Archive

Sacred Natural Sites, Wilderness and Extractive Industries at WILD10 in Spain

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 […]

The neuroscience of Sacred Natural Sites; A collaboration with the Royal Botanic Garden and Beyond Borders Scotland

The 4th Books, Borders and Bikes Festival was held at Scotland’s longest continuously inhabited dwelling, Traquair House on the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders. Organised by Beyond Borders Scotland it is a unique festival of literature and thought that brings together leading writers, politicians, soldiers, lawyers and artists to discuss topics relevant to international […]

Conservation Experience: Counter-mapping of Soliga sacred natural sites to claim rights and territory.

The Sacred Natural Sites Initiative regularly features “Conservation Experiences” of custodians, protected area managers, scientists and others. This post features the experiences of Ms. Sushmita Mandal and her colleagues at ATREE who have supported the Soliga with mapping their sacred natural sites in order to gain recognition of their local governance systems and forest stewardship practices. Ms. […]

Save the Sacred Trees of the Biodiversity Rich Tansa Valley in Maharashtra India

The Tansa Valley is only 60 km from Mumbai in the state of Maharahstra but is a site sacred to many as it hosts some of the hottest sulphur springs in Asia and many people come here to bathe and be healed. The indigenous tribal communities living here have a philosophy deeply rooted in Nature […]

Villagers of San Andres Sacjabja capture sacred forests’ threats and challenges on video.

During April 2013 participatory video (PV) training was carried out in the town of San Andres Sacjabja in the Quiche district in Guatemala. The training was one part of a longer-term engagement of custodians of sacred sites in the district of Quiché with ‘Oxlajuj Ajpop’ (an indigenous Mayan organization) in collaboration with Sacred Natural Sites […]

Conservation Experience: Sacred Sites in Bandjoun, West Cameroon

The Sacred Natural Sites Initiative regularly features “Conservation Experiences” of custodians, protected area managers, scientists and others. This post features the experiences of Mr. Sébastien Luc Kamga-Kamdem PhD who currently works with the The Central African Protected Areas Network (RAPAC). Sébastien has been working on sacred natural sites in Bandjoun, West Cameroon and has identified the need […]

The beating heart of ICCAs in Central America.

From the 17th till the 27th participants from various Central American countries and beyond shared knowledge and experiences in two very exciting meetings. The first meeting focused on the role of cultural, spiritual and sacred values in sustainable forest management. The meeting, organised by Oxlajuj Ajpop, the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative (SNSI) and supported by Natural […]

Conservation Experience: Conservation of natural sites with spiritual values in Neyshabur, Iran

The Sacred Natural Sites Initiative regularly features “Conservation Experiences” of custodians, protected area managers, scientists and others. This post features the experiences of Ms. Maryam Kabiri Hendi who during her Master’s thesis at Tehran University worked on Land evaluation for conservation of natural sites with spiritual values in Iran. With the help of Associate Professor […]

Conservation Experience: A complex of sacred sites in Kyrgyzstan

The Sacred Natural Sites Initiative regularly features “Conservation Experiences” of custodians, protected area managers, scientists and others. This post features the experiences of Ms. Cholponai Usubalieva-Gryshchuk and Gulnara Aitpeva respectively Research Officer and Director at Aigne Cultural Research Center in Bishkek Kyrgyzstan. Aigne has been working on sacred natural sites in Kyrgyzstan for nearly a […]

Maya ready the world for a new sacred time

The preparations for the completion of the 13th Baktun had not gone unnoticed to the world. The international community had quickly caught the public’s attention by promoting that that the Maya predicted the end of the world as we know it. These predictions, all false of course, did generate a lot of publicity and interest […]