Practitioners, scientists, and Indigenous community members from ten different countries met at the University of Georgia to share their work on indigenous revival and the conservation of sacred sites (5-7 April 2012). As part of the inauguration of the Neothropical Montology Collaboratory led by Fausto Sarmiento, most of the work focused on sacred mountains with […]
Indigenous Protected Areas deliver significant biodiversity, social and cultural benefits and constitute 27% of Australia’s National Reserve System. In the spirit of “both ways” learning and management the Dhimurru and Yirralka’s Indigenous Rangers joined hands with the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative. This approach helped bring Aboriginal knowledge and contemporary conservation approaches together during a workshop on sacred sites management.
The Sacred Natural Site Initiative regularly features “Conservation Experiences” of custodians, protected area managers, scientists and other’s. This time we are featuring the experience of Dr. John Studley who is a Fellow of the (British) Royal Geographical Society. He has spent most of his life in high Asia working as an ethno-forestry consultant. Click here for […]
The Centre for Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Organisational Development, CIKOD in Ghana has been awarded a grant from the New England Biolabs Foundation, NEBF, in support of their community conservation efforts of sacred groves in North West Ghana. CIKOD’s Mission is to strengthen the capacities of communities through traditional authorities (TAs) such as and local institutions […]
In this video, the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative asked twelve people in twelve minutes what they think a sacred natural site is and what it means to them.
From 2 – 6 November 2011, some 30 Europeans participated in a workshop on the Spiritual Values of Protected Areas of Europe.
Sacred natural sites can be mysterious and intriguing places. How comes sacred forest groves have been maintained in India throughout times of modern day development? What social mechanisms lay at the basis of the customary governance of sacred lakes of the Niger Delta? Is the biodiversity preserved in sacred natural sites a by-product or an […]
In Estonia, around 2500 traditional sacred natural sites, covering large areas of land are known to contain significant spiritual, cultural and natural heritage values. Further research and documentation is expected to reveal a network of as much as 7000 sacred natural sites in the country alone.
Shamans, cultural activists and spiritual practitioners from around the world gathered recently in the mountains of Central Asia to conduct a ceremony in protection of sacred sites. The group met for four days in the Uch Enmek natural ethno-park in Karakol, where – amidst breath-taking landscape – it performed a native fire ceremony designed to call forth “the Spirits of Altai.”
A new book, Sacred Natural Sites: Conserving nature and culture, is being launched by IUCN today at the Convention on Biological Diversity conference in Nagoya, Japan. The launch is part of an event organized through a collaboration between ETC-COMPAS and IUCN and is dedicated to promoting sacred natural sites and their crucial role in conserving nature and culture. The book is based on experience from around the world which highlights the importance of sacred natural sites in biodiversity conservation and the long-standing relationships between nature and people.
