સેક્રેડ નેચરલ સાઇટ પહેલ નિયમિત લક્ષણો “સંરક્ષણ અનુભવો” સંરક્ષકો ના, રક્ષિત વિસ્તાર મેનેજરો, વૈજ્ઞાનિકો અને અન્ય માતાનો. 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 a full report on “The Sacred Sites of Kham”.

સાઇટ

Kham is one of the most distinctive biological regions on earth. It is situated between Qinghai-Tibetan plateau and the Chinese provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, comprising part of the three regions of ‘Cultural Tibet’. The custodians of bio-cultural diversity in Kham recognise three traditions of sacred natural sites, or ritually protected enclosures. Two are Tibetan Buddhist and include mountains gnas ri અને valleys sbas yul. The third tradition is characterised by pre-Buddhist animistic ‘mountain cults’ who protect ri-r enclosures which are embodied or numinised by a divinityyul-lha with human personality. આ yul-lha owns the biophysical resources and the enclosure is characterised by explicit nature conservation. Such sacred natural sites can be unlogged forests, ritual cairns la btsas, various water catchments ri rgya klung amongst others.

સંરક્ષકો

Kham’s shamans and priests are often knowledgeable about trees, plants and animals and play an important role in environmental storytelling and topocosmic mediation. The religious paradigms that constitute indigenous life are based on respect for the sources of spiritual life, food, clothing and shelter that nature provides. This instils a sense of gratitude to the spiritual forces in creation and nature. Ritual calendars are based on natural phenomena such as migratory birds, the blooming of certain plants or the movement of the planets. There appears to be a strong tradition of natural resource care among the minority nationalities that is also enshrined in their unique languages.

ધમકીઓ

Animistic and Shamanistic Sites are endangered and Tibetan Buddhist sites are increasingly threatened as external impact such as logging and resettlement by the Han Chinese. These activities have led to climate change, erosion and snow disasters as well as declines in the diversity of flora and fauna and impacts on the survival of the indigenous cultures. Challenges to conquer include:

• Perverse economic theory centred on materialist values and the cultural elitism of western science resulting into narrowly conceived planning and policy,
• Cultural Assimilation and the sedentisation of nomads forced by a new enclosure movement (ઉ.દા. fencing off historic grazing land),
• Imposition of a development agenda which is oblivious of the inequalities in power relations,
• Conflation of “જડ” અને “Tibetan Buddhist” experience of sacred place and space.

દ્રષ્ટિ

To ensure the sacred natural sites and bio-cultural diversity of Kham by establishing “cultural mapping” augmented by the employment of “knowledge brokers”.

વાંચો full conservation experience or visit the archive