Forest preserved on religious grounds is known as Deorai or Deo rahati or Sacred grove. It is a traditional heritage of nature conservation in Indian culture and civilization. Generally, sacred groves are classified into different forest types and they preserve climax vegetation. Monotypic sacred groves are unique in their vegetation pattern. Sagdara and Navalaichi rai are two distinct groves situated in Pune district. Sagdara is located near Shirdale village in Ambegaon Taluka. It lies between 74° 03’ E and 18° 82’ N having 400 mm rainfall in monsoon season. It has 2.04 ha area and major population is of sag/teak (Tectona grandis L.). Due to sag trees it is known as Sagdara. Navalaichi rai is situated in Sinhagad-Bhuleshwar range near village Thopatewadi. It lies between 73° 77 to 73° 84’ E and 18° 33’ to 18° 41’N having 7000- 8000 mm rainfall in monsoon season. It has 0.5 ha area and major population is of Saigiri (Miliusa tomentosa (Roxb.) Sinclair). The present paper deals with evaluation of these two monotypic sacred groves for their habitat conservation, population richness of species, quantitative assessment of tree diversity and comparative floristic account.
