forest structure with rich biological diversity and home to many endemic species. The graph below depicts the rich diversity in 10 selected groves. Fig.4 Number of species recorded in 10 Sacred Groves (broad categories) Fig.5 Total number of school children (301) Analysis from the survey indicates that teachers can play a vital role in spreading the message importance of sacred among community through children. Teachers are able to make their school children understand the science aspect of the sacred groves and link it to the curriculum. This strengthens the communication approach tool of TCCPC (Teacher to Child, Child to Child, Child to Parent and Parents to Community). Teachers can promote awareness by informing students about issues, problems by informing students about effective problem strategies and discussing cognitive and motivation D. Communication Materials These materials act as triggers for people to understand the concepts and issues and are essential for awareness. As part of this initiative, a set of four posters were developed highlighting the importance of and need for protection of forest were developed and distributed to schools. E. Outreach Unless the community or the general public is made aware of the importance and relevance of groves, any conservation or protection efforts of sacred groves may not succeed. Thus, straightforward community outreach activities were initiated that included outdoor signage’s appreciating the groves and informative signage on selected trees within each grove. Discussions with community members who manage sacred groves were held for cross learning. School children collected interesting stories pertaining to local groves from their parents with the help of teachers. Outdoor camps for school children at their nearby sacred groves provided better insights among the children about the ecological, ethical, social, biological diversity and cultural aspects of these groves. These learning’s by the student were linked to their curriculum in the camps. Trails laid out within the groves enable visitors to explore and experience sacred groves. News coverage of the activities in newspapers and fortnightly magazine helped to spread the message among the people. III. RESULTS Sacred groves assist as tools that document the management of biotic resources through people’s participation. (Hashish Antheil et. al., 2015). It is vital to involve the different stakeholders of the community for developing new strategies and preservation of the sacred groves. The study shows that each sacred grove is unique in its Proceedings of the International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the 193 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
Proceedings of International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals : Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016 at the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
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