The Diversity of Sacred Lands in Europe - IUCN

Well tended vegetable gardens and orchards like those near the monastery of Xenophontos,
Athos.
which have remained almost unchanged
until the present day: community
life – cenobitic – and isolated
life – hermitic. Hermitism and cenobitism
are usually seen as complementary
paths. Hermits are often fed by monastic
communities, and in some monasteries
all monks become hermits
during some part of their lives. In other
communities, a hermitic life is an option
only for those who feel attracted to
it. In any case, a hermit devoted to silent
prayer and contemplation in solitude
is the prototype of the human being
in deep harmony with nature. In
the words of one hermit, ‘hermits live a
cosmic experience of communion with
nature’ (Mouizon, 2001). No wonder,
therefore, that from the fourth century
onwards numerous historical records
describe the lives and feats of holy
monks and hermits who befriended
wild animals, such as lions, bears,
wolves or poisonous snakes, and it is
recorded that some were even fed by
them (Macaire, 1993). Similar phenomena
are found in Asia, where monasticism,
both cenobitic and heremitic,
developed much earlier within different
branches of Buddhism and Hinduism.
The expansion of monastic settlements
occurred rapidly, and by the end of the
first millennium thousands of monasteries
were thriving in Europe and the
Middle East. The impact of these monastic
communities on spirituality, art,
science and culture has been widely
acknowledged and documented
(Krüger et al. 2007; Kinder, 2002, etc.),
and their legacy has been, and still is,
a research topic for numerous journals.
However, the positive impact of these
communities in the management of
natural resources and nature conservation
has received much less attention,
despite the fact that the monasteries
often developed very successfully
what we would currently call ‘sustainable
practices’.
Given the fact that the founders of monasteries
deliberately sought out solitary
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