The Sacred Natural Sites Initiative, IUCN Asian Regional Office and the World Commission on Protected Areas in Japan are developing a publication entitled: Asian Sacred Natural Sites: Philosophy and Practice in Protected Areas and Conservation. The publication is part of the Asian Network Project that kicked off at the first Asian Parks Congress in Sendai […]
The Sacred Natural Sites Initiative and Oxlajuj Ajpop, the National Council of Maya Spiritual Leaders in Guatemala have been working together for over four years now. What started as a collaboration to get broader and international support for the Law Initiative of Sacred Sites in Guatemala has grown into a country programme that is actively […]
Asian Sacred Natural Sites: An ancient Asian philosophy and practice with fundamental significance to protected areas. (download this call) Within the context of the Asian Sacred Sites Network Project, IUCN WCPA Japan, the Biodiversity Network Japan and the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative in collaboration with the IUCN WCPA Specialist group on Cultural and Spiritual Values of […]
Caption: Presentation of the Conference Statement by the indigenous participants. Photo: Bas Verschuuren. By Leena Heinämäki, Thora Herrmann and Bas Verschuuren on behalf of the conference co-organizers In September 2013, a group of nearly 80 participants from 12 different countries and 7 different Indigenous Peoples developed the “Conference Statement and Recommendations on: Recognition and Safeguarding of the […]
The Sacred Natural Sites Initiative regularly features “Conservation Experiences” of custodians, protected area managers, and others that stand to protect sacred sites. This post features the experiences of Mr. Arvi Sepp from the ‘Estonian House of Taara and Native Religions’ which protects and revitalises sacred natural sites all over Estonia. Arvi Sepp and his colleagues […]
Banner image: Gongcheol Jeong (1960-2013, Republic of (South) Korea), was a Jeju shaman also called Shimbang. He participated in the cultural movement through theatrical activities and lived as a shaman who holds real guts (ceremony) for connecting people to sacred landscapes. (Photo: Bas Verschuuren 2012) After last year’s preparatory work we are now pleased to introduce […]
This special feature of the “Conservation Experiences” is based on an interesting case developed by the Delos Initiative. The Delos initiative is well know for its work on Sacred Natural Sites in developed countries since 2005. The work presented in this feature is based on the monastic community that hosted the first Delos Workshop in […]
The Asian Parks Congress (APC), held in the city of Sendai, Japan from 13 – 18th November 2013 welcomed over 800 people from 22 Asian countries and from across the world. The Sacred Natural Sites Initiative and WCPA Japan hosted a dedicated working group session and a side event that discussed the rich and diverse dimensions of sacred […]
The 10ht World Wilderness Congress has seen significant discussions about many issues related to Sacred Natural Sites and Indigenous communities. The Sacred Natural Sites Initiative presented on the importance of Sacred Natural Sites in conservation strategies for spiritual landscapes as well as for worldwide networks on mountain trails. One of SNSI’s advisors, Mayan Spiritual Leader […]
With this article we would like to invite you to think creatively and critically about the role of science and by extension those of conservation and policy-making in relation to sacred natural sites. In particular, we invite you to consider the significance that sacred natural sites hold in the eyes of their custodians and communities […]
