Conclusion

Comparative analysis of water yields from the watersheds of sacred forest dominated Karikan hill of Bangarmakki village and secondary forest dominated Sambegadde hill fortifies the contention of many investigators alluding to the intimate linkages between sacred groves and water conservation. Despite the smallness of this empirical study, confined to merely two forested watersheds, it illustrates the possible link of water availability in the watershed with the preservation of native primary forests to some extent. The retention of native forests as sacred groves, as reflected in their vegetation dominated by relic species, has added significance in the form of better status of soil moisture and ground water. That such forests were protected as integral to the cultures of the region highlights the need for more studies on the eco-centric societies and their conservation practices in the Western Ghats, one of the global biodiversity hotspots.
This finding has also much bearing on conservation and management of the last remains of primeval forests of the Western Ghats. Many of these forests, the sacred groves which had greater ecological and cultural roles in the rural landscapes of the bygone days, are being increasingly targeted for development of hydroelectric projects or being reclaimed for cultivation and other alternative land uses by the local communities themselves who are under the throes of a cultural change that is distancing them from their age old traditions of worship associated with natural sacred sites.  It is time that the waning sacred groves of central Western Ghats, which once constituted major landmarks of the pre-colonial villages, and functioned as decentralised water conservation systems, are resurrected through an active conservation program designed to ensure their long term survival and benefit to local community.