The Diversity of Sacred Lands in Europe - IUCN

A photo exhibition on Estonian SNSs
has been made with explanatory texts.
This has been already shown in 16
towns and villages.
More than a 100 articles have been
published in the media and many lectures
have been delivered addressed
to Estonian officials, school children
and other interest groups.
For the first time in history, the Estonian
University of Life Sciences and University
of Tartu offer elective courses on
SNS. Sets of lectures addressed to officials
who are daily dealing with the
questions connected to SNS management
will be delivered in the next few
years aiming to raise their competence
and, through this, help to ameliorate
the situation of SNS conservation.
Case study: The sacred hill of
Hiiemägi in Paluküla
The case discusses a SNS in a situation
of conflicting interests. The local
government plans to build a recreational
sports and tourist centre on the
site. Despite the fact that the site is under
nature protection, followers of
maausk have done serious efforts during
the past ten years to protect the
spiritual and cultural values connected
to the sacred hill of Hiiemägi. This is
one of the most long-lasting conflicts
connected with conservation of SNSs
in Estonia and has gained lots of media
attention. Unfortunately no satisfactory
solution has been found so far.
Natural and spiritual values
Hiiemägi (sacred grove hill) is located
in Paluküla, Kehtna parish, Rapla
county, Estonia within a National Landscape
Protection Area (IUCN category
V), which protects landforms from the
glaciations period and wild species. Its
total surface encompasses 5713 ha, of
which the sacred hill covers only 25
hectares. The area has been included
in the Natura 2000 network, as a spe-
A signboard in front of sacred hill of Paluküla Hiiemägi, Rapla county. Often natural and spiritual
values suffer the pressures of economic interests.Ahto Kaasik