A community may be defined as a group of people sharing a common

geographic area, a common value system, common needs and interests and who
have had similar or shared experiences (Taken from Community Rights and
Responsibilities, an Original publication of the Social Development Commission for the
Government of Jamaica, copyright October 1975).
Research on the definition of community has three elements in common:
Community as a place
Community as an institutional structure
Community as a process
Community as a placerefers to that aspect of community which denotes the
territorial location of people, or where people have something in common which
is understood geographically. Another way of naming this place is locality.
There is a sense of attachment to a place, which has distinct geographic
boundaries. This concept of community as a place is seen as being the first and
most common element on which the community is based.

Sacred groves of India are forest fragments of varying sizes, which are
communally protected, and which usually have a significant religious
connotation for the protecting community. Hunting and logging are
usually strictly prohibited within these patches. Other forms of forest
usage like honey collection and deadwood collection are sometimes
allowed on a sustainable basis. Sacred groves did not enjoy protection via
federal legislation in India. Some NGOs work with local villagers to protect
such groves. Traditionally, and in some cases even today, members of the
community take turns to protect the grove. However, the introduction of
the protected area category community reserves under the Wildlife
(Protection) Amendment Act of 2002 has introduced legislation for
providing government protection to community held lands, which could
include sacred groves.
Indian sacred groves are sometimes associated with temples / monasteries
/ shrines or with burial grounds (which is the case in Shinto and
Ryukyuan religion-based sacred groves respectively in Japan). Sacred
groves may be loosely used to refer to other natural habitat protected on
religious grounds, such as Alpine Meadows.

Sacred groves of India are forest fragments of varying sizes, which are
communally protected, and which usually have a significant religious
connotation for the protecting community. Hunting and logging are
usually strictly prohibited within these patches. Other forms of forest
usage like honey collection and deadwood collection are sometimes
allowed on a sustainable basis. Sacred groves did not enjoy protection via
federal legislation in India. Some NGOs work with local villagers to protect
such groves. Traditionally, and in some cases even today, members of the
community take turns to protect the grove. However, the introduction of
the protected area category community reserves under the Wildlife
(Protection) Amendment Act of 2002 has introduced legislation for
providing government protection to community held lands, which could
include sacred groves.
Indian sacred groves are sometimes associated with temples / monasteries
/ shrines or with burial grounds (which is the case in Shinto and
Ryukyuan religion-based sacred groves respectively in Japan). Sacred
groves may be loosely used to refer to other natural habitat protected on
religious grounds, such as Alpine Meadows.

Environmental conservation
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political,
environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources
including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the
future. The early conservation movement included fisheries and wildlife
management, water, soil conservation and sustainable forestry. The
contemporary conservation movement has broadened from the early
movement's emphasis on use of sustainable yield of natural resources and
preservation of wilderness areas to include preservation of biodiversity. Some
say the conservation movement is part of the broader and more far-reaching
environmental movement, while others argue that they differ both in ideology
and practice. Chiefly in the United States, conservation is seen as differing from
environmentalism in that it aims to preserve natural resources expressly for
their continued susta inable use by humans.
The Chipko movement became a benchmark for socio-ecological movements in
other forest areas of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar; in September
1983, Chipko inspired a similar, Appiko movement in Karnataka state of India,
wher tree felling in the Western Ghats and Vindhyas was stopped.