News

Conservation Experience: The Holy hills of the Dai in Yunnan, China.

Posted on: Jul 15, 2013. By: In: News With: No comments
XishuangbannaLandscape
The Sacred Natural Sites Initiative regularly features “Conservation Experiences” of custodians, protected area managers, scientists and others. This post features the experiences of Professor Pei Shengi from the Kunming Institute of Botany and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Prof. Pei has worked as an ethno biologist and ethnographer in the Yunnan province of southern China […]

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

Posted on: Jul 1, 2013. By: In: News With: No comments
Vata Puja in progress. The Ficus tree is believed to be the king of all trees, for its endurance and longevity.
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 […]

Around Altai in search of a spirited landscape

Posted on: Jun 17, 2013. By: In: News With: No comments
Banner Altai
The Altai mountains are known for their astounding and rare biodiversity as well as thier cultural heritage. The Golden Mountains of Altai have been nominated as a natural UNESCO World Heritage site that is currently under threat from a gas pipeline. In addition, snow leopard conservation programmes are not only popular with biologists but also […]

Call for Presentations on Asian Sacred Natural Sites at the Asian Parks Congress.

Posted on: May 30, 2013. By: In: Asia, News With: One comment
Mongolia’s Bogd Khan protected Area is associated with the life of Ghengis Khan and has been a national protected sacred natural site since 1778. It is now part of the extensive Khan Khentii Mountain Protected Area. After many years of communist suppression, ceremonies have been revived led my local Buddhist lamas. The ceremonies honour the deities of the mountains and petition against drought and heavy snow. Here the group that performs the ritual at the most sacred part of the mountain, the top, returns led by monks. Third person from the left is Mr. J. Boldbaatar, Director, Khan Khentii Special protected Area and on his right the first modern day park ranger (see case study in the IUCN UNESCO Guidelines). Photo: Robert Wild.
Call for Abstracts for Presentations on: SACRED NATURAL SITES: “An ancient Asian philosophy and practice with fundamental significance to protected areas”. Deadline for submission:  15th June, 2013 Introduction: 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 […]

Conservation Experience: Ecotourism at Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary, Ghana.

Posted on: May 17, 2013. By: In: News With: No comments
True mona monkey
The Sacred Natural Sites Initiative regularly features “Conservation Experiences” of custodians, protected area managers, scientists and others. This post features an experience of Ms. Alison Ormsby PhD who currently works as an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Eckerd College in Florida, USA. When Allison is not teaching she focuses her research on on people-park […]

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

Posted on: May 3, 2013. By: In: Guatemala, News With: No comments
New BAnner PV Guate
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 […]