Linking Biocultural Diversity and Sacred Sites: Evidence and Recommendations in the European Framework

Abstract

There is growing recognition that sacred natural sites (SNS) form hotspots of biocultural diversity and significantly contribute to conservation in traditional non-western societies. Using empirical evidence from SNS in Central Italy, we illustrate how a similar link between spiritual, cultural, and biological values can be fundamental also in relatively secular and modernized European contexts. We show that SNS are key to sustaining traditional practices and local identities, and represent important instances of biodiversity-rich cultural landscapes. Based on other case studies from across Europe, we suggest that these conclusions can be relevant also at a broader European scale. Greater awareness from planners and policy-makers, however, is needed to safeguard and emphasize the role of European sacred sites as refugia for biocultural diversity. We review policy guidelines on SNS previously developed by International Union for the Conservation for Nature (IUCN) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and aimed at protected area managers and planners. We assess the applicability of these guidelines in European contexts, and complement them with findings and insight from Central Italy. We provide recommendations for guidelines that are suited to SNS related to mainstream faiths in Europe.

Appendix: The Forty-Four Guidance Points of IUCN–UNESCO’s Sacred Natural Sites: Guidelines for Protected Area Managers

Guideline 1.1 :

Natural and cultural values: Recognize that sacred natural sites (SNS) are of vital importance to the safeguarding of natural and cultural values for current and future generations

Guideline 1.2 :

Ecosystem services and human well-being: Recognize that sacred natural sites have great significance for the spiritual well-being of many people and that cultural and spiritual inspirations are part of the ecosystem services that nature provides

Guideline 1.3 :

Recognition: Initiate policies that formally recognize the existence of sacred natural sites within or near government or private protected areas and affirm the rights of traditional custodians to access and play an appropriate, ideally key, role in managing sacred natural sites now located within formal protected areas

Guideline 1.4 :

Consultation: Include the appropriate traditional cultural custodians, practitioners, and leaders in all discussions and seek their consent regarding the recognition and management of sacred natural sites within or near protected areas

Guideline 1.5 :

Holistic models: Recognize that sacred natural sites integrate social, cultural, environmental, and economic values into holistic management models that are part of the tangible and intangible heritage of humankind

Guideline 2.1 :

Park planning: Initiate planning processes to revise management plans to include the management of sacred natural sites located inside protected area boundaries

Guideline 2.2 :

Identify sacred natural sites: Where secrecy is not an issue and in close collaboration and respecting the rights of traditional custodians, identify the location, nature, use, and governance arrangements of sacred sites within and around protected areas as part of a participatory management planning process

Guideline 2.3 :

Respect confidentiality: Ensure that pressure is not exerted on custodians to reveal the location or other information about sacred natural sites and, whenever requested, establish mechanisms to safeguard confidential information shared with protected area agencies

Guideline 2.4 :

Demarcate or conceal: Where appropriate and to enhance protection, either clearly demarcate specific sacred natural sites, or alternatively, to respect the need for secrecy, locate sacred natural sites within larger strictly protected zones so exact locations remain confidential

Guideline 2.5 :

Zoning: Establish support, buffer, and transition zones around and near sacred sites, especially those that are vulnerable to adverse external impacts

Guideline 2.6 :

Linkages and restoration: Create ecological corridors between sacred natural sites and other suitable areas of similar ecology for connectivity, and in degraded landscapes consider restoring sacred natural sites as an important initial step to reviving a wider area

Guideline 2.7 :

Ecosystem approach: Adopt the ecosystem approach as the key strategy for the integrated management of land, water, and living resources that promote conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way and also include cultural and spiritual values

Guideline 2.8 :

Landscape approach: Take a landscape approach to sacred natural sites, recognizing their role in wider cultural landscapes, protected area systems, ecological corridors, and other land uses

Guideline 2.9 :

Support development planning recognition: Development planning authorities are the main planners of land use in areas outside many protected area systems. Seek their and other stakeholders’ support for the recognition of sacred natural sites in the wider countryside

Guideline 2.10 :

Protected area categories and governance: Recognize that sacred natural sites exist in all of the IUCN protected area categories and governance types, and that those that fall outside formal protected area systems can be recognized and supported through different legal and traditional mechanisms according to the desires of their custodians, including as community conserved areas when appropriate

Guideline 2.11 :

International dimension: Recognize that some sacred natural sites, and the cultures that hold them sacred, cross international boundaries and that some may be within or may surround existing or potential transboundary peace parks

Guideline 3.1 :

Prior consent: Ascertain the free, prior and informed consent of appropriate custodians before including sacred natural sites within new formal protected areas and protected area systems and when developing management policies affecting sacred places

Guideline 3.2 :

Voluntary participation: Ensure that state or other stakeholder involvement in the management of sacred natural sites is with the consent and voluntary participation of appropriate custodians

Guideline 3.3 :

Inclusion: Make all efforts to ensure the full inclusion of all relevant custodians and key stakeholders, including marginalized parties, in decision making about sacred natural sites, and carefully define the processes for such decision making, including those related to higher level and national level policies

Guideline 3.4 :

Legitimacy: Recognize that different individuals and groups have different levels of legitimacy and authority in decision making about sacred natural sites

Guideline 3.5 :

Conflict management: Where relevant and appropriate, use conflict management, mediation, and resolution methods to promote mutual understanding between traditional custodians and more recent occupants, resource users, and managers

Guideline 4.1 :

Multidisciplinary approach: Promote a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to the management of sacred natural sites calling on, for example, local elders, religious and spiritual leaders, local communities, protected area managers, natural and social scientists, artists, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector

Guideline 4.2 :

Integrated research: Develop an integrated biological and social research program that studies biodiversity values, assesses the contribution of sacred natural sites to biodiversity conservation, and understands the social dimension, especially how culturally rooted behavior has conserved biodiversity

Guideline 4.3 :

Traditional knowledge: Consistent with article 8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), support the respect, preservation, maintenance and use of the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous, and local communities specifically regarding sacred natural sites

Guideline 4.4 :

Networking: Facilitate the meeting of, and sharing of information between, traditional custodians of sacred natural sites, their supporters, protected area managers, and more recent occupants and users

Guideline 4.5 :

Communication and public awareness: Develop supportive communication, education, and public awareness programs and accommodate and integrate different ways of knowing, expression and appreciation in the development of policies, and educational materials regarding the protection and management of sacred natural sites

Guideline 4.6 :

Inventories: Subject to the free, prior, and informed consent of custodians, especially of vulnerable sites and consistent with the need for secrecy in specific cases, carry out regional, national, and international inventories of sacred natural sites and support the inclusion of relevant information in the UN World Database on Protected Areas. Develop mechanisms for safeguarding information intended for limited distribution

Guideline 4.7 :

Cultural renewal: Recognize the role of sacred natural sites in maintaining and revitalizing the tangible and intangible heritage of local cultures, their diverse cultural expressions, and the environmental ethics of indigenous, local, and mainstream spiritual traditions

Guideline 4.8 :

Intercultural dialog: Promote intercultural dialog through the medium of sacred natural sites in efforts to build mutual understanding, respect, tolerance, reconciliation, and peace

Guideline 5.1 :

Access and use: Develop appropriate policies and practices that respect traditional custodian access and use, where sacred natural sites fall within formal protected areas

Guideline 5.2 :

Visitor pressures: Understand and manage visitor pressures and develop appropriate policies, rules, codes of conduct, facilities, and practices for visitor access to sacred sites, making special provisions for pressures brought about by pilgrimages and other seasonal variations in usage

Guideline 5.3 :

Dialog and respect: Encourage ongoing dialog among the relevant spiritual traditions, community leaders, and recreational users to control inappropriate use of sacred natural sites through both protected area regulations and public education programs that promote respect for diverse cultural values

Guideline 5.4 :

Tourism: Well-managed, responsible tourism provides the potential for economic benefits to indigenous and local communities, but tourism activities must be culturally appropriate, respectful, and guided by the value systems of custodian communities. Wherever possible, support tourism enterprises that are owned and operated by indigenous and local communities, provided they have a proven record of environmental and cultural sensitivity

Guideline 5.5 :

Decision-making control: Strong efforts should be made to ensure that custodians of sacred natural sites retain decision-making control over tourist and other activities within such sites, and that checks and balances are instituted to reduce damaging economic and other pressures from protected area programs

Guideline 5.6 :

Cultural use: While ensuring that use is sustainable, do not impose unnecessary controls on the careful harvest or use of culturally significant animals and plants from within sacred natural sites. Base decisions on joint resources assessments and consensus decision-making

Guideline 5.7 :

Protection: Enhance the protection of sacred natural sites by identifying, researching, managing, and mitigating overuse, sources of pollution, natural disasters, and the effects of climate change and other socially derived threats, such as vandalism and theft. Develop disaster management plans for unpredictable natural and human caused events

Guideline 5.8 :

Desecrations and re-sanctifying: Safeguard against the unintended or deliberate desecration of sacred natural sites and promote the recovery, regeneration, and re-sanctifying of damaged sites where appropriate

Guideline 5.9 :

Development pressures: Apply integrated environmental and social impact assessment procedures for developments affecting sacred natural sites and in the case of the land of indigenous and local communities support the application of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Akwé: Kon Guidelines for minimizing the impacts of development actions

Guideline 5.10 :

Financing: Where appropriate, pay due attention to the suitable financing of sacred natural site management and protection, and develop mechanisms for generating and sharing revenue that take into account considerations of transparency, ethics, equity, and sustainability. Recognize that in many parts of the world poverty is a cause of the degradation of sacred natural sites

Guideline 6.1 :

Institutional analysis: Understand traditional management institutions and enable and strengthen the continued management of sacred natural sites by these institutions. Make appropriate arrangements for the adoption and management of sacred natural sites that have no current custodians, for example by heritage agencies

Guideline 6.2 :

Legal protection: Advocate for legal, policy, and management changes that reduce human and natural threats to sacred natural sites, especially those not protected within national protected areas and other land planning frameworks

Guideline 6.3 :

Rights-based approach: Root the management of sacred natural sites in a rights-based approach respecting basic human rights, rights to freedom of religion and worship, and to self-development, self-government, and self-determination as appropriate

Guideline 6.4 :

Confirm custodians’ rights: Support the recognition, within the overall national protected area framework, of the rights of custodians to their autonomous control and management of their sacred sites and guard against the imposition of conflicting dominant values

Guideline 6.5 :

Tenure: Where sacred natural sites have been incorporated within government or private protected areas in ways that have affected the tenure rights of their custodians, explore options for the devolution of such rights and for their long-term tenure security