SHILLONG: Blessed with unique cultures, traditions, folklores and rich mythology, and with abundance of flora and fauna spread amidst scintillating landscape, Meghalaya is a must- visit tourist destination in India.
The State is a prominent bio-diversity hotspot boasting of a huge forest cover, protected and revered locally as ‘sacred groves’. Surrounded by Castanopsis Kurzii trees, the forests are considered ‘nature’s own museum’ with a treasure trove of unique flora and fauna including some plants seldom seen in other parts of the world.
So far over hundreds of ‘sacred groves’ have been documented in the State even as researchers engaged in the study believe that there are hundreds more which are yet to be documented.
There are hundreds of tribal clans whose forests have not been documented yet and are diminishing rapidly due to harsh economic circumstances and unplanned human activities, Chairman of the Grand Council of Chiefs, John F. Kharshiing, said on Sunday.
He informed that the traditional heads have been engaged in the task of mapping the ‘sacred forests’ in the State, and expressed hope that in the next two year several more sacred forests would be documented.