an amendment was brought in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 to include Sacred Groves under the act. In 2016, a framework was published by the intergovernmental organization ICIMOD to help assess the present day significance of sacred natural sites, including sacred groves in all Himalayan countries to enable better policy uptake of these sites. Some NGOs work with local villagers to protect such groves. Each grove is associated with a presiding deity, and the groves are referred to by different names in different parts of India. They were maintained by local communities with hunting and logging strictly prohibited within these patches. While most of these sacred deities are associated with local Hindu gods, sacred groves of Islamic and Buddhist origins are also known. Sacred groves occur in a variety of places – from scrub forests in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan maintained by the Bishnois, to rain forests in the Kerala Western Ghats. Himachal Pradesh in the North and Kerala in the South are specifically known for their large numbers of sacred groves. The Kodavas of Karnataka maintained over 1000 sacred groves in Kodagu alone. The district of Uttara Kannada in Karnataka also harbours a large number of sacred groves. Around 14,000 sacred groves have been reported from all over India, which act as reservoirs of rare fauna, and more often rare flora, amid rural and even urban settings. Experts believe that the total number of sacred groves could be as high as 100,000. Threats to the groves include urbanization, and over-exploitation of resources. While many of the groves are looked upon as abode of Hindu gods, in the recent past a number of them have been partially cleared for construction of shrines and temples. Ritualistic dances and dramatizations based on the local deities that protect the groves are called Theyyam in Kerala and Nagmandalam, among other names, in Karnataka. There are sacred groves in Ernakulam region in a place named Mangatoor in Kerala. Sacred groves are being destroyed as a part of urbanization. The family "Nalukettil Puthenpurayil" still protects sacred groves. Japan Sacred groves in Japan are typically associated with Shinto shrines and are located all over Japan. They have existed since ancient times and shrines are often built in the midst of preexisting groves. The Cryptomeria tree is venerated in Shinto practice, and considered sacred. Among the sacred groves associated with such jinjas or Shinto shrines is the 20-hectare