* 1
Sanjay Xaxa 2
Ali Jabran 3
Sacred groves are fragmented forest remnants preserved over generations by local communities based on ancient practices that have important implications for biodiversity and carbon offsets (Bafakeeh et al., 2012; Singh et al., 2022). They play a vital role in conserving delicate ecosystems and serve as significant carbon sinks (Sahu et al., 2015). These groves are crucial sanctuaries for many rare and endemic species, helping protect forest biodiversity (Kulkarni et al., 2015). The locals uphold these sacred areas and have a deep respect for the flora, fostering both the preservation of species and ecological stability. Additionally, aboveground and belowground trees, as well as soil organic carbon in sacred groves, bolster soil structure, reduce erosion, improve water retention, and enhance agricultural productivity (Bhattacharya and Nandi, 2019). The present study evaluates the carbon stock and sequestration potential of some sacred groves in Pakur District of Jharkhand to understand their contribution to climate change mitigation. Sacred groves are sacred community-conserved areas that conserve biodiversity and deliver several ecosystem services including carbon pool. However, carbon pool and its disaggregated components in sacred groves of Jharkhand, particularly in Pakur district, is under-researched. Thus, the present study was conducted in Pakur district to estimate the total carbon storage and carbon sequestration potential in selected sacred groves of Pakur district, Jharkhand, India. For this, allometric equations were employed to estimate biomass in trees, shrubs, and herbs of above gradient, below gradient, litter, and soil organic carbon to evaluate total, aboveground, and belowground carbon pool of sacred groves (Joshi & Garkoti, 2024).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1. Study Area
The study sites are located in Pakur District of Jharkhand, India which lies between 24?38’ N to 24?50’ N latitudes and 87?50’ E to 88?5’ E longitudes. Pakur district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India, and Pakur is the administrative headquarters of this district. Pakur sub-division of Sahibganj district was carved out on 28 January 1994 to constitute Pakur District. Pakur district lies in the north-eastern portion of Santhal Pargana in Jharkhand covering an area of 686.21 km2. Pakur is predominantly a hilly area with certain pockets of plain land. Topographically it is divided into three parts i.e. the hilly area, the rolling area and alluvial area. The hilly area includes the whole of Damini-i-koh from northern corner of Pakur district up to the south-west bordering the Birbhum district of West Bengal. A narrow continuous strip of alluvial soil which lies between the Ganga feeder canal and the loop line of Eastern Railway is very fertile. The rest of the part covers the Rolling areas, which is less conducive for agriculture (Sharma, 2016). Average altitude of the district is about 300 meters above MSL. There are three main rivers in this district namely, Bansloi, Torai & Brahmini. Rivers Bansloi & Torai flow in the middle while Brahmini flows in the Southern portion of the district. The district is characterized by three distinct seasons – summer, rainy and winter. The summers are extremely hot and lasts from March to May with maximum temperature rising up to 42 to 46 °C in some places. The winters are cold and last from November to February with minimum temperature going around 3 °C. The average annual rainfall is about of 1200 mm to 1400 mm. According to the classification of forest types of India, the forests of Pakur district fall into Northern Dry Peninsular Sal Forest–5B/C-1 type, Northern Tropical Dry Mixed Deciduous Forest– 5B/C-2 type and Tropical Dry Deciduous Scrub Forest–5B/DS-1 type (Champion and Seth1968). The forest is mainly dominated by Shorea robusta trees and their associates namely- Terminalia chebula, Buchanania lanzan, Semicarpus anacardium, etc. along with occasional bamboo brakes. These forests of entire Santhal Parganas (which now include the districts of Pakur, Godda, Sahibganj, Dumka and Jamtara) were rich in wildlife at the turn of the 20th century, within the next few decades’ large mammalian fauna was wiped off due to rampant hunting and habitat loss. Birdlife is rich in these forests. (https://pakur.nic.in).
10.5281/zenodo.18897902