Sinu published a viewpoint article on role of spirituality on conservation of forests with Margaret Lowman in BioScience (direct link here), the premier journal of the American Institute of Biological Science. This is our joint paper from the recently established institutional collaboration between CU-Kerala and California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, which was initiated by Sinu. Through this article, we welcome the spiritual leaders to join their hands with the conservation agencies for continued protection of the lore, heritage, and myths associated with the cultural forests.
“It is not just forests, but a heritage, a live museum, and a paleontologically, archeologically, environmentally, ecologically, and historically-important site” Sinu says about the sacred groves of India. Currently, everybody recommends attaching these forests to the national protected forests to pitch in conservation! But, I would argue that these forests should be given the status of national monuments! If we have money to protect a fort, we should not be hesitated to spend for conservation of sacred groves as well!