Sacred Groves & Protected Areas — NEET Biology
✅ Asked in NEET 2024In India, ecologically unique and biodiversity-rich regions are legally protected as biosphere reserves, national parks and sanctuaries. India now has 14 biosphere reserves, 90 national parks and 448 wildlife sanctuaries. India has also a history of religious and cultural traditions that emphasised protection of nature. In many cultures, tracts of forest were set aside, and all the trees and wildlife within were venerated and given total protection. Such sacred groves are found in Khasi and Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya, Aravalli Hills of Rajasthan, Western Ghat regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra and the Sarguja, Chanda and Bastar areas of Madhya Pradesh. In Meghalaya, the sacred groves are the last refuges for a large number of rare and threatened plants.
NTA tests your knowledge of India's protected areas (biosphere reserves, national parks, sanctuaries) and sacred groves—forests protected by cultural and religious traditions. Students often confuse sacred groves with officially designated reserves, or forget specific locations where they're found (Meghalaya, Rajasthan's Aravalli Hills, Western Ghats, Madhya Pradesh). Remember: sacred groves are informal/cultural protection zones that existed historically, while biosphere reserves and national parks are legal designations. For NEET, focus on recognizing that sacred groves in Meghalaya are crucial biodiversity hotspots with rare, threatened plant species—this distinction between cultural and legal conservation matters.
This paragraph was tested 3 times in NEET.
Identify the place(s) from the following where sacred groves are not found: (NEET 2024)
Match the List-I with List-II: (NEET 2022 Phase 2) List – I (a) Sacred groves (b) Zoological park (c) Nile perch (d) Amazon forest List – II (i) Alien species (ii) Release of large quantity of oxygen (iii) Ex-situ conservation (iv) Khasi Hills in Meghalaya
All of the following are included in ex situ conservation except: (NEET 2018)
Through deep analysis of NEET and NTA, 88 of 90 questions from the NEET 2026 paper were matched straight from the MedicNEET Biology question bank.
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