Please use right click and save link as, the pdf file is ... - Med-ina.org

Protected Areas and SpiritualityProceedings of the First Workshopof The Delos Initiative

Protected Areas and SpiritualityProceedings of the First Workshopof The Delos InitiativeWCPA Task Force on Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected AreasMonastery of Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain, 24-26 November 2006Edited by Josep-Maria Mallarach and Thymio PapayannisPublicacionsde l’Abadiade Montserrat

Publicacionsde l’Abadiade MontserratThe designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of anyopinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN or Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, concerning the legal status of any country,territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, orthe other participating organizations.This publication has been made possible in part by funding from the Board of the Mountain of Montserrat, the Ministry of theEnvironment and Housing of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, and Fundació Territori i Paisatge – Caixa CatalunyaSaving Bank.Published by:Copyright:The World Conservation Union (IUCN), Gland, Switzerland and Publicacions de l’Abadia deMontserrat, Barcelona, Spain© All the authors for their respective contributions, IUCN and PAM.Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged.Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without priorwritten permission of the copyright holder.Citation:Josep-Maria Mallarach and Thymio Papayannis, editors (2007). Protected Areas andSpirituality. Proceedings of the First Workshop of The Delos Initiative, Montserrat 2006. Gland,Switzerland: IUCN and Montserrat, Spain: Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat. 326 pp.ISBN: 978-2-8317-1023-5Legal deposit:Cover design:Cover photos:Layout:GI-1499-2007 (Catalan library reference number).Rita MasóFront: E. Bernbaum, S. Catanoiu, J.García-Varela, Petros Kakouros, Metsähallitus (2), M. Motonaka,T. Papayannis and I. Soria. Back: Vicenç Santamaria.Rita MasóTranslation into English:Michael LockwoodLinguistic correction:Produced:Printed:Available from:Michael LockwoodSilene, a non-profit association aimed at the study, dissemination and promotion of the spiritualand intangible cultural heritage, especially in relation to nature conservation www.silene.esImpremta Aubert, Sant Joan les Fonts, Spain. Tel. (+34) 972 29 30 10. www.aubert.catThe World Conservation Union (IUCN)Publications ServicesRue Mauverney 281196 GlandSwitzerlandTel +41 22 999 0000Fax +41 22 999 0010books@iucn.orgwww.iucn.org/publicationsCatalogues of IUCN and PAM publications are available upon request.The text of this book has been printed on 125 g matt coated environmentally friendly paper.

Table of contentsSummary91. Preface■ Nikita Lopoukhine, Chair, IUCN World Commission on ProtectedAreas.■ Josep Maria Soler, Abbot of Montserrat.1313152. Opening addresses■ Ramon Ribera-Mariné, Prior of the Monastery of Montserrat.■ Jordi López, President, Steering Committee of the Board of theMountain of Montserrat.■ Miquel Rafa, Head of Projects, Fundació Territori i Paisatge -Caixa Catalunya savings bank.■Ramon Luque, Director, Directorate-General for the NaturalEnvironment, Catalan Ministry of the Environment and Housing.■ Purificació Canals, IUCN Vice-President.2121222324263. Introduction■ The Delos Framework.Thymio Papayannis and Josep Maria Mallarach294. Speeches■ Nature and spirituality.Jesús García-Varela■ The reenchantment of nature. Spiritual values and the history ofprotected areas: the Spanish experience.Santos Casado■Protecting Sacred Natural Sites of Indigenous and TraditionalPeoples.Gonzalo Oviedo and Sally Jeanrenaud47475977

■ The Heights of Inspiration: The Cultural and Spiritual Meaning ofMountains as a Basis for Interpretation and Conservation .Edwin Bernbaum■ Belief in Protected Areas: Overlooking the Spirit in Conservation.Liza Higgins-Zogib1011155. The case study of Montserrat■ The point of view of the monastic community.Ramon Ribera-Mariné■ The view point of the Board of the Mountain of Montserrat.Jordi López■ The standpoint of a company providing services.Josep Altalló■ The view point of the Catalan Federation of Hiking and ClimbingClubs.Xavier Ariño■ Montserrat. Catalonia, Spain.Josep-Maria Mallarach1351351401431471516. Cases Studies■ Ukonsaari Island. Lapland, Finland.Yrjö Norokorpi and Eija Ojanlatva■ Doñana National and Natural Parks. Andalusia, Spain.Jordi Falgarona & Jesús García Varela, with the collaboration of JaumeEstarellas.■Geat Smoky Mountains (Shagonage) and Qualla Boundary.Tennessee and North Carolina, Southern Appalachian Mountains,United States of America.Edwin Bernbaum■ Holy Island, Isle of Arran. Scotland, United Kingdom.Isabel Soria■ Kolovesi National Park Rock Paintings. Southern Savo, Finland.Matti Määttä, Minna Oksanen, Tero Sipilä & Arto Vilén■ Meteora World Heritage Site. Thessaly, Greece.Irini Lyratzaki165165175201219237251

■ Mount Athos. Halkidiki, Greece.263Thymio Papayannis■ Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. Mie,279Nara and Wakayama Prefectures, Japan.Makoto Motonaka■ Vanatori Neamt Natural Park. Moldavia, Romania.289Sebastian Catanoiu7. The Montserrat Declaration311On sacred natural sites in technologically developed countries.8. Acknowledgements315Appendix 1317■ Montserrat: Nature and Spirituality. First Workshop of the Delos317Initiative.■ Minimizing the environmental impact of the workshop: compensatingfor CO 2 emissions.321Appendix 2323■ Participants.

SummaryThis volume presents the Proceedings of the First Workshop of The Delos Initiative. TheWorkshop was held in November 2006 in the holy mountain of Montserrat, a NatureReserve and Natural Park located north of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. The DelosInitiative is part of the IUCN World Commission of Protected Area’s Task Force on theCultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas.After the introductions (Chapter 1) from the Chair of the WCPA and the Abbot of theMonastery of Montserrat, Chapter 2 features the four opening addresses, all of great significanceand very individual in style.Chapter 3 contains a comprehensive introduction to The Delos Initiative written by its coordinators.It includes descriptions of its goals, objectives, methodology and projects carriedout, as well as technical guidance for natural sacred sites and a complete overview ofthe development of the Workshop.Chapter 4 includes five speeches which provide a conceptual context for all of the issuesdiscussed: the relationship between Nature and Spirituality; protected areas and sacredsites of indigenous and traditional peoples; spiritual values in the history of protected areasin Spain; the contribution of sacred natural sites to nature conservation; and the particularexperience of the Sacred Mountains Programme in several national parks.The Montserrat case study is presented in Chapter 5. In addition to the standard report,prepared according to the Delos methodology, it features the viewpoints of the main stakeholdersin the mountain: the monastic community, the Park Board, walkers and climbers,the company providing services around the main monastery, and a private foundation.Chapter 6, the longest, includes the presentation of nine case studies: two from Finland,one prehistoric (Kolovesi) and the other contemporary, concerning the Sámi people(Ukonsaari); two from Greece, concerning Orthodox Christianity (Athos and Meteora); onefrom Andalusia, Spain, concerning lay Catholic brotherhoods (Protected areas of Doñanaand the Virgin of El Rocío shrine); one singular case from Scotland, United Kingdom, con-9

cerning Tibetan Buddhism (the Holy Island of Arran); one from Rumania, concerningOrthodox Christianity (Vanatori-Neamt); one from Japan, concerning Shugen and ShingonBuddhist schools (Kii mountain range and pilgrimages routes), and, finally, one fromTennessee and North Carolina, USA, concerning the Cherokee Native Americans (SmokyMountains). These case studies encompass a wide range of highly diverse types of protectedareas in three continents belonging to all IUCN categories; they were preparedlargely on the basis of interviews with key stakeholders.Finally, Chapter 7, the Montserrat Declaration, provides a summary of the main findingsand conclusions that can be drawn from the lively discussions that took place during theWorkshop.Appendix 1 includes the names of all the participants and the Workshop’s coordinators.Appendix 2 consists of the programme of events, followed by an explanation of how theWorkshop‘s organisers decided to compensate for the CO 2 emissions it produced.This book has been published jointly by the IUCN and the Abbey of Montserrat’s publishinghouse and is a clear indicator of the links that the Delos Initiative is fostering betweenconservationists and the custodians of natural sacred sites, in this case a monastic communitywith a millennial history.10

Why a ‘Delos’ Initiative?The island of Delos in the midst of the Aegean Sea is today an important archaeologicalsite and a protected marine area. In Antiquity, though, it was a sacred site for bothGreeks and Romans: it was dedicated to Apollo, the god of light, who, according tomyth, was born on the island.In addition, from 478 BC onwards, after the Persians had been expelled from Greece,Delos became the centre of the Athenian Alliance and the location of its treasury, andwas home to religious and peaceful political functions. Under the Roman Empire, itdeveloped into one of the most important trade centres in the Eastern Mediterranean.Its role declined after the establishment of Christianity, although its cultural and spiritualinfluence has continued right up to the present day.As a sacred site set in a pristine marine environment, Delos is a symbol: it has no linksto any single living faith and is an ancient centre of political alliance and internationalcommerce.Plate found in Delos. From a pottery shop on the island ofRhodes, second half of the seventh century BC.11

1. PrefacesNikita (Nik) LopoukhineChair, IUCN World Commission on ProtectedAreasI am honored and pleased to write thispreface to this inspiring book resultingfrom the Delos Initiative. Presenting, asthis book does, an array of sites dedicatedto prayer, meditation and liturgy anddemonstrating how these significant areasof sanctity link to biodiversity conservationis, to say the least, timely. The world isfacing problems of almost insurmountablemagnitude, of which climate change is butone. This book provides examples ofplaces where humans strive to live sustainablyand to reflect on their relationshipwith God and the environment. Theseexamples can act as an important guidefor our own daily living.The work that is being done by the DelosInitiative, within the Task Force on Culturaland Spiritual Values of Protected Areas isproviding a very much needed inspirationand guidance for the World Commissionof Protected Areas. The critical work ofthis Task Force assures a more inclusiveapproach and consideration to spiritualvalues associated with protected areas.For many people, these values are of theutmost importance, even in the technologicallydeveloped countries, whereunfortunately they have been at timesneglected.I grew up mostly in Canada and spent mysummers along the shore of Lake Labellein Quebec. It was and is a place where myfamily, friends and relatives not only renewour physical strength and relationships,but also our spiritual strength. It is a placeinstrumental to my becoming close tonature and molding my career in protectedareas.Over fifty years ago on the shores of thelake, my uncles and my father built achapel dedicated to St. Sergius ofRadonezh, a beloved saint of fourteenthcentury Russia who lived, for some of hislife, in a monastic cell deep within a forest.The late Fr. Alexander Schmemann, thenDean of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminaryin New York spent his summers on the lakeand served the Divine Liturgy on Sundaysand Christian feast days. Other priestscontinue to serve in this chapel each summer.In early August, the feast of Transfigurationis marked by a procession down to< Montserrat, Agulles section, one of the favourite areas of climbers.13

the lake to bless it. The priest begins theprocession by emerging from behind theIconostasis through the Royal Doors ofthe chapel over which are inscribed thewords of the ancient psalm: ¨Let everythingthat has breath, praise the Lord¨.The choir sings hymns of praise, childrencarry banners and icons, and in my memory,it always seems to be a glorious,sunny summer morning. Returning fromthe lake, we gather around a table ladenwith fruit, wild mushrooms and berries, allearth’s bounties which are then blessedand for which we give thanks. The underliningsignificance, of course, is that theflowering and fruitfulness of all creation istransformed by and filled with the glory ofthe Lord.I relate this annual summer ritual on thelakeshore in Quebec in the context of theDelos Initiative to suggest that, while wecertainly can take inspiration from theselected examples in this marvelousbook, let us also not forget the spiritualconnections we all have to special personalplaces where our spirit is lifted andwhere we can touch the beauty and harmonyof nature. All these places – that wetouch and that touch us - must be protected.They provide us with the meaningof life.14

Josep M. SolerAbbot of Montserratthat forms an indispensable part of thehuman condition.I am delighted to have the opportunity topen a few words with Nikita Lopoukhine,President of the World Commission onProtected Areas, to mark the publicationof the proceedings of the First Workshopof The Delos Initiative that, under the titleof 'Nature and Spirituality', took place inthe Monastery of Montserrat on 23-26November 2006.The objective of this meeting was to discussthe study of legally protected sitesof great natural value that are also recognisedas sites of spiritual importance intechnologically developed countries.Montserrat is one such sacred site andpossesses an outstanding combinationof both natural and spiritual values. Itboasts a remarkable variety of flora andfauna, as well as fascinating geologicalformations of singular beauty that havefor long attracted the attention of scientistsand nature lovers alike. Nevertheless,when humans enter into contactwith the natural world, they not onlydevelop a thirst for scientific knowledge,but also unleash a capacity for symbolicreflection. They learn to admire and alsoto complement their naturalists' vision ofthe world from the spiritual standpointThe sum - or, even, multiplication - of thedifferent interpretations of this naturalenvironment, 'inhabited' by humans forover a thousand years, has assumed aspecial dimension in Montserrat. The conjunctionof an exceptional natural monument(the mountain) and the BenedictineMonastery and Sanctuary dedicated toSaint Mary, the Mother of Jesus, hasbrought about a reality that is rich inmeaning and significance, but highly complexas a result to manage. Hence, Ibelieve that it is appropriate to mentionhere the work put in by the Board of theMountain of Montserrat in its collaborationwith local and other administrative bodies.As I wrote in the opening greeting for ourwebpage, for us, the monks, Montserratis the Benedictine monastery, with itsalmost thousand years of history. Next toit, a sanctuary dedicated to the Mother ofGod has grown up and this spiritual presence,along with our devotion to theGospel according to the Rule of StBenedict, has marked in a unique and significantfashion the life of the mountain.From this basic nucleus stem all the activitiesthat in a more or less direct fashiondepend on us, and which include, firstly,the Monastery and the Sanctuary, themonastic life and the faith of the pilgrims15

that come to our door, our work, prayersand spiritual study, the welcome we giveto all, our live, in community, the hopesand wishes of those who visit, our joysand our sacred days. Secondly, we promotemany varied cultural activities, allimpregnated with Christian faith: ourmusic and the boy's choir that performsduring liturgical celebrations, painting andsculpture, the publication of books, thestudy of philosophy, theology and humanities,and handicrafts. Finally, from withinour community springs the interest in thestudy and conservation of the naturalenvironment of Montserrat, which, as the'work of God', biblical faith views as anexpression of the beauty of creation thatgladdens our spirits and brings us closerto the mystery of God.I sincerely hope that the Delos Initiativecan continue to deepen and consolidatethe work begun here in Montserrat andthus contribute to the understanding ofhow spiritual values can positively aidconservation and the proper use of naturalareas in technologically developedcountries. For our part, we are happy tobe able to contribute in our modest fashionto this initiative.Monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat, nestedling oin a narrow platformledge, from Sant Joan. >16

“On this wise ye shall bless the children ofthe people, saying unto them, the Lord blessthee, and keep thee: The Lord make his faceshine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee,and give thee peace. And they shall put myname upon the children of the people; and Iwill bless them”.Blessing recited by Father Ramon Ribera-Mariné at the opening of the workshop. It is a slightly adapted version ofthe ‘priestly blessing’ told by Moses, the man of God, according to the fourth book of the Bible, the Book ofNumbers, 6, 23-26.19

Opening of the workshop.From left to right: M. Rafa, P.Canals, R.Ribera-Mariné, T. Papayannis, R. Luque and J. López.

2. Opening addressesRamon Ribera-Mariné,Prior of the MonasteryIt fills me with great pleasure to be ableaddress a few words to the members ofthis workshop on the Delos Initiative thatis being held in Montserrat. I do so asPrior and on behalf of Father Josep MariaSoler, the abbot of this all-but millenarycommunity who cannot be with us todaysince at this moment he is attending aseries of meetings in the USA.First of all, I wish to thank the organisersfor having thought of us when it came tochoosing a place for this meeting.Montserrat has a long traditional as ameeting place for a wide variety of differenttypes of groups. Our religious vocationis clear, as our dress reveals. However, weonly ask one thing of those who come tous – that they work for peace. Indeed,people like yourselves, who know andlove the natural world, could you have anyother aim in mind?Montserrat has always welcomed dialogueand new ideas. A few examples suffice:by 1499 there was already a printingpress here and by the end of the eighteenthcentury new and important workon history and the natural world wasalready being carried out. Likewise, todayour museum is home to notable works ofmodern art. The Delos Initiative is alsonovel, even for those of us who have beenworking with and writing about the naturalworld for many years.Nevertheless, Montserrat and its mountain,with its pale vertical cliffs is –if it isanything- home to a Holy Image, a symbolof the transcendental, that unites all thosethat come here (and perhaps even thosewho merely contemplate the curiousforms of the mountain from afar). The verticalnessof the site evokes a further reality:the sanctuary and its rather uninspiringsecular buildings offer a place of peaceand conviviality and will do everything inits power to offer hope to the human race.Likewise, you may well be able to offer usideas as to how we can improve our managementof the natural and spiritual valuesof our mountain, which is the legacy thatwe will have to pass on to future generations.The Rule of Benedict of Nursia, a sixthcenturymonk and founder of theBenedictine Order, refers to the treatmentof one’s guests: they should always bereceived in the monastery as Christ him-21

self. And so, in light of this statement ofprinciples, Montserrat welcomes you andhopes the workshop is fruitful for all concerned.Jordi López,President of the Steering Committee of theBoard of the Mountain of MontserratIt is my pleasure to be able to welcomeyou to Montserrat on behalf of the Boardof the Mountain of Montserrat and tothank you for coming to this natural park.We were surprised when the idea ofholding this meeting here was first suggested,but as time has passed yourpresence here has become an elementof great satisfaction for us for both institutionaland personal reasons. My ownlinks to Montserrat began the day I wasbrought here to be baptised at the tenderage of just one month. Since then I haveremained in close contact with themountain, as the members of the communityknow. I think that the idea ofestablishing a connection between a naturalarea and our own personal interiorexperiences is extremely positive; thediscovery of these personal spiritual elementsis of great importance in modernsociety. I’d like to remind you that thewords spoken by Pope Benedict XVI thisweek, in which he described the monasteriesas the lungs of the soul in an urbanworld, can be applied just as well to thenatural world.Having begun with a personal confession, Ishould like to continue briefly in this vein. Itoo am a biologist and would like to sharewith you a significant personal experiencefrom my time here: the mystical dimensionof the contemplation of the natural world. Iremember the nights in Santa Cecília,another monastery near here and a littlefurther down the mountain, when I wouldcontemplate the heavens and would feelaware of their infiniteness and the relativeinsignificance of humankind. I would notethe same sense of infiniteness during myresearch on cellular structures when Idelved deep into a different world via theeyepiece of an electron microscope. Heretoo I would discover other immensely smallenormities and realise that in those cellstoo there was a harmony that reflected theinfiniteness of life. The Universe and livingcells merged for me in a highly personalexperience here in Montserrat and so I toocan claim to be a spiritual son of this mountain.I firmly believe that the reality providedby Montserrat gives modern society a spiritualdimension amidst the organised chaosthat we are forced to live with.In Catalonia the majority of natural areasalso contain religious elements such asmonasteries or hermitages. They remindus that many of our forefathers lived a22

contemplative life in touch with nature.Society needs places such as this whereone can find one’s inner silence and benefitfrom spiritual experiences, and thesecan be found in nature. As well, it is ofgreat help when a community is presentthat can help with the spiritual reading oftoday’s world.Thus, projects such as yours are of greatvalue in the modern world and so I keenlyawait the results of your deliberations andhope that your work is both fruitful andpleasurable.Miquel Rafa,Head of projects, Fundació Territori i PaisatgeCaixa Catalunya savings bankI am doubly delighted to be able to behere with you today. Firstly, I would like towelcome you on behalf of FundacióTerritori i Paisatge, one of the institutionsthat has provided financial support for thismeeting and, secondly, on a more personalnote –as someone who lives nearby–.I am pleased to be able to share withyou one of my visual, as well as emotionaland spiritual, daily points of reference.I’d like to briefly explain why we are here.The Fundació Territori i Paisatge is a foundationcreated by a local savings bank,the Caixa Catalunya, as part of its commitmentto community work. Our aim is tohelp nature conservation from a socialpoint of view: and this means that wehave to be aware of the ethical, moral andspiritual needs of our society and ourwork in nature conservation should notignore these aspects of the modernworld.In 2004, as part of the Parliament of theWorld’s Religions that was held inBarcelona, we organised a seminar on therole played by the world’s religions in conservation,the first such action in the line of workthat this Task Force has undertaken withsuch seriousness and success. Since 2004we have been working with two spiritualcentres, one in the Buddhist monastery ofSakya Tashi Ling in the Garraf Park, and theother in the Christian sanctuary at Gallifa,also located in a designated protected areain Catalonia. In both cases we have reachedagreements that will enable these centres ofspirituality to improve the way they managetheir natural surroundings. We believe thatthis is a good way of assuring the conservationof the natural and spiritual values presentin these two protected natural areas.These are just two of the lines of work weare involved in and we are well aware that inthis field a lot still remains to be done.However, we hope modestly that in futureyears our organisation can continue to workin collaboration with this international TaskForce.23

We believe that this is a very importanttask and this explains our presence here.We offer our support and encourage youin the hope that for your own sake and forthat of the organisations you representyou will be successful in your aims.Likewise, for all the other organizationsand people who are concerned with theconservation of the natural world and forthe ethical dimension that is inherent inour work, we wish you the best of luck.Ramon Luque,Director of the Directorate-General for theNatural Environment, Ministry of the Environmentand Housing, Autonomous Governmentof CataloniaFirst of all, I would like to begin by remindingeveryone present that we are in one ofthe most wonderful of all natural areas inCatalonia, which also happens to be a siteof special religious significance for ourcountry.I recall how I first got to know this marvellousmountain. Like so many other immigrantsfrom other parts of Spain, whenwe first arrived in Catalonia we askedwhat should be the first place we visited.Somebody told us that we should beginwith Montserrat, which, apart from beinga religious symbol, is also a referencepoint for the country’s national identityand its democratic liberties. Although thisis not the time and place to discuss thisquestion further, I feel this fact may be ofinterest to those of you who come fromother countries.Without doubt, the recognition of theintangible values inherent in protectedareas was one of the most importantachievements of the V World ParksCongress held in Durban in 2003. Thisneed to recognise and integrate intangiblevalues into our conservation policiesin all types and systems of protectedareas was reflected in full in the conclusionsand recommendations that cameout of this Congress. Since then, thework groups that were constituted at theCongress have been active in the developmentof these ideas.In the Ministry of the Environment andHousing, which is responsible for the conservationof natural areas in Catalonia, webelieve that if we are able to incorporatecultural and spiritual values into the managementstrategies and plans for our protectedareas, and also guarantee theirinclusion in the conservation of overall biodiversity,we will encourage many socialsectors that have up to now been marginalizedor have even expressed their disagreementwith our policies to become farmore involved in nature conservation. Alltoo often, neither conservationists nor the24

Administration have been able to communicatewell with those people who feel aspecial spiritual link with a natural site,which may in fact be the most singularand most precious of all visions of thatsite.Likewise, the bonds between a peopleand its places of recognised spiritualimportance can also help preserve naturalsites. In some cases certain contradictionsmay arise when managing suchsites, although management is also agood opportunity to promote the naturalvalues of this type of protected area. Thefact that people visit this mountain for itssingularity as a symbol of our nationalidentity or for its inherent spiritualityshould be regarded by conservationistsas an opportunity to reach out to largenumbers of people amongst the populationas a whole and transmit to them thenatural values of this special place. Weshould not think of the conservation of thenatural values of a site as being unconnectedto the preservation of its spiritualvalue. The recognition of a way of lifelinked to the traditional activities of siteswith special spiritual significance is anessential element in the conservation ofbiodiversity.Thus, the government of Catalonia and itsMinistry of the Environment and Housingwould like to publicly reaffirm its commitmentto the conclusions of the DurbanCongress and our desire is to re-evaluatethe significance of these spiritual values ofsuch import to so many people and toincorporate them from now on into themanagement of our protected areas.These intangible values must be presentin our planning strategies and in our specificmanagement polices.I’m sure that this workshop will give rise tomany conclusions that we can developand then incorporate into our work in protectedareas. We will work hard with localcommunities, town and city councils, andwith those bodies that best represent thisintegration of ideas. We will enable themto participate in our work and thus createan identity that links our protected areaswith the cultural and spiritual values of ourcountry.I am happy to recognise the partiality andinsufficiency of the view of the world asexpressed by our conservationists, thescientific community, the so-calledexperts and the Administration. It is oftentoo scientific and technical and I can’thelp but agree with the great Catalanecologist, Dr. Ramon Margalef, whoreminded us all of the “impossibility of tryingto describe the whole of nature bymeans of the differential equations thatare so dear to many ecologists, when,after all, it may be just as effective to sit25

down and watch a river flow or to listen tothe whisper of the leaves on the trees”.Many thanks.Purificació Canals,Vice-president of IUCNGood morning everybody. I’m delighted tobe here today to welcome you toMontserrat and to represent the IUCNduring this meeting in such a specialplace. Those of us who work for the IUCNin nature conservation are well aware ofthe scientific and technical aspects of ourwork. However, many of us have felt forsome time that we need to look for a morehuman or more spiritual side to our workand we believe that, unless we do so, ourwork may end up as rather intranscendental.Although there are relatively few ofus here today, I am convinced that thismeeting will have significant repercussionson the work of the IUCN and I amsure that the ideas on the conservation ofnatural spaces that we are here to discusswill be taken fully into account.We are here to discuss the natural areasthat for some people are, above all,repositories of extraordinary natural values,but that for others are important asplaces of great spirituality where one canre-establish links with one’s own personalidentity. I believe that this meeting mightsignal the start of a change in some of ourperspectives on conservation, a changethat I would very much like to see becomeexplicit at the next World ConservationCongress that is to be held not far fromhere in Barcelona in October 2008.It has been decided that at this congresswe will not only discuss biodiversity, but theidea of diversity in its broadest sense thatincludes species and cultures, intangiblevalues and beliefs. I hope that thus thisworld congress in 2008 will be different andwe will be able to reach more people thanever before. There are people who will perhapsnever understand that we must protect,for example, the Lynx as a creaturethat is at the top of the food chain.However, these same people are perhapsmuch more able to appreciate that theLynx should be protected as one of God’screatures that has as such an intrinsicvalue. For these people, the Creation has aspiritual value that goes beyond the roleplants and animals play in natural systems.I think that we have rather ignored some ofthese different elements over the years andthat it is time for them to be broughttogether again.On a more personal level I would like toexplain to you my deep personal links withMontserrat. It was the first place my parentsever brought me when I was barely a26

year old and before I could even walk.When I look at old photos, I cannot helpbut think that an important part of my lifein nature conservation began on that day.I’m sure that if we look back we will all findthat somewhere we will have had somekind of emotional or spiritual experience ina natural area that has left an indelibleimpression on us. Our relationship withnature is complex and I am convincedthat to fully love and appreciate nature wemust be prepared to go beyond simplerationality and listen to our emotions andheartfelt beliefs.Montserrat is an ideal place for a meetingof this type. If you look down towards thesurrounding plains you will see a landscapedominated by built-up areas andlarge-scale infrastructures. However, ifyou look skywards, you will see a wellconservedmountain that, despite notbeing completely virgin, does have a certainnatural balance. We must learn tounderstand the links between one dimensionof the landscape and all others andenable these realities to co-exist as bestthey possibly can. We must assure thatfuture generations can enjoy these naturalareas from a scientific point of view, aswell as from a more spiritual standpoint ofbelonging to nature.On behalf of the IUCN I would like to closeby saying that we are very pleased thatour members and supporters shouldorganise meetings such as this one andoffer our sincere thanks to all those thathave made it possible.27

3. IntroductionThe Delos FrameworkThymio Papayannis and Josep-MariaMallarachThe purpose of the Delos Initiative is toidentify the relevance and significanceof sacred natural sites in technologicallydeveloped countries and to investigatewhether and how spiritual values cancontribute to both the conservation andproper use of important natural areasand the maintenance of cultural heritage.Its main focus is on protectedsites of great natural value that are representativeof the world’s religious andspiritual traditions.In the highly appropriate setting ofMontserrat, resplendent in the unique naturalbeauty of its mountain landscapesand monastery and ancient hermitages, aworkshop on nature and spirituality washeld on 23-26 November 2006. Thismeeting of international experts wasorganised as part of the Delos Initiative, aproject focussed on sacred natural sites indeveloped countries.More specifically, the principal objectiveof the Initiative is to reach an understandingof the views of the major faithsin developed countries on the sanctityof certain natural sites and the relationshipof these faiths with the naturalworld. A second aim is to assess thepertinence and importance of sacrednatural sites in people’s lives today andthus to attempt to estimate their exactsignificance.1. The Delos Initiative1.1 AimsFinally, the Delos Initiative aims to resolvepossible conflicts between the essentialnature of sacred sites and conservationand management requirements via theimplementation wherever possible ofinteracting synergies.The aim is for these objectives to be fulfilledby the Delos Working Group viawork based on the experience gainedfrom a representative sample of casestudies or pilot sites. Conclusions will bedrawn from the analyses carried out andthen, after a process of sensitisation,recommendations will be made and/orspecific guidance provided.< Hermitage of the Holy Grotto of Montserrat, in the morning mist, from the Rosary Way.29

1.2 Framework and modus operandiWithin the framework of the IUCN WorldCommission on Protected Areas, a TaskForce on Cultural and Spiritual Values ofProtected Areas (CSVPA) is focussing itsactivities on the point at which humansand nature interact. The Delos Initiativewas launched in September 2004 as partof this Task Force in order to study thecontemporary relevance of sacred naturalsites in technologically developedparts of the world. More specifically, theInitiative was set up to determinewhether the spiritual/cultural values of asite are compatible with its natural values,and whether conservation effortscan create synergy between these differenttypes of values.The methodology of the Delos Initiativecombines complementary bottom-up andtop-down approaches. The bottom-upapproach is based on an analysis of specificsites that aims to:■ Identify participants and sites in representativecountries;■ Examine objectives at local level;■ Debate the results of the analysis withdifferent stakeholders to reach conclusionsacceptable to all;■ Generalise results and extrapolate themto a broader level;The top-down approach applies the basicmetaphysical principles that all spiritualand religious traditions share a belief in thesymbolic character of nature and in thesacredness of at least some natural theophaniesand, thus, profess an awe anddeep respect for the natural order as a terrestrialreflection of a celestial or divineorder. Hence, the Initiative attempts to:■ Identify the underlying principles of differentspiritual traditions;■ Examine their relevance and influence indifferent contexts;■Propose and validate relationships andanalogies.The Delos Initiative is coordinated jointlyby Thymio Papayannis and Josep-MariaMallarach with the support of Med-INAand Silene, the two non-governmentalorganisations they direct. Its web site islocated at www.med-ina.org/delos.The initial small Delos Working Group hasexpanded into the Delos Network andtoday includes members from countries inAmerica, Asia, Europe and Oceania. All ofits members contribute their work on avoluntary basis.1.3 ActivitiesDuring 2005 and 2006, the followingactivities were carried out:30

■ Selection of pilot sites using clear criteriaand the designation of a person in chargeof each site.■Bibliographic study of each pilot siteaimed at identifying their spiritual and naturalcharacteristics and significance.■On-site questionnaire answered by keylocal stakeholders to determine challengesand threats and to identify attitudesand expectations.■Analysis of the results of the questionnaireand drawing up of conclusions andrecommendations. The recommendationswere submitted whenever possible to theperson in charge of the site’s natural andspiritual heritage in order to reach a consensus.■Organisation of the Montserrat Workshopto present the lessons learnt fromthe pilot sites, debate the results andissues that have arisen, and plan for thefuture.■ Presentation of the Delos Initiative in differentinternational and national eventssuch as:- The International Symposium onConserving Cultural and BiologicalDiversity: The Role of Sacred Natural Sitesand Cultural Landscapes, Tokio, 2005.- The European Nature Conference,Europarc & Europsite, Apeldoorn, TheNetherlands, 2005.- The 11th & 12th Conferences of theSpanish Section of Europarc, in Cangasde Narcea, 2005 and Vall de Boí, 2006.2. Sacred sites in technologicallydeveloped countriesThe notion of a sacred site is undoubtedlyculture specific. During the work of theDelos Initiative the term was interpreted ina broad sense and thus sites of significanceto most of the world’s major faithswere included, even when they only representeda small minority of the population,as in the case of the Holy Isle of Arran andits Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Particularattention was devoted to indigenous spiritualtraditions such as the Sámi inScandinavia and the Cherokee NativeAmericans in the USA that still exist in anumber of technologically developedcountries.It is worth highlighting here a high degreeof diversity. Some sacred natural sitesowe their status to the existence of importantreligious communities: this is the caseof the large Christian monasteries onMount Athos and Montserrat, which continueto attract a wide range of believersfrom many different countries. Other sitespossess mainly oral traditions and experiencesassociated with particular groups ofpeople: this is the case of the groups thatretreat to nature such as Buddhist orChristian hermits and, above all, indigenoussites.31

A few sites are well-known and attracthundreds of thousands of people tomajor events, as occurs during the mostmultitudinous pilgrimages to the shrineat El Rocío in the Doñana wetlands.Others are of significance to muchsmaller groups and are celebrated inmore modest or even secret fashion.In terms of the natural environment,Delos focuses on sites of high biodiversitythat already possess protected statusat national or international level.Quite a few of the pilot sites examinedare national parks or nature reserves,some are World Heritage Sites and onea Wetland of International Importance.Most of the European sites are includedin the European Union Natura 2000 network,defined on a basis of ecologicalcriteria applied at a bioregional scaleand currently at varying stages of implementationin the individual countriesinvolved.as has been confirmed by the casestudies analysed.Most of the threats can be put down toindifference and abandonment, especiallyin the case of sites that are of significanceto traditional and indigenouspeoples, which are often ignored byboth government authorities and thepublic.As a result, these sites are often degraded–or even destroyed– by large developmentprojects such as ski resorts,hydroelectric stations or motorways. Thefact that most of these projects eventuallyprove to be unsustainable does not seemto prevent them from being planned andexecuted. Excessive tourist development(Meteora is a characteristic example) andspreading urban development exert pressuresthat are intolerable in sacred sitesand both are exacerbated by inadequate,weak or non-existent land-use planningand control.2.1 Threats and challengesIn spite of their protected status and thesignificance that the associated faithsmay have for society, sacred naturalsites in technologically developed countriesare today having to face up to avariety of threats to aspects of boththeir spiritual heritage and biodiversity,Additional threats to the spiritual valuesof a site can arise as a result of insensitivepractices carried out by nature managementauthorities: this conflictoriginates from the centuries-old schismsbetween science and spirituality, andbetween secularism and religion, sometimesaggravated even more by populistpolitical or ideological considerations.32

2.2 OpportunitiesLooking on the bright side, a number ofrecent developments have occurredthat may have a positive impact on themanagement and conservation ofsacred natural sites.One such development is the increasingawareness in the major faiths of environmentalissues as a result of therecognition that nature is part of theDivine Creation and that its destructionby human beings is a sin. This has ledto active initiatives such as the sustainablemanagement of church properties.Monasteries, as well, have startedrecognising that asceticism –one oftheir guiding principles– represents adeeply ecological approach to life and aclose collaboration between theCatholic and Orthodox Christian faithshas arisen as a result, in part facilitatedby the work of the Alliance of Religionsand Conservation.Likewise, nature conservation organisations–both multilateral and nongovernmentalbodies such as the Conventionson Biological Diversity and on Wetlands,IUCN and WWF International– havebecome much more conscious of culturaland spiritual values and areattempting to implement specific initiativesinto the management of protectedareas and other fields of work. TheDurban World Park Congress in 2003issued a recommendation in the sessionentitled ‘Building Cultural Support forProtected Areas’ that all systems of protectedareas should recognise andincorporate spiritual values and culturebasedapproaches into their conservationefforts. The Convention onWetlands as well has established aCulture Working Group to provide guidanceon the incorporation of culturaland spiritual values into the managementof wetlands. The 11th Conferenceof the Spanish Section of EUROPARCheld in Cangas de Narcea, Asturias,Spain, 8-12 of June 2005, approvedconclusions related to the integration ofnon-material values, both cultural andspiritual, into the methods and strategiesof planning and management ofprotected areas. It was decided toinclude a new section devoted to nonmaterialvalues in the existing ActionPlan for Protected Areas of Spain, duringthe evaluation process.As a result, it seems that the schismmentioned above is narrowing, mainlythanks to the efforts of enlightened religiousleaders and conservationists.33

3. The Montserrat WorkshopThe Montserrat Workshop was organisedby Josep-Maria Mallarach, one of the twocoordinators of the Delos Initiative, withthe assistance of Jordi Falgarona andMariona Ortí and other colleagues fromthe Silene Association.Moral support was provided by theMonastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat,with financial assistance from theGoverning Board of the Mountain ofMontserrat, the Catalan Ministry of theEnvironment and Housing and theFundació Territori i Paisatge (that belongsto the Caixa Catalunya savings bank).3.1 Venue: The Monasteryof MontserratMontserrat has been considered a sacredor holy mountain since written recordshave existed and is regarded by many asthe spiritual heart of Catalonia. Nestling ona narrow platform 600 m above the valleybelow, the famous Benedictine Monastery,dedicated to the Holy Virgin, hasbeen at the service for almost 1,000 yearsof the pilgrims from all over the world whocome to worship the Black Madonna. Themonastery today retains its centuries-oldcultural and spiritual significance reflectedin its publishing house and school ofmusic and its works on biblical, liturgical,theological and historical subjects. Formany centuries there were hermits living inscattered and isolated hermitages, orcaves, in different parts of the Montserratmassif. For centuries these hermitsenjoyed great prestige as wise and holymen. There are 12 hermitages in themountain, of which two are still used fortemporary retreats by the monks.A few years ago the monastic communityof Montserrat chose ‘Nature, Culture andSpirituality’ as their motto for consumptionby the general public. These wordsencapsulate the combination of importantvalues to be found in and around themonastery and so it was only logical thatthe monastic community should be interestedin hosting the Delos Initiative’sworkshop devoted to exploring the interactionbetween these three coexistingdimensions.Father Ramon Ribera-Mariné, an experiencedwalker who has published severalguidebooks on the footpaths that crisscrossthis unique mountain, lent his fullsupport to the project during its preparationand was very active during the workshopitself as a leader of field trips.< Guest houses of in the Monastery of Montserrat, where some of the participants stayed.35

3.2 Objectives and agendaThe most important of the multiple objectivesof the Montserrat Workshop was todraw conclusions from an analysis of thepilot sites that would guide the future workof the Delos Initiative. Representative siteswere selected on the basis of both theirgeographical location and their naturaland spiritual characteristics and, althoughmost belong to mainstream faiths, somealso reflect the challenges posed byindigenous and minority beliefs. Anunavoidable and pragmatic criterion wasthe existence of experts able and willing toanalyse the pilot sites on a voluntary basiswithin a fixed time frame and some casestudies had to be postponed until a secondphase of work begins.A further objective was to strengthen thelinks between members of the Delosworking group through personal contactsand lively debate, which had not beenpossible previously.The contribution of the Delos workinggroup to other IUCN activities and, especially,to the preparation of the UNES-CO/IUCN Guidelines on Sacred NaturalSites, was of special concern during theworkshop.Finally, it was hoped that the workshopwould debate the future of the DelosInitiative and suggest directions for thefuture.Adequate time for all these objectives wasincluded in the agenda of the meeting(see Appendix II). The meeting was inauguratedby addresses from members ofthe Catalan Government, the Monasteryof Montserrat and the IUCN, and continuedwith the keynote speech from JesúsGarcía-Varela on ‘Nature and Spirituality’.Four lectures then followed that provideda broad background and an invaluableframework for the discussions of the casestudies:■Gonzalo Oviedo, ‘Protected areas andsacred sites of indigenous and traditionalpeoples’;■Santos Casado, ‘Spiritual values in thehistory of protected areas of Spain’;■ Edwin Bernbaum, ‘The experience of theSacred Mountains Programme’;■Liza Higgins-Zogib, ‘Contribution ofsacred natural sites to nature conservation’.The presentation and discussion of thepilot sites occupied most of the workshop’stime; however, the last day wasdevoted above all to the discussion ofmore general issues and the drawing upof conclusions.36

Despite its tight programme, participantsin the workshop were able to go on guidedvisits to selected parts of the naturaland sacred site (the historical hermitagesof Tebas, the area around the monasteryof Santa Maria, the Holy Grotto and theAgulles section of the mountain, the lattera favourite area for climbing), participate insome of the religious rites and ceremoniesof the Benedictine community and listento the monastery’s boy’s choir.3.3 Case studiesAs mentioned above, the core work of theworkshop focused on the presentation often case studies of sites from sevendeveloped countries. The presentations,mostly by the experts in charge, includeda critical analysis of the natural and spiritualsignificance of each site, a discussionof potential threats and prospects andusually some initial recommendations forimproved management policies.The Meteora site was presented by T.Papayannis and the Kii Mountain Rangeby B. Verschuuren in lieu of the experts incharge who were unable to attend theworkshop.The Solovetstky Island case study, whichhad been prepared during the pilot phase,was not discussed since the author of thecase study, Alexander Davydov, could notbe present.Country Site Protected Status Faith In chargeFinland Kolovesi National Park Indigenous Sámi M. MäätäFinland Äjjis / Ukonsaari Natura 2000 Indigenous Sámi Y. NorokörpiIslandGreece Meteora WHS, Natura 2000 Christian Orthodox I. LyratzakiA. SorotouGreece Mount Athos WHS, Natura 2000 Christian Orthodox T. PapayannisJapan Kii Mountain WHS, National Park Shinto + Shugen M. MotonakaRangeBuddhismRomania Vanatori Neamt Nature Park, Christian Orthodox S. CatanoiusNatural Park Natura 2000Spain Doñana National and Natural Christian Catholic J. FalgaronaProtected Areas Parks, Ramsar Site J. García-VarelaSpain Mountain of Natural Park + Christian Catholic J.-M. MallarachMontserratNature ReserveUnited Isle of Arran, Marine Reserve Celtic Christian + I. SoriaKingdom Scotland Tibetan BuddhismUSA Ocanaluftee River National Park Native American E. BernbaumTrail, Great Smoky (Cherokee) Mountains37

Kolovesi National Park, FinlandKolovesi National Park lies in the provinceof Eastern Finland and was established in1990 to preserve the natural features ofthe Lake Saimaa archipelago, home tothe endemic Saimaa Ringed Seal (Phocahispida saimensis) and forest ecosystemscharacteristic of southern Finland. Therock paintings in the park are sacred sitesassociated with the annual cycle of spiritualfishing and hunting ceremonies. Thesacred sites were once collective meetingplaces where spiritual rituals were carriedout that reflected and strengthened thesocial identity of the local people.Äjjis/Ukonsaari Island, FinlandThe Inari Hiking Area is situated inNorthern Lapland and the whole area ispart of the European Natura 2000 network.It is being set up as a national hikingarea, protected by an act ofparliament. In the middle of Ukon-selkäopen water area in Lake Inarijärvi rises theisland of Ukonsaari, Ukonkivi or Ukko(Äjjis in the Inarisámi language), astrange-looking hunchbacked-shapedlump of rock. It is a famous natural sightand was once a very important and wellknownsite of worship for the indigenousSámi people and is today one of the mostinvestigated of all their sacred places ofFinland.Meteora World Heritage Site,GreeceSituated in central Greece, these enormousnatural megaliths in the west of the Thessalyplain first attracted hermits in the eighth centuryand by the fourteenth century anOrthodox monastic community was wellestablished there. The astonishing complexof tall sandstone pillars of Meteora, a namederiving from the ancient word meteorosmeaning ‘hovering in the air’, rises over 400m above the surrounding plains. The site isrich in both natural and cultural values andhas been declared a Special Protection Areafor Birds, a Natura 2000 site and a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site.Mount Athos, GreeceThe peninsula of the ’Holy Mountain’ ofMount Athos lies in Chalkidiki, NorthernGreece. Rich in history and with a continuousliving Orthodox tradition of over 1,000years, Mount Athos possesses great naturalbiodiversity and a unique landscape; it wasdesignated a World Heritage Site in 1988 fornatural and cultural reasons. It is characterisedby an unusual diversity of ecosystems,ranging from Alpine to Mediterranean,and has rich coastal and marine biodiversity.Mount Athos enjoys a special degree ofpolitical autonomy and self-managementunder the spiritual guidance of theEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.38

Although access is limited (women are notallowed), the flow of visitors has beenincreasing during recent decades. Itsmonasteries are not only Greek, but alsoBulgarian, Russian and Serbian.Kii Mountain Range protected areas,JapanThe Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routesin the Kii Mountain Range are a group oftemples and shrines connected by pilgrimagetrails that are related to bothShintoism and the Shugen sect of asceticBuddhism. Since ancient times, the KiiMountain Range has nurtured a traditionof nature worship, in which mountains,rocks, forests, rivers and waterfalls arerevered according to the Shinto interpretationof the world. Over one thousandyears ago the region was already regardedas sacred by people from the ancientcapital cities of Nara and Kyoto and pilgrimageshave been undertaken eversince. All elements in the core area of theWorld Heritage Site are designated aspart of a National Park or as NationalHistoric Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty orNatural Monuments under the Law for theProtection of Cultural Properties.Vanatori Neamt Natural Park, RomaniaVanatori Neamt Natural Park is situated innorth-east Romania in a forested mountainousregion with important natural populationsof species such as Brown Bearand Wolf.The park was set up in 1999 and sincethen has been managed by the NationalForest Administration. It was designatedas a Natural Park on the strength of thesustainable management of its forests,the conservation of its landscape andlocal traditions, the reintroduction ofEuropean Bison into its natural habitatand the encouragement of tourist activitiesbased on these natural values. Thearea has also been proposed as a Natura2000 Site. Vanatori Neamt is famous forits 16 Orthodox monasteries, as well asfor the 40 churches and small hermitagesscattered throughout the area. In additionthe area has acted as inspiration for manyimportant Romanian artists.Doñana National and Natural Parks,Andalusia, SpainLocated at the mouth of the Guadalquivirriver on the Atlantic coast of Andalusia,the Doñana area is the most importantwetland in Spain and is protected by itsdesignation as a National Park, a NaturalPark, a Ramsar Site and a Wetland ofInternational Importance. The variety ofdifferent habitats ensures that the mainenvironmental value of the area is its biodiversity.Just on the edge of the National39

Park stands the shrine of the Virgin delRocío (‘Our Lady of the Dew’), knownlocally as ‘The Queen of Marshes’, objectof some of the most important pilgrimagesin the whole of Spain. Over one millionpilgrims participate each year, walkingor riding through the dunes and marshlands,chanting and praying for days onend during their journey to the shrine.Muntanya de Montserrat Natural Park,SpainThe Mountain of Montserrat (in Catalan‘serrated mountain’) in Catalonia, characterisedby a multitude of astonishing rockypinnacles, has been considered a holymountain for centuries. In was initiallydeclared a Picturesque Landscape, butwas subsequently awarded Natural Parkstatus (including a natural reserve) by theCatalan Government in 1987. Two Catholicmonasteries are situated on the mountain’sslopes, of which one, devoted to theHoly Virgin, has been an important centreof pilgrimage since the fourteenth century.The Benedictine community at themonastery of Santa Maria has had overthe centuries a significant spiritual andcultural influence on the region and todaythe Natural Park receives almost three millionvisitors per year, of which the vastmajority visit the area of the mainmonastery.Holy Island of Arran, United KingdomHoly Island is a small island lying off thecoast of the Isle of Arran and was the sitein the sixth century of the hermitage of StMolaise, an important figure in the earlyChristian church in Ireland and Scotland.In the twelfth century it also housed amonastic community. For many years theisland was uninhabited, but has recentlybeen purchased by a Tibetan Buddhistorganisation, which is in the process ofsetting up a retreat and interfaith conferencefacility. The island is also home to abreed of traditional livestock, also in needof conservation since the island hasbecome severely overgrazed. Conservationefforts have included the restorationof native woodland and the implementationof more appropriate grazing regimeson the moorlands. A marine protectedarea has recently been established offshore.The Oconaluftee River Trail - GreatSmoky Mountains National Park,USAThe Great Smoky Mountains NationalPark is a UNESCO World Heritage Siteand Biosphere Reserve and is sharedbetween the states of Tennessee andNorth Carolina. It experiences a widerange of the climates and habitats to befound in the eastern USA between40

Georgia and the Canadian border andboasts extraordinary levels of biodiversity.The site has particular spiritual and culturalsignificance for two local groups, theEastern Band of the Cherokee Indiansand the descendents of the Scottish-Irishsettlers who created what is known todayas ‘Appalachian culture’. The discovery ofgold in 1828 led to the main part of theCherokee Indians being forcibly removedto Oklahoma along the infamous Trail ofTears, a journey which many did not survive.After the forced removal, a separategroup of Cherokees who had beenallowed to stay behind, settled in the areato form the Eastern Band of the CherokeeNation.3.4 ParticipationOver 50 people attended the opening session,although numbers eventually levelledoff to a stable core group of around 25. Thediversity within the group was considerable:in all, eight countries and four continentswere represented, with two-thirds of thegroup connected to scientific/conservationorganisations or agencies and the rest toParticipants in the wWorkshop at the Sant Joan lookout point.

eligious bodies. There was also a good agebalance, with both very young and elderlyparticipants, although only 15 % of participantswere women.Of particular significance was the participationof monks from three monasteries–Montserrat (Catholic-Benedictine), SantaMaria de Poblet (Catholic-Cistercian)and Sakya Tashi Ling (Buddhist-Vajrayana)–located inside protected areas nearBarcelona.The IUCN was well represented byPurificació Canals, IUCN Vice-President,and Gonzalo Oviedo, Senior Advisor onSocial Policy.3.5 OutcomesThe conclusions of the workshop aresummarised in the Montserrat Declaration(see page 311), drawn up collectively byall participants as a firm statement of theneed for closer collaboration between thecustodians of sacred sites and those incharge of the management and conservationof protected areas. The strength ofthe Statement lies in the diversity of peoplefrom a broad array of fields of workand organisations who have endorsed it.Additional outcomes include guidance onplanning for the future development of theDelos Initiative, growing contacts betweenmonastic communities (for the moment inCatalonia, Greece and Scotland), and thestrengthening of the Delos Network,which will replace the initial Delos WorkingGroup.4. Perspectives for the futureThe Montserrat Workshop, held approximatelytwo years after the inception of theDelos Initiative, marks the completion ofthe first phase of the Initiative. However, itshould be stressed that the Initiative mightwell have ended up as just another innovativeresearch and analysis project if therehad been no interest in or further need forits activities. The success of the workshopat Montserrat, however, has confirmed thesignificance of the initial propositions andthe interest it has generated in both spiritualand nature conservation circles willensure that work will continue into a secondphase.An important future date is the WorldConservation Congress of IUCN to be heldin Barcelona in October 2008; the interveningperiod will be useful for broadening andexpanding the analyses of the pilot sites,for determining what kind of technical guidanceis needed and how to obtain it, andfor consolidating views on major issues.Sometime in 2007 a second workshop42

will be organised –probably in Greece– toreview the progress of the work underway. The outcome of the activitiesplanned for this workshop will be presentedto the World Conservation Congressand laid open for debate and criticism.The results will be evaluated by the DelosNetwork and a third phase will then beplanned, if it is deemed to be necessaryand worthwhile.4.1 Deepening the case studieseach site and on the contacts that thisperson can establish with its custodiansand managers.4.2 New case studies for a morebalanced representationDuring its second phase, the DelosInitiative aims to add further case studiesin order to improve the balance betweenthe faiths and countries in the list of sitesunder study.During the next biennium, monitoring ofthe pilot studies analysed during the firstphase will continue. This will allow us toidentify developments –both positive andnegative– that may lead to a better understandingof the specific situation of eachcase study.In certain cases, it might be possible tobecome further involved and to provideadvice or even guidance on the implementationof some of the recommendationsmade regarding, for example, thepromotion of integrated managementpolicies and synergy between the custodiansof sacred sites and managers of protectedareas. This will have to be donewith great care and only at the request ofthose officially in charge of the pilot sites.It will also depend to a large extent on thebackground of the person in charge ofMainstream faiths found in technologicallydeveloped countries as yet notincluded in the Delos Initiative includeIslam, other branches of Buddhism,Protestantism and Judaism. On theother hand, despite being technologicallydeveloped, a number of hugecountries such as China and India thatare undergoing great transitions arestill a world unto themselves. Nevertheless,in these countries there arenumerous experts working on sacrednatural sites and the results can befound in the proceedings of theXishuamgbanna International Workshop(2003). There is thus no need forthe Delos Initiative to become involved.Australia, Canada and New Zealand,however, are quite different cases. Their43

protected areas share many features withthose already analysed and these countriespossess experts who are interestedin preparing case studies within theframework of the Delos Initiative.raised concerning the legitimacy ofattempting to provide guidance to thosewho have been managing sacred sitessince long before the existence of modernprotected areas.4.3 Towards technical guidanceDuring the workshop, some of the participantsargued convincingly for the need togo deeper and to start developing seriousguidelines for the management of sacrednatural sites in developed countries. Thisposition seemed to have general support,although some strong reservations wereThe Delos Initiative has already startedlooking into guidance as part of an effortto incorporate its inputs and perspectivesinto the UNESCO/IUCN Guidelines on themanagement of sacred natural sites,which will be developed further in 2007and published probably in 2008.However, it was generally agreed that thisis a very difficult task that will requireWorkshop session. From left to right: P. Canals, T. Papayannis and I. Soria.

important backing and that a pragmaticdiscussion of the issue, based on experiencesgained in representative cases,should be initiated in early 2007.4.4 The way forwardThe World Conservation Congress(Barcelona, October 2008) constitutes akey event for the Delos Initiative. Not onlywill it allow its views and suggestions toreach a wider public in the field of conservation,but it will also provide the opportunityfor in-depth critical assessment of theinitiative’s achievements, positions andplans. As such, the Initiative may well playa significant role during the Congress.For this reason we feel that the activities ofthe Delos Network during the interveningperiod should focus on organising its participationand contribution to this majorevent. During the Montserrat Workshopvarious possibilities were discussed,including the possibility of organising aparallel event, which would include visitsto three sites around Barcelona, all –it is tobe hoped– previously analysed as casestudies within the framework of the DelosInitiative.45

4. SpeechesNature and spiritualityJesús García-Varela“It is not birds that speak,but men learn silence”.Kathleen RaineAt first sight, the title ‘Nature andSpirituality’ would appear somewhat contradictory,since at times it seems as if itwere no longer possible to view the naturalworld from a spiritual standpoint. In today’sworld, nature is thought of as a purelymaterial concept that the human racetakes advantage of for economic purposesor simply for pleasure. Nature is absorbedinto a machine to be used, thereby becominga simple resource to be exploited. Thisconcept is the result of a dominant materialisticideology or mentality based on theidea that only that which can be empiricallyor scientifically proven actually exists.Scientific knowledge becomes ‘orthodox’knowledge, which in turn becomes exclusiveand totalitarian. This ‘scientificist’ mentalitythat believes that scientific reason isthe only way of approaching reality hasgradually imposed its hegemony since theseventeenth century 1 , hand in hand with abelief in the concept of material ‘progress’–poorly defined and born out of ourincreasing dependence on technologicaladvances– that continues to use andabuse the world’s natural energy sources.Nature is exploited and then squeezed dry.This misuse of science and the concomitant‘progress’ are the two external pillarsof the modern materialist mentality and twoimportant factors in the world’s currentecological crisis (which is nothing but amanifestation of the current predicament invalues caused by a disregard for the spiritualdimension of life). This ideology hasled, logically, to a general lack of respect forthe immaterial values found within the naturalworld in the dimension of what mightbe called the ‘invisible’ 2 . Today the dominantvision of the world provides a starkcontrast to the more traditional world viewsor visions found in the Bible and othersacred texts: 3 “The World is no longer seenas the work of God.” 41 An early view of this process in the western world can be found in the work of René Guénon, published in 1927, La crise du mondemoderne. See also: Theodore Roszak, Where the Wasteland Ends, above all chapters 5 and 10, and Jacque Ellul, The TechnologicalSociety. For the origins of the scientific mentality and its founding tenets in the seventeenth and following centuries (Descartes, Boyle,Bacon …), see Mary Midgley “Putting Nature in Her Place”. Science as Salvation, pp. 75-83, reproduced in Harry Oldmeadow, TheBetrayal of Tradition.2 See the complete dossier on sacred sites and threats to their conservation that has been drawn up by the World Wildlife Fund,Beyond Belief (2005).3 Seyyed Hossein Nasr Man and Nature, p.17-50, for a lucid vision of the destruction of sacred and spiritual values in nature. See alsoby the same author Religion and the Order of Nature, pp. 29-79 y 191-234 and “The Cosmos as Theophany” in Knowledge and theSacred”, pp. 189-220.4 Mircea Eliade. The Sacred and the Profane, p.179.< Sunrise from a coastal Mediterranean hermitage.47

Scientific knowledge, quantitative and centrifugal,is diluted in a myriad of applications,each a poorly defined fragment ofreality. 5 On the other hand, knowledgebased on an authentic spirituality is qualitativeand centripetal and proceeds via synthesisand symbols. The traditionalmindsets that form the basis of the world’smany different religions and spiritual beliefsappear at times to be but a distant memoryof an all but forgotten dimension.Traditional knowledge recognises the presenceof invisible spiritual values within thenatural world that demand respect anddeep veneration, the latter one of the maintenets of the oldest traditional religions (asexplained a couple of years ago at theEuropark Congress). 6 All spiritual traditionslook on nature as a theophany, that is, as adivine manifestation: “The heavens declarethe glory of God; and the firmament proclaimshis handiwork” (Psalm 19:2). 7 Thisis a sacred world with its symbolism and,given the opacity of materialism, spiritualbeings have to contemplate the world viamanifestations of phenomena and via themetaphysical transparency of the Cosmos.8 Nature is a mirror of the divine worldand as such is sacred: the desanctificationof nature is one of the chief characteristicsof modern times.Looking from an authentically traditionalperspective, the first misunderstanding toresolve is that there is in fact no conflictbetween nature and God. Without theconcept of a divinity we cannot talk ofsacredness. 9 Nature cannot be worshippedin isolation or be attributed spiritualvalues beyond those conferred on itby a divine Creator. This anomaly occursin the modern pseudo-spiritualist (or NewAge) thought that sprung up in the twentiethcentury as part of the uncontrollablepsychism that has taken advantage of thegrowing spiritual vacuum present in modernsociety. It cannot be denied, nevertheless,that many shades and subtletiesexist in these modern forms of thought,which range from those that pay homageto nature as the source of all life, to thosecentred on psychic forces that are moreakin to magic than anything else. 10However, from a traditional point of viewnature is the reflection and symbol of themanifestations of the divinity. Nature is not‘independent’ of God, but rather one ofthe most obvious of all divine manifesta-5 Marco Pallis. The Way and The Mountain, p. 71.6 Naturaleza y Mundos Tradicionales, Europarc Congress 2004, Roses.7 Many biblical references can be found that express the same idea, including: Psalms (24:1, 148), Isaiah (40:26), Leviticus (25:23) andWisdom (7:22-23).8 See Nasr, Man and Nature, op. cit., Chap. 3 ‘Some Metaphysical Principles Pertaining to Nature’, pp. 81-113, rev. ed.9 See also the work of one of the most significant voices of Orthodox Christianity: Philip Sherrard, The Sacred in Life and Art and TheRape of Man and Nature, above all chapter 4 of the latter: ‘The Desanctification of Nature’, pp. 90-112.10 For conceptions of nature from the post-medieval world to the present day, see: Harry Oldmeadow, ‘The Firmament Sheweth HisHandiwork’ in Seeing God Everywhere.48

tions. “All of Nature speaks of God” 11 , theentire Universe is a sign, a reflection of ainvisible Reality. 12A spiritual vision of the natural world is oneof the essential traits of all authentic spiritualtraditions. Man lives in harmony withthe Cosmos, venerating and respecting it.The men and women of traditional culturesare an integrated part of the naturalenvironment; it is their temple, their placeof worship. They are not the owners of thenatural world; rather they are its custodiansand guardians: “This we know; theearth does not belong to man; manbelongs to the Earth”. 13The second point to take into account inthis context is the necessary distinctionbetween the spiritual world and the psychicor supernatural world. We havealready mentioned the modern neo-spiritualismwhose main characteristic is preciselyits choice of the physic dimensionas an alternative to the spiritual dimension.This is an important distinctionbecause the physic dimension, restrictedonly to the human dimension, shuns andeven tries to substitute the divine experience.14 We live in a modern world characterisedby both materialism and psychism.Both are distant from the spiritual worldand therefore, from what constitutes theessence of humankind and the world’sdifferent spiritual traditions. As FrithjofSchuon has explained so clearly, modernman has ‘usurped’ religious feeling andreplaced it with other idols, one of whichis science. 15 The qualitative vision of theworld has been lost along the way; wehave lost the criteria of spiritual orientationand are stumbling progressively closer tointernal self-destruction. This is one of theobvious signs of the crisis of our civilisationthat has been remarked upon sooften in recent decades.The ability to penetrate nature’s symbolsand reach into the essence of its spiritualdimension requires contemplation, anarchetypical activity that, above all elseand as we have mentioned already,explores the divine origins of phenomena.If we contemplate the natural world viaauthentically spiritual criteria we will seethe universal values that are present. A11 Hugo de San Victor. ‘Omnis natura Deo loquitur’, Eruditio Didascalia, 6.5 p. 176, 1805, quoted in Nasr, Man and Nature, p.10.12 See chap. 1 of The Way and the Mountain by Marco Palllis for an approximation to the sacred character of nature from a genuinelytraditional point of view, pp.13-35.13 The indigenous peoples of the North American Great Plains possess the most existential conception of the natural world. This quotecomes from the famous speech by Chief Seattle, of which numerous versions exist in many languages, pp. 31-32.14 Jung is mistaken when he tries to place the spiritual dimension within the “collective subconsciousness”. A profound criticism ofJung’s thesis can be found in Titus Burckhardt, Modern Science and Traditional Wisdom, in the chapter “Modern Psychology and traditionalwisdom”, pp. 88-10315 Frithjof Schuon ‘Usurpations of religious feeling’ in The Transfiguration of Man, pp. 39-48.49

flower is not merely an association of certainphysical elements that together createa material object, but something thattransmits a permanent state of which theflower is a symbol. The beauty of theflower is a manifestation of an invisiblequality — Beauty as a divine Quality.Beauty becomes a representation of theinfinite within the finite. “To see the infinitein the finite is to see that the flower we seebefore us is eternal, because an eternalspring reaffirms itself in its fragile smile”. 16Likewise, the mountain will be the reflectionof divine Majesty, and the ray of lightthe symbol of the divine Power. By contemplatingthe flower, the mountain, theray or the current of a river we can feel thePresence of God and his distinctQualities. Beauty becomes then a manifestationof the infinite in the finite andevokes the metaphysical transparency ofthe phenomena mentioned above. He orshe who contemplates sees beyond thedual external vision that separates thesubject from the object and can interiorisepositive phenomena into his or her soul.To continue with this metaphor, the externalbeauty of a flower will help whoever16 Schuon, Gnosis; Divine Wisdom, p. 100Ramon Llull’s cave, Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca, Balearic Islands.

contemplates it to undergo a spiritualtransformation that will allow its beauty tobe assimilated and recognised. Thisexternal beauty will thus be an aid andsupport for achieving greater internalbeauty. 17 The beauty of Nature will thereforehave a direct influence on the transformationof the soul.The contemplative vision of the naturalworld can be reinforced via two universalspiritual exercises, pilgrimage and eremitism.Both practices have been performedhere in Montserrat for centuriesand are wonderful ways of cultivating adeep spiritual relationship with nature.Pilgrimages are dynamic events. A trailtakes the pilgrim to a sacred site that isboth a physical place and a representationof the Centre or Origin: the pilgrimageis clearly a symbol for human existence:life viewed traditionally as a peregrinatio.We come from the Origin and return to it.On route to holy sites where a sacredpresence is manifest, pilgrims travelthrough the natural world and enjoy theopportunity to perceive the spiritualdimension of nature and be a part of it.Some of the great pilgrimage routes of thewestern world such as the medieval waysto Saint James of Compostela are stillalive and are –or, at least, should be- atheart journeys of transformation for thesoul based on prayer and the contemplationof one’s natural surroundings. Likewise,a pilgrimage implies certain valuesand spiritual attitudes such as solitude,silence, sobriety, strength and perseverancethat will coalesce in a unique fashionduring the journey. The pilgrim will neverbe the same at the end of the journey if hehas undertaken the pilgrimage in theappropriate frame of mind. 18If a pilgrimage is a dynamic manifestationof spirituality, then a more static manifestationof direct contact with the naturalworld can be found in eremitism. Hermitsclose themselves off from the outsideworld, be it temporarily or permanently,and live a life dedicated to prayer andcontemplation 19 amidst their own personaltemple of nature. The hermit lives thenatural world as a theophanic manifestationof everyday life. Nature becomes theperfect support for the hermit’s inner lifeand helps to achieve the vocation of allhermits —the discovery of God. As is wellknown, eremitism has always been a partof both eastern and western Christianity,from the first century after Christ and onthrough Saint Mary of Egypt and theDesert Fathers. Within the eastern branch17 In this sense, see the marvellous chapter entitled ‘Flowers’ in Lord Northbourne’s Looking Back in Progress, pp. 90-106.18 The recommendations to pilgrims contained in the annual pamphlets published by the Abbey of Montserrat are of great use.19 As a comparison of eremitism with monastic life, few lines as inspired as those of Frithjof Schuon have ever been written: ‘Universalityand actuality of monkhood’ in Light on the ancient worlds pp. 137-155.51

of Christianity it is worth making specialmention of Mount Athos (one of the casestudies in the Delos Initiative) and, in thewest, of the mountain of Montserrat,which was once and one day will be again–it is to be hoped- an important centre oferemitism. The modern world lies at theantipodes of eremitism and does nothingto either understand or encourage it.Nevertheless, we should not forget that inall traditional worlds the most spiritual ofpeople who isolate themselves in the naturalworld and dedicate their life to prayerand contemplation have always been considereda blessing and an essential elementin the well-being of communities.the importance of silence as one of theattitudes that is most needed if anyattempts at reapproaching the naturalworld are to be fruitful. 21 First we must listenin order to be able to hear the birds,the wind, the rushing water of thestreams … This silence must be morethan just a lack of spoken words for if weare lost in the tide of our thoughts, memories,hopes for the future –distracted bymental activity- then we will still not hear.One of the greatest spiritual calamities ofour age is this loss of the silence thatenables us to establish full contact withnature and our inner selves, a loss thathas had many consequences.Achieving the essence of the naturalworld, however, should not be a possibilityreserved only for hermits or pilgrims;rather, it must be a possibility open for allprovided that certain profound spiritualcriteria are taken into account.At the beginning of the twentieth centurythe Sioux author Charles Eastman‘Ohiyesa’ wrote that silence was the“voice of the Great Mystery” 20 , the voiceof God, and it is highly significant thatsilence is one the great absentees fromtoday’s society. To listen, first you have tobe silent. All spiritual disciplines highlightAnother of the important attitudes thatenable us to enjoy fruitful contact withnature is the power of observation, thatis, the ability to concentrate and appreciatewhat it occurring around us. Wehave lost this ability in a world in whichwe are constantly being disturbed by theintensity of everyday life. Living as if wehad no spiritual centre, we are now governedby other, false centres thatdeprive us of the possibility of achievingthe calmness and serenity needed formoments of introspection and selfawareness.Modern society is dependenton qualities that are completely20 Charles Eastman ‘Ohiyesa’. The Soul of an Indian, p. 4.21 We had the opportunity to discuss this point further in our presentation entitled ‘The immaterial values of the natural world’ given atthe Esparc Congress 2005 held in Cangas de Narcea, Spain.52

opposed to observation and thus tocontemplation. This inevitably leads tothe entrenched tendencies of dispersion,superficiality and trivialness thatsurround us today.The periodical need for solitude is anotherof the important attitudes needed inany attempt to renew contact with ourspiritual dimensions. The opportunity toretire to nature must be made availableto everyone and protected areas shouldreserve spaces where this practice canbe carried out.Silence, contemplation and solitude arevital for the perception of the invisible spiritualdimension of nature and without theirpresence it is very difficult to appreciatethe sanctity of the natural world as a manifestationor as an open book in which thework of God can be read.Sacredness can be perceived by mindsthat are accustomed to discerning expressionsof spirituality in the negativeand positive phenomena that occur inthe world. Via daily contemplation of thenatural world we can regain the possibilityof perceiving the divine qualities presentin the manifestation: Beauty, Power,Peace, Purity and Mercy. All form thetranscendental and immanent dimensionsof the Cosmos. Here it is worthrecalling that the root of the word ‘cosmos’is ‘order’ and as such it can beunderstood as a symbol full of the possibilitiesfrequently described in spiritualtexts of the ‘omnipresence of God’.‘Seeing God everywhere’ and ‘seeingeverything in God’ are two complementaryattitudes and the latter is a necessaryconsequence of the former. Both intheir deepest senses imply an awarenessof the essential unity of the divine creationof the world. In the words ofSchuon: “Seeing God everywhere … isjust that: seeing that we are not, and thatonly He is”. 22 Seeing everything in God isalso a way of embodying in our souls thereflections of the divine qualities that arevirtues. This was mentioned above whenwe discussed how the transformation ofthe soul leads to contemplation.Once upon a time in the now distant pastpeople were accustomed to performingregular spiritual exercises. They wouldretire every year for a number of days tothe wilds, away from the world, and prayin silence and solitude. It is no exaggerationto say that today such spiritual exercisesin the western world are nowprincipally the province of monastic communities,although they have not disappearedaltogether.22 Gnosis; Divine Wisdom, p. 124 and the whole chapter: “Seeing God everywhere”, pp.109-126.53

All in all, opportunities to retrieve one’sinner self have been all but lost or arereserved for a small minority: however,the possibility of reaching deep into ourbeings can be enhanced by a spiritualitythat is fully in tune with the natural world.Given that we are here today inMontserrat, we feel it is appropriate toadd that the Church can play an importantrole in this process. By this we donot only mean the importance of a “theologyof the natural world” 23 , a topicmuch discussed in Protestant Christiancircles in the United States, but the vitalneed for a message or a ‘pastoral’ fornature to enable believers to fully appreciatethe profound spiritual dimension ofthe natural world. In recent years therehas been a significant convergence ofideas on the subject and we hope thatthey will continue. Good examples of thisrapprochement are the joint declarationby Pope John Paul II and the OrthodoxPatriarch Bartholomew I 24 and a recentmessage from Pope Benedict XVI 25 ,made during the symposium organisedby the orthodox churches in the Amazon,that underlined the importance of bothan attitude of veneration towards creationand an awareness amongst believersof the need for a spiritual response tothe current ecological crisis.Adam’s Peak, Shhri Lanka, sacred mountain for Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians.

The rediscovery of nature that we areproposing would be incomplete if thespiritual consequences of all of thebanal actions of everyday life were notalso taken into account. We must movetowards a change in mentality -that inturn will bring about a change inlifestyle- via the assumption of newhabits and customs. Greater awarenessof the natural world without any innerchange or change in our souls and waysof life will necessarily only be superficial.The forgotten values of the modernmindset such as sobriety, the control ofthe continual desire for more materialobjects and discipline are all linked tothis change in mentality and a rediscoveryof nature can help bring it about.These values are inherent in the naturalworld and form part of the harmony ofthe universe. Living in harmony means alife with a correct balance between ourinternal and external selves.This harmonious dimension of life has beenlost as we increasingly confuse effects andcauses. We live shallow lives, distancedfrom the primordial mission of man: to actas a ‘pontifex’, the bridge between Heavenand Earth, to represent God, to preserveour principles and to remember theirimportance. In order to achieve this difficulttask we must live in harmony with the naturalworld and if we lose our inner balance,our external aspect will suffer immediately:“Man’s inner self is reflected in his externalorder … When our interiors are full ofdarkness and chaos, the beauty and harmonyof nature in turn also becomesunbalanced and disordered”. 26 If we wantto change the world or, at least, to ensurethat some of the worst manifestations ofthe current crisis abate, then we must firstchange our inner selves. We can changeourselves and this is the essential meaningof any type of spirituality. This is a universalneed that goes beyond the externaldifferences between religions. Only in thisway will a coherent and effective integrationof the spiritual values of protectednatural areas into current ways of thinkingbe possible.23 There are many references to this in the collective work Christianity and Ecology, Dieter T. Hessel and Rosemary Radford Ruether,eds. Neither should we forget the existence in Christianity of the powerful Franciscan current of thought directly connected to a spiritualvision of the nature. See also J. Antonio Guerra for an edition of the work of Saint Francis in Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos andthe connection to Saint Francis in the Christian mystic of nature that goes back to the Desert Fathers (see Edward A. Armstrong). Letus not forget either that Pope John Paul II proclaimed Saint Francis the “patron of the ecologists” in the papal bull Bula Inter Sanctos,29 November 1979.24 “Common Declaration on Environmental Ethics” by Pope John Paul II and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, Rome-Venice,10 June 2002.25 On 6 June 2006 during the symposium “Religion, Science and the Environment Symposium VI: The Amazon River”. See also theaddress by Metropolitan John of Pergamon during the same symposium: Humanity and Nature: Learning from the Indigenous and thedeclaration on the environment by the Australian bishops: Australian Catholic Bishops Statement on the Environment (2002)..26 Seyyed Hossein Nasr. Man and Nature, op. cit., p. 96.55

Bibliography■ Amstrong, E. (1976) Saint Francis: materiales de la naturaleza, CongresoNature, Mystic. The Derivation and Significanceof the Nature Histories in the junio. Actas, Fundación González Ber-Esparc 2005, Cangas de Narcea, 8-12Franciscan Legend, London, UK.náldez, 2006, España.■ Burckhardt, T. (1979) Ciencia Moderna y■ Guerra, J. A. (1978) San Francisco deSabiduría Tradicional, Madrid, Taurus Ediciones,Biblioteca de Estudios Tradi-la época, Madrid, Biblioteca de AutoresAsís. Escritos, biografías y documentos decionales.Cristianos nº 399.■ Eastman “Ohiyesa”, C. (1993) The Soul of■ Hessel, D. T. & Ruether, R.R., ed. (2000)an Indian, Kent Nerburn ed. California, Christianity and Ecology, Nueva York,New World Library, USA.Harvard, USA.■ Eliade, M. (1959) The Sacred and the■ Guénon, R. (1946) La crise du mondeProfane, The Nature of Religion, New York: moderne, París, Gallimard. FranceHarcourt, Brace and World, Inc., USA.■ Midgley, M. (1992) Science as Salvation,■ Ellul, J. (1964) The Technological Society, New York, Routledge, USA.New York, Knopf, USA.■ Nasr, S. H. (1989) Man and Nature,■ Dudley, N., Higgings-Zogib, L. & Mansourian,S. (2005) Beyond Belief: Linking (1997) ABC International Group, Inc.].London, Harper Collins, UK. [Ed. revised:faiths and protected areas to support biodiversityconservation. World Wildlife Fund,■ Nasr, S. H. (1989) Knowledge and theEquilibrium and Alliance of Religions and Sacred, New York, State University of NewConservation.York Press, USA.■ García Varela, J. (2004) Nature and■ Nasr, S. H. (1996) Religion and the OrderTraditional Worlds. Congres Europarc of Nature, New York, Oxford UP, USA.2004, Rosas, Spain.■ Northbourne, Lord (1970) Looking Back in■ García Varela, J. (2005) Los valores in-Progress, Middlesex, Perennial Books, UK.56

■Oldmeadow, H. (2005) The Betrayal ofTradition: Essays on the Spiritual Crisisof Modernity, Bloomington, Indiana,World Wisdom Books, USA.■ Oldmeadow, H. (2003) “The FirmamentSheweth His Handiwork: Re-awakeninga Religious Sense of the Natural Order”en Seeing God Everywhere: Essays OnNature and the Sacred, Barry McDonalded., Bloomington, Indiana, WorldWisdom Books, USA.■ Sherrard, P. (1987) The Rape of Manand Nature, Ipswich, Suffolk, GolgonoozaPress, UK.■ Seattle, Chief (1884)http://www.kyphilom.com/www/seattle.htmlTranslated from the Suquamishdialect of central Puget Sound.■Schuon, F. (1995) The Transfigurationof Man. World Wisdom Books. Bloomington,Indiana, USA.■Pallis, M. (1991) The Way and TheMountain, London, Peter Owen, UK.■ Roszak, T. (1972) Where the WastelandEnds, London, Faber and Faber, UK.■Sherrard, P. (1990) The Sacred in Lifeand Art. New York, Golgonooza Press,USA.■Schuon, F. (1959) Gnosis. DivineWisdom. New edition in 1990 by WorldWisdom Books, Bloomington, Indiana,USA.■ Schuon, F. (1966) Light on the AncientWorlds. New edition in 1984 by WorldWisdom Books, Bloomington, Indiana,USA.57

The reenchantment of natureSpiritual values and the history of protected areas: the Spanish experienceSantos CasadoThe fin du siècle at the end of the nineteenthand beginning of the twentiethcenturies saw western civilisation havingto face up to awkward questions regardingits increasingly evident decadence(Cerezo Galán, 2003); axiomatic of thiswas the crisis in Spain in 1898 caused bydefeat in the war with the United Statesover Cuba and the Philippines. Thisdecadence was as much moral as it wassocial, as people found themselvescaught up in a decomposition of establishedsets of values and in the suddenchanges taking place in an increasinglyindustrial and urban world. An obviousrefuge for many in face of this sickness ofcivilisation was nature, characterised byits permanence, organicity, authenticity,purity and innocence.Nature also provided a base for therenewed spirituality that occurred inmidst of the end-of-century traumas.The epoch of the certainties of positivismwas over: the mid-nineteenthcentury had seen the triumph of thebelief in rationality, science and demonstrable–or in the language of the day,positive– facts, which had provided firmfoundations for cementing the achievementsof a modern society. However, asthe century drew to a close, the solidpositivist bastions began to shudder asthe dry principles of materialist thoughtbegan to be challenged and a somewhatconfused nostalgia for past ideasblossomed. As had happened a centuryearlier with the romanticism that derivedfrom the rationalism of the Enlightenment,new irrationalist spiritual movementsand styles such as Modernism,Symbolism, Nihilism, Theosophy andSpiritualism arose.Even some of the movements of the erathat in appearance were explicitly materialistand anti-religious chose certainphilosophical beliefs founded on conceptsrelating to the natural world toreplace –and in some cases imitate– theold religious beliefs. The Monist philosophyof the German biologist ErnstHaeckel is just one, but perhaps thebest known, of many manifestations ofnature-centered ‘alternatives’ to religionthat can be found in late nineteenth-< Tower Falls, painting by Thomas Moran, ca. 1875 (fragment).59

century European thought. In the caseof Spain, a good example of this trend isthat of the biologist Odón de Buen, amaterialist with pronounced anti-clericalideas. It is “to nature”, writes Buen,“that I pay fervent homage and wherehuman knowledge must find its inspirationif it is not to leave the orbit in whichhuman thought must move” (Buen,1890, page XVI). As a scientist, hismotivation was allegedly to be able tooffer “a sumptuous temple to Progress”(Buen, [1896-1897], page 8). His contemporary,Ramón y Cajal, Nobel prizewinnerfor Physiology or Medicine in1906, also fantasised about the “greatchurch of nature whose roof is the bluesky, whose light is the sun and whosealtar is the soil” (Ramón y Cajal, 1899).The reenchantment of the worldThe return to nature, the growing appreciationof its most majestic and savagemanifestations and the plans to createprotected areas can all be seen as partof an attempt to halt the consequencesof encroaching modernity, which wassometimes described as the “disenchantmentof the world” after a phraseapparently used by Max Weber during alecture on “Science as a Vocation” atMunich University in 1918.Naturally, as we have already commented,from a certain point of view this was merelya revival of the romantic reaction to themodern world that had already occurred acentury earlier. Some of these latter-dayromantics, as we will see shortly, were forerunnersof this rediscovery of the spiritualand romantic values inherent in the naturalworld. “As any student of Romanticismrecognizes, there are good reasons forthinking that in a secularized era like ourown, some part of that ostensibly aestheticattachment to ‘nature’, or to natural phenomena,is an expression of repressed,sublimated, or somehow redirected religiousfeelings” (Marx, 1999, page 325).According to this view, religious inspirationand aesthetic emotion are closely related inthe common appreciation in situ of the naturalworld in its wildness. The influence ofaesthetics can be seen in the emergenceof modern environmental awareness and,above all, in the origins of protected areas.Aesthetics act on an emotional plane viafeelings of awe, admiration and reverenceand inject a feeling of belonging and asense of identity, often in the form ofnationalism, as well as thoughts of transcendenceand, for some, religious communion,into our relationships with naturalspaces.It is interesting to note how this injection ofairs of spirituality into the rude materialismof the industrial age has been used by60

oth detractors and defenders of religiousauthority. The former look for freer formsof religious practice and thus to someextent promote secularism by questioningthe moral and intellectual hegemony ofthe established churches. The latter, onthe other hand, react to all attempts atsecularisation by renewing and –if necessary–adapting the preponderant role ofreligious belief and obedience as the ultimateorigin of individual moral consciousnessand of the whole social and politicalorder.In the mid-nineteenth century Emersonand New England Transcendentalists,stubborn defenders of religious freedomand implacable critics of the establishedorder, believed that in the natural worldthey had found the way to restore contactwith the divine. Henry David Thoreau’sWalden (1854), which was to become oneof the ‘holy texts’ of the world ecologicalmovement, is undoubtedly the bestexample of this way of thinking. Thoreau,who despised the “restless, nervous,bustling, trivial Nineteenth Century”(Thoreau, 1854, 1939 edition, page 331),found true wisdom in the gaze of a partridge’schick:“The remarkable adult yetinnocent expression of theiropen and serene eyes is verymemorable. All intelligenceseems reflected in them. Theysuggest not merely the purityof infancy, but a wisdom clarifiedby experience. Such aneye was not born when thebird was, but is coeval with thesky it reflects”(Thoreau, 1854, 1939 edition,page 230).John Muir, another of the lay saints of theecological movement, combined apredilection for the wild with a profoundsense of religious feeling forged by anstrict Calvinist upbringing in his nativeScotland that continued to influence histhinking after he emigrated to the UnitedStates in 1849. There he developed hisradical and pioneering conservationistthought, founded upon a vehement admirationand deep respect for the wild naturalworld. For Muir nature was amanifestation of the character and theglory of God and as such was worthy ofdevotion and protection as a means ofglorifying the Lord and saving mortalsouls. The thoughtless destruction andrapacious exploitation of nature werenothing but sin and depravation (Williams,2002).Meanwhile, in Spain new styles of religiousmanifestations were also to befound in the development and emer-61

gence of a new awareness of the naturalworld.Few would deny Francisco Giner de losRíos, frequently thought of as the leadingfigure in the Spanish philosophical currentknown as Krausism, the merit of havingbeen one of the first thinkers in Spain topreach a love for nature. His whole work,as well the ‘Institución Libre deEnseñanza’ (Free Education Institution) hecreated in 1876, was characterised by aradical desire to promote freedom ofthought, which was clearly at odds withthe desire of the Catholic church to prolongits role as Spain’s dominant intellectualand moral guiding force. Giner de losRíos’ religious beliefs were undoubtedlyheterodox, but were still nonethelessdeeply held and consubstantial with hisprojects and work. As is recognisedtoday, Giner and the staff and children ofthe Institución Libre de Enseñanza weresome of the first people to hike throughthe mountains of the Sierra deGuadarrama north of Madrid for pleasure:their first experiences in the 1880s leftindelible memories etched in their minds.On a summit at sunset, “to our eyes NewCastille was tinged pink; the purple sunMonastery of San Juan de la Peña, Natural Monument of National Interest, Aragon, Spain.

hid behind Siete Picos, which, mergedwith the mountains of Riofrío into a singlemass, turned pure violet with a delicatewhite glaze and cast a deep shadow overthe flat valley of Segovia, dark and livid asif the ancient lake that once covered thevalley was still there.” Behind Giner de losRíos’ contemplation of this sunset lies afeeling of communion with nature. “I donot recall ever before having experiencedsuch a deep, solemn or truly religious feelingof spiritual absorption” (Giner de losRíos, 1886).Nevertheless, the founder of the Spanishnational park system was neither Ginernor any of his disciples, but the aristocratPedro Pidal, staunchly monarchic andCatholic in his ways. His version of thecommunion with nature originated from avery different source from Giner’s, for Pidalhad visited the United States and had witnessedthe wonders of Yosemite andYellowstone. He wrote very revealingly inexaltation of the “national parks or sanctuariesto the natural world, where theAmerican people are aroused by the eternalbeauty of the landscapes and the sublimedelights of the forest, meadows androcks, true temples to our Lord. Here,they oxygenate their souls and lungs andfind the strength to continue their jobs inthe large cities surrounded by buildingstwenty, thirty, forty and even fifty storeyshigh” (Pidal, 191, page 51). Nature wasthus a temple for regenerating both thespiritual and physical health –the ‘soul’and the ‘lungs’ – of the men of the twentiethcentury, all potential victims of thedehumanising ultra-urban modern industrialsociety characterised by the skyscrapersof New York and Chicago.However, his ideas should not be taken asa criticism or a questioning of the socialmodel of the time; rather Pidal was offeringa remedy or a cure. His aim was torestore the inspirational effects of contactwith nature as part of a therapy for modernman that would allow him to restorehis ‘strength’ and thus be able to return tohis rightful place.If any doubt remained, Pidal goes on tosay: “the religion of nature contrastsgreatly with the religion of the cities [and]the NATIONAL PARKS not only provide away of appreciating nature, but also helpus to value the urban life that so absorbsus as the centre of society and our work”(Pidal, 1919, page 52).As a Senator, Pedro Pidal was responsiblefor the first Spanish national park law (1916),which set up in 1918 two national parks,Montaña de Covadonga in the region of thePicos de Europa (provinces of Asturias andLeón) and Valle de Ordesa, in the Pyrenees(Huesca province). The two metaphors hechose to describe these parks reflect perfectlyhis ideas as described above:63

“Montaña de Covadonga, true Olympus ofthe gods, and Valle de Ordesa, true paradisein the heart of the Pyrenees” (Pidal, 1919,page 54).Natural sanctuariesIf the creation of the first protected areascan be seen as part of an attempt toachieve a certain reenchantment of theworld, then it is logical to expect that theactual choice of sites to protect shouldtake into account the dimension providedby spiritual and religious elements: thisnew idea of protecting the most majesticand wildest parts of the natural world as away of safeguarding their ability to regeneratepersonal experiences would be evenmore effective if there was already a site ofspiritual inspiration in the area.Thus, the first formal (but initially unsuccessful)proposal in Spain to create a protectedarea was made by a Catalan,Rafael Puig i Valls, a forest engineer ofgreat prestige and well known for his greatlove for trees. He attempted to propagatehis ideas through education and innovativecivic events such as collective treeplantings and at one such event, the‘Fiesta del Árbol’ in 1902 in Barcelona,organised by one of the many associationof friends of the trees that existed thenthroughout Spain, he proposed for thefirst time the protection of the mountain ofMontserrat. The national park which Puigi Valls conceived for this “jewel” and “wonder”of nature could be justified by the factthat Montserrat was “an ideal for thepious, a marvel for the naturalist, a prodigyfor the true believer and a monumentfor the patriot” (Puig y Valls, 1902, page45) or, to put it another way, a repositoryof faith, science, beauty and nationalism.In other words, it was not only theamazing jagged outline of the mountainthat was behind the proposal, forMontserrat was, above all, a centre ofspirituality laden with powerful patrioticsymbols. At the turn of the century, in aclimate of regeneration exacerbated bythe disastrous war of 1898, many triedto revitalise the collective soul of thenation. In addition, in Catalonia, as inother urban industrial settings, the tensionscaused by the juxtaposition ofgreat economic growth and the appearanceof an uprooted but combativeworking class were to some deeply worrying.To this we can add a broad-basedresurgence in Catalan nationalism datingback a number of years that aimed,amongst other things, to rediscover thecountry through an active outing andhiking movement. As we argued above,for some one of the possible solutionsto this mixture of fears and worries, to alarge degree part of a widely shared64

perception of a crisis in the westernworld, could be found in nature. Themoralising force of contact with naturewas seen as a source of patriotic identity,civic values and spiritual elevationand it is in this light that the rhetoric withwhich Puig i Valls formulated his proposalsshould be seen.In the same way as Pidal trusted theparks to oxygenate “the soul andlungs”, for Puig i Valls, another conservationistahead of his time, Montserratcould provide physical and moral health“for those who are worn out by thedemands of life and who need to reinvigoratetheir bodies and re-idealisetheir souls”. They would be able to doso in “a place for regenerating life, withpure air that will slake the thirst we allfeel on contemplating our country’snoblest monuments and on seeing whatour natural heritage is and should be.”Just like Muir, Puig i Valls established alink between the admiration for and careof nature, as well as a religious sense ofmoral elevation and, even, salvation. Toput it another way, “whoever despisesor vilifies the works of nature corruptsthe divine reason for things and divertsman from his road to religion, science,art and that great synthesis of life, theneed to be intelligent and good on Earthand perfect in a better world” (Puig yValls, 1902, page 45).Although Montserrat was the object of thefirst proposal for protection, the first areato receive effective protection was in factCovadonga in the Picos de Europa. Thiswas due as much to the undeniable beautyof its landscapes and the attractionPidal felt for these mountains in the heartof his native Asturias (Fernández, 1998),as to a strategic choice of one of the mostpowerful emotive symbols in Spain,resplendent with nationhood, traditionand religion.Indeed, the declaration of the NationalPark left no room for doubts: the text ofthe law spoke above all of the celebrationof the 1200 years since the beginning ofthe Christian Reconquest at the battle ofCovadonga. Various artistic, educationaland cultural acts were proposed to markthe occasion, as well as the declaration ofthe ‘Parque Nacional de la Montaña deCovadonga’ (Ley, 1918). When a subsequentroyal decree created the ParqueNacional del Valle de Ordesa, the preambleof the text stated explicitly the ideathat “these mountains and valleys shouldpreserve the unique landscape of theNation, in its primitive natural state as areminder of its origins and a living witnessof its traditions” (Real Decreto, 1918).Thus, it was made clear that, aside fromscientific conservation, the protection ofnatural resources and the promotion oftourism, one of the main objectives of this65

decree was the renewal of man’s contactwith nature and tradition as a means tospiritual, civic and patriotic inspiration andregeneration that all, from the most conservativeto the most liberal, agreed wasnecessary. The decree was clear in its aim“to encourage people to visit the countryside,so important for the revitalisation ofthe race, the improving of certain customsand the pursuit of science” (Real Decreto,1918).On occasion of the declaration of thesefirst two national parks, Pidal continued todiscuss his general ideas regarding thevirtues of nature as moral and social therapy.“Nature, splendid, exuberant andwild,” he wrote, “is a necessary contrastor counterpart to the excessively artificialand urban lives we lead” (Pidal 1919,page 55). Likewise, almost following tothe letter the words of the declaration ofCovadonga, which were in part inspiredby his writings, he emphasises his specialpredilection for Covadonga, with its combinationof emotionally charged elementsof natural, religious and historical significance.“In the Parque Nacional de la Montaña deCovadonga Nature reveals herself as aunique and sublime framework in whichthe hopes of our Religion merge with thememories of our History and theSanctuary celebrates its union with theGreat Crusade in a cave. The immortalityin the contemplation of Beauty –Religion–seems to derive from the Rebirth andReconquest of Spain, discoverer andconqueror of worlds –History–...” (Pidal,1934, page 5).The 1916 National Park Law was executedvia the 1917 Royal Decree, which alsoforesaw the possibility of applying a differentbut lesser degree of protection knownas a National Site (Sitio Nacional).However, this new figure of protectionwas only ever employed in the case of theSitio Nacional del Monte de San Juan dela Peña, a monastery situated in thePyrenees of Huesca. The site was and is“a splendid forest of pines, beeches,yews, limes and other trees, with a beautifulunderstorey of holly”, which, furthermore,possesses an “imposing series ofPalaeocene conglomerate cliffs, broadlyconcave and with an ancient and sacredmonastery hidden away under a rockyoverhang” (Hernández-Pacheco, 1933,page 33). The ancient monastery of SanJuan de la Peña, closely associated with apast hermitic tradition, dates from theheight of the Middle Ages and owes itsorigins to the Kingdom of Aragon, whosefirst kings chose this holy place as theirpantheon.It is indicative that the protected sitesof Covadonga and San Juan de la66

Peña should both revolve around acave in a cliff, as if fate through theintervention of some divine commandhad wanted to emphasise the origin ofthese two Christian kingdoms in thevery mother rock of the Earth itself.Covadonga is the name given to theholy cave in a limestone cliff where,according to tradition, King Pelayo hidan image of the holy Virgin. Later,walls were erected to complete anenclosure that would protect theVirgin and, subsequently, the tombs ofPelayo and Alfonso, the first kings ofAsturias. The name ‘San Juan de laPeña’ is another geological reference:the old monastery is encrusted in acave beneath a cliff (‘peña’) and arocky overhang, both protective andthreatening, that also forms part of itsroof. The cave has been further excavatedand so from the outside the visiblehuman structure seems to consistof nothing other than a small facadeclosing off a natural cavity, as if in itshumbleness it was offering thanks tothe mountain for the protection it provides.The monastery also provides aresting place for the remains of thefirst kings of Aragon.San Bartolomé, Ojo de Guareña Natural Monument, Castilla y León, Spain.

The secularisation of conservationNevertheless, despite the above, it shouldnot be thought that the spiritual side ofnature was the only or even most importantreason behind the first conservationistideas in Spain. Various other types ofconservationist thought existed at thesame time that accepted the concept ofnatural spaces as beneficial for modernman, but emphasised those elements thattoday we might call secular, civil or social.These non-spiritual conceptions beganslowly to gain importance and today arepreponderant.Thus, if the conservationist thought of theCatalan Puig i Valls at the end of the nineteenthcentury lies very much within theframework of the cultural movementknown as Modernism, then in the first thirdof the twentieth century there were otherconservationist ideas afoot that, to simplify,were associated with the Noucentistemovement promoted by the Catalan culturalelite. A good example was that of Cebriàde Montoliu and his followers in theSociedad Cívica La Ciudad Jardín, wholaunched a proposal in 1914 for “protectingour natural and artistic monuments, aboveall the former” whose “aesthetic, health,social, cultural and even scientific” importancewas emphasised above all else withoutany thought of mentioning spiritualvalues (Güell & Montoliu, 1915).In Montoliu’s proposal, part of series ofwide-ranging ideas on urban development,a more technical language callingfor territorial planning based on rationaleconomic and social criteria replaced theprevious romantic exhalations andgrandiloquent notions of sacred templesand sanctuaries. It is no coincidence thatMontoliu’s source of inspiration was notso much the American model “of suchgreat proportions”, but the European, andin particular the German, way of doingthings as embodied by the Prussian officefor the protection of natural monumentsand its efficient if “complicated Germantechnicalities” (Güell & Montoliu, 1915).Inspired by this model, Montoliu arguedfor the setting up in the province ofBarcelona of a “plan for forest reserves”whose aim was to “guarantee for thegrowing urban centres sufficient healthand leisure spaces, for the country’s fieldshealthy and regular rivers and rains, andfor our science and art the conservation ofthe natural monuments of most interest”(Güell & Montoliu, 1915). In other words,protected areas were to become part ofsocial, economic and cultural politics.A similar comparison can be drawnbetween Pidal and the proposals ofEduardo Hernández-Pacheco, a geologistlinked to the Institución Libre deEnseñanza of Giner de los Ríos and politicallyactive in republican –and mostly68

anti-clerical– circles. Hernández-Pachecowas the spokesperson for the JuntaCentral de Parques Nacionales (CentralNational Park Authority), a body createdto execute the law of 1916 that was headedby Pidal. Pacheco argued for a wideningof conservationist politics by means ofthe introduction of other, more modesttypes of protected areas in tune withEuropean models. He was successful andin 1927 a Royal Order ordained the creationof new types of protected spacesknown as Sitio Natural de Interés Nacional(Natural Site of National Interest) andMonumento Natural de Interés Nacional(Natural Monument of National Interest),which were subsequently applied to over adozen different sites scattered throughoutmainland Spain (Casado de Otaola, 2000).Pacheco’s plans differed in technicaldetails from those of Pidal. Firstly, heaimed to use a more scientific vision, farmore aware of a great variety of naturalvalues, to broaden protection criteria.Secondly, he was more realistic and modestin his ideas and tried to circumvent thepolitical and economic conflicts that hadarisen with the declaration of the firstnational parks, which had been mistakenlytaken to be virgin territory, free of anyhuman economic interests (Casado deOtaola, 2000). His plans also differed inasmuchas they associated conservationwith cultural, civic and democratic valuesinstead of with the old religious and patrioticideals. These lay ideas came to thefore, above all, during the early 1930s withthe advent of the new republican regime.In 1931 at the time of the change frommonarchy to republic, Hernández-Pachecowas preparing the first publicationof a series entitled ‘Guide to the NaturalSites of National Interest’. On its cover, heopportunistically wrote:“This book on Spanish nature, publishedby the Ministerio de Fomento, was begunwhen Spain still laboured under the yokeof the monarchy; it was finished when thesun of liberty began to shine through andthe Republic was born, serene andstrong, in our nation. All those who haveworked on this guide are happy to be ableto freely express here their enthusiasm forthe Spanish Republic” (Hernández-Pacheco, 1931).Pacheco achieved the protection ofNatural Monument of National Interest in1930 for a strangely shaped rock outcropin the Sierra de Guadarrama in theprovince of Madrid; his aim was to associatethe site with the Archpriest of Hita,author of the famous book El Libro delbuen amor, in which the Sierra is depicted.The rock in question was hereafterreferred to as La Peña del Arcipreste deHita (Rock of the Archpriest of Hita). Anumber of commemorative inscriptions69

were carved on the rocks and a ceremonyheld in situ was addressed by RamónMenéndez Pidal: in terms of their associationwith protected areas, the saintsand heroes of the past were now beingreplaced by figures of national culturalsignificance. As already mentioned,Pacheco was a geologist and logicallywas also interested in including scienceamongst the long list of important nationalcultural symbols and as such, he instigatedthe building of Fuente de losGeólogos, a spring located in the Sierrade Guadarrama adorned with a simplemonument dedicated to four notable scientists,Prado, Macpherson, Quirogaand Calderón. The inscription dedicatedto these “sowers of culture and love fornature” can still be read today. Thespring was inaugurated in 1932 with aceremony at which the socialist JuliánBesteiro, President of the RepublicanParliament and the second-ranking statedignitary (and also close to theInstitución Libre de Enseñanza), waspresent.Obviously, the whole picture changedafter the Civil War. Continuing with thecase of Spain as an example of the his-Lakes of Covadonga, Covadonga National Park, Asturias, Spain.

torical evolution of protected areas, it isinteresting to note that Franco’s regimen,despite its notable religiosity and profuseideological use of the Catholic religion,seems not to have attempted to use religiousmotives to justify the half dozen orso new national parks it declared over aperiod of 30 years.The secularisation of conservation, aparaphrase of a expression used by theFrench science historian Pascal Acot(Acot, 1988, page 40), was consolidatedafter the end of Franco’s regime. Fromthe 1980s onwards conservation in generaland protected areas in particularmake a giant leap forward, above all withthe transfer of jurisdiction to the newregional autonomous communities.Although specific studies are lacking, itcould be said that during this period ofexpansion of conservationist ideas, scientificarguments based on objective criteriacame to the fore in the theory and practiceof protected areas, even if other criteria andfactors were still operating at the sametime. Although references to cultural manifestationswere often cited as being ofimportance, these generally referred tomaterial elements such as popular architecture,handicrafts or agricultural landscapesand today the language ofconservation seems to leave little room forany symbolic or spiritual concepts.Nevertheless, the possibility that someprotected areas are still being declaredwith spiritual concepts in mind cannot beruled out. On occasions, for example, thecreation of the Parc Natural de laMuntanya de Montserrat in 1987, theseconcepts are explicit, although even inthis obvious case the rules and regulationsof the protected area are not particularlysensitive to the spiritual dimensionsof the site (Josep-Maria Mallarach, pers.com., 2006). In other cases of recentlydeclared protected areas, there is norecognition at all of the spiritual dimension,whose relationship with the protectedarea in question is at best a side-effectof the protection of other more tangiblevalues with which they coincide. It seemsthat modern aesthetic and scientific criterianow and again rediscover the verysites that are also important to traditionalconcepts of spirituality.Spiritual and natural values often coincidein caves and grandiose cliffs that havebeen conferred religious or patrioticimportance: a good example is OjoGuareña in the north of the province ofBurgos, declared a Natural Monument bythe Castilla y León regional government in1996. Its protected status is justifiedessentially by the presence of a karsticcave system, apparently the largest inSpain, whose sheer size has only recentlybeen fully revealed by fresh explorations.71

However, the caves that are visible to theoutside world have for time immemorialbeen a focus of popular interest, centredabove all in recent centuries on the chapelof San Bernabé (formerly dedicated toSan Tirso) that occupies the entrance toone of the caves. This building, whoseimportance to local people is palpableduring the famous annual pilgrimage, isalso symbolically associated with civilauthority due to the fact that the localtown council once held its meetings in thecave, which was also used to store themunicipal archives. The chapel’s religioustradition dates back to the height of theMiddle Ages, although there is a spiritualcontinuum going even further back in timein the form of cave paintings and inscriptionsfrom various epochs that depict prehistoricalbeliefs and practices. In terms ofwhat might be called its civil symbolism,the name of the local municipality–Merindad de Sotoscueva (“under thecave”)– is eloquent testimony of a significantlocal identity and its important historicalpast: the seven merindades of OldCastile were in fact the original medievalnucleus of the powerful kingdom ofCastile.Visits to this Natural Monument are centredon the chapel and its cave, althoughrecently a small part of the undergroundcave system has been opened up to thegeneral public. The emblem or logo of thesite depicts, as logic dictates, its bestknownsymbol, the façade of the chapel.The amount of attention paid –or rathernot paid– to the religious significance ofthe site in the official information on thisprotected area is extremely revealing. Inboth the official exhibition and audio-visualdisplay in the information centre, Casadel Monumento, opened in 2006 inQuintanilla del Rebollar, as well as in theofficial information brochure published bythe Castilla y León regional government(no date, c. 2004), there is only thebriefest of mentions of the chapel and itsimportance and no discussion of any ofthe religious, spiritual or symbolic aspectsof its history. In addition, in the leaflet onthe site entitled Cueva y Ermita de SanBernabé published by the regional governmentin 2004, references to the chapelare superficial and few and far between:indeed, the question “Why protect OjoGuareña?” posed in the leaflet isanswered purely in terms of geological,archaeological and biological concepts,with no mention of the chapel and itsassociated traditions.Yet, this is no isolated case. In Australia asin Spain “in park services western scientificthought predominates and promotes anormalised secular vision of the landscape”that leads to a “tacit assumptionthat protected areas have no religious or72

spiritual significance” (Byren et al., 2006,pp. 112 and 103). This is all the more surprisinggiven that groups of Australians,both aboriginal and non-aboriginal, aremaintaining or establishing spiritual linkswith certain landscapes and natural elementsthat are often located in protectedareas.Following on from the ideas, words andactions of the nineteenth century, whenwestern culture entered into crisis as aresult of an excessively secular andtechnical society, perhaps with theadvent of this new millennium it is nowtime to evaluate the possibilities thatremain of reenchanting the world, albeitpartially, and the help that nature canlend us in this task.References■ Byrne, D, H. Goodall, S. Wearing & A.Cadzow (2006) Enchanted Parklands.Australian Geographer 37, pp. 103-115.■Casado de Otaola, S. (2000) Introduction.In Eduardo Hernández-Pacheco, LaComisaría de Parques Nacionales y laprotección de la naturaleza en España,pp. III-XXX. Facsimile edition, OrganismoAutónomo Parques Nacionales, Madrid.■Cerezo Galán, P. (2003) El mal delsiglo. El conflicto entre Ilustración yRomanticismo en la crisis finiseculardel siglo XIX. Biblioteca Nueva, Madrid,797 pp.■Fernández, J. (1998) El hombre dePicos de Europa. Pedro Pidal, marquésde Villaviciosa: fundador de losParques Nacionales, Caja Madrid,Madrid, 334 pp.■Acot, P. (1988) Histoire de l’écologie.Presses Universitaires de France, Paris,285 pp.■Giner de los Ríos, F. (1886) Paisaje. LaIlustración Artística 219, pp. 91-92, and220, pp. 103-104.■ Buen, O. de (1890) Tratado elemental deGeología. Establecimiento Tipográfico-Editorial “La Academia”, Barcelona, 16 +391 pp.■Güell, J.A. & C. Montoliu (1915) Para laprotección de los monumentos naturalesy artísticos, particularmente los primeros.Civitas 5, pp. 129-137.■Buen, O. de (1896-1897) HistoriaNatural. Manuel Soler, Barcelona, 2 volumes,24 + 896 pp. and 16 + 1035 pp.■ Hernández-Pacheco, E. (1931) Sierra deGuadarrama. Junta de Parques Nacionales,Madrid, 109 pp.73

■Hernández-Pacheco, E. (1933) LaComisaría de Parques Nacionales y laprotección de la naturaleza en España.Comisaría de Parques Nacionales,Madrid, 57 pp.■ Junta de Castilla y León (no date, c.2004) Monumento Natural Ojo Guareña.Junta de Castilla y León, [no place of publication],leaflet.■ Junta de Castilla y León (2004) Cueva yErmita de San Bernabé. Ojo Guareña.Junta de Castilla y León, [Burgos], leaflet.■Ley [de] veintidós de Julio de mil novecientosdieciocho [de conmemoración delXX Centenario de la Reconquista]. Gacetade Madrid 24 Julio 1918, p. 227.de Covadonga, pp. 5-10. Comisaría deParques Nacionales, Madrid.■ Puig y Valls, R. (1902) Discurso leído porD. Rafael Puig y Valls, Ingeniero Jefe delDistrito Forestal de Barcelona, Gerona yBaleares. In Crónica de la Fiesta del Árbolen España, pp. 44-47. Imprenta de laCasa Provincial de Caridad, Barcelona■ Ramón y Cajal, S. (1899) Reglas y consejossobre investigación biológica.Imprenta de Fortanet, Madrid, 122 pp.■ Real Decreto [de] dieciséis de Agosto demil novecientos dieciocho [de creacióndel Parque Nacional del Valle de Ordesa].Gaceta de Madrid 18 Agosto 1918, pp.493-494.■Marx, L. (1999) Environmental Degradationand the Ambiguous Social Role ofScience and Technology. In: J. K.Conway, K. Keniton & L. Marx, [eds.],Earth, Air, Fire, Water. Humanistic Studiesof the Environment, pp. 320-338.University of Massachusetts Press,Amherst.■ Thoreau, H. D. (1854) Walden. 1939 edition,The Heritage Press, New York, 335pp.■ Williams, D.C. (2002) God’s Wilds: JohnMuir’s Vision of Nature. Texas A & MUniversity Press, College Station, 14 +246 pp.■Pidal, P. (1919) Política al alcance detodos. Imp. de Ramona Velasco, Viuda deP. Pérez, Madrid, 103 pp.■ Pidal, P. (1932) Prólogo. In: J. DelgadoÚbeda, El Parque Nacional de la Montaña74

Sant Bartomeu, a millennial area of hermitages, Montsant Natural Park, Catalonia, Spain.

Protecting Sacred Natural Sites of Indigenous andTraditional PeoplesGonzalo Oviedo and Sally JeanrenaudIntroductionIdeas of the spiritual and sacred are notnew within conservation paradigms. Earlyconservationists were often inspired andawed by what they termed ’the wisdom ofwilderness’, and ‘the infinite capacity ofnature to uplift the human spirit’. Such valueswere frequently invoked and appealedto in the early protected areas movement.However, although early conservationefforts were undertaken ‘for the benefit ofall mankind’, as part of the ‘universalhuman heritage’, the sacred natural siteswere either overlooked or alienated fromtheir traditional owners as they wereassimilated into official protected areas.The rekindling of interest in the spiritualwithin conservation paradigms does notpreclude scientific knowledge orapproaches. Nature is, of course, ‘a system’that can be studied, understood,and protected. It is also ‘a set ofresources’ which are to be sustainablyand equitably managed. But, it can becontemplated in other ways which may bemore significant to people. It is a mystery,beyond the bounds of contemporary science,which engenders awe; a source ofpleasure to be enjoyed; a creative powerto be praised – and more. Nature’s manydimensions provide opportunities toengage with people in other meaningfulways.IUCN has been working for some time forthe protection of sacred natural sites,through its Secretariat offices and its TaskForce on Cultural and Spiritual Values ofProtected Areas of the World Commissionon Protected Areas, and involving a widerange of partners, globally and nationally –government agencies, indigenous andcommunity organizations, inter-governmentalbodies, and others.Sacred natural sites are natural areas ofspecial spiritual significance to peoplesand communities. They include naturalareas recognized as sacred by indigenousand traditional peoples, as well as naturalareas recognized by institutionalized religionsor faiths as places for worship andremembrance. Many sacred sites havesurvived for hundreds of years and act asimportant biodiversity reservoirs. However,their contribution to conservation< Central pole of the Sun Dance lodge, Crow /Absaroka Indian Reservation, Montana,USA.77

has been largely overlooked and undervaluedby state and conservation agencies,policies and laws, and currentlymany of such sites face difficult threatswhich may not be overcome by the effortsof their traditional owners and managersalone. A concerted international effort isneeded to support effective protection ofthe world’s sacred natural sites.The growing appreciation of the contributionof sacred natural sites to environmentalprotection has prompted renewedinterest in them as tools for bioculturalconservation. IUCN’s Vth World Congresson Protected Areas (Durban, September2003) paid close attention to the issueand produced relevant outputs and recommendations,which were reaffirmed atthe 3rd IUCN World ConservationCongress (Bangkok, November 2004).These have been followed by several fieldand policy actions; two of which are theProject Conservation of Biodiversity RichSacred Natural Sites of Indigenous andTraditional Peoples, and The Delos Initiativefor the Protection of Sacred NaturalSites in Developed Countries.IUCN and Sacred SitesIUCN – The World Conservation Unionhas been working for some time for theprotection of sacred natural sites. Its interestin the subject emerged in the contextof highlighting non-material values of protectedareas; this work led to the realizationthat many sacred sites had beenintegrated in formally declared protectedareas, due to their biodiversity, ecosystemand aesthetic values, and that such integration,however, had often happened atthe expense of the interests of the livingcultures linked to the sites, and of therights and interests of the traditional siteowners and users. At the same time,IUCN was involved in many field activitiesthat supported the conservation of specificsacred sites.Following the UNESCO InternationalSymposium on Natural Sacred Sites(Paris, 1998), where IUCN and WWFamong others were represented, theseorganizations started discussing optionsto develop collaborative work for the protectionof sacred natural sites, building ontheir field experience, IUCN’s work on culturaland spiritual values of protectedareas, and WWF’s experience in workingwith major faiths. Both organizationsagreed that a new policy approach and amore systematic action were required.The process that followed is describedlater in this paper.IUCN’s work on sacred sites is done fromits Secretariat offices in several regions,and its World Commission on Protected78

Areas (WCPA), specifically its Task Forceon Cultural and Spiritual Values ofProtected Areas (CSVPA). IUCN workswith a range of partners and members,globally and nationally – governmentagencies, indigenous and communityorganizations, faith-based groups, intergovernmentalbodies, and others.What is a sacred natural site?Sacred sites 1 may be defined as areas ofspecial spiritual significance to peoplesand communities. They may include primarilynatural areas (such as forests orrivers), or primarily built or monumentalareas (such as temples). IUCN focuses onareas which are primarily natural, as theylink to its mission, but generally supportsthe cause of conserving both monumentaland natural sacred sites as valuable elementsof human cultures.For the purposes of this paper and ofIUCN’s work, sacred natural sites may bedefined as areas of land or water havingspecial spiritual significance to peoplesand communities. Many of such sacrednatural sites are areas of great importancefor the conservation of biodiversity. In fact,very often the reasons for protecting thespiritual connections between people andthe earth, and for conserving biodiversityin their lands, are inseparable 2 .The sacramental relationship withnatureAs a result of spiritual beliefs, many traditionalcommunities throughout the worldhave given a special status to natural sitessuch as mountains, rivers, lakes, caves,forest groves, coastal waters and entireislands. Many of these have been setaside as sacred places. The reasons fortheir sacredness are diverse. They may beperceived as abodes of deities andancestral spirits; as sources of healingwater and plants; places of contact withthe spiritual, or communication with the‘more-than-human’ reality; and sites ofrevelation and transformation. They aresometimes temple sites, the burialgrounds of ancestors, places of pilgrimage,or sites associated with specialevents. Particular plant and animalspecies may also be considered assacred by some communities. While1 This definition is a working concept proposed only for the purposes of this paper and for facilitating an operationalunderstanding of the issues.2 Oviedo, G. (2001) ‘Notes on the Panel’s Presentations and Discussions’. Symposium on the Importance of theProtection of Sacred Natural Sites (SNS) for the Conservation of Biodiversity. Mexico City, June 12, 2001. WWFInternational. Gland, Switzerland.79

Box 1. Sacred Mountains: The ‘Dragon Hills’ of Yunnan Province, China.The Dai (T’ai), an indigenous ethnic group in South-West China, inhabit theXishuangbanna region in Yunnan Province. According to their traditional conceptsa Holy Hill or Nong is a forested hill where gods reside. All the plants andanimals that inhabit the Holy Hills are either companions of the gods or sacredliving things in god’s garden. The Dai also believe that the spirits of great andrevered chieftains go to the Holy Hills to live, following their departure from theworld of the living. Their management of the Holy Hills through informal and informalnorms, ethical rules and spiritual beliefs has resulted in biodiversity and habitatconservation within the area. There are hundreds of well preserved seasonalrainforest areas, which are characterised by species of Antiaris, Pouteria,Canarium, and others. A large number of endemic or relic species of the localflora have also been protected, including about 100 species of medicinal plantsand more than 150 economically useful plants. The large number of forestedHoly Hills distributed throughout the region form hundreds of ‘green islands’. Thispattern could help the natural reserves, which were established by the state governmentin recent years, by exchanging genes and playing the role of ‘steppingstones’ for the flow of genetic materials (Pei Shengji. 1999. ‘The Holy Hills of theDai’. In UNEP, 1999).many of the sacred natural sites have historicalsignificance, they are not static intime or space; new sites can be created inresponse to changing circumstances andenvironment.people, such as priests or pilgrims 3 . InMaharashtra in India, customs relating tothe management of sacred groves are setdown by priests with knowledge of forestdeities and their influence on life.Access to sacred natural sites is oftentaboo and restricted to a small circle ofAncient folklore and stories are toldwhich include details on the supernat-3 Schaaf, T. (1999) ‘Environmental Conservation based on Sacred Sites’. In UNEP (1999): op.cit.80

Box 2. Sacred Seas: Customary Maori FisheriesIn Maori culture all elements of the natural world originate from the gods, and arethus imbued with mana atua - the presence and the power of gods. Fish, like allliving things, are possessed of mauri – the physical life force. The fisheries aremahinga kai – places of customary food gathering, and because of their originsand utility, they are taonga or valued resources. The customary rules and practicesby which Maori managed their waters and fisheries reflected the significanceof this view. Conservation has always been important to the Maori, andtraditional Maori fishing practices included measures intended to maintain thehabitat, preserve fish stocks, and regulate fisheries use (Nga Kai O Te Moana.1993. ‘Customary Maori Fisheries’, in UNEP, 1999).ural penalties that will result if thegroves are desecrated 4 . In somecases sacred sites provide a range ofproducts used in rituals by traditionalpriests or shamans, or in healing,such as the medicinal plants used inIndian Ayurvedic medical system. Inother areas, the harvesting of plantsor the hunting of animals is not permittedin consecrated areas. As aconsequence of their taboo statusand access restrictions, many sacredplaces have served as importantreservoirs of biological diversity, preservingunique and/or rare plants andanimal species. Sacred natural sitessuch as forest groves, mountains andrivers, are often visible in the landscapeas vegetation-rich ecosystems,contrasting dramatically fromadjoining, non-sacred, degradedenvironments. In the Western Ghats(mountains) of India, sacred grovesare the only remaining patches ofgreenery over vast stretches of otherwisedevastated countryside 5 .4 Bharucha, E. (1999) ‘Cultural and spiritual values related to the conservation of biodiversity in the sacred grovesof the Western Ghats’. In UNEP (1999): op.cit.5 Hamilton, L. (1998) ‘Forest and Tree Conservation through Metaphysical Constraints’. In UNESCO (1998): ‘Natural’Sacred Sites. Cultural Diversity and Biological Diversity. Proceedings of International Symposium, Paris, 22-25September 1998.81

Box 3. Variations in Size and Tenure of Sacred GrovesThe Mawal and Mulshi Talukas of Maharashtra are communities who have livedin close association with forests for thousands of years, and have venerateddeities associated with sacred groves. Of the 40 groves in the area, most areextremely small. Each grove by itself cannot be said to be of great species richness.Taken together, however, they include most of the plant species that arepresent in this region of the Western Ghats, which is an acknowledged biodiversityhot spot. Research has indicated that the size of each grove does not correlatewith their species richness, suggesting that the number of species is moreclosely related to the level of protection rather than to size.Many sacred sites are thus of great valuefor ecological research and nature protection.In some areas sacred naturals sitesare valuable genetic reservoirs 6 , and canbe useful indicator sites, which are helpfulin assessing the potential natural vegetationof degraded ecosystems. They arealso useful sources of genetic materialthat can be used for rehabilitating degradedenvironments 7 . For example, sacredsites in the savannah of Ghana have beenused for reviving degraded ecosystems.Afforestation schemes that included theestablishment of fodder banks for livestockand the planting of cash crops onthe periphery of sacred groves have alsohelped to enlarge the sacred grovesthrough an additional buffer zone aroundthe holy site 8 . In other areas, sacred sitesmay play a role in safeguarding criticalsites in watersheds, or helping to preservethe ecological integrity of entire landscapes9 .Sacred natural sites vary in size, biodiversityvalue and tenurial status. In somecases, sacred sites are very small areasfound on private land. For example,6 Schaaf, T. (1999): op.cit.7 Malhotra, K. C. (1998) ‘Cultural and Ecological Value of Natural Sacred Biodiversity Sites in Orissa, India: threatsand opportunities’. In UNESCO (1998): op.cit.8 Schaaf, T. (1998) In UNESCO (1998): op.cit.9 UNESCO (2000) ‘Culture-Based Environmental Conservation for Sustainable Development’. UNESCO DraftProject Document.82

Box 4. Contributions to Livelihoods: Sacred Groves in India and GhanaIn several sacred groves of the Western Ghats of India, people are allowed tocollect fallen dry wood, fruit from the forest floor, honey, sap (by tapping Caryotaurens to make an alcoholic beverage) and other products. In some groves, cattlegrazing is permitted. In most groves however, timber cannot be felled withoutthe express permission of the deity, which is obtained through a ritual processknown as kaul (Bharucha, E. 1999, in UNEP, 1999). In Ghana, the use of productsfrom sacred groves varies between and within communities. It partlydepends on the power of the spirit of the grove in question. In the village ofNanhini, no villagers enter the grove of the goddess Numafoa or ignore hertaboos. In the same village, a second deity has less influence and so the taboosare not so strictly followed. Each grove has particular governing rules. In somecases, entry to a sacred grove is strictly limited, but in others the area may beexploited or restricted for certain forest resources. In one sacred grove inNanhini, palms can be tapped for wine, and medicines and other specified productscan be gathered, but it cannot be used for farming or hunting (Falconer, J.1999, in UNEP, 1999).sacred groves in Uganda are very smallforests mainly found on private mailo ‘landtenure’. In other cases, traditional peoplesview whole landscapes as sacred, and itis difficult to identify self-contained sites.Taken alone, the significance of smallersites may be quite limited for biodiversityconservation, but taken together they canrepresent sizeable protected areas. Forexample, some researchers think thatthere might be between 100,000 and150,000 sacred groves throughoutIndia 10 .Although many sacred natural sites contributeto the conservation of biodiversity,10 Sudipto Chatterjee (2001) pers. comm.; Malhotra, et.al., 1999, cit. by Gaikwad, S. S., S. N. Paralikar, VishwasChavan and S. Krishnan (2004) “Digitizing Indian Sacred Groves – ‘An Information Model for Web interfaced multimediadatabase’, in: Focus on Sacred Groves and Ethnobotany, Ghate, Vinya; Hema Sane, and S. S. Ranade (eds.),Prisam Publications, Mumbai, India, pp. 123-128.). Yogesh Gokhale (2003) reports the existence of 14,436 sacredgroves in 19 states of India, based on preliminary research by Malhotra et al. (‘Communicating importance of sacredgroves to broader audience for conservation of biocultural heritage’, WPC, Durban).83

it would be false to assume that complexcultural and social traditions are the sameas conservation objectives in environmentalagendas determined by outside interests11 . In the case of sacred natural sites,any conservation effect is probably bestseen as one of many effects, or even aside effect, of social and spiritual traditions.Traditional peoples are usuallyattempting to benefit from the protectionand goodwill afforded by the deity inreturn for not disturbing the sanctity of thesacred area, rather than explicitly managingresources for conservation goals 12 .Ideas of the spiritual and sacred are notnew within conservation paradigms.Early conservationists were ofteninspired and awed by what they termed‘the wisdom of wilderness’, and ‘the infinitecapacity of nature to uplift thehuman spirit’. Such values were frequentlyinvoked and appealed to in theearly protected areas movement.However, although early conservationefforts were undertaken ‘for the benefit ofall mankind’, as part of the ‘universalhuman heritage’, sacred natural siteswere either overlooked, or alienated fromtheir traditional owners, as they wereassimilated into official protected areas.The rekindling of interest in the spiritualwithin conservation paradigms doesnot preclude scientific knowledge orapproaches. Nature is, of course, ‘asystem’ that can be studied, understood,and protected. It is also ‘a setof resources’ which are to be sustainablyand equitably managed. But, itcan be contemplated in other wayswhich may be more significant to people.It is a mystery, beyond thebounds of contemporary science,which engenders awe; a source ofpleasure to be enjoyed; a creativepower to be praised – and more.Nature’s many dimensions provideopportunities to engage with people inother meaningful ways.Sacred Natural Sites of Indigenousand Traditional Peoples and SacredNatural Sites of InstitutionalisedReligionsGenerally, two types of sacred naturalsites can be found in the world: thoseestablished by indigenous and traditionalpeoples in the context of their spiritualbeliefs and customary institutions, or createdby institutionalized religions or11 Agrawal, A. (1995) ‘Dismantling the Divide between Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge’. Development andChange 26:413-439.12 Laird, S. (1999) ‘Forests, Culture and Conservation’. In UNEP (1999): op.cit. See also Richards, P. (1999)‘Musanga cecropioides: biodynamic knowledge encoded in mythic knowledge’. In UNEP (1999): op.cit.84

Box 5. Whole Landscapes as Sacred SitesThe Atacameño people of Chile conceive places as sacred insofar as they sharerelationships with other places. The ancestor-mountains (Tate-Mayllkus), with theprecious water they hold, are sacred insofar as they share relationships withmother earth (Pachamama), which they impregnate and make fecund. Both entitiesrepresent opposing male and female principles and form a unity (Barros, A.1998. ‘Desert bio-scape: biological and cultural diversity in the Atacama, Chile’,in UNESCO, 1998).faiths 13 . The relationship between thesacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeoples with the world’s majorfaiths has in some cases a complex andtroublesome history. Many traditionalsacred natural sites have been appropriatedor destroyed because they were consideredpagan or idolatrous by newlyemerging world faiths. In some instancesreligious buildings were forcefully superimposedupon traditional sites. While it isimportant to guard against ‘demonising’the involvement of major faiths withindigenous and traditional peoples, it isimportant to acknowledge that the erosionof sacred natural sites can be directlyrelated to the expansion of thedominant faiths in many cases.On the other hand, it is also important torecognise that some institutionalised religions,on their own, and in collaborationwith others, have established areasimportant for biodiversity conservationand have initiated or subscribed to a varietyof conservation programmes 14 .13 Some scholars associate the first category of sacred sites to the expressions and practices of animism, understoodin anthropology as the belief in the existence of “spiritual beings” embodied in natural elements – plants, animals,or inanimate constituents of nature (concept originally coined by anthropologist Edward Tylor in 1871), or moremodernly as “a relational ontology in which the world is found to be, and treated as, a community of persons not allof whom are human” (Nurit Bird-David, ‘Animism’ Revisited”, 2002, in ‘Readings in Indigenous Religions’, ed.Graham Harvey, 73–105. London: Continuum; cited by Harvey, Graham (2006), Animals, Animists, And Academics.Zygon (r) 41 (1), 9-20. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9744.2006.00723.x. In other words, in ‘animist’ spirituality there is anintrinsic sacramental dimension in natural sites themselves. The second category of sacred sites corresponds toplaces dedicated by religious institutions or communities to worship and remembrance, where sacredness is notembodied in natural elements as such.14 Some of this is reflected in the Delos Initiative. For a broader approach to conservation and religions, see NigelDudley, Liza Higgins-Zogib and Stephanie Mansourian (2006) ‘Beyond Belief: Linking faiths and protected areas tosupport biodiversity conservation’. WWF International: Gland, Switzerland.85

There are a number of important differencesbetween sacred natural sites ofindigenous and traditional peoples andsacred sites of institutionalised religions.These include:Age of sites. Many indigenous and traditionalpeoples’ sacred natural sites mayhave their origins in Palaeolithic times,whereas most sacred sites of institutionalisedreligions are a more modern phenomenon,many of them having beenestablished only within the last few centuries,in connection with the expansion ofChristianity and other major faiths.Relationship with nature. Indigenoussacred natural sites are often associatedwith a belief in the inherent sacredness ofnature, whereas the sacred sites of theworld faiths often bestow their own particularsymbols upon nature.Property Relationships. In general, indigenousand traditional peoples cannot besaid to ‘own’ sacred natural sites. Rather,sites are valued and guarded by peoplethrough traditional beliefs and practices.World religions, on the other hand, oftenown sacred sites in terms of legal propertyinstitutions.Offering in Bear Butte State Park, a sacred mountain for the Lakotas, South Dakota, USA.

Links to the landscape. Many traditionalsacred natural sites are considered part ofbroader sacred landscapes, and have intimateconnections with all-encompassingconcepts such as Mother Earth and nature’ssacredness. Sacred sites of institutional religionsdo not recognize such landscape orcosmological dimensions and links. Sacrednatural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeoples have certain common featuresthroughout the world, while the exact natureof these features varies within and betweencommunities:- Sense of sacredness associated withplace- Identifiable spiritual authority in charge- Limited access and restricted use especiallyfor common people- Contributions to livelihoods- Relatively undisturbed nature- Variable size- Variable tenure- High degree of acceptance and respectfrom communities- Threatened status in many cases- Search for appropriate protectionSacred natural sites are important for thevitality and survival of the cultures that createdthem. There is an indissoluble linkbetween the protection of sacred sitesBox 6. The Ironies of Successful Conservation: Sacred Groves in IndiaIt is ironic that the most successful Asian conservation programmes have inmany cases already cut out the middleman – in this case the government.Sacred groves, or ‘life reserves’, as some locals call them, survive today withoutbenefit from government gazettement, without government nature wardens,without government education centres and sometimes even without governmentgoodwill. Even when establishing new woodlands near busy towns, it hasbeen as found that when specially carved ‘deified’ markers are placed next tonewly planted trees, and sprinkled with powder used in worship, people starttreating the special trees with respect and ‘worship’ them. Even more importantly,they water the deified saplings. Woodlands flourish because they serve peoples’physical and spiritual needs. Sacred groves reflect a refreshing view ofnature for the people, by the people (Sochaczewski, P. 1986. ‘God’s OwnPharmacies’, in BBC Wildlife Vol. 14, No. 1 pp.68- 71).87

and the right of peoples, communities andcultures to continue to manage and controlthe places that connect them to theirspirituality and cultural expression 15 .The spiritual connections between indigenouspeoples and the earth are more thana reflection of traditional views on nature –they are also integral parts of ethno-culturalidentity. In virtually every society, natureprovides powerful symbols used to createstrong links between the social and thenatural. To the people of Orissa in India, thesacred grove is more than a mini-naturereserve. It is the keystone in a way of life. Itis both locus and sign of the regenerationof body, land and community. It stands forthe integration of the human community innature 16 . To the Hopi people, naturalsprings are seen as the ‘soul’ of their people,representing their very identity 17 .Sacred natural sites are often focal pointsfor social and cultural celebrations and religiousrituals, establishing social cohesionand solidarity within communities. In manyindigenous and traditional communities it isdifficult to separate out cultural identity, kinand social relations, livelihoods, and traditionalenvironmental knowledge from theritualistic use of the land and protection ofbiodiversity – they are all strongly interdependent.It would be misleading to assume acomplete ban on using resources fromsacred natural sites. Many sacredplaces provide useful products for livelihoods.In Madagascar, many communitieshave depended almost exclusivelyon sacred forests in times of drought 18 .Respect for the spirit in nature does notalways mean that communities take ano-touch approach to animals. In manycases, it is recognised that it is thenature of things for one organism tofeed upon another, creating relations ofindebtedness in the process. Forinstance, in Japan a whale that hasbeen killed is regarded as having givenitself up to mankind so that we can live,and in return, the whalers becomeindebted to the whale. Thus whalingactivities become intimately bound upwith religious beliefs, and as a gift theprey has to be utilised to the fullest. To15 Oviedo, G. (2001) ‘Notes on the Panel’s Presentations and Discussions’. Symposium on the Importance of theProtection of Sacred Natural Sites (SNS) for the Conservation of Biodiversity. Mexico City, June 12, 2001.16 Apffel Marglin, F. & Mishra, P.C. (1993) ‘Sacred Groves: Regenerating the Body, the Land, the Community’. InSachs, W. (Ed) (1993) Global Ecology. A New Arena of Political Conflict. London: Zed Books.17 Whiteley, P. & Masayesva, V. (1999) ‘Paavahu and Paanaqso’a: The Wellsprings of Life and the Slurry of Death.’In UNEP (1999): op.cit.18 WWF Madagascar Programme (2001): ‘Linking Faiths and Conservation in the Madagascar Dry ForestEcoregion’. Draft English Executive Summary of Final Report.88

Box 7. Sacred Wetlands in West AfricaIn the forest and savannah zones of Guinea, traditional beliefs are deeplyembedded in everyday village life. Here, several lakes are sacred to local communities,and strict taboos and local rules shape the use of wetland resources.At Lake Wassaya it is forbidden to hunt, there is a very short fishing season, andeven the Wassaya’s crocodiles are sacred. People wishing to see the lake mustfirst gain permission from a group of village elders. These traditional beliefs arestill followed today and have helped maintain the ecological integrity of thesewetlands (Ramsar. 2001. ‘Wetlands and Spiritual Life’, in Ramsar, 2001). Forcoastal peoples on the Ivory Coast, the great fishing period (May to October) isinitiated by an opening rite over the ‘Aby’ lagoon, sometimes carried out simultaneouslyin the different areas. The priest of the spirit called Assohon opens thefishing in May and closes it in October. Sacred catfish of Sapia are sheltered inthe Dransi River which is formally forbidden to fishermen. Together with thesacred crocodiles from Gbanhui, all the aquatic species are covered by foodprohibitions to villagers. During the day it is forbidden to go to the YonyongoRiver because it is dedicated to venerated crocodiles (Zoundjihekpon, J. &Dossou-Glehouenou, B. 1999. ‘Cultural and spiritual values of biodiversity inWest Africa: the case of Benin and Ivory Coast’, in UNEP, 1999).do otherwise would be an insult to theanimal and the creator 19 . Resource useoften depends on the degree of‘sacredness’ of the site or species, aswell as the perceived power of particulardeities 20 .In sacred natural sites spiritual values ofthe communities are the foundations oftheir commitment to protect their naturalheritage and of their motivation to activelyengage in the conservation of suchsites. Further, there is an emergence of19 Kalland, A. (1999) ‘A Japanese View on Whales and Whaling’. In UNEP (1999): op.cit.20 Falconer, J. (1999) ‘Non-timber forest products in Southern Ghana: traditional and cultural uses of forests’. InUNEP (1999): op.cit.89

the ‘spiritual’ as a new motive force withinwider debates about sustainability, anda growing appreciation of the need to reengagewith the sacred within internationalconservation efforts. This wasreinforced at the Vth World Congress onProtected Areas (Durban, September2003) and the 3rd World ConservationCongress (Bangkok, November 2004),and has been recently the motive ofmany discussions and initiatives withinthe conservation community at global,regional and national levels.Threats to Natural Sacred SitesMany sacred naturals sites enjoy nolegal protection and are faced withthreats, broadly related to the impact ofmodernisation and globalisation. Theseinclude: agricultural expansion; demo-Box 8. Sacred Forests: Naimina Enkiyio of the Maasai“The Naimina Enkiyio indigenous forest is the centre of our lives. It means our survival,our spirit, our past and our future. As we are part of it, it is part of us. Theforest is the holy temple or shrine of our people, a place of worship and communionwith our deity. In the centre is the Cathedral of the Seven Trees, a sacred placewhere the Laibons or prophets bring offerings to Enkai, our Maasai God. Manyceremonies essential to our way of life are performed within or at the edges of oursacred forest. Emowuo Olkiteng, the beginning of a new age group when boysbegin their rite of passage as young adults is marked by initiation rites. EnkitainotoOlorrip Olasar Lolporror – when the chosen spiritual leader of the new age group,accompanied by an elder spends the whole night awake standing motionlessunder a sacred tree deep within the forest. Emayian oo Nkituak/ Ntomonak –where Maasai women are blessed and cleansed to enhance their fertility undersacred trees of the forest. Ilpuli – in which morans partake of meat feasts deepwithin the forest to convalesce and restore their strength, commune with God,develop brotherliness and test their courage. Our spirituality is ultimately at onewith the forest and everyday life. Our culture has preserved Naimina Enkiyio sinceit is the spiritual centre of our lives”. (Reeve, 1994).90

Box 9. Culture and Science in Marine Protected Areas: WesternMelanesiaRecent collaboration between Torres Strait Islanders and Australian conservationauthorities has helped establish a number of indigenous marine protected areas.These have integrated sacred, totemic sites and distinctive coral reef habitats.The experience suggests that cultural and ceremonial sites in the seas can workto enhance marine conservation and, reciprocally, how marine protected areaapproaches can protect sacred sites and traditional environmental knowledge(Cordell, J. 1998. ‘Managing Culture Sites and Marine Protected Areas inWestern Melanesia’. In UNESCO, 1998).graphic changes; erosion of traditionalvalues, particularly associated withwidespread diffusion of institutionalizedreligions brought in by colonizationprocesses, and which considered traditionalbeliefs as ‘superstitious’; modernland reform programmes whichhave liquidated traditional land ownership;the expansion of the petroleumand mining industries; tourist development;changing social and economicaspirations of communities; immigrationpatterns, administrative and policychanges – particularly within the last20 years. Many traditional beliefs andpractices that acted as effective controlsin protecting the environment arenow being overwhelmed by thesechanges.To date, sacred natural sites have notbeen formally reflected in protectedarea designations and managementplans, and existing policy and legalframeworks do not adequately supportthe sacred natural sites of indigenousand traditional peoples. In caseswhere sacred sites have been includedin official protected areas, they donot usually remain under traditionalownership and management, whichcreates conflicts between protectedarea agencies and indigenous and traditionalpeoples, thus limiting theeffectiveness and the survival of thesesites. There are also questions of howto manage sacred natural sites onpublic land ceded by treaty. Severalcountries are in the process of exam-91

Box 10. Finding the right legal frameworks: the Sacred Kaya Forests of KenyaThe sacred Kaya Forests are situated in the coastal plain and hills of Kenya, andhave a very high conservation value. They tend to be residual patches (between10-200 ha) of once extensive lowland forests. The Kayas owe their existencedirectly to the culture and history of the coastal Mijikenda ethnic groups, andhave been maintained by the Elders as sacred places and burial grounds.However, over the past 30 years a number of internal and external pressureshave threatened the remaining forests and groves. National Park status wasoriginally considered as a means of protecting them, but this designation wouldhave denied the Mijikenda peoples access to their sacred groves. Anotheroption was to have the Kayas declared as forest reserves under the jurisdictionof Kenya’s Forest Department. However, local people were aware of the ForestDepartment’s shortcomings, and were fearful that their rights would be denied.Since 1992 some of the Kaya forests have been gazetted by the government,and declared as national monuments under the Antiques and Monuments Act,which comes under the National Museums of Kenya. A special CoastalConservation Unit, funded by WWF, has been set up at the museum. This ishelping to conserve the forests as well as stimulate interest in the cultural valuesand traditions that sustained these forests. It remains to be seen how effectivethe national monuments status will be for protecting the forests. (Githitho, A.1998. ‘Destruction of Sacred Forests as a Reflection of Changes in Society: TheKaya forests of Coastal Kenya’, in UNESCO 1998; Wilson, A. 1993. ‘SacredForests and the Elders’, in Kemf, E. 1993).ining the possibility of incorporatingprovisions for the protection of sacredsites into their national biodiversitylaws and policies, but in general, therehas been very little achievement todate. However, where existing policiesand laws can be reformed, it is anticipatedthat more effective protection ofsacred natural sites could bring additionaland important benefits at local,national and global levels.While sacred natural sites are known to behighly important for biodiversity conserva-92

tion, there has been no co-ordinatedattempt, to date, to accurately assesstheir contribution to biodiversity; no globalinventory of sites exists, and very little isknown about the socio-cultural matrix oftraditional belief systems that have helpedconserve such sites, or how to integratethem into existing protected area networksto help safeguard them withoutaffecting the rights, wishes and traditionalpractices of traditional owners. The abilityto influence international and national policiesand legal frameworks in favour ofsacred natural sites is also hampered bythe lack of knowledge about legal, policyand technical tools, consistent withindigenous peoples’ own cultures, values,knowledge and practices.Despite the relevance of sacred naturalsites to biodiversity conservation, and evidenceof significant local level protectionand management, their role has beenwidely overlooked by state agencies, conservationagencies, environmental conventions21 and legislation and wider civilsociety.While several activities have been carriedout in recent years for protection of sacredsites by organisations like UNESCO,IUCN, WWF, ARC, and others, no substantialprogress has been achieved onthe ground. In the context of unequalpower relationships, indigenous and traditionalpeoples frequently lack the meansto promote their rights and responsibilitiesas stewards of their land and resources.They are often excluded from decisionmakingprocesses which affect theirlands, and they frequently lack information,organisational and financial supportto develop and defend their interests.Protecting Sacred Natural SitesAs indicated before, sacred naturalsites have enormous value for biodiversityconservation. They are oftenplaces with limited access andrestricted use that have preservedspecies of flora and fauna. Althoughthey have a high degree of acceptanceand respect from local communities,their contribution to conservationhas been overlooked and undervaluedby state and conservation agencies,policies and laws.Sacred natural sites are important forthe vitality and survival of indigenous21 While conventions such as Ramsar on Wetlands of International Importance, and the Convention on BiologicalDiversity, have included recently some provisions or instruments relevant to sacred sites, the issue remains marginaland receives no significant support, politically, financially or technically.93

and traditional people’s cultures. Thereis a fundamental link between the rightsof people to control natural sites - whichsymbolise their cultural and spiritualidentity, and their continuing protection.Understanding of the sacred beyond thefrontiers of the dominant world faiths, andto win respect and support for the spiritualvisions and commitments of other peoples,particularly of indigenous andtraditional peoples – which are frequentlyovershadowed or derided by the majorreligions, is fundamental for effective protectionof sacred natural sites, as it is forthe respect and strengthening of culturaldiversity.One of the possible avenues to supportthe long-term survival of sacred naturalsites is to explore how they can achievesimilar status to protected area networks.This goal is to enhance their protectedstatus, but at the same time to supportthe belief systems and sustain the culturalheritage and integrity of the communitiesthat created them. These efforts will needto consider how to protect large sites intheir integrity, how to integrate series ofsmaller sites, and how to preserve theecological and sacramental links to thelandscape.Against the background described herein,and building on past and ongoing work,IUCN, in partnership with the RigobertaMenchu Tum Foundation (FRMT) startedin 2005 a project called ‘Conservation ofBiodiversity-Rich Sacred Natural Sites ofIndigenous and Traditional Peoples’. Theproject goal is to achieve a strengthenedenabling environment to support conservationand sustainable use of biodiversityof sacred sites of indigenous and traditionalpeoples, focusing on five subregions(Meso-America, South America,South Asia, East Africa, and West Africa).The specific objectives of the project areto: (i) Increase awareness globally andnationally, through improved information,knowledge sharing and communications,(ii) Strengthen legal and policy frameworks,globally and nationally, (iii) Improvethe institutional capacity of relevant actorsto work at the national and local levels,and (iv) Make available lessons and fieldtestedtools.The Project engages with the politicalcore of the problem. In the context ofunequal social relations, and historicalinequities, the project recognises thatindigenous and traditional peoplesrequire support to establish and defendtheir rights to protect and manage theirsacred areas, and that the conservationcommunity can and should be a partnerand ally in this struggle.Sun Dance lodge in thegreat prairies of North America. >94

Box 11. Project sites include:Mexico: Wirikuta, the Huichol Sacred Natural Site in the Chihuahuan Desert ofSan Luis Potosi.Mexico: Taheojc the Comcaac Sacred Space, Tiburon Island of Sonora.Mexico: The Sacred Caves of the Wind and Fertility, “Tam Bokom Mim”, Huehuetlan,Huastecan region of San Luis PotosiPeru: The Vilcanota Spiritual ParkGuinea-Bissau: The Boloma-Bijagós Biosphere ReserveEcuador: Pambamarca, Quito Loma and Puntayachil, sacred sites of theCayanpi peopleIndia: “Devarakadu”, the Kodagu District Sacred Groves of Karnataka State inSouthern IndiaKenya: Tiriki ceremonial sitesKenya: Taita skull caves

Bibliography■ Agrawal, A. (1995) Dismantling the dividebetween indigenous and scientific knowledge.Development and Change, Vol. 26,pp. 413–39.■ Apffel Marglin, F. & Mishra, P. C. (1993)Sacred groves: regenerating the body, theland, the community. W. Sachs (ed.),Global Ecology: A New Arena of PoliticalConflict. London, Zed Books.■ Bharucha, E. (1999) Cultural and spiritualvalues related to the conservation ofbiodiversity in the sacred groves of theWestern Ghats. In UNEP. 1999. Culturaland Spiritual Values of Biodiversity. Acomplementary contribution to the GlobalBiodiversity Assessment. Nairobi, UNEP,pp. 382-385.■ Bird-David, N. (2002) Animism revisited.Graham Harvey (ed.), Readings inIndigenous Religions. London, Continuum,pp. 73–105.■ Dudley, N., Higgins-Zogib, L. & S.Mansourian, S. (2006) Beyond Belief:Linking Faiths and Protected Areas toSupport Biodiversity Conservation. Gland,Switzerland, WWF International.■Falconer, J. (1999) Non-timber forestproducts in Southern Ghana: traditionaland cultural uses of forests. In UNEP.1999. Cultural and Spiritual Values ofBiodiversity. A complementarycontributionto the Global Biodiversity Assessment.Nairobi, UNEP, pp. 366-369.■ Gaikwad, S. S., Paralikar, S. N., Chavan,Vishwas & Krishnan, S. (2004) DigitizingIndian sacred groves: an informationmodel for web interfaced multimediadatabase. Vinya Ghate,■Hema Sane and S. S. Ranade (eds),Focus on Sacred Groves and Ethnobotany.Mumbai, India, Prisam, pp.123–28.■Gokhale, Y. (2003) CommunicatingImportance of Sacred Groves to BroaderAudience for Conservation of BioculturalHeritage. Durban, South Africa, WorldParks Congress.■ Harvey, G. (2006) Animals, animists, andacademics. Zygon, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp.9–20.■ Hamilton, L. (1998) Forest and tree conservationthrough metaphysical constraints.‘Natural’ Sacred Sites: Culturaldiversity and biological diversity.Proceedings of International Symposium,Paris, 22–25 September 1998. Paris,UNESCO.96

■Kalland, A. (1999) A Japanese view onwhales and whaling. In UNEP. 1999.Cultural and Spiritual Values of Bio-diversity.A complementary contribution to theGlobal Biodiversity Assessment. Nairobi,UNEP, pp. 426-430.■Kemf, E., ed. (1993). The Law of theMother. Protecting Indigenous Peoples inProtected Areas. San Francisco, SierraClub Books.■ Laird, S. (1999) Forests, culture and conservation.In UNEP. 1999. Cultural andSpiritual Values of Biodiversity. A complementarycontribution to the GlobalBiodiversity Assessment. Nairobi, UNEP,pp 345-362.■ Malhotra, K. C. (1998) Cultural and ecologicalvalue of natural sacred biodiversitysites in Orissa, India: threats and opportunities,‘Natural’ Sacred Sites: CulturalDiversity and Biological Diversity.Proceedings of International Symposium,Paris, 22–25 September 1998. Paris,UNESCO.■Oviedo, G. (2001) Notes on the Panel’spresentations and discussions. Symposiumon the Importance of the Protectionof Sacred Natural Sites (SNS) for theConservation of Biodiversity. Mexico City,12 June 2001. Gland, Switzerland, WWFInternational.■Ramsar (2001) The Cultural Heritage ofWetlands. Briefing Pack. Gland, Switzerland,Ramsar.■Reeve, R. (1994) “Forest of the LostChild, Entim e Naimina Enkiyio: A MaasaiConservation Success Threatened byGreed”. Narok, Kenya. Loita NaiminaEnkiyio Conservation Trust Company.■Richards, P. (1999) Musanga cecropioides:biodynamic knowledge encoded inmythic knowledge. In UNEP (1999)Cultural and Spiritual Values ofBiodiversity. A complementary contributionto the Global Biodiversity Assessment.Nairobi, UNEP, p. 366.■Schaaf, T. ed. (1998) ‘Natural’ SacredSites: Cultural Diversity and BiologicalDiversity. Proceedings of InternationalSymposium, Paris, 22–25 September1998. Paris, UNESCO.■ Schaaf, T. (1999) Environmental conservationbased on sacred sites. In UNEP.1999. Cultural and Spiritual Values ofBiodiversity. A complementary contributionto the Global BiodiversityAssessment.Nairobi, UNEP, pp 341-342.■UNEP (1999) Cultural and SpiritualValues of Biodiversity. A complementarycontribution to the Global BiodiversityAssessment. Nairobi, UNEP.97

■UNESCO (1998) ´Natural´ Sacred Sites.Cultural Diversity and Biological Diversity.International Symposium. UNESCO,CNRS, MNHN. Paris, 22-25 Sept. 1998.■ UNESCO (2000) Culture-Based EnvironmentalConservation for SustainableDevelopment.■ Draft Project Document. Paris,UNESCO. Whiteley, P. and Masayesva, V.(1999) Paavahu and Paanaqso’a: thewellsprings of life and the slurry of death.In UNEP. 1999. Cultural and SpiritualValues of Biodiversity. A complementarycontribution to the Global BiodiversityAssessment. Nairobi, UNEP, pp. 403-405.■A seminal meeting was the UNESCOInternational Symposium on NaturalSacred Sites (Paris, 1998).■ In Mexico in 2001, a meeting hosted byWWF and with the participation of IUCN,UNESCO, FRMT, indigenous organizationsfrom Mexico, and Mexican non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs), decidedto explore further coordination and collaboration.■UNESCO organized an event on Asia-Pacific Sacred Mountains in 2001, and anInternational Symposium on Sacred Sitesin 2003 in Kunming, China, with widelycirculated reports.■ WWF (2001) Linking Faiths and Con-servationin the Madagascar Dry ForestEcoregion. Draft English ExecutiveSummary of Final Report, WWFMadagascar Programme. Gland, Switzerland,WWF International.■ The Eighth Meeting of the Conference ofthe Contracting Parties to the Convention(COP) on Wetlands (Ramsar), held inNovember 2002, adopted resolutionsrelated to the cultural aspects of wetlands,including specific references tosacred sites. Work on this subject wasfurthered at the Ninth COP in 2005.Annex 1: Benchmarks in InternationalAction to Protect SacredSitesIssues related to the protection ofSACRED NATURAL SITES have gainedmore attention in the last few years.■At the Fifth World Parks Congress,organized by IUCN in 2003, substantialdiscussions on sacred sites were held,which resulted in various products andgave impetus to new initiatives from IUCN.This was reaffirmed at the Third IUCNWorld Conservation Congress in 2004.98

■The Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD) adopted, at the Seventh Meeting ofits Conference of the Parties (COP 7), theAkwé:Kon Voluntary Guidelines forCultural, Environmental and Social ImpactAssessment Regarding Sacred Sites andLands and Waters Traditionally Occupiedor Used by Indigenous and LocalCommunities (February 2004).■The same meeting of the CBD COPadopted a Programme of Work onProtected Areas, which, although notaddressing specifically the issue of sacredsites, provides a very important frameworkin relation to integrating cultural andspiritual values and the rights and interestsof indigenous and local communities.■ In Mexico, in May 2005, an InternationalMeeting convened by the Mexican NGOMúsica por la Tierra, with technical supportfrom IUCN, produced the Playa delCarmen Declaration, which raises importantissues for the protection of sacredsites (‘The Playa del Carmen Declaration’).■The Tokyo International Symposium‘Conserving Cultural and BiologicalDiversity: The Role of Sacred Natural Sitesand Cultural Landscapes’, May 2005,issued also a Declaration on the “Role ofSacred Natural Sites and CulturalLandscapes in the Conservation ofBiological and Cultural Diversity” (Annex 3)co-organized by UNESCO and the UnitedNations University (UNU) in collaborationwith IUCN, the Secretariat of theConvention on Biological Diversity (CBD),the Secretariat of the UN PermanentForum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) andthe Food and Agriculture Organization ofthe United Nations (FAO).99

The Heights of Inspiration: The Cultural and SpiritualMeaning of Mountains as a Basis for Interpretationand Conservation 1Edwin BernbaumIntroductionFor assurance of long-term sustainability,conservation programs and messagesneed to be grounded in deeply held valuesand beliefs. As the highest features ofthe landscape, mountains have tended tobecome associated with the highest anddeepest ideals and aspirations of societiesaround the world, making them idealplaces to initiate such programs and messages.The remote Himalayan peak ofMount Kailas, rising aloof above theTibetan Plateau, directs the minds of millionsof Hindus and Buddhists toward theutmost attainments of spiritual liberation.Mount Sinai occupies a special place inthe Bible as the imposing site whereMoses received the Ten Commandments,the basis of law and ethics in Western civilization.For many in the modern world,Mount Everest symbolizes the highestgoal they may strive to attain, whethertheir pursuit be material or spiritual. In theUnited States, pristine mountain environmentswithin such parks as Mount RainierNational Park and Yosemite National Parkenshrine cultural and spiritual values basicto American society. As the writings of theearly American conservationist John Muirdemonstrate, views of mountains asplaces of inspiration and renewal helpedgive rise to the modern environmentalmovement and have played a key role ingalvanizing public support for nationalparks and the protection of wilderness(Bernbaum 1996, 1997).The Mountain Institute (TMI) is thereforeworking with the U.S. National ParkService (USNPS) to develop interpretiveand educational materials and activitiesthat draw upon diverse views of the culturaland spiritual significance of featuresof mountain landscapes — from riversand mountains to forests and wildlife — inmainstream American, Native American,and other cultures around the world. Theaddition of these materials enriches visitors’experiences of national parks andgives them deep-seated reasons for conservingthe environment — both in the1 Paper for Vth World Parks Congress Durban, Republic of South Africa, 2003< Mount Rainier and wild flowers, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA.101

parks and back home. Since mountainsinclude features of almost all other environmentsand ecosystems, ranging fromjungles and deserts to tundra and glaciers,the project has applications beyondmountainous areas and encourages peopleto value and protect wilderness andnature in general.Project History and MethodologyThe first, planning phase of the projectwas to make contacts, select a pilot site,and initiate sample interpretive products.During this phase, from May 1999 to May2000, we met with the directors and interpretivestaffs of the Pacific West, theIntermountain, and Southeast regions ofthe USNPS, the superintendents and staffof three major parks, the USNPS chief ofinterpretation, and the manager of theUSNPS Harpers Ferry Center. Theresponse far exceeded our expectations.We received strong interest and enthusiasticsupport from all of them and lettersof endorsement from the former and currentdirectors of the USNPS. They saw theproject as an innovative way of connectingwith the interests of the general public—by providing multiple perspectives onpark resources— and the traditions andconcerns of specific cultural and ethnicgroups, such as Native Americans,African Americans, Asian Americans, andHispanics, that have not been coming tonational parks.As a result of these meetings and our sitevisits, we selected three parks —MountRainier National Park, Rocky MountainNational Park, and Great Smoky MountainsNational Park— rather than the oneinitially envisaged, and began developingmodel interpretive materials with interpretivestaff. These three pilot sites representedthree major regions of the USNPS thatspan the country from the East to Westcoasts with the Rockies in the middle.Their geographic distribution, high profilesin the park system, proximity to urbanareas with culturally diverse populations,local Native American tribes, and their differentmountain environments made themgood places to develop interpretive productsthat would serve as models with abroad range of potential application toother parks and protected areas in succeedingphases of the project, both withinthe USNPS and elsewhere in the UnitedStates and abroad. Establishing thesemodels at three sites rather than one alsohelped ensure the success of this phaseand provided access to a wide anddiverse audience.The success of the planning phaseenabled us to secure funding for the secondand third phases of the project — todevelop a variety of model products and102

activities at the three pilot parks and usethem to spread the approach to otherparks in the national park system. In thethird phase we expanded our operationsto Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, NorthCascades National Park, Yosemite NationalPark, and Santa Monica MountainsNational Recreation Area, while continuingwork at Mount Rainier and Great SmokyMountains. Our intent was not to replicatethe products and activities developed atthe pilot parks, but to present them asexamples to stimulate people elsewhereto come up with their own ideas for applyingthis approach to the particular needsand characteristics of their unique sitesand environments. This methodology hasthe added advantage of developing awider range of models for use in the fourthphase — expanding the project to parksand protected areas outside the USNPSand the United States. We have recentlybegun work on this fourth phase withTMI’s Asian Program and other partners,developing a Sacred Values and BiodiversityConservation initiative that focuseson national parks and sacred sites inSouth Asia. During the second and thirdphases of the project, we received aPartnership Achievement Award from theUSNPS for our work with Mount RainierNational Park.In dealing with traditional sacred sites onpark lands, the preferences of the indigenouspeoples who revere them, such asNative Americans and Native Hawaiians,take first priority so that interpretive materialspresent only what they want to revealabout these sites and the beliefs andpractices connected with them. Theinvolvement of representatives of thesegroups, as well as other stakeholders,from the beginning is key. A major purposeof the project is to highlight theimportance of park resources to indigenouspeoples today, engendering understandingof and respect for theirtraditions. We encourage the developmentof interpretive materials and activitiesthat draw wherever possible on thevoices of living representatives of thesetraditions. Too many waysides and exhibitsin too many parks and protectedareas refer to indigenous peoples in thepast tense, leading visitors to believe thatthey no longer exist or have any connectionswith the land.Examples of Interpretive Productsand ActivitiesThe following is a sampling of the variousproducts and activities completed or initiatedso far in the project. We have preparedand distributed packets with descriptionsand illustrations of these samples as onemeans of spreading the approach to otherparks and protected areas. Other means103

have included presentations to variousaudiences and more detailed workshopsfor interpreters and rangers.Offsite Traveling Exhibit:The first finished product at Mount RainierNational Park was an 8x10-foot collapsibledisplay entitled “Mountain Views.”Interpreters are taking this traveling displayto fairs, community centers, conventions,and other venues in theSeattle–Tacoma area in an effort to reacha wider audience for the park. The exhibithas, superimposed on a large image ofMount Rainier, three sections: “TheMountain,” “Mount Rainier National Park,”and “Mountains of the World.” Each sectionemploys images of a number of peoplewith evocative quotes by them. “TheMountain” section, for example, has, asone of its images, a picture of John Muirwith an evocative quote from him onMount Rainier:“Out of the forest at last therestood the Mountain whollyunveiled, awful in bulk andmajesty, filling all the view like aseparate newborn world, Yetwithal so fair and so beautiful itmight fire the dullest observer toThe goddess Pélé, painted by a contemporary Hawaiian artist, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

desperate enthusiasm.”(Muir 1997, 110-111)The quotes in the “Mount Rainier NationalPark” section show how ‘The Mountain’,as Rainier is known to people in thePacific Northwest, has inspired staff fromdifferent divisions of the park to work atMount Rainier. For example, the followingwords of Chris Trotter, a park ranger:The interpretive text adds: “Residents ofthe Pacific Northwest can relate to similarsentiments on “not seeing” Mount Rainierin frequent mist and cloud.”A line at the bottom of the exhibit asksviewers to write down their comments on“What does the Mountain mean to you?”Park staff plan to use these comments infuture exhibits at Mount Rainier.“It was never a question of if Iwould ever work here; growingup, ‘The Mountain’ was in mybackyard. It was a place to play,camp and hike. Always the naturelover, I knew that I wanted to be apark ranger and work at MountRainier.”In an effort to provide multiple perspectivesand connect with the heritages andtraditions of African and Asian Americans,the left-hand section, “Mountains of theWorld,” focuses on three mountains thatstand out as cultural icons like MountRainier: Mount Kailas in Tibet, Kilimanjaroin Africa, and Mount Fuji in Japan. Alongwith a painting of Fuji, it quotes a Haikupoem by the famous poet Basho:“Delightful, in a way,to miss seeing Mount FujiIn the misty rain.”(Bernbaum 1998, 220)Additional Outreach Products:Mount Rainier asked us to design andproduce a bookmark for the park thatincorporates inspirational quotes andmountain images as a takeaway for peopleviewing the offsite traveling exhibit.One side has images of and quotes on‘The Mountain’; the other has more generalimages and quotes, such as a pictureof Yosemite and the following quote bythe late U.S. Supreme Court JusticeWilliam O. Douglas:“A people who climb the ridgesand sleep under the stars in highmountain meadows, who enter theforest and scale peaks, whoexplore glaciers and walk ridgesburied deep in snow — these peoplewill give their country some ofthe indomitable spirit of the mountains.”(Douglas 1951, 328)105

We also collaborated with the interpretivestaff at the park to create a PowerPointpresentation for the superintendent to useon a trip to Japan to forge a sister mountainrelationship with Mount Fuji. The presentationcompares and contrastsJapanese and American views of the twomountains and of mountains and nature ingeneral. We have used this presentationas one of a number of modules we havedeveloped for the park that integrate spiritualand cultural perspectives intoPowerPoint presentations for particularaudiences, ranging from general toAfrican American and JapaneseAmerican.Experience Your America Exhibits:Based on the theme of the sacredness ofmountains, the Experience Your Americaexhibit at Sugarlands Visitor Center atGreat Smoky Mountains has photographsof 24 mountainous national parks, rangingfrom Acadia National Park in Maine toHaleakala National Park in Hawai’i andDenali National Park and Preserve inAlaska. Each panoramic photograph hasan extended caption with a description ofthe particular park and an inspirationalquote, ranging from conservationists suchas John Muir to Native American elders.The exhibit is on permanent display in thefoyer of a new theater built at the main visitorcenter of the most heavily visited parkin the national park system. The chief ofinterpretation, who initiated the collaborativeproject, has since moved to Yosemiteand wants us to expand the ExperienceYour America exhibit there to include landscapephotographs of all 57 designatedNational Parks with inspirational, spiritual,and cultural captions by TMI. The themeof the exhibit will be the spirituality ofnature; it will be housed at the YosemiteMuseum — one of the most popular in allof the national park system. Here is anexample of the caption for Great SmokyMountains:Great Smoky Mountains — 1934Here, in the grandest expression of theAppalachians, sixteen mountain peaksrise over 6,000 feet in elevation. Thelargest federally protected mountainecosystem east of the Rocky Mountains,Great Smoky Mountains National Parkpreserves the greatest diversity of plantand animal life in the temperate regions ofthe United States. Amid this naturalgrandeur stands an impressive collectionof 19th century log and frame buildings —architectural remnants of southern mountainculture.“The Great Smoky Mountains area sanctuary for the Cherokee people.We have always believed the106

mountains and streams provideall that we need for survival. Wehold these mountains sacred,believing that the Cherokees werechosen to take care of the mountainsas the mountains take careof us”.Jerry Wolfe, Cherokee Elder, 2000.Oconaluftee River Trail:A meeting convened in February 2001 byTMI and the Museum of the CherokeeIndian in Cherokee, North Carolina, initiateda collaboration among Great SmokyMountains National Park, Friends of GreatSmoky Mountain National Park, theEastern Band of the Cherokee, theMuseum of the Cherokee Indian, and TMIthat will use wayside exhibits and a bookletto link Cherokee spiritual and culturaltraditions and stories to features of thenatural landscape along the 1.5-mileOconaluftee River Trail that runs into theQualla Boundary (the tribal lands of theEastern Band of Cherokee). The waysideswill be in English and Cherokee andwill make use of artwork by localCherokee artists. Since many Cherokees,both adults and school children, walk thistrail for exercise, the signs will provide anopportunity to strengthen and pass ontheir traditions to the younger generation.The project will also help them to reachthe wider public through park interpretivematerials. Subsequent meetings haveenabled the collaborating partners to raisefunds and form a working group that hasselected and begun work on the followingthemes for five waysides along theOconaluftee River Trail:1. The legend of a supernatural snakewith a jeweled eye on RattlesnakeMountain, visible at the beginning of thetrail.2. The story of the creation of theCherokee mountains and valleys by thegreat buzzard (buzzards are often seencircling above this spot).3. Traditions of the Long Man, the personificationof the Oconaluftee River, with hishead in the mountains and his feet in thesea, unifying the various features of theenvironment4. The going to the water purification ritualand its use in traditional stick ballgames played next to the river.5. The story of how certain trees, such asthe spruce and the laurel, came to staygreen all year round.In addition, two orientation panels will providea trail map and introduction at bothends of the trail, pointing out the impor-107

tance of Cherokee stories and traditions forencouraging people to respect and care fornature. Two additional waysides on Clingman’sDome, the highest mountain in thepark, will present the following themes:1. The creation of the mountains and valleystory with a panoramic view over theSmokies.2. Clingman’s Dome as a sacred place ofhealing and a sanctuary for the Cherokees,relating traditions of a magic lakethat heals wounded animals and historicalstories of Cherokee refugees findingrefuge on the mountain when others wereforcibly removed to Oklahoma on the Trailof Tears.Traditional Hawaiian Artwork forKilauea Visitor Center:This broad-ranging collaboration integratesindigenous Hawaiian perspectivesof the volcanoes Kilauea and Mauna Loaand the volcano goddess Pele into traditionalartworks commissioned for thenewly renovated Kilauea Visitor Center atHawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Theproject comes out of park meetings withthe Kupuna Committee of Native Hawaiianelders advising the park on cultural mattersand advances a mutual interest inemphasizing the importance of NativeHawaiian views of park resources. As aresult of collaboration with TMI, a call forproposals went out for a major work ofsculpture depicting the important NativeHawaiian concept of wahi kapu — sacredplaces — as it relates to Mauna Loa andKïlauea, as did a call for submissions oftraditional Hawaiian paintings of Pele. TheKupuna Committee is selecting the worksfor installation in the Kilauea Visitor Center,and the Volcano Art Center had a monthlongexhibit of 62 of the paintings submited(as many as could be accommodated).The sculpture will be placed in a prominentplace just outside the entrance to thevisitor center and the painting will be hungin a special alcove inside next to a panelwith quotes from Kupuna Committee elderson the importance of Pele in NativeHawaiian culture.Interest from artists throughout theHawaiian Islands was very high and thesubmissions greater than originally anticipated.In fact, the Park was overwhelmedwith a ‘tsunami’ of Pele paintings – 140 inall – and the Kupuna Committee selectedone by a local artist. The main newspapersin Hawai’i, based in Honolulu, ranfront-page articles on the project. TMIplayed a key role in raising funds for theartwork and consulting on the process.The participants in the project include:Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, theKupuna Committee, Volcano Art Center,County of Hawai’i Department of Re-108

search and Development, and TMI. Animportant byproduct of the project hasbeen the formation of a committee ofNative Hawaiian members of the interpretivestaff to act as a liaison with theKupuna Committee and to work closelywith the park and make sure that NativeHawaiians have input from the beginningin all future interpretive projects.Spirit of the Mountains Wayside:As a result of talking with us and seeingexamples of products at other parks,interpretive staff at Santa MonicaMountains National Recreation Area cameup with a wayside exhibit that presentstraditional Chumash views of BoneyMountain and encourages the general visitorto experience the mountain in a deeper,more spiritual way. In order to connectthe wayside with a living tradition, theyconsulted with the Chumash and put apicture of Charlie Cooke, a current hereditarychief, in the upper right-hand cornerwith the following quote by him:“Boney Mountain is a sacred spiritualarea, a shaman’s retreat, anda place for vision quests. It is aplace for meditation. From upthere, you can see everything.”Panel in Santa Monica Sacred Mountains, California.

The interpretive staff titled the wayside“Spirit of the Mountain” and added the followingtext in the lower left-hand corner,superimposed on a large image of themountain itself:“Boney Mountain stands as amajestic beacon filling the dayand night sky. The mountain’sspirit pervades the plants, animalsand sense of place around you. Itis in the cycle of the seasons, andthe past and present generationsof people. Whether alone or withothers, this place anchored by themountain invites you to pause,reflect, and look inward. Taste thesalt rolling in on the morning seabreeze. Smell the pungent sagewarmed by the afternoon sun.Witness the magical interplay ofdark and light shadows. Whatinsights, ideas and feelings doesthe spirit of the mountain evokefor you?”TMI played a minimal role in the conceptand design of the wayside, which was donealmost entirely by park staff in collaborationwith the Chumash Tribe. The genesis of theexhibit shows how this approach to interpretationcan be spread through examplesthat stimulate people to come up with theirown products and activities.Mountains and People, People andMountains:TMI has begun work on the design andproduction of a publication for interpreters,teachers, naturalists, environmentaleducators, and the general public.Titled “Mountains and People, People andMountains,” the handbook complementsnatural history information by bringingevocative quotes, beliefs, folktales, andcultural practices from American, NativeAmerican, and other cultures around theworld to bear on various features ofmountain environments, such as peaks,forests, eagles, and bears. It is based onthe seasonal interpreters’ handbook atRocky Mountain National Park used bystaff to prepare evening campfire talks,guided walks, and other visitor-relatedactivities. It is organized around the samecategories of flora, fauna, and natural features,and for each category it providesquotes, stories, and traditions arrangedfor easy reference in the following groupings:- Native American, Hawaiian, andAlaskan- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam- European and European American- African and African American- Latino and Chicano- Asian and Asian American110

The content can be adapted to variousteaching environments from classroom totrail to home. Quotes, ideas, and storiescan be easily selected to help relate toparticular audiences and provide multipleperspectives on features of the naturalenvironment.ConclusionWe have learned a number of valuablelessons from work on various phases ofthe project. One of the quickest andmost effective ways of implementing thisapproach is to integrate inspirationaland cultural themes into products andactivities that parks are already planningor have in production. For example,Great Smoky Mountains already hadfunding and plans in place to mount amajor photographic exhibit on 22 mountainousnational parks in their main visitorcenter. As a result of discussionswith us, they decided to shift the themeof this exhibit to the sacredness ofmountains and wilderness and had uswork with them to prepare panels andselect quotes. We have found it advisableto initiate a variety of different productsand activities at a number of parksand let each one mature at its ownpace, not burdening the already busyinterpretive staffs. It is important to keeppeople excited and energized; in fact,one of the important outcomes of theproject has been the personal inspirationand renewal that interpreters getfrom working on it. The strategy of usingproducts and activities developed atpilot sites as evocative examples workswell to inspire people to come up withtheir own ideas on how to implementthis approach in their parks. Encouragingcreativity and innovation, rather thanstraight replication, has had the additionalbenefit of creating even moremodels to stimulate thinking at otherparks and protected areas.AcknowledgementsThe Mountain Institute and its SacredMountains Program would like toacknowledge with great appreciationthe support and partnerships of theFord Foundation, the Nathan B.Cummings Foundation, the ComptonFoundation, the Cherokee PreservationFoundation, the County of Hawai’iDepartment of Research and Development,the Museum of the CherokeeIndian, the Cultural Resources Office ofthe Eastern Band of the Cherokee,Friends of the Great Smoky MountainsNational Park, the Volcano Art Center,and the various National Parks withwhich we have worked.111

References■ Bernbaum, E. (1996) Sacred Mountains:Implications for Protected Area Management.Parks 6(1): 41-48.■Bernbaum, E. (1997) The Spiritual andCultural Significance of Mountains. InMountains of the World - A Global Priority,ed. J. Ives and B. Messerli, 39-60.Oxford: Parthenon.■ Bernbaum, E. (1998) Sacred Mountainsof the World, Berkeley and Los Angeles,University of California Press.■ Douglas, W. O. (1951) Of Men andMountains, London, Victor Gollancz.■Muir, J. (1997) Mountaineering Essays,ed. R. F. Fleck, Salt Lake City, TheUniversity of Utah Press.112

Mount Rainier National Park, offsite travelling exhibition, Washington.

Belief in Protected Areas:Overlooking the Spirit in ConservationLiza Higgins-ZogibIntroductionThe natural world is simply full of sacredplaces, and protected areas are noexception to the rule: from the ancestorspirits that inhabit the trees and watersources of many of Madagascar’s parksand reserves; to the millions of Hindu andBuddhist pilgrims who trek through protectedareas to reach their place of worship;to the Holy Mounts sacred for Jews,Christians, and Muslims alike. There arethought to be hundreds of thousands ofsuch sacred sites around the world, insideand outside official protected areas, all ofthem contributing to global conservationefforts. These are places that millions ofbelievers hold in reverence. Moreover,practically all religions and belief systems,from the mainstream to the local, encouragetheir followers to respect and care forthe natural environment. Yet despite lessthan five per cent of the world’s populationdeclaring themselves ‘atheists’, themany threats to the environment and itsnatural resources continue to grow at analarming rate.Perhaps it is because the relationshipbetween faith and nature conservation isriddled with complexity that it has notbeen included in the conservation debateuntil recently. But even though the importanceof this issue has been raised now bya number of influential institutions 1 , it is stilla fact that the spiritual values of importantnatural sites are frequently not consideredwhen planning for conservation and sustainableland-use. In addition, conservationists(protected area managers, policymakers, NGO staff, etc.) often lack theskills or knowledge needed to deal effectivelywith sacred sites and the people forwhom they are sacred.Although ‘we’ (the conservationists) areslowly coming to terms with the fact thatthe ‘human’ aspect of the environmentmust be taken into consideration in ourconservation work, the ‘spiritual’ aspect is1 Including but not limited to: The Convention on Biological Diversity; UNESCO; WWF and IUCN.< Hindu Trishula (Lord Shiva’s trident) in front of the mountains of Lachung, Sikkim, where the land is stillprotected and managed by indigenous management systems.115

still largely ignored. All over the world,issues like poverty and development,equity, and justice are increasingly beingtackled (with varying degrees of success)in conservation projects and programmes.But there are relatively few conservationprojects that deal adequately with issuesof spirit and religion, even in places wherethese issues are in the forefront of peoples’lives and relationships with their naturalenvironment.We could view this oversight as a problem–but we could also regard it as a greatopportunity to build further support for theconservation movement. This paper highlightsthe importance of the sacred in conservation(in protected areas in particular),and reflects on the problems of ignoringthe spiritual dimensions of the naturalworld.The link between Sacred Sites,Faiths, and Protected AreasProtected areas are still referred to as thebackbone of conservation. And in practice,work on protected areas still constitutesa large part of the internationalconservation agenda and expenditure.Organisations like WWF still spend mostof their resources on this core subject. Assuch, in the recent WWF/ARC report entitledBeyond Belief: Linking faiths and protectedareas to support biodiversityconservation 2 we attempted to explore indetail just to what extent the interplaybetween faiths and protected areas isimportant.The report includes a survey of a hundredprotected areas around the world that containimportant values to one or more faiths,as well as more detailed case studies fromKenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Lebanon, India,Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, China, Mongolia,Europe, Finland, Australia, and Colombia.Beyond Belief calls on protectedarea owners, managers and supporters torecognise the importance and legitimacy ofsacred values in nature and to work cooperativelywith faith groups to ensure that nonmaterialvalues are also effectivelypreserved. It also calls on the faith groupsthemselves to put the fine statements theyhave made about protecting the environmentto practical use by supporting globalefforts to help conserve the abundance ofcreation through the designation and goodmanagement of protected areas.There are many links between spiritual traditionsand protected areas. Long before offi-2 Dudley N., L. Higgins-Zogib and S. Mansourian (2005); Beyond Belief: Linking faiths and protected areas to supportbiodiversity conservation, WWF/ARC, Switzerland116

cially protected areas as we now know themexisted, people were protecting their sacredlands. Indeed sacred sites are probably theoldest method of habitat protection and theystill form a large and mainly unrecognisednetwork of sanctuaries around the world.Some researchers suggest that there maybe as many sacred sites as there are protectedareas. If expert opinion is to bebelieved, which indicates the possibility ofthere being over 100,000 sacred groves inIndia alone, then this is certainly the case. 3Beyond Belief – Conclusions■ Faiths have been involved in some of theearliest forms of habitat protection in existence,both through the preservation ofparticular places as sacred natural sitesand through religious-based control systemssuch as the himas system in Islam 5 .■ A proportion of these sites (probably a largeproportion) are also highly successful at conservingnatural ecology and biodiversity.Sacred Sites exist in hundreds, perhapsthousands, of the world’s ‘official’ protectedareas. This means that people have a specialregard for hundreds or thousands ofprotected areas not necessarily because oftheir importance to biodiversity, but becauseof their ‘less-tangible’ spiritual values.The links between sacred places and conservationare not restricted to traditional orindigenous belief systems. They in factoccur all over the world and across all faiths,from the ‘mainstream’ 4 to the localised. Theconclusions and recommendations of thereport are summarised below:■ Links between faiths and conservation ofland and water exist throughout the worldand involve every faith system that wehave examined.■Many areas of sacred significance andfaith-based land management systemsare currently under threat because of culturalbreakdown, pressures on land andresources and poor governance that permitsdeleterious use.■ There is still a lot to be learned about wheresacred sites exist, what level of risk theyface, and about how exactly they relate tobiodiversity conservation.3 http://ecoheritage.cpreec.org/04_02__sacred_groves.html4 Palmer, Martin with Victoria Finlay (2003); Faith in Conservation, The World Bank, Washington DC. In alphabeticalorder: Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shinto, Sikhism, andZoroastrianism5 Hima is an ancient system of community based protected areas, common property, pre-Islamic, which at somepoint of History became integrated with the Islamic sacred law. Himas usually include critical resources, such aswater, wells, wetlands or pastures.117

■Sacred natural sites and other places ofimportance to faith groups exist as protectedsites both inside and outside official ‘protectedareas’ as recognised by IUCN TheWorld Conservation Union and theConvention on Biological Diversity.■ Bringing a sacred area into a national systemof protected areas can increase protectionfor the site but sometimes only at theexpense of some of its spiritual values. Theexistence of a sacred site within a protectedarea can also create challenges for managers.But other cases show a good integrationbetween the needs of faiths andconservationists.■ The spiritual values of a site are frequentlynot considered when planning conservationand conservationists (protected area managers,policy makers, and even NGO staff)often lack the skills or knowledge to dealeffectively with sacred sites and the peoplefor whom they are sacred.■ Sacred areas can usefully be integrated intoprotected area systems using any recognisedmanagement models and governance typesand can be suitable for both large and smallareas and for terrestrial and aquatic sites.■ Decisions about whether or not to seek toconvert a sacred natural site or a land or seaarea important to a faith into an official protectedarea therefore need to be made on acase-by-case basis, after consultation withthe custodians of the sacred site.■Success in co-managing for faith andnature is almost always a matter of developingeffective and trusting partnershipsbetween the different stakeholders involved.■ Making such areas an explicit part of biodiversityconservation strategies has the additionaland very important function of bringingconservation issues into the mainstreamthinking of faith groups.■ Further guidance is needed about how thisintegration can best be achieved, and somesuggestions are outlined in the followingsection of recommendations.Beyond Belief - Recommendations■ Many sacred natural sites can and shouldcontribute to biodiversity conservationstrategies, although whether this contributionshould be inside an official protectedarea or as part of wider landscape/seascapeconservation strategies needs to bedetermined for each case in turn.■Given the influence of faith communities,including the direct ownership of land andresources, conservation organisationsshould be working much more closely withfaith groups to identify ways of collaboration.118

■ Decisions about individual sites need to betaken by all the stakeholders, that is by faithgroups in terms of their own desires andperceptions of what impacts will affect thesacred nature of the site and by conservationspecialists about whether the site will bea useful addition to protected area systems.■ By protecting natural areas with sacred significancewe are also in many cases protectinga culture and traditions that have existedfor centuries. For this reason, the protectionof sacred sites can sometimes be an effectiveway of also protecting a people, culture orethnic group, while also recognising the rolethat they play in protecting nature.■Where a sacred site exists within aprotected area, care of the site shouldalways be an important element in managementplans and practice.■There is still much to be learnt aboutthe links between sacred sites, biodiversity,and protected areas and furtherresearch is required, particularly withrespect to:- the location and status of sacrednatural sites- the influence of mainstream faithson land and water and options forconservationA sacred tree sporting a zebu skull in the Montagne d’Ambre National Park, Madagascar.

■- the biodiversity value of sacrednatural sitesThe value that protected status forsacred sites can bring to faith groupsshould not be neglected.■Current guidelines are useful butremain only general; further guidelinesare needed specifically for major stakeholders,including faith groups, protectedarea managers, and governments.■Such guidelines need to be based ondirect field experience and we proposethe establishment of a learning portfolioof new and existing protected areascontaining sacred natural sites thatspecifically looks at the challenges ofmanaging for both values together.The forgotten triangleThe overriding trend currently within conservationorganisations that work at a local levelis to ensure local participation in projectsand activities. It has been recognisedbeyond doubt that if local support is notattained, then conservation efforts will be oflimited impact and their sustainability questionable.However, in many cases when weapproach people we only have our conservationobjectives in mind. When we thinkabout a place we view it through our conservationlenses and as such we are not necessarilyin tune with how people themselvesview their place. Here I argue that if we wantto be truly relevant at local level, we mustfirst get this right.In most instances, people tend to view theworld in a three-dimensional manner. Thiscan be visualised as such:A three-dimensional worldviewHUMANNATURALESPIRITUAL120

It could certainly be argued that the modernworldview has moved away from thismodel; increasingly, the spiritual dimensionhas much less of a role to play and eventhe role of the natural dimension is everdiminishingas the human/materialisticaspect has taken over. But essentially Iargue that these three aspects alwaysremain, despite the emphasis that may beplaced by any individual. We can never getaway from the ‘natural’. Granted we mayno longer live so closely connected to theland –but we still rely on the air we breatheand the natural resources we consume tomaintain our lives and our increasing standardsof living. Similarly, we can never reallyget away from the spiritual either. Few arethose who have never thought about thebigger questions in life (Who am I? andWhy am I here?) or who have not wonderedabout or wished for something higheron their deathbed.Whatever the case, in terms of conservationand the important cradles of biodiversitythat we are all striving to protect, thegreat majority of people we need to workwith maintain this three-dimensional worldviewon a more or less equitable level.These three dimensions are integrated andcannot be separated. As humans we needsocial interaction, we depend on the naturalworld for our very survival, and instinctivelywe need some kind of explanation asto why we are here. Yet despite the logicalintegration between the three dimensions,we often fail to take them all into considerationin our conservation endeavours.Let us take one of many examples. TheHeart of Borneo 6 is a place of high conservationvalue: the last remaining intacttropical forests in a region of such biodiversity.Straddling Brunei, Malaysia, andIndonesia, the threats to the area arehuge… and growing. There are manyindigenous and local communities livingin the area who depend on forestresources for their livelihoods and practicetheir religion on the land. There aremany sacred places in the area –probablymany of which remain unknown tothe scientists and conservationists workingthere. So, in order to fully appreciatethe place and its peoples; in order tograsp how the people there understandtheir place; and therefore in order to workwith them to ensure that their placeremains their place of livelihood and worship,we need to understand all threedimensions –the natural, the human andthe spiritual.6 See http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/asia_pacific/our_solutions/borneo_forests/index.cfm121

Unfortunately the conservation movementas a rule, shaped by the rational Westernscientific method, has all too often ignored‘less-tangible’ 7 aspects of nature. Yet totruly be relevant to people, we must startapproaching our work in a more holistic,all-encompassing manner.If we think again about the three-dimensionalworldview, we can identify ourplace within it. The conservationists havetraditionally concentrated on the ‘natural’;the development agencies have focussedon the ‘human’; the theologians haveappropriated the ‘spiritual’. But in all ofthese cases, where an exclusive focus istaken, the results are certainly of limitedvalue. What good is conserving an areawhen people outside it are hungry? Whatuse is there in accruing material wealth,when the heart and soul are not content?So, it all works together and I argue thatthe future conservation model must necessarilybe a holistic one that takes allthree dimensions into account.One inspiring example of how the modern,rational model can work alongside the traditional,spiritual model comes from Indianmedicine. Modern methods and traditionalAyurveda (the ancient science of healthand living) work in parallel and are both fullyrecognised by the state. In the same veinthe ancient plant science of Vrkshayurvedais now becoming appreciated as an invaluablecomplementary knowledge systemthat people can relate to.The spiritual breakdownSacred natural sites are often placeswhere voluntary protection is afforded bythe local communities who hold theplace in reverence. Many sacred placesoutside official networks of protectedareas are more rigorously protected thanthose run by the state. Even so, sacredplaces the world over are coming underan increased level of pressure hailingfrom large-scale development projects,perverse lending policies, poor stateplanning and management, and otheroutside influences. But problems are alsoemerging as a result of growing localdemand for natural resources and whatwe might call a cultural and spiritual disintegration.The world is getting smaller.Few are the natural places that remainuntouched by human presence or unsulliedby mounting global problems suchas climate change. And few are theplaces that remain culturally intact andfar from the global stamp of similitude.7 I use the term ‘less-tangible’ as opposed to ‘non-tangible’ for spiritual values because the spiritual, in terms ofplace or other, is absolutely tangible to the person who experiences it.122

In the remote areas of Lachung andLachen, Sikkim, India, there are indigenousnatural resource management systems thathave never been documented. Under theDzumsa system, ruled by the head Pipon(head man), the two valley communities ofthis Eastern Himalayan state keep a tightreign on all of their land and the socio-politicaland environmental processes and systemsthat govern it.However, even in these remote parts, theinfluence of a rapidly modernising India isincreasingly felt among these communities.In Lachung there is a steady outflow ofLachungpa 8 youth to Sikkim’s capital,Gangtok, or further afield, in a bid for newlevels of education and employment 9 . Whilethis may be a natural and healthy development,the endogenous systems and knowledgethat have remained present throughhistory and resisted the challenge of integratinginto the folds of the Maha Bharat(Great India) are slowly starting to decline.This type of cultural disintegration is happeningeverywhere. From the dimi-nishinginfluence of the monasteries in the Buddhistworld, to the breakdown of aboriginal communities,to a more general world-shifttowards a global economy and ‘californicationized’aspirations. Because people withstrong spiritual beliefs have traditionallybeen the voluntary protectors andguardians of the natural world, this culturaldisintegration is certainly taking its toll onthe natural environment.A 2002 SWOT analysis on the potential roleof sacred sites as tools for biodiversity conservationconcluded that one of the mainthreats and weaknesses in this field wascultural change:“Sacred natural sites are subject tochanging value systems and culturesand therefore may ‘lose orgain their sacred value’ and withthis any conservation function thatmight exist. Modern developmentand changes of societal systemsmay significantly reduce their numberand integrity. Moreover, transmissionof traditional knowledge iscollapsing.” 10Conversely it may be argued thatstrengthening endogenous knowledgesystems, cultural diversity and spiritualheritage could well contribute considerably8 The people of Lachung are referred to as Lachungpas and the people of Lachen, Lachenpas.9 Ghose D., S. Chatterjee and L. Higgins-Zogib (2006). Interview with ex-Pipon, Lachung and personal observation.10 UNESCO (2003); International Workshop on The Importance of Sacred Natural Sites for BiodiversityConservation, Kunming and Xishuangbanna Biosphere Reserve (People’s Republic of China), 17-20 February 2003,UNESCO/MAB, Paris.123

to the conservation of biodiversity and naturalsystems of the planet.Protected areas: where the spiritcannot be ignoredIt is the spiritual heritage of place that rendersit so special and so important to preserve.People throughout time have been muchmore inclined to safeguard their natural environmentwhen it is linked with their deeprootedbelief systems. Although it would beunfair, and indeed untrue, to make any kindof sweeping statement that indigenousknowledge for natural resource managementis always the right/best way, there are countlesscases where endogenous knowledge ofnatural place and resources has proved tobe a welcome and even superior addition, toscientific conservation measures. This is truefor example in Aboriginal Australia, where theuse of indigenous fire techniques has provedcritical not only in terms of fire management,but also in terms of encouraging growth ofcertain useful species and in general maintaininga healthy equilibrium in the landscapes.Protected areas have a role to play here.When well-managed they do not solelyconserve biodiversity, but also the culturaland spiritual values that go with the place.While protected areas are not always theanswer, they can be instrumental in safeguardingthe sanctity of sacred places from,for example, large-scale developments thatcould otherwise jeopardise the area.The importance of getting it right becomesvery apparent when you consider the extentto which ‘belief’ lives and breathes in protectedareas. Detailed in the following tableare just a few examples of protected areaswhere the spirit cannot be ignored andwhere getting it wrong would have disastrouseffects for the place and the people. Inall of the cases conflicting ‘place-views’ areat play. A place-view is how an individual orgroup views a particular place. As we haveseen earlier in this paper, most people livingin and around important places of biodiversityview it in the three-dimensional way–human/nature/spirit. But as we have alsoseen, when others do not take the time toalso try to see a place in such a way, thenconflicts can arise and the place as a resultbecomes threatene.The following table summarises a few pertinentexamples of where the spiritual placeviewruns up against other place-viewsresulting in problems both for the biodiversityand the cultural and religious values ofthe area. These problems are common theworld over wherever sacred sites and protectedareas meet.124

■PacificAustraliaProtected area name and other data: Kata Tjuta National Park (within which liesAyers Rock – or Uluru). Declared: 1977; size: 132,566 ha; IUCN category: II andWorld Heritage Site.Faith and significance to the faith: Traditional. The traditional owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta are the Anangu Aboriginal people. The National Park, and in particularthe Uluru monolith, is of religious significance to the Aborigines 11 . In Aboriginalmythology Uluru is the Intelligent Snake from the universe who emerged from arainbow and slithered down to Earth; in other traditions it arose suddenly out ofa larger sandhill 12 . Uluru is depicted by Aborigines as a symbol of fertility. It isshaped like a horseshoe lying on its side. The lower part of the ‘U’ undulates andis filled with eggs. Thus the figure symbolises both male and female and is consideredto be the father and mother of all forms of life. The Anangu believe thatMount Uluru is hollow, and that it contains an energy source that they call‘Tjukurpa’, the ‘dream time’. They believe that the area around it is inhabited byancestral beings whose activities are recorded at many separate sites 13 .Conflict of place-view: The Park was returned to Aboriginal management in1985. Although visitors are asked not to climb the rock, many still do. When thisresults in injury or death, it is particularly trying for the indigenous hosts as theysubsequently observe a ‘worrying time’.This place-view conflict arises from ignorance. Visitors simply do not understandthat Uluru for the local people has the same significance as a church, a temple,or a mosque. The result is detrimental to the spiritual values of the site.11 Mountford, C. and A. Roberts (1965); The Dreamtime, Rigby Ltd, Adelaide12 Roberts, M. J. and A. Roberts (1975); Dreamtime Heritage, Rigby Books, Adelaide13 Layton, R. (1989); Uluru: an Aboriginal history of Ayers Rock, Reprinted edition with additions, Aboriginal StudiesPress, Canberra (ACT)125

■PacificPapua New GuineaProtected area name and other data: Various, Papua New Guinea; IUCNCategory VIFaith and significance to the faith: Traditional. Papua New Guinea’s population of5.5 million people live largely in rural areas and most follow a subsistence lifestylebased on farming, hunting and collection of forest and sea produce. More than50,000 years of human habitation in New Guinea has resulted in a rich and holisticunderstanding of the natural environment. Each of the country’s 820 languagegroups has developed its own mechanisms for protecting and using itsresources and these in turn have fostered the creation of untold thousands oftraditional protected areas and protective practices which include:- Restriction or prevention of gardening, hunting, gathering, or generalaccess in the domains of forest spirits or masalai.- Controlled reefs that are recognised as the domain of water spirits.- Areas that have been restricted to respect the site of past sickness, historicevents, or to mark the death of an elder.- Areas where seasonal restrictions on the hunting of species have beeninstalled or where certain animals (such as clan totems) may not be hunted.The constitution of the modern state of Papua New Guinea recognises customaryownership of ninety-seven per cent of the land area of the country.Community control of inshore fisheries is also tacitly acknowledged thoughlegal recognition is much less clear. Customary protected areas remain powerfulin many parts of the country and offer examples of conservation through aninformal system 14 .14 RAPPAM (Rapid Assessment and Prioritisation of Protected Area Management) report (2006), WWF126

Conflict of place-view: It was revealed during a recent survey of protected areasin Papua New Guinea that logging concessions had been granted over no lessthan twelve of the fifty-one protected areas assessed. The communities concernedwere not aware of these developments.The place-views at play in this situation are at totally opposing ends of the spectrum.The community objective is to be able to continue to live, hunt, and gardenon the traditional lands of their ancestors. The objective of the governmentdepartments in question is to make money from the country’s natural wealth, inthis case timber. Fortunately there is another place-view in the country that hasadopted a middle ground. The view of the nature conservationists is that wemust start to bridge the gap between place-views to make room for development,spirit and the natural world.It is hoped that strengthening the protected area system in Papua New Guineaand helping to develop the capacity of local clans to better protect their areaswithin a climate of increasing threats to the nation’s natural resources willrespond to the issues raised by conflicting place-views.The following is a vision for the TransFly ecoregion (Papua New Guinea andPapua, Indonesia) that starts to build the bridges.“We, the peoples of the TransFly, are proud of our land, our stories, ourheritage, and our natural environment. Our children learn to look after ourland through the law of our ancestors, with careful management and byjoining hands across borders. May our monsoon forests and savannascontinue to teem with birds, our rivers with Barramundi and Saratoga,and our swamps with crocodiles. Let our spirits fill our children’s dreamsand may we dwell in communities of wealth and beauty.”127

■North AmericaUSAProtected area name and other data: Devils Tower National Monument,Wyoming, USA; America’s first declared National Monument, 1906; 545 ha;IUCN category IIIFaith and significance to the faith: Traditional. Native American Indian. Longbefore Western settlers laid eyes on the dramatic monolith now known as DevilsTower, this was sacred land for native American tribes including the Arapaho,Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone. 15 Native names for the monolithinclude Bear’s Lair, Tree Rock, and Bear’s Lodge and in 2005 an initiative torecognise the name ‘Bear’s Lodge’ as an additional designation was thwartedfor fear of jeopardising the tourist trade. There are several traditional legendsabout the rock. One of these tells of two Sioux girls who were out collecting flowerswhen they were chased by bears. Taking pity on the girls, the Great Spirit(Supreme Being) made the earth rise up on the spot where they were, leavingthe bears clawing down the sides of the rock. This is an area where people stillcome to worship and pray for their ancestors.Conflict of place-view: The protected area is managed by the US National ParkService who allowed the Native Americans to come back to worship this placeafter having been banished completely for many years. But despite this attemptby the Park Service, conflicts persist. The bears’ claw marks in the monolithhave made the rock ideal for rock climbers. And of the 400,000 visitors to thearea every year, hundreds come to climb. This activity is of course sacrilegiousfor those who hold the place sacred. Again the Park Service has attempted toreconcile the differences by instating the ‘June voluntary closure’ to rockclimbers 16 , as this is a particularly special time in the Native American calendar.This has apparently reduced the number of climbers by eighty per cent. Efforts15 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devils_Tower_National_Monument16 http://www.nps.gov/deto/128

of the Park Service however are not always appreciated by the local, non-NativeAmerican residents of the area, who also see this place as theirs, who cannotunderstand the religious significance of the rock, and who often take offence atthe prayer bundles left by the Native Americans and at their attempts to reclaimthe land.There are many distinct place-views interacting and conflicting at this site: thePark Service; the local communities; the visitors; the climbers and tour operators;and the Native Americans for whom the place is sacred. All view the placein very different ways and without some major efforts to reconcile these, the conflictswill continue to the detriment both of the place and its spiritual values 17 .■AsiaJapanProtected area name and other data: Sacred sites and pilgrimage routes in theKii Mountain Range; declared 2004; size: 495 ha; World Heritage Site, 2004.Faith and significance to the faith: Shinto and Buddhism. Three sacred sites–Yoshino and Omine, Kumano Sanzan, and Koyasan– are linked by popular pilgrimageroutes to the ancient capital cities of Nara and Kyoto.The sacredness of the site has resulted in important ancient trees and groves beingpreserved, including: an ancient Podocarpus nagi at Kumano Hayatmam Taisha,planted according to legend in 1159; the Nchi primeval forest, part of the Kumanocomplex, has been protected since ancient times as a sanctuary; giant trees of upto 500 years old around a cemetery in Koyasan; natural silver fir forests along a pilgrimroute, protected since the fifteenth century; 108 ha of protected Magnoliasieboldi; and a group of ancient cedar trees said to be ca. 3,000 years old 18 .17 McLeod C. / Earth Island Institute (2002), Bulfrog Films, DVD, see www.sacredland.org18 Evaluation report to the World Heritage Centre carried out by ICIMOS, May 2004.129

Conflict of place-view: 15 million tourists visit the area every year, of whicharound 26,000 come from outside Japan. Infrastructure for the tourists and pilgrims(car parks, museums, and other facilities) has increased accordingly.Evidently the intents and purposes of the hikers differ from those of the pilgrims.And both these place-views differ again from those of the World Heritage andprotected area management. Like many protected areas that have to deal withheavy pilgrimage or uncontrolled tourism, there are imminent threats to the biodiversityand sanctity of the places in question. These must be managed carefully,with everyone’s interests and place-views taken into proper consideration.■AsiaCambodiaProtected area name and other data: Mondulkiri Protected Forest, MondulkiriProvinceFaith and significance to the faith: Traditional. The forests of Mondulkiri used tobe part of a logging concession until the country’s logging ban in 2002. Theindigenous people who live here worship burial forests and spirit forests, whereforeigners are rarely allowed to venture. These are places where ancestors dwelland can be offended by the wrong use or non-respect of the forests; the resultis bad luck for the entire village (bad crops, disease, etc.). These places are stillvery much part of the villagers’ lives. Worship and offerings are performed regularly.19Conflict of place-view: Only a few years back (prior to the country’s logging banin 2002), the logging company that was given the concession was very much19 Higgins-Zogib L. (2006). Interviews with villagers in Mondulkiri Protected Forest, and personal observations.130

active in the forests. Although informed of the burial and spirit forests, these werenot always respected. The villagers complain of bad luck befalling the villageafter the forests had been disrespectfully penetrated and disturbed by the loggers.The area is now under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests,and Fisheries, unlike most of the other protected areas in Cambodia, which aregoverned by the Ministry of Environment. Sacred places were never taken intoconsideration in the land-use planning of the area. Now two major internationalNGOs work in the area, WWF and WCS 20 . Due to a relatively recent concern byconservation NGOs about local communities, livelihoods, and developmentissues, the indigenous peoples are now consulted and considered partners inconservation. Spirit and burial forests and other sacred natural elements of thisprotected area are therefore taken into account and respected .Success in co-managing for faith and nature is almost always a matter of developingeffective and trusting partnerships between the different stakeholdersinvolved. In some of the protected areas detailed above the conflict is so deeplyrooted in history and common sentiment that the gaps in understanding areoften very difficult to bridge. But the values of these places are worth that additionaleffort to ensure at least a common understanding of the whole range ofissues.20 World Wildlife Fund for Nature and World Conservation Society.131

Some conclusionsAdditional References“The ‘natural’ and ‘cultural’ heritage ofnational parks is not separate. This is anartificial ‘white-fella’ separation. They arestill boxing the whole into sections; weneed to integrate management into aholistic view of the landscape”. (PhilSullivan, Aboriginal Heritage Officer,National Parks and Wildlife Service, NewSouth Wales, Australia).What Phil Sullivan has put his finger on isthat ‘they’ –or rather, ‘we’ the conservationists-haven’t got it quite right yet whenit comes to managing protected areasthat have important sacred values to faithgroups.■Berkes, F. (1999) Sacred Ecology:Traditional ecological knowledge andresource management; Taylor & Francis,Philadelphia, PA 19106.■Bernbaum, E. (1996) Sacred mountains:implications for protected area management,Parks 6. Commission on NationalParks and Protected Areas of IUCN,IUCN, Gland.■ Borrini-Feyerabend, G; A. Kothari & G.Oviedo (2004) Indigenous and LocalCommunities and Protected Areas, CardiffUniversity and IUCN, Cardiff and Cambridge,UK.If we are to be truly relevant in a protectedarea or landscape, if we are to reallyengage local stakeholders, and if we areto respect the rights of indigenous peoples,different faith groups, and cultures,then we must learn to understand theenvironment as others understand it. Wemust, as Phil Sullivan puts it, move awayfrom the ‘white-fella separation’ and thinkholistically about all the values of an area,both tangible and ‘less-tangible’.■Burger, J. (1990) The Gaia Atlas of FirstPeoples, Gaia Books and RobertsonMcCarta, London.■Dudley N, L. Higgins-Zogib & S. Mansourian(2005) Beyond Belief: Linkingfaiths and protected areas to support biodiversityconservation; WWF/ARC; Gland,Switzerland.■Gray, M. SacredSites.org; www.sacredsites.org(last accessed nov. 2006)■Palmer, M. & V. Finlay (2003) Faith inConservation, The World Bank, WashingtonDC.132

AcknowledgementsThis paper is partly based on theWWF/ARC publication Beyond Belief:Linking Faiths and Protected Areas tosupport biodiversity conservation. Gratefulthanks are therefore extended toco-authors, Nigel Dudley and StephanieMansourian. It also draws from apaper entitled Sacred Sites andProtected Areas: An Interplay of Place-Views, written by the present author,and presented at an InternationalConference on Endogenous Developmentand Bio-Cultural Diversity, Geneva,October 2006.133

5. The case study of MontserratThe point of view of the monastic communityRamon Ribera-Mariné,Prior of the Monastery of MontserratMontserrat has multiple facets and manyrealities co-exist here in peace, althoughnot necessarily without a certain tensionon occasions. Those of us who live hereare used to the difficulties that those whovisit have in appreciating the full variety ofthe site with all its inherent ambiguities.My aim with these words is to stimulatedebate and to provide an answer to thequestion “What is Montserrat?” for thoseinterested in the spiritual value of naturalprotected areas. The search for ananswer to this question was also themotive behind the choice of route for thewalk we have just completed. Now it istime to discuss this question indoors,comfortably sat down!I would like to begin with a couple ofreflections.1. To be honest, I do not look on myself asan authority on anything that could warrantaddressing this forum. I am neither abiologist nor a naturalist; rather, I am asimple monk and man of God, a studentof Semitic languages who has ended upas the prior of the community of monks onMontserrat. I have lived here for over 38years and have written a number of booksabout this mountain, and I have thoughtlong and hard about nature and geographyin general. I am, when it comes downto it, an amateur.2. I will refer to Montserrat as the ‘mountainof Montserrat’, instead of the ‘holymountain’, because the main problems ofthe place are physical: not everyone in civilsociety or the Administration is aware ofthe extreme fragility of this natural wonder,which we must pass on to future generations.Only a few days ago we witnessedwhat I would call (non-professional opinion)an attack on a natural reserve!Two further initial considerations (I did saythat the reality of Montserrat was complex!)before I begin.Firstly, the mountain of Montserrat hasbeen a sacred mountain since ancienttimes and has always had this specialtranscendental value. This should not surpriseanyone, given the unique outline of< Chapel of Sant Iscle, built in the 10 th century, gardens of the Monastery of Montserrat.135

the mountain, with its natural rock pinnaclesfull of symbolism. The names given tothese strange petrified shapes offer someclues as to the mountain’s symbolic value,although we must humbly confess that weknow nothing of its pre-Christian spiritualconnotations. What we do know, however,is that for over a thousand years (since1025) and without interruption, a Christianmonastic community has been present onMontserrat and during this time has attractedmultitudes of people from the surroundingtowns and from even further afield.Secondly, Montserrat lies within the denselypopulated and expanding Barcelona conurbation.As you will have noticed, this activeindustrial area also boasts large commercialareas, as well as our remarkable mountainand tourist attraction, which is on a par withmany of the great sights of Europe. Thishelps to explain why Montserrat receivesover two million visitors annually: major infrastructuresare needed to welcome suchlarge numbers of people, above all becausetheir presence is very seasonal.Montserrat is not and never has been a remotesacred mountain, isolated from the whims ofhistory, as the fact that is has been sacked onmore than one occasion demonstrates.We have just visited three different sites onthe mountain and looked at some of thedifferent realities that co-exist here. I’d likenow to take you back there and add a fewsimple remarks.A. View from the terrace of theSant Joan Nature School.a. Above the Sanctuary there is an areacontaining a number of old hermitages (anarea traditionally known as Tebaida, afterthe Egyptian hermitages in the region ofThebes). Around 50 years ago a proposalwas made to fence off these hermitagesand restore them to their original use.Fortunately, the idea never prosperedowing to its unpopularity. The mountain ofMontserrat has always been perceived asopen to all and the monks that have beenliving here for a thousand years havealways accepted this notion in full!Nevertheless, there are two hermitages(Santa Creu and Sant Dimes) that we considerto be an integral part of themonastery and which are inhabited temporarilyby hermits (monks or other peopleconnected to the community). Sant Dimes(closed to the public) also boasts an automaticweather station!b. A chapel was built on the site of thehermitage of Sant Benet at the beginningof the twentieth century. After repeatedattacks by vandals, at the beginning of the1980s it was converted into a hut forclimbers. Due to the nature of Montserrat,136

climbing groups have been a very importantpart of the mountain over the last 75years and they must be taken intoaccount. Our community has alwaysappreciated that the mountain belongs tothem also.c. The mountain is crossed by a long-distancefootpath, which reminds us that for150 years hiking has been a popular activityin Montserrat. Half a sport, half a culturalactivity, walking as practiced by theCatalan walking clubs is well establishedin our country. The mountain, which lies atthe heart of a geographical and politicalregion, is criss-crossed by many excellentfootpaths.d. You will have become aware that theSanctuary consists of a variety of buildingsof differing ages, all clustered aroundthe Holy Image, a site of pilgrimage thatoften seems too small for so many visitors.There is also the Monastery complex,where the monks live, and variousareas designed for pilgrims and visitorsthat provide services (cells, hotels andrestaurants) and souvenirs of the mountain.B. View from Pla de les Taràntules(the area of Tebes):a. This area is visited by hundreds ofthousands of people every year, whotake advantage of the wonderful rackand-pinionrailway to reach this spot.Some of those that come here walk thetwo tracks that meet here or the path ofSant Jeroni to visit in comfort the upperparts of the mountain and enjoy themagnificent views.b. The old Saint Joan restaurant is areminder of problems we have had in thepast. One such problem is the amountof rubbish that has accumulated at thisspot, a blemish that has been exacerbatedby delays caused by legal questionsof ownership and distant disputesin town councils.Another problem I recall is that of thesquatters who illegally occupied some ofthe hermitages (or coves, as they areknown), from where they would descendon unsuspecting tourists and climbers.Fortunately, this problem has been partiallyresolved, although we are awarethat it will not be by any means the lastsuch problem.c. With the destruction of the hovelsinhabited by some of the squatters, aninsult to all civilised people, the formersites of the hermitages of Sant Joan andSant Onofre have been uncovered. Theidea of restoring the site by preparinginformation panels and opening up awalking circuit around the hermitages in137

the area (for example, Santa Magdalenaand its lookout point, and the curiousJacob’s Ladder) would seem to be agood one, although it is above all a culturalproject with a historical perspective.turn into a veritable pilgrimage! A questionthat has yet to be resolved is thelack of services at the cave: there is butone source of drinking water in this spotwhich according to the day and hourcan fill up with large numbers of visitors.C. A third site is a visit to the Pathof the Rosary and the Holy Grotto:a. The one place, even more so than theSanctuary, where the two currents discussedduring this assembly come face toface is along the Path of the Rosary, apath hewn from the rock and constructedat great cost to provide access to the HolyGrotto. According to a legend dating fromthe Renaissance, the original image of theMother of God was found in this chapel. Itis still used for religious purposes by amultitude of people, who visit to fulfil theirvows, often barefoot or with push chairs. Iwould like to highlight, above all, twogroups of people who visit here: youngfamilies and couples, and people whohave just arrived in Catalonia, either fromother parts of Spain or Latin America. Thissite still maintains its former aspect, buthas been restored and is perfectly integratedinto the surrounding environment.b. The Holy Grotto is one of those rareplaces in our society that you can onlyreach on foot along a steep mountainpath. For the unaware, the walk canc. Some of the sculptures –paid for bypopular subscription- are of notableartistic value and blend in beautifullyinto the landscape. I consider to be ofparticular value the sculpture of SaintDomenec, the Cross and the Mystery ofthe Resurrec-tion.I’ve led you on a quick tour ofMontserrat, with sites chosen by thismember of the family who have been livingin this place for a thousand years,caring for the Holy Image to a backgroundof the changing seasons andthe rhythmic cadence of the day andnight.The mountain is visible and recognisablefrom afar and, aside from its naturalvalue, is the throne and palace, thevisible reference (in a sacred sense) ofan invisible reality. One hundred andtwenty-five years ago a poet gazedupon the mountain and taught us tolook upon its remarkable forms as havingbeen chiselled out by the angels,and as a reference point (a star in theeast or a Sinai) for a whole nation.138

A key question remains: How can wetransmit all the values of this mountain tofuture generations? I make no apologiesfor repeating that I am referring to themountain as a whole and its entire richand varied heritage: the pale-colouredmountain clothed in green; the culturaland historical treasures left behind by previousgenerations; the spiritual treasure ofthe site that is the Holy Image; and thepeace and quiet that one respires here.The task of us monks as custodians ofthis natural wonder is to ready the mountainfor the large family of men andwomen that come to visit us. And I firmlybelieve that this assembly can help us inthis task.Father Ramon Ribera-Mariné briefing participants in the Workshopbeside the Sant Joan station of the rack-and-pinion railway train station.

The view point of the Board of the Mountain of MontserratJordi López,President of the Executive Committee ofthe BoardI would like to try and explain from thepoint of view of an administrative institution,the Board of the Mountain ofMontserrat, which is part of the CatalanGovernment, why it is important and justifiableto promote and finance certain specificpolicies here on Montserrat. First,however, I’d like to recall the theory ofGaia, as proposed by James Lovelock,which is becoming relevant in this placethat is part today of a society dominatedby chaos. Montserrat is like a metaphoremerging from amid the chaos.Four aspects of Montserrat are of particularinterest to the Government of Catalonia.Prior Ramon Ribera-Mariné has alreadyreminded us that Montserrat is an exceptionalplace from natural, cultural and spiritualpoints of view. Nevertheless, thesethree concepts exist in a specific contextand moment in time and generally interactpacifically and successfully, although attimes they clash and tensions arise.I would like to explain what the Governmentis doing for Montserrat, and how wesupport the projects concerning natural,cultural and spiritual aspects ofMontserrat that will benefit a reality that isfar more than just the sum of its parts.Once again I would like to remind you ofthe theory of chaos and offer a holisticvision of Montserrat. What can we do ineach of these different dimensions?Nature. We have to ensure that future generationsinherit the wonderful natural heritageof Montserrat whilst guaranteeing thatit is accessible to current generations.Montserrat is not only a mountain to beadmired from afar; rather, it should beenjoyed in full in situ. It can be reached bypublic transport from Barcelona and for thisreason the Natural Park is subject to greathuman pressure. Public use must beorganised, not with prohibitions, but withcontrols and effective small-scale actionssuch as those that have been carried out atCan Massana and Sant Joan designed tomake visits to the mountain much moreenjoyable.Culture. For centuries Montserrat hasbeen home to a community that lives andbreathes Culture with a capital ‘C’: it alwayshas, it is still doing so and I hope thatit will continue to do so in the future. It ispart of the heritage of our country. The140

Monastery of Montserrat also has one ofthe best landscape painting art galleries inCatalonia. At the same time, Montserratacts as symbol of identity for Catalonia asa country and the Catalans who live there,as the Director of the Directorate-Generalof the Natural Environment mentioned thismorning. Montserrat is a living symbol thatallows people from the different walks of lifewho make up this country to recognisetheir common sense of identity.Spirituality. Montserrat is home to a groupof people who provide us all with living testimonyof their beliefs. Here, I must alsorecognise that I speak as Director of theDirectorate-General of Religious Affairs, myother position of responsibility. From thispoint of view, Montserrat is of the utmostsignificance to our society and the peoplewho live here offer us so many importantfundamental values. Someone once saidthat they were “living stones” and I agreethat this is a good definition of the spiritualvalues and ideas of identity that are foundin Montserrat.surrounding the mountain that may be verybeneficial for local people, and we hopethat they will be seen as an opportunity andnot a restriction. Montserrat is a place to belived in and, above all, to live in as a part ofa group. It lies at the confluence of fourmunicipalities and three comarques (counties):the initiative ‘Portals de Montserrat’(Gates of Montserrat), a company set upjointly by the four municipalities that coverthe mountain, is a demonstration thatcooperation at local level can work.Otherwise, Montserrat also represents achance to resist the increasing pressurefrom built-up areas. In face of the spread ofthe concrete that is devouring much of therural landscapes of the BarcelonaMetropolitan Area, the Board of theMountain of Montserrat helps local towncouncils to take decisions such as refusingto grow further –the case of the town ofMarganell- that seem to go against socialdynamics and whose aim is maintain thevalue of the natural heritage of this magnificentmountain.Territory. Everything that I have explainedtakes place in a physical space wheremany other things also occur. Montserrat isan economic entity and point of reference,as well as a tourist attraction. It generatestangible financial benefits for many peoplewho live in the area. At the moment we arepromoting agricultural parks in the areaMontserrat is a place where people canexercise the responsibility they have to livein harmony with all the physical and humanelements of their surroundings. Public bodiesmust take decisions that maintain thisharmony that is only possible if there is apermanent state of cooperation betweenthe private and public sectors. We must all141

work together to make this collective projectthat is Montserrat work. This implies anumber of different specific actions such asthe work we will carry out to renew thewhole water supply system for Montserratand some of the towns at the foot of themountain.A society such as ours in Catalonia, whichhas experienced a sudden recent increasein cultural diversity and religious plurality,must not repeat the errors in integratingimmigrants that have been committed inother countries. We must talk to peoplefrom other cultures who hold differentbeliefs to ours. Dialogue will always be possibleif we have a truly positive attitudetowards this question and prepare not onlyour minds, but also our hearts –or oursouls, some might say. In this sense weneed places such as Montserrat to be ableto enjoy the spiritual dimension of our lives(that everyone will choose to fill as they seefit) and to help us connect to all the peopleof different cultures and traditions that go tomake up the diverse and plural reality thatis Catalonia today.Many thanks.Art Nouveau sculptures representing one of the mysteries of the Rosary at Montserrat.

The standpoint of a company providing servicesJosep Altalló,Managing Director ofL’Agrícola Regional, SAA convenient way to begin is to ask exactlyhow we define Montserrat. We viewMontserrat as a multi-faceted reality withdifferent overlapping meanings for differentpeople. The main facets of this wonderfulmountain can be summarised asfollowing:- A unique natural park- Historically, one of the most importantcultural sites in Catalonia- The sanctuary of the patron saint ofCatalonia and a place of pilgrimage,peace and prayer- A monastic community- A symbol of identity- A tourist destination.L’Agrícola Regional, S.A. (LARSA) is a privatecompany belonging to the monks ofMontserrat that provides services andmanages the buildings, facilities and theoperations within the confines of thesanctuary. The company was set up in1920 to manage the heritage of the site,although it has also gradually becomeinvolved in the management of the visitorfacilities. Currently, LARSA is in charge ofthe running of all the facilities around theMonastery of Santa Maria, which are open365 days a year. LARSA, has over 300direct employees (with on average 210working every day) and an annual incomeof 18 million euros.LARSA aims “to offer services to the visitorswho come to Montserrat as part ofthe welcome provided by the Monasteryand the Sanctuary. The running of theseservices must be profitable and providefinance for any necessary investments. Aswell, it must collaborate in the maintenanceof Montserrat as a whole”.Services for visitors■ The accommodation includes hotels andapartments with 700 beds and 120,000overnight stays per year; the bars andrestaurants provide 300,000 meals andaround one-million bar services annually.■Cultural: an art gallery, with a good collectionof landscape painting, an interactiveexhibition and an open-air museum.The art gallery receives some 110,000 visitsper year, while about the same numberof people visits the interactive exhibition.143

Furthermore, 7,000 children visit in schoolgroups and 4,000 people follow guidedtours every year.■ The souvenirs shops have some 8,000products on offer and issue 600,000entrance tickets per year.■The Montserrat Reservation Centre is afully fledged outgoing and incoming travelagency.■ Annually, the technical office issues 3,500maintenance work orders and overseeswork to the value of 1-2 million euros.■Some of the other services provided byLARSA to this area include the annualsupply of 4 GW of light and 140 millionlitres of water from the Llobregat River, allextracted, treated and then pumped up750 m to the monastery of Santa Maria.As well, the company accumulates 600tons of road sweepings per year and providessecurity and cleaning services for allthe buildings and facilities in and aroundthe sanctuary and the monastery.Product management■ We manage everything from the bar andstores, to the queues and tourist circuits.We look after visitors during their wholestay and hope that this ‘captive public’ willone day become a ‘faithful public’ toMontserrat.■ LARSA has had long experience in managingthe site and works within a frameworkbased on culture, nature andspirituality in the development of its brandand image.Management of the visitA typical visit consists of the queue at thecar-park and then visits to hear the choirsing and see the Image of the Virgin, followedby the purchase of the local curdcheese. From a tourist point of view, thisproduct could be considered as mature.However, we aim to develop new productsthat include:■ The Museum as part of the attractionof the visit■ Temporary exhibitions■ An open-air museum (circuits)■An interactive exhibition ‘InsideMontserrat’■ Special products for schools■ Packages for travel agencies such as‘Montserrat in a day’, ‘Vespers atMontserrat’, etc.■ Packages for individual visitors: ‘Guidedvisit to Montserrat’, ‘All of Montserrat’,...■ Tailor-made guided visits for groups■Services for companies with specialaccommodation needs.144

Management of the productPrice managementIn terms of the general public, we operatetwo basic strategies: the management ofquality via word of mouth and the managementof communication via selectiveadvertisements in the media aimed at ourtarget market.For those with special interests, we offerpastoral services to pilgrims and congregations,as well as acting as travel agents forspecialised groups (schools, hikers andcultural tourists) and the general public.The main markets for Montserrat aretourists visiting Barcelona and the CostaBrava and they are usually targeted byoffering Montserrat as a ‘complementarydestination’.Our travel agency works in the commercialisationof the product via the developmentand promotion of packages. As well,we manage everything from the rack-andpinionrailway to the car-parks.Three main bodies work in a concertedfashion to promote Montserrat as a touristdestination: Turisme de Catalunya, Turismede Barcelona and Turespaña.We face two problems when it comes tosetting the prices in our hotel, restaurantsand shop facilities. Firstly, our location,halfway up a mountain and part of a religioussite, increases costs and, secondly,we have to offer and maintain servicessuch as light, the boys’ choir, cleaningservices and garden maintenance thatare not covered directly without chargingentrance fees.Our approach is based on four strategies:■Control basic prices, thereby keepingthem lower than in other tourist destinations.■Stimulate demand in order to combatrising prices.■ Offer a good price for packages.■Take into account the market priceswith which we must work and control ourcosts appropriately.■Negotiate on the basis of the addedvalue and value for money we offer.LARSA bases its communication strategyon its long experience with nature,culture and spirituality.For the general public, we offer the people,activities and location of Montserrat,145

and provide a good global image of theservices (brand) we offer.For a more motivated public, we offer theMonastery (pilgrimages, congregations,etc.), a travel agency for specialisedgroups (schools, hikers, cultural tourists,etc.), specialised material and differenttreatment.For tourist groups, we target visitors’countries of origin by visiting trade fairsand collaborating with catalogues andfamiliarisation trips for travel agents. Wealso produce specialised material in collaborationwith external tourist boards.More locally, our communication strategyis based on packages for individuals andincoming travel agencies, the productionof display material and catalogues distributedto hotels, promotions and, above all,lots of information on schedules, changesand new features.Up to 20,000 people gather at the Monastery of Montserratduring the main Christian festivals and celebrtions

The view point of the Catalan Federation of Hiking andClimbing ClubsXavier Ariño,President of the Catalan Federation ofHiking and Climbing CubsI would like to wholeheartedly thank theorganisers of this Seminar for the invitation:walking and climbing groups are notusually as well received in the other protectedareas in Catalonia as we are herein the Natural Park of the Mountain ofMontserrat.Montserrat is a very special mountain, afact that makes the relationship betweenus climbers and walkers and the mountainalso very particular. We feel a specialattraction –and in some cases an addiction-to this place and there are evenspecialist Montserrat climbers who wecall ‘Montserratins’! The truth is thatMontserrat from the outside seems inaccessible,but once in, you never want toleave! For historical reasons and due tothe sheer wonder of the place,Montserrat has always been consideredas the ‘cradle’ of Catalan walking andclimbing groups. I’d like now to brieflydescribe how walking and climbingevolved in Montserrat and in this wayhelp you to understand the situation wefind ourselves in today.Around 150 years ago organised walkinggroups began to explore and enjoy themountain of Montserrat. Towards the end ofthe nineteenth and the beginning of thetwentieth centuries a number of scientificnaturalist societies emerged who, besideswalking, aimed to try and find other values inoutdoor activities. At the same time climbingas we know it today also began to be practicedand led to rivalry on the sheer faces ofthe much admired rock pinnacles of themountain. Other outdoor groups went furtherthan simple physical activity and lookedfor other reasons to come to the mountain:a century ago the society ‘Societat del Sol’,for example, went beyond walking andclimbing and practiced nudism in the heartof the mountain in an attempt to establish amore intimate relationship with nature.After the end of the Civil War (1936-1939),during which period climbing did notadvance, new ideas began to arrive fromother countries and, in turn, new techniquesbegan to be developed in Catalonia thatwere subsequently exported to other countries.The rock faces of Montserrat have veryfew cracks and crevasses and it was neces-147

sary to find new forms of progression andsafety techniques, which were to becomethe precursors of many of the climbing techniquesthat are in use today.In the 1960s climbing underwent greattechnological and terminological changesand at the same time the practice of climbingbegan to assume a more spiritual side.Climbers began to remark that climbingwas a “way of life” and a way of “findingoneself”. Climbs were sought out thatenabled the climber to better himself, bothphysically and spiritually. This is clearly indicatedby a popular climbing guide publishedat the beginning of the 1970s that isstill a good read even today. I’d like to readyou a fragment: “Climbing is a way ofexpressing yourself. The summits are catalyststhat attract irresistibly and allow theclimber to find God, himself and other men.As a means of expression, climbingdemands that the climber is at one withhimself and requires good physical conditionand techniques, as well as spiritual andcorporal strength. Climbing fulfils the man,and sport reinforces his social dimension.”This was written by Salvador Plans, aclimber and one of the monks ofMontserrat and shows how climbing hasalways been linked to the Monastery andthe monks, as Prior Ramon Ribera-Marinéhas already explained. The monks havehelped the sport develop, as well as participatingin rescues and helping to promoteclimbing at difficult times.The 1980s were years of change for climbingin Montserrat. New styles emerged andsporting dimensions began to take precedentover philosophical values: the spiritualityof the sport was being lost. Thetendency over the last few years is towardsmassification. Adventure sports are promotedfrom all sides and people come toMontserrat as if it were a fun park, withouthaving passed through a learning processas was the case with the climbing clubs ofthe past. Today the mountain is used in amuch more frivolous manner.As well, during this period of time thingshave changed in the mountain itself, somefor the better, some for the worse, and wehave experienced forest fires, floods andlandslips, and seen new infrastructuresbuilt. In 1987 after the great forest fires,Montserrat was declared a natural park,although from our standpoint almost nothinghas been done since then. Only in thelast three or four years have things startedto change. We have seen how the areaaround the Monastery has spread and hownew infrastructures have been built tofavour mass access by more and moretourists to the mountain. However, all thishas been done without a thought for themountain, which is not in good shape. Wewalkers and climbers have kept the paths148

in good condition, but did not expect to beabandoned to quite such an extent.in the surrounding area that we are beginningto regard with worried eyes.Over the last few years it seems that thingshave started to improve, although goodintentions –of which there are plenty- arenot enough. More people and materialdestined to satisfy the needs of the mountainand its users are needed. Montserrathas become a virtual island within increasinglybuilt-up and industrialised surroundings,a situation that can only be seen as athreat to the mountain. Some species ofwildlife are already endangered and not justbecause of the presence of climbers andwalkers; rather; it is the change in land-useNevertheless, our groups must remain optimisticand proactive. We are currentlyinvolved in a project aimed at regulating ouractivities in the Natural Park and, in collaborationwith the Park Board and the FundacióTerritori i Paisatge, with expert advice fromthe Catalan Institute of Natural History, weare attempting to identify an equilibriumbetween use and conservation in theNatural Park so as to be able to continuingclimbing for many more years to come.Thank you very much.Rock climbing has developed its own particular styles in Montserrat.

MontserratCatalonia, SpainJosep-Maria MallarachIntroduction and history of thelegal protection of the siteThe mountain of Montserrat is an outstandinglandmark and is considered bymany to be the spiritual heart of Catalonia(Spain). It is located about 50 km north ofthe city of Barcelona and within theBarcelona Metropolitan Area, a conurbationwith a population of almost 4.5 millionpeople. The mountain itself rises up over700 m from the floor of the Llobregat rivervalley to its summit (Sant Jeroni, 1,236 m)and is characterised by a vast array ofastonishing rock pinnacles.Montserrat (‘serrated mountain’ inCatalan) has been considered a holymountain since at least medieval times. In1902, the forest engineer R. Puig i Vallsproposed that Montserrat should bedeclared a national park, the first such formalproposal ever made in Spain. Heargued that this “jewel of nature” was“ideal for devout people, a natural wonderfor naturalists, a prodigy for believers anda monument for patriots”. However, hewas unsuccessful in his bid and it was notuntil 1950 that Montserrat was declared aScenic Landscape and a body was set upto take charge of its protection. Finally, in1989 the Parliament of Catalonia enacteda law creating a governing body for theprotection of the mountain of Montserrat.In 1987 a devastating forest fire burned alarge portion of the mountain’s forests andthreatened the monasteries and otherfacilities. In the same year, in a decreepassed by the Catalan government, themountain was declared a Natural Park(IUCN category V) with a single NaturalReserve (IUCN Category III) in its midst.However, to emphasise that Montserratwas different from the existing protectedareas in Catalonia, it was decided that thenew Natural Park was to be run directly bythe Presidential Department of theCatalan Government, and that its managementBoard would be presided by theCatalan president, while the head abbotof the Monastery of Santa Maria would beits vice-president.The existing protected area covers about8,100 ha and includes a buffer zone of< Path to Sant Jeroni, one of the many different types of steps that link the main monastery to the old hermitagesin the upper part of Montserrat.151

4,260 ha. A natural reserve of 1,760 hacovers the core area above the cliffs; theentire massif is included in the EuropeanNatura 2000 network. In light of requestsfrom three of the four municipalities whichshare jurisdiction of the mountain, a projectto enlarge the park by some 5,000 hais currently being prepared.Furthermore, the town councils of El Bruc,Collbató, Esparreguera and Olesa, withbacking from the Diputació de Barcelona(Barcelona Provincial Council), are promotingthe idea of protecting the landlying at the foot of the mountain via thedeclaration of an agricultural park (ParcRural del Montserrat). This would be ofgreat use both for conserving this singularsite against urban encroachment, and forreinforcing the symbolism of peace andquiet that reigns in the extensive olivegroves that surround the base of themountain.Within the framework of the DelosInitiative we visited Montserrat severaltimes between October 2005 andSeptember 2006 and met and discussedwith over a dozen key stakeholders,including the prior, steward and hospitalierof the Monastery of Santa Maria, the parsonof the Sanctuary, the president of theSteering Committee and the manager ofthis body, the director and biologist of thepark’s management team, the manager ofthe company in charge of most publicfacilities, scientists, and representatives ofpilgrimage organisations, ecologists, hikersand climbers. We had fruitful discussionswith all on the basis of thequestionnaire that was developed in 2005and what follows is based upon those discussionsand a study of available bibliographicalsources.Natural heritageThe mountain of Montserrat is about 10km long and 5 km wide, and covers some45 km 2 . The jumble of hundreds of marvellousrock pinnacles (made up of Tertiaryconglomerates and sandstones) that giveMontserrat its unique silhouette makesthe mountain a site of outstanding geomorphologicalsignificance. About 27% ofthe Natural Park and 47% of the NaturalReserve include geological heritage sitesof national importance.Most of Montserrat is dominated by rockyformations covered by Mediterranean vegetation,well adapted to this harsh environment,and evergreen holm oak forestsdominate in areas where there is enoughsoil. The number of vascular plant speciesrecorded from the park is surprisingly high,with over 1,200 vascular taxa identified, ofwhich 40 are considered rare or endangered.Within the Natural Park a certain152

number of endemic and/or rare plantspecies are found: Erodium foetidumsubsp. rupestre, Paronychia kapela subsp.serpyllifolia, Ramonda myconi, Linaria origanifolia,subsp. cadevallii and Saxifraga callosasubsp. catalaunica. Furthermore, thepark is home to 29 animal species consideredrare, endangered or vulnerable,including the Spanish Ibex (Capra hispanica),which was introduced a decade ago;unfortunately, its current expansion isbeginning to create problems for some ofthe fissure-loving plant species. Wild Boarare quite common and, largely because ofthe presence of nesting Bonelli’s Eagles(Aquila fasciata), the site was included inthe Natura 2000 network.Natural risks are significant and quitecommon over much of the mountain andinclude landslides, rock falls –sometimeshuge–, rain storms and less frequently forestfires. These natural risks have historicallyalways been present; however, theincreasing number of visitors means newsecurity problems arise when theseunpredictable events occur.Spiritual and cultural heritageSince the era in which the first written documentsappeared Montserrat has beenvenerated as a holy mountain. However, itwas during the eighteenth century that thespiritual character of this mountain began tospread over Europe and beyond.Thicknesse wrote about the mountain inEnglish and Von Humboldt in German.Goethe considered Montserrat as a “symbolof the august peace of the spirit”, whilethe poet Schiller affirmed that “Montserratsuckles the man from the outer world to theinner world”. Similar reverences in Catalanand Spanish are much more numerous: itsuffices to quote a great twentieth centuryCatalan poet, Joan Maragall, who wrotethat the whole of “Montserrat is a temple, aliturgical mountain.”Nesting on the mountainside on a narrowplatform at 725 m of altitude we find thefamous monastery of Santa Maria, next tothe sanctuary where the holy image of theVirgin, patroness of Catalonia, is venerated.For many centuries this shrine was themain centre of pilgrimage within the kingdomof Aragon (which includedCatalonia), above all between the fourteenthand eighteenth centuries, and tothis day, with just short interruptions dueto wars, it continues to be one of the bestknownshrines to the Holy Virgin in thewhole of the Catholic world. For almostone thousand years, a Benedictinemonastic community has been at theservice of the pilgrims from all over theworld who come to worship the BlackMadonna, a twelfth-century masterpieceof sacred art. The image of the Virgin,153

affectionately named ‘La Moreneta’ (theLittle Dark One), has been consideredmiraculous ever since it was first carved.Over the centuries the monks have developedwhat are perhaps the most elaborateceremonies of homage to the HolyVirgin anywhere in the Christian world.The tradition of Laus Perennis (permanentprayers), in which monks and hermitstake turns to pray, day and night,was alive in Montserrat until the eighteenthcentury. The boy’s choir, the Escolania,is famous as one of the oldestsuch choirs in Europe and every day altarboys participate in religious services inthe Basilica, singing the Salve Reginaand the Virolai hymn to the Virgin.Lower down the mountain lies the modernBenedictine convent of Sant Benet.Of the old Romanesque monastery ofSanta Cecilia, only the temple and somesmall remnants of the monastery stillstand today.For most of the last millennia, there havebeen twelve hermitages dotted around theslopes of the upper part of the mountain,many of which nestle in astonishingly outof-the-wayplaces. Most of these hermitageshad beautiful gardens tended bythe hermits themselves, many of whomwere renowned as wise or holy men.Currently, only two hermitages are still usedby the monastic community; two others areRelationship between protected areas and sites of spiritual significance of in Montserrat.154

used as shelters by climbers, while a fewmore are temporarily used by squatters.The tradition of pilgrimages on foot tovenerate the holy image of Santa Mariadates from medieval times. In those daysthere were no other ways of reaching thesanctuary and religious zeal led many pilgrims,including kings and princes, toclimb to the monastery bare-foot. Today,although the majority of people use amechanical form of transport (rack-andpinionrailway, coach or car), there are stillthousands of pilgrims that walk up to thesanctuary along some of these historicaltrails. The Catalan pilgrim’s way toSantiago of Compostela starts at theMonastery of Santa Maria.Over the centuries the monks of themonastery of Montserrat have had a significantcultural and spiritual influence onCatalan life. It can boast over the last fourcenturies a significant school of liturgicalmusic, one of the oldest publishing housesin Europe, which has published thousandsof books and many influentialjournals, a library with over 300,000 volumes,including a number of highly interestingand rare manuscripts, and amuseum with one of the best collectionsof landscape painting in Catalonia. Thecultural activities of the monks has centredon biblical studies, liturgy, theology,monastic history, musicology and pastoralthemes, having had during the last centurya significant influence in conserving theCatalan language. The area surroundingthe Monastery is also an open-air museumwith a number of especially interestingtrails –the Via Crucis, Degotalls andRosary– that lead from the Monastery tothe Holy Grotto, where, according to tradition,the image of the Virgin was found.These trails pass by a number of interestingsculptural groups dating from thenineteenth century that blend in with thenatural rock formations.Development pressuresCatalonia is the most important touristdestination in continental Spain and currentlyreceives about 15 million visitors ayear. Local tourism to Montserrat startedduring the late 1800s, but the area onlybegan to receive foreign day-trippers duringthe 1960s, when foreign mass tourismfirst began to take off in Catalonia. Themonastery area now receives around 2.3million visitors a year (tourists and pilgrims),whose numbers inevitably disturbboth the monastic calm and the integrityof its natural surroundings. Visitor numberspeak at around 14,000 a day. Therest of the mountain is visited by about500,000 people a year, mainly hikers andclimbers, the latter drawn to the manysheer rock walls that are intensively usedas climbing schools. Due to its location155

and the quality and beauty of its cliffsand pinnacles, Montserrat was thebirthplace of climbing in Catalonia.Following the lead of areas such as theMontsant Natural Park, an ongoing dialoguebetween climbers and the naturalpark managers is underway to definewhich areas are most appropriate forclimbing, and areas where it should berestricted.Of those that visit the mountain by vehicle,70% come by car, coach or bus, 20% bytrain and 10% by cable car. Montserrat isa magnet for a variety of reasons. It is estimatedthat around 30% (some 600,000people a year) of visitors come solely forreligious purposes; most tourists whocome with tour operators only stay forthree hours in the main monastery area.The monastic tradition of hospitality iscontrary to restricting access to the site,and the monks claim that some whocome as tourists later return as pilgrims.They feel that one of their duties is to offervisitors, no matter who they are or wherethey are from, the chance to come intocontact with a spiritual way of life. Theypoint out as evidence of this desire thefact that large numbers of visitors listen incomplete silence to the chants of theboy’s choir every day.On the other hand, all the public servicesaround the Monastery are managed by aprivate enterprise with over 300 workers.L’Agrícola Regional (LARSA) wascreated in 1912 by the monastic community,as a protection against the anticlericalgovernment of Spain, whichduring the eighteenth century confiscatedall the properties of the Church andbanned most religious orders for awhile. Today, it takes care of all the facilitiesaround the monastery of SantaMaria: one hotel, two apartment buildings,four restaurants, shops, museum,waste management, security, guidedtours and environmental educationpackages in different languages, etc. Itis presided by the Abbot and directedby the Steward of the Community,although the manager is a lay person.Most workers of the Monastery comefrom the four surrounding municipalities,and many of them are relatives.Montserrat has also been besieged severaltimes over the centuries for political,military, cultural and even spiritual reasons.In 1812 the French army completelydestroyed the monastery ofSanta Maria and all the hermitages onthe mountain. During more recentdecades conflicts have included theintentionally provoked forest fire of1987, which, due to strong winds,severely damaged the mountainsforests. The monastic communitieshave always handled these problems ina discrete and effective manner.156

Relationships between the Monastery ofSanta Maria and the surrounding villagesand towns have always been complexand multi-faceted. On the one hand, thereis the appreciation and love of the mountainfelt by local people, as shown by thefact that homes looking up to Montserratare always regarded as more valuable. Onthe other hand, during the first few yearsafter the Natural Park was created therewas some resentment because it was feltthat the Monastery was absorbing toomuch of the Park’s resources. However,this situation has improved considerablyover the last four years as a result of dialogue.One of the main strategies of thePark’s managers aimed at improvingcooperation with the local town councils isthe Portals de Montserrat (Gateways toMontserrat) project that aims to createfacilities in all four park municipalities sothat all can benefit economically from thetourist trade. A good example of this is theclimbing museum that is to be inauguratedsoon in El Bruc. The attitude of thelocal town councils toward nature protectionis clearly positive and three of the four,in collaboration with a private foundation,have in fact lobbied to extend the Park’sboundaries.Around 75% of the Natural Park eitherbelongs to the monastic community(exceptional in Spain) or the Catalan government.Private property is quite fragmentedand is mainly found in the lowlyingareas that are more vulnerable topressure from developers.The relationship between the park managersand the monasteries is complexdue to a number of political and historicalfactors. The current park managementplan was drafted by the Catalan Ministryof Culture and a number of people feelthat a natural park is not an appropriatedesignation for Montserrat, since, regardlessof its geomorphological and naturalsignificance, its main heritage is spiritualand cultural. Some feel that it would bemore appropriate for the mountain to bedesignated a Spiritual or Cultural Park, oreven a Natural Sanctuary, legal figuresthat do not exist under Catalan law. Manypeople visiting Montserrat do not evenknow that it is a natural park.Currently the Park employs 20 people: amanager, director, biologist, two administrativestaff and 15 car-park wardens, butno rangers. A large number of the publicservices are provided by LARSA, a company–already mentioned– that employsaround 300 people under lay managementand the stewardship of theMonastery of Santa Maria.Throughout its history the Benedictinecommunity has always respected themountain’s natural heritage, given that157

they see it as a theophany or a manifestationof God. Several places on the holymountain have biblical names taken fromthe Holy Land and the Egyptian deserts,birthplace of Christian monasticism. Thehermits, who have lived in close contactwith nature for so many centuries, havesuccessfully fostered this attitude. Bothhermits and monks have consistentlyreferred to Montserrat as a santamuntanya, a holy mountain, over the centuries.It is also significant that the mottothat the Monastery chose to defineMontserrat is ‘Nature, Culture, Spirituality’.One of the main threats to the integrity ofMontserrat is urban encroachmentaround the base of the mountain. There isone urban area inside the boundary of theprotected area, which will require specialmeasures if it is to be integrated into thelandscape. On the other hand, there is astriking lack of rangers, who are muchneeded as a means of controlling sporadicdamage to some of the hermitagesand some of the other most vulnerableelements of the mountain’s spiritual, culturaland natural heritage.Overcrowding occurs occasionally, mainlyduring festivities, and some days it isimpossible to reach the monasteries bycar due to traffic jams. From both a naturaland a spiritual point of view this is aproblem, because many visitors do notvisit the site for spiritual or religious reasonsand tend to behave in a way that isnot coherent with the sacred nature of themountain. During festivities public facilitiesoften become overstretched.ConclusionsThe concurrence of elements of suchcultural, spiritual and natural significancein Montserrat provides a uniqueopportunity to try and develop positivesynergies from the combination in situof all these values, thereby strengtheningthe overall heritage of a place thathas been recognised over the centuriesas a holy mountain. This distinctiveblend of spirituality and nature –a sanctuaryand two monasteries perched highup a mountainside– is one of the corevalues of the site and the key to promotingsynergy in the park.Both the processes involved and theoutcome of these synergies have thepotential to exert a significant positiveinfluence on many other protectedareas that possess an outstanding spiritualheritage, whether they be inCatalonia or elsewhere in Europe, whereChristianity is a significant force. Theintegration of all these values will notonly broaden public support, but mayalso encourage a much-needed change158

in personal and social attitudes towardsnature based on these newly perceivedintrinsic values.Despite the generalised social recognitionof the outstanding spiritual values associatedwith Montserrat, the Decree that createdthe Natural Park has a number ofserious lacunae regarding, for instance, thegoals set for the Park’s single NaturalReserve, which neglect the fact that themountain has been the most important sitefor the retreat of hermits in south-westEurope for over a thousand years. This initiallegal weakness has led to a number ofother deficiencies in the integration of thespiritual and cultural heritage into the Park’splans and management programmes,although a willingness to improve all thesedeficiencies exists on all sides.The Monastery of Santa Maria should takea leading role in the development and fulfilmentof the recommendations that follow,since it is: a) the main spiritualauthority on the mountain; b) the mainlandowner in the Natural Park; c) theowner of most of the public services provided;d) the oldest permanent settler ofthe mountain; and e) its abbot is the vicepresidentof the Park’s governing body.This task is fully consistent with the factSant Salvador Hermitage, Montserrat.159

that the main aim of the Benedictine communityis “to ensure that the mountain, theMonastery and the Sanctuary remain placeswhere people can gather and worship”.The Board of the Natural Park should playa leading role in the conservation of thenatural heritage and in coordination withother stakeholders such as town councils,walkers, climbers and tour agencies.Nevertheless, it should be pointed outthat its management team is not sufficientlywell-staffed to fulfil all its responsibilitiesin the existing protected area andwill be even less so when the Natural Parkand its buffer zone are enlarged.2. Appropriate planning instrumentsshould be used to create zones devotedto silence, prayer and the contemplationof nature that link both monasteries, thepilgrimage trails and the ancient hermitages.One portion of the existingNatural Reserve could be set aside as aHermitage Reserve and would includethe possibility of rehabilitating a certainnumber of small hermitages as retreatsfor lay or religious people. One hermitagewith its surrounding gardens,water channels, cobbled trails and ladderscould be restored and used as aninterpretation centre for the age-old traditionin Montserrat of living as hermits.RecommendationsIn light of the above analysis and diagnosis,we recommend:1. An increase in the cooperation betweenauthorities responsible for the protection ofthe natural heritage and those responsiblefor the spiritual and cultural heritage shouldbe encouraged in order to be able to drawup as soon as possible a single joint managementplan for the whole Natural Parkand its Natural Reserve that is acceptableto the key stakeholders. This plan shouldfully integrate the spiritual and cultural valuesof the mountain by means of some ofthe proposals that follow here.3. A strategic plan should be drawn upto gradually implement messagesregarding the spiritual aspect of the naturalworld and the respect it deserves.This would be implemented at all levels,from within the facilities of the NaturalPark, through to the monastery of SantaMaria and the convent of Sant Benet,the local town councils and all otheraspects of the park’s functioning (educationalprogrammes, web pages, therack-and-pinion railway, tour operators,guides, signposting, and so forth).These messages should be planned insuch a way as to help people discoverthe relationship between nature andspirituality via signs and realities such asthe monastery’s bells, the hermitages160

and little chapels scattered around themountain and the peaceful atmospherethat reigns in the park, for three maingroups of people: Christians who comefor explicit religious reasons, people ofother faiths or beliefs who have a generalinterest in spiritual matters and, lastly,people who feel attracted to Montserratfor a variety of reasons including its auraas a holy mountain and the possibilitiesfor climbing and walking.4. Use should be made of the opportunityprovided by the enlargement of theNatural Park to increase cooperationwith the four municipalities in the Park(Collbató, El Bruc, Marganell and Monistrol).One of the goals of this cooperationshould be to promote positivesynergies between aspects of themountain’s spiritual, cultural and naturalheritage in all the messages designedfor the general public (at the entrance ofthe Park, in the interpretation centres,and so forth). These messages shouldunderline the essential concepts ofrespect, silence and tidiness that thePark wants to promote and their practicalsignificance and implications.5. A gradual integration of environmentaland sustainability criteria into all publicand private facilities already existingin Montserrat should be promoted toattempt to reduce dependence on fossilfuels, to encourage the use of renewableenergies, to increase the collectionof rain water, and to reduce water consumption,the use of toxic materials andnoise and light pollution. As well, ethicaland environmental criteria should beincluded in all future decisions regardingthe purchase of equipment and materialsand the contracting-out of services.All new facilities that are built must beexemplary in this respect. The ethicaland moral implications of these decisionsmust be explained.AcknowledgementsThe author would like to express hisgratitude to the Board of the Mountainof Montserrat, the monastic communityof Montserrat, L’Agrícola Regional SA,and Fundació Territori i Paisatge, withoutwhom this case study could nothave been completed. In particular,thanks are due to Xavier Aparicio, AleixBadia, Antoni Balcells, Teresa Batallé,Ramon Bisbal, Ignasi Fossas, JordiLópez, Ramon Ribera-Mariné, Josep-Maria Panareda, Josep-Enric Parellada,Miquel Rafa and Vicenç Santamariafor their valuable insights. The author isalso very grateful for the valuable commentsmade on an earlier version of thismanuscript by Jordi Falgarona andJesús García-Varela.161

ReferencesWebs■ Abadia de Montserrat (1998), Montserratal llindar del tercer mil·lenni. Publicacionsde l’Abadia de Montserrat.■ Abadia de Montserrat (2004) Montserrat.Open Air Museum.■ Albareda, A.M. (1997) Història de Montserrat.Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat.■ Ribera-Mariné. R. (2006) A peu... pel camíde Sant Jaume, des de Montserrat. Notesd’un pelegrí solitari. Publicacions del’Abadia de Montserrat. Cavall Bernat, 32.■ Puig y Valls, R. (1902) Discurso leído porD.Rafael Puig y Valls, Ingeniero Jefe delDistrito Forestal de Barcelona, Gerona yBaleares. Crónica de la Fiesta del Árbol enEspaña, p, 44-47. Imprenta de la CasaProvincial de Caridad, Barcelona.(last accessed 30 October 2006)■Parc Natural de la Muntanya deMontserrat:www.muntanyamontserrat.net/parc_natural_index.phphttp://www.muntanyamontserrat.net/actuacion05.htm■ Parc rural del Montserrat:http://www.mcrit.com/Montserrat/documents/parrural.pdf■ Visiting Montserrat:http://www.montserratvisita.com■ Abbey of Montserrat:www.abadiamontserrat.net■Santos Calaf, L. (2005) Turisme religiós.Montserrat, una destinació consolidada.Research thesis on tourism.http://www.mcrit.com/Montserrat/documents/tur_rel_12.pdf■Zaragoza i Pascual, E. (1993) Els ermitansde Montserrat. Història d’una institucióbenedictina singular. Publicacions del’Abadia de Montserrat.162

Monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat

6. Cases StudiesUkonsaari IslandThe Inarijärvi protectioned area and the Inari Hiking Area. Lapland, FinlandYrjö Norokorpi and Eija OjanlatvaSámi are taken into account. Immigrantsinto the area include Northernand Skolt Sámi, and Finns.IntroductionThe Sámi are Europe’s northernmostand the Nordic countries’ only officiallyindigenous people, their homelandspanning Norway, Sweden, Finland andRussia. No official figures exist and estimatesof population numbers vary from50,000 to 100,000, depending on howpeople are classified. The Sámi languagesare part of the Finno-Ugricbranch of the Uralic language tree; nevertheless,the Sámi are genetically differentfrom other Nordic peoples.The Inari Sámi people are part of a distinctlanguage group and have lived inthe vicinity of Lake Inari for two thousandyears. There are currently onlyaround 300 speakers of Inari Sámi, whorepresent about four percent of the totalpopulation of the municipality of Inari.This number increases, however, if allthose who have a parent or grandparentwhose first language is or was InariThe Inari Sámi eke out a living from fishing,hunting, reindeer herding, gathering plantsand berries and, since the eighteenth century,agriculture. In the past, as well asbeing hunters, they were also well knownas magi and shamans, as were manyancient Finns before the beginning of theChristian period. We know too that in theirpre-Christian culture religion was closelyconnected to nature and that their naturalsurroundings were full of spirits and hiddenknowledge. They believed their entire landto be sacred and revered certain places -fells, hills, stones and springs- as holy sites.Many sites still have names that refer backto their ancient sacrificial origins and somesuch as Ukonsaari in the Inarijärvi protectionarea, the best known and most appreciatedof all, still retain a great degree ofcultural and spiritual significance.Natural heritageThe Inarijärvi protected area is situated inthe municipality of Inari, Northern Lapland,< Island of Ukonsaari, covered with by yellow birches, of amidst an extensive lake complex and greenconifer forests.165

and covers 900 km 2 of the total 1,043 km 2of Lake Inari; it is the third largest lake inFinland and the sixth largest in Europeand has a maximum depth of 92 m. TheInari Hiking Area (1,215 km 2 ) is larger thanthe lake and has been designated as anational hiking area, protected under anational Recreational Act. The area ismanaged by the stated-owned organisation,Metsähallitus Natural HeritageServices (Forest and Park Services).The rocky bed of Lake Inari lies less than200 metres a.s.l.. The bedrock of the areais composed primarily of ancient granitegneiss (over 2,500 million years old) and,in the southern part of the area, morerecent granulites (1,900 million years old).Lake Inari has large areas of open waterand many islands, which together create avaried and distinctive landscape. Othereye-catching features of Lake Inari includeits steep moraines that have createdrocky shores; nevertheless, around a thirdof the lake’s shoreline consists of gentlegrassy or sandy slopes. The landscape isstark and is dominated by one of the fewsuch lakes in the sub-arctic zone. Its clearwaters hold a wide variety of fish, includingindigenous lake trout and Arctic Charand a wide variety of whitefish.The following habitat types listed in the EUHabitats Directive are found in the LakeInari Natura 2000 site: oligotrophic waterscontaining very few minerals of sandyplains (Littorelletalia uniflorae), transitionmires and quaking bogs, siliceous rockwith pioneer vegetation (Sedo-Sclerathionor Sedo albi-Vernicion dillenii), natural orsimilar old-growth forests with Scots pine,and wooded mires with Scots pine anddowny birch.In the heart of Ukonselkä and about 11km east of the village of Inari, a strangelookingrocky island called Ukonsaari (N68 º 55´, E 27 º 20´) or Ukko (Äijih in the InariSámi language) protrudes from the openwaters of Lake Inari. This island is 100-metres wide, 300-metres long and over30-metres high, and stands out clearlyfrom the surrounding islands, thus commandinga far-reaching view in everydirection. Its steep cliffs, boulders, crevassesand small caves make it a famousnatural site and it is known to have been avery important and sacred place of worshipfor the indigenous Inari Sámi people.Spiritual and cultural heritageIn the Sámi culture, the pre-Christian religionhad close links with nature and thenatural world was full of spirits and hiddenknowledge. As with other ancient Nordicpeoples, the Sámi also worshipped naturalforces such as the sun, water, windand thunder. The god of thunder, Ukko166

((Äijih), was the most powerful of all themale Sÿmi deities and his most importantsacrificial site was Ukonsaari (Äijih). In InariSámi, Äijih means ‘old’, ‘wise man’,‘grandfather’ or ‘thunder’. His counterpartsin other mythologies include theNorse Thor, the Germanic Donar, theCeltic Taranis, the Slavic Perun, theRoman Jupiter and the Greek Zeus. Atsome holy sites, such as Ukonsaari, onlymen were allowed to enter and womenhad to dress up as men to go there. Ukkohad power over the weather –and, in particular,over thunderstorms– harvests andpeople’s destinies. Powerful shamans andsorcerers were believed to be able tocommunicate with the God of Thunderand had to placate him through sacrifices.Ukko’s wife was called Akka or Galgu.Kalkuvaara (Galguvárri) hill lies on thenorthern shore of Lake Inari near the villageof Inari and commands a good viewof Ukonsaari. Akka was the goddess offertility and as the Earth Mother representedthe female side of nature. Other godsincluded Piäváž, the sun god, who wasworshipped in autumn and at midsummer,and cäcialmai, the water god, whowas revered on midsummer night fromthe shores of the rapids. Pieggalmai, thewind god, was worshipped at TuulispääFell. From atop Tuulispää there is a goodview of Ukonsaari, which may have beena sacred site for around 7,000 years sincea rise in the level of the land left the islandat its current height above water. The areahas been inhabited for around 10,000years.A seita (Sieidi) was a particularly exactingand demanding god who was deemed tobe so sacred that it could only beapproached on all fours. It generally consistedof a stone or boulder that stood outfrom its surroundings, or an arrangedgroup of standing stones. Seitas weresometimes also made of wood and weredivided into fish and deer seitas, worshippedto ensure success when fishingor hunting. There are known to have beenat least 17 seitas in the Inari region,although barely half remain, as they weresystematically desecrated when Christianitycame to Lapland.The Inari Sámi also recognised a host ofdifferent local spirits, who were empoweredwith caring for things such as reindeer,kotas, forest animals and fish.These spirits were generally benevolent,a good example being Joulustaalo(juovlâstáálu), the precursor of the modern-dayFather Christmas, who used theanimals of the forest as a means of transport.There were, however, also malevolentspirits such as the Staalo sprite(Stáálu), the nightmare-inducing Painajainen(Peinijâž) and the spectralKummitus (Komme).167

Conversion of the Sámi to Christianity inInari began in the 1550s. There wereseven village-based siidas in KemiLapland, of which Inari was the furthestnorth and most affluent. The tax registerfrom 1570 for Inari records 17 taxpayers,six of whom already have Christiannames. The church began to firmlyestablish its institutional presence in theInari siida from the beginning of the seventeenthcentury onwards. The firstchurch building was completed in 1647in Pielpajärvi winter village, two kilometresfrom Kalkuvaara hill and about eightkilometres west of Ukonsaari island,and was probably built on a formersacred site.By 1661, all the Inari Sámi had been baptised.In the face of threats from the priestconcerning the fires of Hell and eternaldamnation, by 1669 everyone hadrenounced the old religion. The old symbolsof their pagan faith were efficientlyrooted out by representatives of the newspiritual authority and many holy sites andshaman drums were destroyed.Close to Ukonsaari there are two oldburial islands, Iso- and Pieni Hautuumaasaari,where for centuries bodieswere buried away from predators andplaced under the protection of Ukko.These practices continued duringChristian times until 1904.In 1873 on a research trip to Ukonsaari,the Englishman Arthur Evans –the sameEvans that was to become famous for hisresearch into Knossos on Crete– discovereda cave, at the entrance to which heclaimed to have found some antlersarranged in a semi-circle. He carried out aone-day archaeological excavation on theisland and, in addition to a number of animalhorns and bones, also uncovered afragment of head jewellery –three hollowbeads hanging from a circular trinket–decorated with silver filigree that wouldhave once been a woman’s circlet. Thistype of jewellery would not have beennative to Finland or any other Nordiccountry, but would have come from theregion of the Kama and Vychegda rivers inRussia. The trinket dates from 1100 to1200 A.D (late Iron Age) and todaybelongs to the Ashmolean Museum inOxford, although it is currently on a several-yearloan to the main exhibition in theSámi Museum at Siida.Subsequently, Anja Sarvas (1968) carriedout archaeological research at Ukonsaarifor three days in 1968 and found a sacrificialcave at the western end of the island.Her excavations uncovered animal bones,antlers and teeth.For six days in the summer of 2006archaeological excavations were carriedout jointly by archaeology students from168

the University of Oulu, the GiellagasInstitute, Metsähallitus and the Siida SámiMuseum. Detailed 3D digital maps wereobtained of the island and surveys werecarried out to assess the significance ofUkonsaari to the Sámi as a holy site.The archaeological excavations amongthe rocks and stones at the western endof the island uncovered a number of sacrificialartefacts. These consisted primarilyof bones, antlers and teeth from deer orreindeer and goats or sheep. Also foundwere some kopeks minted by VasiliShuiski between 1606 and 1610 and atypical fragment of Sámi copper plate.The bones were radiocarbon-dated tobetween 1430 and 1630. Older bonesdecompose too quickly in these acid soilsto be dated. These findings suggest thatfor a period of time the Christian faith andthe old traditions and religion co-existed inthe area around Lake Inari.Ukonsaari was still regarded as a sacredsite in Inari even at the end of the nineteenthcentury, despite the local population’stwo-hundred-year-old acceptanceof Christianity. Local legend says that itwas common practice among people sailingon the open waters of the lake tothrow a coin into the water and to askSacred site of Ajii/ Ukonsaari in autumn.

Ukko for a following wind. Many visitorsstill stand on the highest point of theisland and throw a coin down on the rocksbelow and ask Ukko to grant them a wish.In summer 2006 a survey was carried outto see what Ukonsaari represented to thelocal residents of the village of Inari. Thelocals, both Sámis and Finns, expressedtheir respect for Ukonsaari as an ancientsite of worship. Some of the intervieweessaid that some local people still reveredthe site as a sacred place, despite theirChristian beliefs. Its historical and culturalsignificance is still highly appreciated.Ukonsaari Island was put forward forinclusion in a provisional list of culturalsites for the UNESCO World HeritageConvention by Finland’s National Board ofAntiquities (NBA) in 1990.Pressures and impactsNo surveys have ever been carried outamong visitors who visit Ukonsaari inorder to gaze upon Lake Inari’s bestknownlandmark and the other holy sitesof the ancient Sámi.On the western shore of Ukonsaari theFinnish Maritime Administration has constructeda jetty, where locals and visitorsalike can alight from their boats. Fromhere a set of steps installed byMetsähallitus guides visitors safely anddirectly to the hilltop and protects theisland from erosion. A visitor counterinstalled on the lower steps of the stairwayin early summer 2006 had by earlyOctober recorded 7,500 visitors.In the Inari–Ivalo area just two travel companiesorganise trips to Ukonsaari.Between June and September the cruiseferry M/S Inari makes daily trips toUkonsaari, while in winter these companiestake some 1,000 tourists per seasonto the island by motor scooter. Some peoplealso sledge or ski to the island themselvesand in all almost 10,000 peoplevisit the island per year.The main problem at the site is thesteady erosion of the island’s soils andlandscape, as people are allowed completefreedom to move around theupper part of the island. Some peoplefeel that the island loses some of itssacredness by being built upon andwalked over.Conservation perspectives andsustainabilityUkonsaari is managed and cared for byMetsähallitus Natural Heritage Services,who are responsible for the fulfilment of170

Finland’s nature conservation plans.Along with other official bodies andmuseums, Finland’s National Board ofAntiquities (NBA) is responsible for thepreservation of antique relics and thecountry’s architectural and cultural heritage(that includes cultural-historicallyvaluable natural sites). The NBA is acultural and research institution and aconservation authority, and offers citizens,decision-makers, museum administrators,researchers and students awide range of services.area (including Ukonsaari). Key interestgroups, namely Metsähallitus, theSami Parliament, the Municipality ofInari, the NBA, the EnvironmentCentre of Lapland and local touristcompanies, are considering variousalternatives for the future of tourismon Ukonsaari. The three proposalsare:1. Tourism continues in its currentform, whereby everyone has freeaccess to the island.The Sami Parliament is the highestpolitical body of the Finnish Sámi. Itfalls under the jurisdiction of theMinistry of Justice, but is not part ofthe state government. The Parliamentis in charge of the Sámi peoples’national and international relationships,protects the Sámi languages and culture,and promotes their status as anindigenous people. The cultural committeeof the Sami Parliament preparesproposals, motions and statements onmatters concerning the social cultureof the Sámi, decides on the use offunds allocated in the state budget forsupporting Sámi culture and organisationalfunctions, and monitors the useof cultural grants.Metsähallitus is currently drawing up amanagement plan for the Inari hiking2. Everyone has unrestricted accessto the island, although movementonce on the island is limited to existingwalkways. Structures and informationboards are improved to ensurethat restrictions are adhered to.3. It is totally forbidden to dock on theisland, and the jetty and other structuresare removed. The scenery ofUkonsaari can be enjoyed from aboat-cruise around the island.The Act of Antiquity makes it possibleto forbid landing on the island. TheSámi Parliament supports a total banon landing to preserve the sanctity ofthe island and to protect its naturalheritage. The tour companies, on theother hand, would prefer to continuetheir present activities.171

RecommendationsThe following is recommended:A management plan for the Inari hikingarea will take into account the three possibleoptions for tourism. Decisions will betaken after a broad-based participationprocess involving all different interestgroups. It is probable that a decision toforbid landing on the island, supported bythe Sámi Parliament, will be adopted.Positive synergies between spiritual, culturaland natural heritage in all messagesdesigned for the public are to be promotedin Inari. The Siida Nature Centre willprepare audio-visual presentations of theholy sites of Inari for its visitors and specialguided tours will be planned and arrangedto Ukonsaari and other sacred sites inInari by travel entrepreneurs.ReferencesItkonen, T. I. (1948), Suomen lappalaisetvuoteen 1945, I-II, Porvoo.■ Nordman, C. A. (1923), Silfverringen frånUkonsaari i Enare, Finskt Museum XXIX,Finska Forminnesföreningen. Helsinki.■Sarvas, Anja (1968), Inari 53 Ukonsaari,Koekaivausraportti. National Board ofAntiquities, Archaives of the Departmentof Archaeology, Helsinki.■Zachrisson, Inger (1984), De samiskametalldepåerna år 1000-1350 (The SaamiMetal Deposits AD 1000-1350), Archaeologyand Environment 3, University ofUmeå, Department of Archaeology,Umeå.Web links:■ Anarâš – The Inari Sámishttp://www.siida.fi/anaras/■Carpelan, Christian (2003): Inarilaistenarkeologiset vaiheet, in Inari – Aanaar,Inarin historia jääkaudesta nykypäivään,Oulu.■ Sámi Museum Siida – New archaeologicalfinds from Ukko Island in Inarihttp://www.siida.fi/english/kalenteri/en_ajankohtaista.htm■Fellman, Jacob (1906), Anteckningarunder min vistelse i Lappmarken I–IV,Finska litteratursällskapet, Helsinki.172

Ukonsaari, offerings cave.

Doñana National and Natural ParksSanctuary de la Virgen del Rocío. Spain.Jordi Falgarona Bosch & Jesús García Varela,with the collaboration of Jaume EstarellasFernández.Description of the siteLegal frameworkIn all 141,5871 ha of land in the vast areaknown as Doñana are protected undertwo types of categories. The DoñanaNational Park (IUCN Category II) was createdin 1969 and after a number of additionstoday covers 54,252 ha, while theDoñana Natural Park (IUCN Category V),created in 1989, covers 53,835 ha in fourseparate zones located in the area surroundingthe National Park.were declared Special Protection Areasfor Birds (SPA) in 2002 and were includedby the Junta de Andalucía (AndalusianRegional Government) in their proposednetwork of Sites of Community Importance(SCI). Furthermore, in 1980 all of theNational Park and part of the Natural Parkwas designated a Biosphere Reserve byUNESCO.In 1962 the World Wildlife Fund transferred6,794 ha of land in Doñana to theSpanish State in order to create theDoñana Biological Station (IUCN CategoryI), which today is run by the CSIC(Spanish National Research Council).Body responsible for the protected areaAt the heart of the protected area thereare a series of natural and scientificreserves (IUCN categories I, II and IV). Allof the National Park (since 1982) and theNatural Park (since 2005) is a Ramsar Siteand a Wetland of International Importance.Likewise, as part of the Natura2000 network, these protected areasOn July 1 2006 the Spanish State handedover total control of the administration ofboth the National and Natural Parks to theJunta de Andalucía (Andalusian AutonomousGovernment) as established bysentence 194/04 of the Spanish ConstitutionalTribunal. As a result of a previoussentence emitted by the Constitutional1 The total surface area of the protected areas varies from one source to another. Here we have taken the figures included in Decree97/2005 April 11 that established the limits of the Doñana National and Natural Parks.< Pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Our Lady of El Rocío, Doñana National Park.175

Tribunal, the running of Doñana since1995 had been shared by national andregional governments. However, the difficultiesinvolved in managing such a largearea with conflicting conservation criteriaand different administrative bodiesbecame more and more apparent as timepassed. Thus, Law 8/1999 of 27 October 2on Doñana was passed in order to unifythe management criteria of the whole areaand provide an opportunity and a practicaltool that would enable all the differentbodies operating in the area to worktogether.This juxtaposition of a number of differenthabitats 3 ensures that the main environmentalvalue of the area is its biodiversity.Doñana is home to 875 species of plant,20 species of freshwater fish, 11 amphibians,22 reptiles, 37 terrestrial mammalsand 360 birds (including 127 regularbreeders) 4 .In terms of the flora, the different ecosystemspresent in Doñana are closely associatedwith the main ecologically dynamicenvironments, the sand dunes and themarshes.Natural heritageNatural systemsThe vast complex of coastal habitats inDoñana –one of the most important fluvial-coastalsystems in Europe –consistsof three great ecological systems:the marshes, transformed to a greateror lesser extent, the beaches includingthe mobile dunes, and the Mediterraneanforests and scrubland growing ona more or less permanent sandy substrate.The marshes –the largest wetland inEurope– are one of the most valuableecosystems in Doñana and, lying so nearthe Straits of Gibraltar, are in a strategicposition to receive many thousands ofbirds, either as winter visitors or onmigration to and from Africa. It has beencalculated that up to six million birdspass through Doñana during each migrationperiod. The marshes are also importantfor their breeding colonies of waterbirds, which in some cases are the mostimportant in Europe. Some of the mostoutstanding birds found in Doñanainclude the Spanish Imperial Eagle2 This law’s entry into the statute book was delayed by an appeal by the Spanish State and only ratified by sentence 194/04 of theConstitutional Tribunal mentioned in the text. Decree 97/2005 of April 11 meant that in practice Law 8/1999 could be put into practicein both the National and Natural Parks.3 Of these habitats, 16 are included in Annex I of the Habitats Directory 92/43/CEE.4 Of these, 16 species of fauna are recognised in Annex II of the Habitats Directory 92/43/CEE.176

(Aquila adalberti), here in one of its mostimportant Spanish populations, CommonBittern (Botaurus stellaris), Glossy Ibis(Plegadis falcinellus) and Small Buttonquail(Turnix sylvatica), a bird on the brinkof extinction.Lastly, Doñana also boasts populations ofEgyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon)and the mythical Pardel Lynx (Lynxpardinus), endemic to the Iberian Peninsula.Main activities linked with the natural heritageIn the National Park the main managementactivities revolve around researchand the conservation of habitats andspecies. On the other hand, in theNatural Park control of the exploitationof the area’s natural resources andpublic access are as much priorities asare the management activities carriedout in the National Park.The most important conservation projectsinclude the restoration of naturalhabitats, a management plan for watersupply, the control of pest and introducedspecies, and conservation plansfor the Pardel Lynx and Spanish ImperialEagle. Research projects are coordinatedand promoted by the DoñanaBiological Station.Agriculture is a highly important factorin the Doñana area and the mostimportant crops, both in terms of surfacearea and economic viability, arerice, a traditional crop that has a complexrelationship with the birds of themarshes, the ever-expanding cultivationof strawberries and irrigated fruittrees. Of less importance is stock-raising,although this activity still has a significantrole to play in the maintenanceof biodiversity in dehesas (wood pastures)and other pastoral environments.The commonest forms of stock-raisingare semi-extensive or extensive concernsdedicated to raising autochthonousraces of cattle, fighting bulls andretinto cattle.Hunting is permitted within the NaturalPark and the main targets are waterbirds and, to a lesser extent, Red Deer,Wild Boar, Rabbits and Red-leggedPartridges. Freshwater fishermen largelyfish for eels and prawns.As well, within the Natural Park sector2 there are two commercial fish farms.Today, there is also a clear tendency topromote rural and activity tourism asalternatives to the typical beachtourism; within Natural Park there are177

over 100 companies working in thissector.Opinions of the local population and visitorsregarding the area’s natural heritageVisitors to Doñana are in favour of preservingthe area’s natural values,although, aside from specialist visitorssuch as birdwatchers, most are ignorantof the exact nature and number ofhabitats and species that makeDoñana so special. In some cases, visitorsare disappointed by their visitsbecause their experiences in the protectedareas do not correspond to theirexpectations, in the sense that mostdo not ever see the most talked-aboutspecies such as the Pardel Lynx orSpanish Imperial Eagle. In general,these visitors are in favour of preserving“everything”, but are mostlyunaware of the socio-economic andcultural repercussions that this wouldhave on the local population and theunderlying reality behind the conflictsthat often arise between local peopleand conservationists.The local population is generally reasonablyaware of the uniqueness of thenatural values of Doñana and they feelMap showing the trails used during the pilgrimages in relation to protected areas of in Doñana.

that it is part of their lives, althoughthey are perhaps rather less aware ofthe fragility of the familiar natural elementsthat are part of their surroundings.In part, this can be explained bythe relative invisibility of the processesinvolved in the progressive deteriorationof the aquifers and the fall in numbersof some species.The growth of more intensive forms ofeconomic development such as irrigatedagriculture and tourism has createda great deal of employment and boostedlocal incomes, factors which localpeople associate with a rise in livingstandards. This has led to attitudesthat question conservation strategieswherever the protection of the naturalheritage is seen to be incompatiblewith economic activities or implies aneed for the regulation of certain typesof economic exploitation.The emphasis placed by the parks’managers on the protection of certainkey species such as the Pardel Lynxhas inevitably led to a situation inwhich the local population target thesespecies in their protests against managementpolicies. The restrictive regulationsthat the protection of thesespecies requires and a lack of participativetradition has fomented withinthe local population a negative view ofthese animals and a general lack ofinterest in the overall protection of thenatural values of the area.Cultural and spiritual valuesIntroductionWithin Doñana and the surrounding area88 different sites of archaeological interesthave been identified, ranging from recentpre-history to modern times and includingsites possessing interesting Romanremains. Within the Monuments andElements of Cultural Interest it is worthhighlighting the sites of historical interestin Moguer and Palos de la Frontera (connectionswith Columbus) and Villa deRociana.The traditional uses made by local peopleof Doñana’s natural resources, which havealways co-existed in harmony with thearea’s ecological dynamics, are an intangiblevalue that have helped mould thearea’s landscapes. In this case, the mainsuch activities are agriculture, traditionalforms of stock-raising, and the exploitationof the forests for wood charcoal, cork,wood and honey. In some cases theseactivities have generated a number of ethnologicallyrelevant buildings and a networkof drovers’ roads that is still used forcattle and pilgrimages alike.179

Relationship between spiritual values andspecific social groupsBodies in charge of the cultural and spiritualheritageThe social groups linked with El Rocíoinclude lay bodies such as AlmonteTown Council and the 100-plus brotherhoods(hermandades) that havealways been independent of the officialchurch.Many brotherhoods have undergone aseries of changes over the years asthey have evolved and as their spiritualvalues have grown. Initially, thepopular fervour devoted to La PalomaBlanca (the White Dove) was a localritual practiced by the people of themarshes who depended on the naturalresources of the area for their livelihoods.Eventually, this local popularcult extended to other social groupsever further afield, and from the 1980sonwards the celebration of the cult ofEl Rocío became ever more festiveand part of the social calendar of theAndalusian upper bourgeoisie andmiscellaneous minor celebrities. Acertain sense of unease exists withinthe genuine brotherhoods at this trivialisationof the celebration of the pilgrimageto El Rocío, although mostbelieve it to be a question of isolatedcases that are overstated by themedia.The ultimate responsibility for the cultural,monumental and traditional values ofDoñana falls upon the Consejería deCultura de la Junta de Andalucía(Department of Culture of the AndalusianAutonomous Government). More indirectly,all cultural manifestations that are relatedin some way to natural elements alsocome under the control of the AndalusianDepartment of the Environment, above allthose that involve questions of publicaccess.In the case of spiritual events, the responsibilityfor the organisation and coordinationof the multiple activities andpilgrimages to the Sanctuary at El Rocíofalls on the shoulders of La HermandadMatriz from Almonte, who also own theSanctuary. The other brotherhoods takeresponsibility for their members and forevents on a more local scale, for examplewhen pilgrims pass along their particularpaths.The main civil responsibility for the managementof the natural and cultural heritageand for the needs of the tens ofthousands of pilgrims who flock to ElRocío every year lies with Almonte TownCouncil, which, moreover, owns the landthe Sanctuary stands upon. However,180

given the complexity and diversity of theevents that are organised at El Rocío,many different bodies have a role to play.The Sanctuary itself has been cataloguedas a Picturesque Monument, and as suchfalls under the control of the Departmentof Culture, whereas the use of thedrovers’ roads by pilgrims is the responsibilityof the Department of theEnvironment as managers of the protectedarea.Main activities related to the cultural valuesAside from visits by tourists to sites andbuildings of cultural interest, the mainculturally significant activities are allconnected with extensive stock-raising,the holding of traditional local festivitiessuch as the ‘Saca de las Yeguas’, whenthe semi-wild horses of the marshes areherded into Almonte, and the breedingof local races of cattle. Other traditionalactivities include local ways of harvestingcork and pine kernels, and beekeeping.The activities connected with the cult ofthe Virgin del Rocío are those that mostaffect the protected areas of Doñanaand take place throughout the year: thePentecostal Pilgrimage, the best knownand most popular and thus the mostproblematical; the ‘Rocío Chico’, asmaller and more local pilgrimage thattakes place in August; pilgrimages byvarious smaller brotherhoods (up to fourat a time), that include the floral tributethat all brotherhoods must offer eachyear to the Virgin; the traditional individualpilgrimages that require motorisedback-up and are therefore strictly controlled;and La Fiesta de la Luz (Festivalof Light) at Candlemas in February,which involves all the local brotherhoodsand is organised by theHermandad Matriz.Every seven years during the RocíoChico, local people celebrate LaVenida, in which the image of the Virginis carried in procession from La Aldeato Almonte, where it is kept until thefollowing spring (Pentacost). This festivityis, above all, more local in scaleand local people follow the processionfrom dawn to dusk without horse andcarts or dancing.The pilgrimages to El Rocío take placeprincipally along four different routes(caminos rocieros), three of which seriouslyaffect the protected areas(Moguer, San Lucar and La Raya Real;the fourth route, Los Llanos, comesfrom Almonte and does not affect theprotected area). A fifth route fromHinojos is much less used and onlyaffects the National Park very indirectly.181

Attitude of the local population and visitorsto the spiritual valuesGenerally, all the visitors that come toDoñana looking to enjoy the area’s naturaland cultural values visit theSanctuary and village of El Rocío,although interestingly, the visitors thatcome specifically to visit the Sanctuaryrarely show any interest in other aspectsof Doñana, natural or cultural.The various activities linked to theveneration of the Virgin del Rocío aregenerating increasing interest inDoñana as a site of religious pilgrimageand festivities, both inside andoutside Spain. The local populationresponds by participating in all theactivities that are related to theseevents.The local population has always professedan intense devotion to theVirgin del Rocío and participateskeenly in all the various religious actsthat are related to the Virgin and theSanctuary. These activities take placethroughout the year and thus it is fairto say that for part of the local populationlife revolves around the Virginand the Sanctuary.Mass in the middle of the dunes during the pilgrimage.

Pressures and impactsThe growth of the most important humanactivities in DoñanaDoñana has enjoyed constant economicgrowth over recent decadesbased on the appearance of new formsof intensive agriculture that today complementolder, more traditional forms ofagriculture such as viticulture, andcommercial and industrial expansioncentred around the chemical industryin Huelva (established at the end of the1970s). Today, the economic sectorsthat employ most people in and aroundDoñana are the ever-expanding agriculturaland tertiary sectors.Main economic activities that affect theareaLocal tourism is based essentially onurban development along Doñana’scoastline, above all around the town ofMatalascañas and, to a lesser extent,Mazagón. Despite lying outside theprotected area, both towns still exert aconsiderable influence on the Doñanaparks.Intensive agriculture includes strawberry,rice, fruit and olive cultivation, as well assmaller extensions of industrial cropssuch as cotton, beet and sunflowers.Two fish farms operate within the parks, ofwhich one has installations coveringaround 3,000 ha that are used for thebreeding of giltheads and sea bass.Stock-raising (mainly local races of cows,fighting bulls and retinto cattle) is importantas a means of preserving emotionallinks with the traditional landscape of themarshes, rather than as an activity possessinggreat economic relevance.There is no industrial activity within theprotected areas, although in recent yearsthere has been a move in the regiontowards the development of industrialestates alongside major roads outsidepopulation nuclei. However, in somecases these industrial installations havehad a negative impact on the parks andhave polluted the protected areas via thesimple dispersion of effluent in waterchannels running into Doñana.Effects of current economic activities onthe environmentAlthough no industrial activity takes placewithin the protected areas, the impact ofthis sector on the parks is potentiallygreat. The massive spill of highly toxicwater and mud when the Aznalcollar dambroke –the greatest ecological disaster inthe history of Doñana– left large areas ofwater and soils in Doñana serious con-183

taminated by effluent with dangerouslyhigh concentrations of heavy metals.Without citing any particular activity,economic growth in the region andassociated population growth in generalhave also had a serious impact on theprotected areas. Direct impacts includetoxic waste spills and the overexploitationof aquifers, while more indirecteffects include the need to improvetransport and energy networks and thedemand for better sanitary infrastructures.This in turn leads to an increase intraffic and thus more animals killed onroads (one of the great problems in theconservation of the Pardel Lynx) and agreater fragmentation of habitats.The industrial growth of the port ofSeville and associated projects such asthe dredging of the river Guadalquivir toimprove navigation may have a seriousimpact on the hydrological regime of theparks.The most serious impact of intensiveagriculture and tourism on the naturalhabitats of the parks is the alterationand over-exploitation of the aquifersthat supply Doñana with water. Thisleads to a decrease in water quality andthe draining of parts of the marshesusing material dredged from the marshes’channels and canals.The increased urbanisation of thecoast as part of a trend towards intensivetourism, as well as all the activitiessuch as the construction of golfcourses and other infrastructures thatthis implies, occurs outside the limitsof the parks, but is still, nevertheless,a threat to the protected areas.Increased erosion, the silting up of themarshes, the alteration and fragmentationof habitats, the incompletetreatment of sewage and the overexploitationof the aquifer all putDoñana at risk.Intensive agriculture influences theenvironment most in its use ofgroundwater for irrigation. This leadsto a drop in water levels in theaquifers and a subsequent reductionin the amount of water available to theparks’ wetlands. As well, the parks’waters have become increasinglyeutrophic and contaminated throughoveruse. Furthermore, the landscapeis losing some of its heterogeneity, thenumber of habitats and species presentis falling and erosion has increased,leading to the silting up ofthe marshes. In a general sense, thewhole of Doñana has become morefragmented and the biological connectivitybetween ecosystems hassuffered.184

Effects of current activities on spiritual andcultural aspectsThe progressive tendency over recentdecades to replace traditional agriculturaltechniques with intensive farming methodshas led to a loss in the cultural valuesassociated with these ancestral methodsof subsistence. Structures of great ethnologicaland cultural interest associatedwith traditional agricultural methods arebeing lost as they fall into disuse.As well, the traditional pilgrimage routesused by pilgrims on foot and on horsebackare being obstructed by new roadsand a proliferation of industrial estates andthe greenhouses used in intensive cultivation.Although physical barriers are probablythe most serious impact, the aestheticand moral effects of such changes shouldnot be underestimated.Conflicts between the conservation of thenatural heritage and the protection of spiritualand cultural valuesAny study of the conflicts between thenatural and cultural heritage must takeinto account from the start the fact that agreat distance and lack of understandingseparates the managers of the protectedareas from the local population, in whichthe brotherhoods are the most vocal presence.For example, the importance of theconflict over where pilgrims may pass,discussed in more detail below, has beenexaggerated, since much of the often veryvague and unspecified bad feeling thatexists between the different bodies thatcontrol activities in the protected areas isconcentrated on this one thorny question.The parks are still seen as an imposition fromoutside, as ‘neocolonial’ structures, andoften bodies such as the Fundación Doñana21, the creator of the Second SustainableDevelopment Plan for the area, that have nodirect links to the parks, are lumped withthem in one and the same sack.In any case, a certain amount bad feeling–above all in the brotherhoods and localauthorities- does exist regarding someof the deficiencies in the participativeprocesses that have been established.The park managers are rather less dissatisfiedand are generally pleased withthe progress achieved, although theyfeel that there is still a need to find waysto improve relationships between all theparts involved in local conflicts.The natural spaces are negativelyaffected by the worship of La Virgin delRocío, above all by the arrival of tens ofthousands people during the Pentacostalpilgrimage to El Rocío. Theseimpacts (disturbance of fauna, contamination,risk of fires, accumulation185

of rubbish, etc.) are worsening due toan increase in the number of participantsand their individual behaviour:there is a general lack of civic responsibilityand, more specifically, a lack ofrespect towards the environment(dropping of rubbish, indiscriminateand mass use of often over-sized vehicles)and in many cases practicesoccur that clearly have very little to dowith the objectives of the pilgrimage.To minimise the effects of the pilgrimages,the environmental authorities have establisheda series of norms that, even whennot differing from proposals acceptable tothe brotherhoods, are seen as an imposition.Furthermore, these regulations aside,it is felt that the Almonteños (pilgrims fromAlmonte) are being prevented from exercisingtheir ancestral rights of passage by‘foreigners’, that is, by conservationists,park administrators and scientists.The pilgrimage routes are affected negativelyby the regulations of use establishedby the administration in their areas ofcompetence. For example, some drovers’roads used by pilgrims are classified as of‘restricted use’, that is, the law saysspecifically that “… motorised transit isPilgrims on horseback on their way to the shrine at El Rocío.

only allowed for management andresearch purposes and must be authorisedby the National Park”.Land-use and management plans.Regulations and normsThe planning tools that are currently inforce in the Doñana are threefold:Management Plan for the DoñanaNational Park 5 , Natural Resource Plan forDoñana Natural Park 6 and ManagementPlan for the Doñana Natural Park.The 11 municipalities within the protectedarea all have their corresponding urbanplans, which only allow for expansionwithin and around pre-existing settlementsand not into any protected area.In the immediate hinterland of the protectedareas, the Territorial Plan for the DoñanaHinterland (December 2003) establisheselements of territorial cohesion within thearea of influence of the protected areas, aswell as criteria of land-use that will guaranteethe preservation of natural resourcesand the sustainable development of thenearby municipalities.The Fundación Doñana XXI is promoting asecond Sustainable Development Plan forthe region. The first was passed in 1993and its activities have substantiallychanged the situation of Doñana’s hinterland.Two other plans exist –Plan Romero andPlan Aldea– that have been designedessentially as methods of civil protectionand organisation for the Pentecostal pilgrimageand are only applicable in thearea of El Rocío.Conservation perspectives andsustainabilityTendencies in the conservation of the naturalheritageThe threats to the region’s biodiversityand, in particular, to rarer species andcommunities in wetland habitats of greatecological importance are generally associatedwith alterations in hydrologicalregimes or linked to wetlands affected bya fall in groundwater levels.The various types of legislation that protectDoñana contemplate a series ofmechanisms for the conservation of thearea’s natural heritage. Nevertheless, outsidethe protected area a series of proj-5 Contained in Decree 48/2004, February 10.6 Passed in Decree 2/1997, January 2.187

ects that will seriously threaten the wildlifeof Doñana are being put into practice andthe various competent bodies involved inthe planning and management of theDoñana’s protected areas are powerless tointervene. This is the case of the developmentof intensive agriculture, which hasdrastically reduced the amount of water inthe rivers entering Doñana from the north,the tourist development along the coastsbordering the parks, the industrial developmentin places such as the Polo de Huelva,and the expansion of the Port of Seville.All this makes it even more necessary forall the municipal and supra-municipalbodies in charge of planning within thesocio-economic area of influence and hinterlandof the protected areas to establishways and means of working together. Agood example of this coordination is thecreation of El Corredor Verde delGuadiamar (Guadiamar Green Corridor)and the projects for building canals in thearea to the north of the parks.In the agricultural sector, there is growinginterest amongst farmers and localauthorities in promoting more respectfulfarming methods with a greater degree ofsocial responsibility (i.e., the creation of aDoñana label of quality).In the tourist sector work is being donewithin the framework of the Territorial Planfor the Doñana Hinterland to redirecttourist/leisure activities away from residence-basedtourism and towards formulasthat are more closely linked to theappreciation of natural, landscape andcultural values.Tendencies in the conservation of the culturaland spiritual heritageThe replacement of traditional agriculturalmethods by more intensive techniquesis considered to be prejudicialfor the conservation of the cultural andspiritual heritage of the area. A numberof attempts have been made in planningmechanisms to maintain and promotetraditional agricultural and otheractivities and their associated culturalvalues. However, their lack of economicviability, the loss of traditional knowledgeand the disintegration of formerways of life tied to types of agriculturalexploitation, as well as the poor imagethat these ways of life retain, haveinevitably negatively affected the developmentand continuity of such practices.Nevertheless, the participation andexternal projection of the spiritual valuesthat revolve around the Sanctuaryof El Rocío are progressively increasingand their continuity seems assured.Even so, voices have been raised that188

query the growing massification of themain pilgrimages and their banalisationby the mass media. Some wonderaloud whether this increase in the numberof pilgrims may be intrinsicallyunsustainable, that is, that it may leadto a loss in the symbols of identity andobjectives of the spiritual events andreligious fervour at the Sanctuary.Some brotherhoods believe that thecurrent situation is affecting their activitiesnegatively and are looking to try torevive more spiritual pilgrimages to ElRocío.Potential contribution of spiritual values tothe conservation of the environmentThe main contribution of spiritual valuesto the conservation of the environmentwill have to come via an extension of theconcept of the Sanctuary to embracethe whole of the marshes and theirinherent sanctity. This could generatenew conservationist concepts within thebrotherhoods based on concepts relatedto the conservation of the wholeenvironment 7 .The responsibility and participation of thelocal brotherhoods, beginning with theHermandad Matriz, is essential, not onlyfor the organisation of events and pilgrimages,but also for the maintenance andcontrol of measures aimed at minimisingthe impact of the faithful on the environmentand for establishing new ways ofcontrolling the growing number of participants.Thus, appropriate communicationchannels must be established betweenthe park administrators and managersand the brotherhoods.In this way, local people will be involvedin control mechanisms and will themselvespromote and enforce the rulesregarding the use of drovers’ roadsestablished by environmental legislation.The need to control non-officialand individual pilgrimages within theparks must also take place within thisframework of cooperation.The Common Manifesto for El Rocío andDoñana agreed upon in 27 April 2003 is agood starting point (although somewhatlimited in its time scale) for an integratedvision shared by all the parties implicatedin the age-old nexus of conservation vs.pilgrimage, and one which offers a solidbase for new ideas. It also provides agood example of self-regulation by thebrotherhoods that could be extended tothe whole idea of the pilgrimage and itsvery conception.7 A good example of this is the poster printed in 2006 entitled “Doñana is your Road. Look after it”.189

Potential ways of conserving the spiritualvalues of the siteThe aforementioned fact that participationin the spiritual concept of El Sanctuary delRocío and the processions is on theincrease may lead to a situation of massificationthat could negatively affect thespiritual values emanating from the Virgin.To safeguard these cultural values, all theimplicated parties (beginning with thebrotherhoods) must carry out a reflectionif the character of the smaller pilgrimagesis to be preserved and change someaspects of the Pentecostal pilgrimage ifnecessary. The well-known social andeconomic problems that provoke conflictsbetween pilgrims and conservation mustbe tackled and not swept under the carpet.It is important that in light of the progressivemassification of the pilgrimages thatall actions that deflect from the principalobjective of the pilgrimage be discouraged,and that the manifestations of fervourbe encouraged and intensified withinthe framework of the traditional, wellestablishedgroup of rituals.Traditional ornamentation: Sin pecado cart bearing a banner of the Virgin.

Potential synergies between the conservationof the natural heritage and the protectionof spiritual and cultural values.Proponents of each position and proponentsof a more integrated position.The single element that binds together thenatural, spiritual and cultural values ofDoñana is undoubtedly the marshes, theorigin of all of these three types of values.La Virgin del Rocío ‘appeared’ from thevery marshes, in the same way that themain natural elements are directly or indirectlylinked to the presence of the riverand the sea, that is, to the marshes.Any conservation strategy for the marshesthat takes into account both shades ofopinion, that is, the natural and ‘spiritual’aspects of the marshes, will need a muchmore integrated vision, strengthened bypositive synergy, that avoids a simplemodel of conservation reflecting only oneor other of these two types of values.The conflicts between these values andtheir development is not due to any intrinsicincompatibility; on the contrary, bothviews are compatible and complementary,and conflicts have arisen mainly as aresult of the difficulties involved in adaptingto the changes occurring in Doñana’snatural, cultural and spiritual heritage thathave taken place from the second half ofthe twentieth century onwards. The necessarysynergies will arise as the partiesconcerned begin to understand theimportance of the complementary natureof the two visions of Doñana and developthe will to control, limit and suppress theelements that cause distortion to bothviewpoints.Society in general and Andalusian societyin particular (including the pilgrims) isaware of the problems concerning environmentalsustainability and nature conservation.Likewise, within this samesociety those people who are most awareof environmental problems understandthe need to maintain the values of ElRocío, be they simply cultural or spiritualas well.Thus, we need to reflect and promote anew vision of the marshes that combinethe Sanctuary and its Virgin with the surroundingfragile natural systems of greatecological importance. No pilgrim can behappy seeing the rubbish, fire and erosionleft behind after the mass pilgrimages,and no environmentalist should supportconservation policies that are not understoodor shared by a large part of the localpopulation and the vast majority of the visitorsto Doñana. The brotherhoods musttry to incorporate and transmit messagesof sustainability into their activities, whilethe managers of the protected areasshould try to promote greater respect for191

the pilgrimages and their inherent linkswith the marshes.Potential contribution of the conservationof the natural and cultural/spiritual valuesto a balanced socio-economic developmentof the areaThe presence and conservation of the variousnatural and cultural/spiritual values ofthe Doñana can act as a singular eco-culturalproduct with a great economicpotential for developing sustainabletourism in the area. The presence of ElRocío, the Virgin, the Sanctuary and othertraditional cultural elements integratedharmoniously into the marshes provide aneconomically viable alternative to otherunsustainable economic sectors.The participation of the local populationand, above all, the brotherhoods in theplanning, regulation and control of activitieswithin the protected areas would helpto reinforce the parks’ role in the socialfabric of the region.‘Queen of the Marshes’. The sustainabilityof the natural values of Doñana and theintrinsic sustainability of the area’s spiritualvalues must become the principal wayof preserving El Rocío and its surroundingsas a place of spiritual importance.If this new integrated vision is appreciatedor, at least, respected by all, then thecombination of the concepts of ‘naturalmarshes’ and ‘spiritual marshes’ will helpstrengthen local attempts at cohesion andfavour the integration of outside elementsin both natural and spiritual contexts.RecommendationsThe basic reflection to be made here isthat to overcome the specific difficultiesinherent in the relationship Doñana-ElRocío we must stop thinking of theseproblems as purely contingent, andunderstand them as part of a permanentdynamic and deal with them assuch.The spiritual dimension of El Rocío couldcontribute to a new concept of the marshesas a sacred place, directly linked to thepresence of the Virgin del Rocío, andcould thus become one of the main pillarsin promoting environmental and socialsustainability in the area, thereby avoidingthe loss of the spiritual nature of theWe must move on from essentiallyorganisational and logistical work basedon agreements reached at a lowestcommon denominator to permanentpolicies of awareness based on mutualrespect and cooperation of all the implicatedparties throughout the whole ofthe year. It is thus essential to promote192

channels through which local communitiescan express their ideas and interestsin the most direct fashion possible.Thus, the following recommendations arefundamentally the description of the workingsof a tool –a permanent cooperationbod– that will oversee the work of all theimplicated parties. This proposal suggestsextending the concept of the Sanctuary tothe whole of the marshes, as much to the‘natural marshes’ as the ‘spiritual marshes’.The Sanctuary must be seen by all asthe home of the Virgin and as a highlyfragile and singular natural ecological system.1. The creation of a permanent cooperationbody whose members will include allthe key organisms and bodies that areessential for the correct management ofthe heritage of Doñana and El Rocío,understood as the combination of all itsnatural, cultural and spiritual heritages.a.This body must have the following characteristics:i. The Almonte Town Council must bethe instigator and guiding light behindthis body and must ensure that all themany different bodies, organisationsand administrations responsible forthe many diverse realities of Doñana-El Rocío be part of that body.ii. Each member must remain independentand retain control of itsown particular sphere of responsibility.iii. Each member must agree to discussits strategies and activitieswith the other members involved indecision-making in these sameareas (for example, nature conservation,devotion to the Virgin delRocío and its social implications,study and diffusion of the area’sgeneral heritage, and so forth).iv. This permanent cooperationbody will establish a Board ofArbitration whose role will be toarbitrate in case of disputes betweenmembers.b. Proposals for specific and immediateaction by the permanent cooperationbody that encompass the field of work ofall its members, public and private, andthe institutions and services they represent:i. Drawing up of a strategic plan inorder to promote within all theparks’ infrastructures, the localtown councils and all public andprivate bodies working in the areaan understanding of the spiritualdimension of the natural world andits relevance to the cult of La Virgindel Rocío.193

ii. Promotion of the gradual incorporationof criteria of environmental awarenessand sustainability in all institutionsand services, public and private, and inall types of activity (reduction of consumptionof fossil fuels, promotion ofrenewable energy sources, reduction invisual and acoustic contamination,encouragement of ethical and environmentalpractices in purchases and professionalcontacts, and so forth.)iii. Establishment of effective means fordisseminating the moral and ethicalimplications of such practices and theirimplications for the worship of La Virgindel Rocío.2. The Museum of Religious History inAlmonte must aim to act as a centralbody for promoting documentation,training and awareness, tasks that arecurrently carried out by various bodiesbelonging to a number of different institutionsand administrations. Thismuseum must become a referencepoint and use its position to promotecoherence and reciprocity in the strategiesand activities of the various bodiesthat study the different aspects of theheritage (natural, cultural and spiritual)of Doñana-El Rocío:Sanctuary of the Virgin del Rocío, on the shore of the extensive marshlands.

a. The Museum must be linked to theUniversity of Huelva and, more specifically,to its Department of Anthropologyas part of a continuum of cultural andspiritual values.in other centres that depend on theprotected areas or the BiologicalStation will be incorporated into thecatalogue via the appropriate mechanisms.b. The Museum must establish aResource Centre with the followingfunctions:i. Coordination of all studies on thenatural, cultural and spiritual valuesof Doñana-El Rocío and attempts toraise public awareness.ii. Promotion of cooperation betweenthe various public bodiesinvolved in research, education andpublic access in the area (Centro deEstudios Rocieros, Doñana BiologicalStation, infrastructures belongingto the protected areas).c. The Museum must act as documentationcentre focussed on the creationof a general and complete catalogue ofall the resources to be found in the infrastructuresmentioned above.i. The cooperation of the Centro deEstudios Rocieros is vital and so thiscentre must be provided with fundsto allow it to classify and incorporateinto a consultable database all thematerial it has available.ii. All the documentation that existsd. The Museum must act as a provider ofteaching resources and information formembers of the permanent cooperationbody to be able to improve the servicesthey provide.3. The various brotherhoods and, aboveall, the Hermandad Matriz must assumeas part of their work the conservation ofthe natural environment. They mustintegrate into their activities the task ofincreasing the awareness amongst theiraffiliates of the need to protect Doñana’snatural heritage. It is essential that theworship of the Virgin del Rocío beimpregnated with a respect for the naturalworld. As such, the following activitieswill be of use:a. Promotion of the recognition of ElRocío and, above all, the Pentecostalpilgrimage as important acts of religiousworship and discourage practices thatare contrary to this conception.b. Assume and promote the concept ofthe Sanctuary as part of the Doñanamarshland, thereby emphasising thesanctity of the area.195

c. Include nature conservation amongstits social activities, above all in the caseof young members.ii. Establishment within a unifiedmanagement team of a sectionspecifically dedicated to El Rocío.4. The protected areas in Doñana, thatis, the National and Natural Parks, mustrecognise the intrinsic value of the cultof La Virgin del Rocío, along with allassociated spiritual manifestations andlinks to and interdependence withrecognised inherent values of natureprotection. As such, the following activitieswill be of use:a. Assume as an aim in its strategic andoperative plans the need to take intoaccount both sets of values and thepublic uses they imply.b. Assume a new vision of the marsheswith the Sanctuary and its devotees aspart of a singularly fragile ecologicalsystem.c. Some of the organisational questionsinclude:i. Establishment of a single managementteam for both parks that willpermit more standardised conservationstrategies in the two types of protectedarea. This greater homogeneitywill permit more coherent policies tobe applied and facilitate their understandingby the local population.5. The Bishopric of Huelva, as the ultimateecclesiastical authority overDoñana, must also take responsibilityfor increasing awareness of the need torespect and conserve the natural heritageof the area. It should be encouragedto publish a pastoral letter on theimportance of nature conservation,which would reach further and givegreater spiritual backing to all efforts topromote the integration of natural andspiritual values.AknowledgementsWe would like to thank the Network ofProtected Areas and EnvironmentalServices (Red de Espacios Protegidos yServicios Ambientales) of theAutonomous Government of Andalusia(Junta de Andalucía) for funding part ofthis project and also for their contributionto the logistics of the field work. Inparticular, we want to stress the dedicationand commitment of Águeda Villa,representing the Consejería de MedioAmbiente de la Junta de Andalucía, whoacted as a link with representatives fromlocal institutions and organisations.We are grateful to all the people of the196

Doñana area that either at institutionalor personal level provided us with genuinevisions and opinions about theissues at stake, thus allowing us to preparethis case study.ReferencesJunta de Andalucía, Parque Nacional deDoñana, 2006:www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/site/web/Doñana. Fiestas y tradiciones, 2006:www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/site/web/■Consejería de Obras Públicas yTransportes de la Junta de Andalucía(2003); Plan de Ordenación del Territoriodel Ambito de Doñana (POTAD).This case study used the bibliographydetailed below and was also based on12 interviews carried out in March 2006with representatives from some of themany bodies working in Doñana and ElRocío.■Consejería de Medio Ambiente de laJunta de Andalucía (2005); Plan deOrdenación de los Recursos Naturalesdel Parque Natural de Doñana.■Domínguez Nevado, L. (1998); Datossobre el vertido tóxico cercano al Parquede Doñana, SEHUMED, Boletín, Año 2,número 6, junio de 1998.■González Faraco, J.C. y Murphy, M.D(1996); Masificación ritual, identidad localy toponimia en el Rocío, Demófilo (Huelva.Economía, espacio y símbolos, 2),Cantero, coord., Fundación Machado.Sevilla: pp 101-120.■Consejería de Medio Ambiente de laJunta de Andalucía (2005); Decreto97/2005, de 11 de abril, por el que seestablece la ordenación del ParqueNacional y Parque Natural de Doñana.■Consejería de Medio Ambiente de la■Consejería de Medio Ambiente de laJunta de Andalucía, Parque Natural de■ Gallego Fernández, J. B. y García Novo,F. (2002); Restauración ecológica demarismas de régimen mareal en el estuariodel Guadalquivir, Parque Natural deDoñana, Revista Ecosistemas, Año XI Nº1/2002 Enero-abril.■ Doñana. Arena y Barro, 2006.www.discoveringdonana.com■ Ecologistas en Acción, La peregrinacióndel Rocío por el Parque de Doñana, poneen peligro su conservación, 2006.www.redasociativa.org197

■ Los Verdes de Andalucía, Doñana comosantuario, 2006: www.losverdesdeandalucia.org/noticia.php?id=12907■ Nacional Doñana, 2006.www.faunaiberica.org/parques.php3?par=3■Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, ParqueNacional de Doñana, 2006.http://reddeparquesnacionales.mma.es/parques/donana/index.htm■Ordenación del territorio y desarrollo■ United Nations Environment Programme(UICN). World Conservation MonitoringCentre. Doñana National Park-Spain,2006.www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/donana.html■WWF/Adena, Problemas ambientalessostenible en el ámbito de Doñana. Undiagnóstico ambiental, territorial y socioeconómico,2006.www.pds.donana.es/documentos_publicos/ORDENACION_DEL_TERRITORIO_Y_DESARROLLO_SOSTENIBLE_EN_EL_AMBITO_DE_DONANA.docde la Comarca de Doñana, 2006.www.wwf.es/aguas_continentales/juntos_donana.php198

Procession of pilgrims entering the sanctuary of El Rocío.

GreatSmokyMountains(Shagonage) and Qualla BoundaryTennessee and North Carolina, Southern Appalachian Mountains, UnitedStates of AmericaEdwin BernbaumNatural valuesGreat Smoky Mountains National Parkcovers 210,876 hectares of mountainousterrain divided between the statesof Tennessee and North Carolina in thesoutheast United States of America.The Park lies adjacent to another23,000 hectares of mountains and valleysforming the Qualla Boundary orsacred ancestral lands of the EasternBand of Cherokee Nation in NorthCarolina. The Park itself ranges in altitudefrom 256 to 2023 meters abovesea level, providing a wide range of theclimates and habitats to be found fromGeorgia in the south to the Canadianborder with Maine in the north.As a National Park, Great SmokyMountains is an IUCN ManagementCategory II site. It was designated anInternational Biosphere Reserve in 1976and inscribed as a World Heritage Site in1983, under criteria N (1), (ii), (iii) and (iv)for its natural values. Within its relativelysmall area lies some of the greatest biodiversityto be found anywhere in the world.The US National Park Service under theDepartment of the Interior is in charge ofthe Park. Great Smoky MountainsNational Park operated with a budget of$16.9 million and approximately 250 permanentand 100 seasonal staff in 2006.The adjacent Qualla Boundary is ownedand governed by the Eastern Band andheld in trust for them by the FederalGovernment.Great Smoky Mountains National Parklies near the southern end of theAppalachi-ans, one of the oldest mountainranges in the world. Uplifted 200-300 million years ago by the collision oftectonic plates, this range of metamorphicand sedimentary rocks representsthe weathered remnant of mountainsthat were once as high as the Himalayas.Great Smoky Mountains NationalPark includes 16 summits that riseabove 1828 meters. The highest mountainin the Park, Clingman’s Dome, 2023meters, is sacred to the Cherokee, whocall it Kuwahi.< The top of the Smoky Mountains in the morning mist.201

The glaciers of the last ice age stoppedjust north of the Great Smoky Mountains.The northeast to southwest orientation ofthe range allowed flora and fauna tomigrate along its slopes, providing a widerange of microclimates for many diverseplants and animals. A geologic history ofrelative freedom from ocean inundationand glaciation for more than a millionyears has led to an even greater diversificationof species in the Park. Some of thepeaks and ridges have meadows called‘balds’, although for the most part themountains are forested to their summits.A wet climate with average rainfall of 1400mm in the valleys and 2160 mm on thehigher peaks has further contributed tothe biodiversity found in Great SmokyMountains National Park – more than inany other area of comparable size in atemperate climate. Scientists have documentedover 14,000 species of flora andfauna and estimate that an additional90,000 still remain to be found. Nearly95% of the Park is forested with 25% stillpreserved as old-growth forest, includingsome of the largest blocks of temperatedeciduous old-growth trees left in NorthAmerica.Five forest types predominate in the GreatSmoky Mountains along with nine others,containing more than 130 native treespecies – more than in any other nationalpark in North America. Spruce and firforests grow in the highest areas, above1400 m. In the next zone down, northernhardwood forests, distinguished by sugarmaple and American beech, occurbetween 1000 and 1500 m. Pine-oakforests have covered drier ridges in andaround the Park. Hemlock forests arefound along stream banks. Finally, covehardwood forests cover valley floors andcomprise the most diverse ecosystems.Scientists have identified in these varioustypes of forest more than 1,400 floweringand over 4,000 non-flowering plantspecies.The Park’s fauna exhibits comparable biodiversity.Researchers have identified atleast 66 native species of mammals, ofwhich only two, black bear and whitetaileddeer, are large. Medium-size mammalspecies include red fox, grey fox,raccoon, opossum, woodchuck, andbobcat. There are in addition many smallermammals such as squirrels, rabbits,and bats. More than 240 species of birdshave been observed in the Great SmokyMountains National Park. At least 60 ofthese live in the Park all-year around, whilean estimated 120 breed there, including52 neo-tropical species. Many other birdsforage or migrate through the area. Birdspecies commonly found in the Parkinclude, chimney swifts, eastern phoebes,barn swallows, and warblers. The Park202

contains at least 43 species of salamanders,frogs, and toads and 39 species oflizards, turtles, and snakes. The abundantstreams and rivers also provide habitat forabout 50 native fish species, includingeastern brook trout.The main activity related to natural heritagein Great Smoky Mountains istourism. Of the 58 major National Parks inthe NPS, Great Smoky MountainsNational Park receives by far the greatestnumber of visitors, around nine million peryear. The second most heavily visitedpark, Grand Canyon, gets only 4.4 millionsvisits a year. Great SmokyMountains lies within a two-day drive forover half the population of the UnitedStates. The enormous gateway communityon the Tennessee side is filled withresorts, amusement rides, and countrymusic, while a Cherokee gambling casinoon the North Carolina side also drawsmany visitors to the Park. Together withthese outside tourist attractions, the Parkgenerates more than a billion dollars peryear for local communities.Although most visitors simply drive themain road crossing the Park, a numbermake use of the extensive hiking trails andcampgrounds. More than 400,000 peopleeach year hike more than 800 miles oftrails, including 70 miles of theAppalachian Trail. Backcountry campsiteshost about 77,000 overnight campers,while developed campgrounds receive350,000 visits a year. With two million visitorsa year, the main visitor center atSugarlands provides an opportunity todisseminate messages about natural, cultural,and spiritual values to those whoonly drive through the Park.Great Smoky Mountains is a major centerof research and education on the naturalenvironment. The All Taxa BiodiversityInventory has engaged scientists in a projectaimed at determining all of the estimated100,000 species in the Park. TheAppalachian Highlands Science andLearning Center works to promote scientificresearch at Great Smoky Mountainsand involve the general public. Teachersand students come to take courses andparticipate in projects with scientists andPark staff. The Park is also engaged inprograms to re-introduce native elk andred wolves.A large number of people who come forgambling at Cherokee or the attractions ofthe gateway communities of Gatlinburgand Pigeon Forge in Tennessee have, atbest, a peripheral interest in the Park. Thesmaller number who come for outdoorrecreation place a higher value on theenvironment and have a greater concernfor protecting the natural heritage. Amongthe local population, the original residents,203

the Cherokees in the adjoining QuallaBoundary, generally have a deeply vestedinterest in preserving the natural statemountains they revere as their ancestralhomeland and see getting outdoors andwalking as a way to combat their numberone health threat – diabetes. They feelthat they have a right to gather medicinalherbs and wild foods for traditional purposesand this sometimes brings theminto conflict with Park regulations. Manynon-Cherokee local residents owned orare descended from people who ownedland in Great Smoky Mountains and whowere forced to sell to the government tocreate the Park. Many who were upset atthe time have come to realize that if theyhad kept their properties, unrestraineddevelopment would have ruined whatthey now value in the scenic and naturalfeatures of the environment.Spiritual and cultural valuesGreat Smoky Mountains National Parkhas particular spiritual and cultural significancefor two local groups – theEastern Band of the Cherokee and thedescendents of the Scottish-Irish settlerswho created what is known asAppalachian culture. Another more diffusegroup from the region in generalfor whom the Park also has profoundvalues are the outdoor enthusiasts andenvironmental conservationists, whoare drawn to the remarkable topographyand biodiversity of the region. TheCherokees call the Great SmokyMountains Shagonage or “Blue, likeSmoke,” referring to the characteristicblue haze that hangs over the range,originally due purely to humidity andtrees, but now augmented by air pollution.Their tradition holds that Cherokeeshave lived here since thecreation, when the Great Buzzardformed the mountains and valleys of theregion with his wing-tips while fanningthe soft, muddy new earth to dry it outand make it habitable. Archaeologicalevidence indicates that prehistorichunters and gatherers entered the areaof the Great Smoky Mountains perhaps15,000 years ago. A people speakingan Iroquoian language, the Cherokees,emerged as a distinct group around1000 years ago and were in control ofmuch of the southern AppalachianMountains and adjacent territory by thebeginning of the eighteenth century.In response to outside colonization, theCherokees adapted to the new ways andadopted a syllabary created by a famousCherokee named Sequoyah. The discoveryof gold on their lands in 1828, however,led to their forced removal toOklahoma in 1836 to 1839 in the infamousTrail of Tears on which many died. A204

few Cherokees were able to hide out inthe rugged terrain of the Great SmokyMountains. After the forced removal, theycame down and joined a group separatefrom the main tribe who had been allowedto stay behind and formed the EasternBand of the Cherokee Nation, now some12,000 strong and living in their originalhomeland next to the Park.Various features of the environment,beginning with the mountains, are sacredto the Cherokees. The summit of the highestmountain in the Park, Clingman’sDome or Kuwahi, is said to hide a magiclake that heals all birds and animals thatbathe in its waters. The Cherokees viewthis and other nearby mountains assacred sanctuaries since they were ableto find refuge here from the forcedremoval of the 1830s. A smaller mountainclose to the town of Cherokee, RattlesnakeMountain, plays a role as the sitewhere a great shaman killed a poisonousserpent to retrieve a magic crystal ofpower from its head.Valleys and rivers have special spiritualand cultural value for the Cherokees.Deep Creek, a valley running down offClingman’s Dome, has special significanceas a refuge for Cherokees whoBilingual wayside panel about explaining the origin of the world, according to the Cherokee worldview.

escaped the Trail of Tears. Cherokeeslived traditionally in settlements on valleybottoms, and they revere one of them,the ancient village mound of Kituhwa, asthe original center of their homeland.Rivers that flow down from the mountains,such as the Oconaluftee, have particularimportance as sources of life andplaces of spiritual cleansing: an importanttraditional practice, ‘Going to theWaters’, involves bathing ritually in theOconaluftee River to wash away negativefeelings and to prepare for specialevents. Cherokee elders refer to the riveras the Long Man, with his head in themountains and his feet in the sea, unifyingthe whole environment.Different species of flora and fauna eachhave their stories and traditions thatreflect the spiritual and cultural valuesthey possess for the Cherokees. Thebuzzard or, more properly, the turkeyvulture, plays a key role in the creationmyth, as does the water beetle, whichdived into the primordial waters toretrieve a bit of mud from which theearth was created. One story tells howthe Creator commanded all the trees tostay awake, but some fell asleep andbecame the deciduous species that,unlike the evergreens, lose their leaves.Cherokee clan names reflect relationshipsto particular fauna and flora –Bird, Deer, Wolfe, and Wild Potato.Custodians of Appalachian culture placemore diffuse, Christian values on the naturaland man-made features of GreatSmoky Mountains National Park. Theirviews are reflected in the motto of thenearby city of Asheville, taken from theopening lines of the Psalm 121: “I look upto the hills…”. Great Smoky MountainsNational Park contains the finest collectionof log buildings in the United States,dating from the mid-1800s to 1920. Inaddition, old graveyards lie scatteredthroughout the Park and still receive flowerstoday. Appalachian culture is also celebratedin a musical tradition derivedfrom ballads brought from England,Ireland, and Scotland. Since mostCherokees are Christian, either throughintermarriage with European settlers orconversion, they share many of theseAppalachian values and blend them withCherokee traditions.Outdoor enthusiasts and conservationistsplace particular value on features of theenvironment, both for their natural andspiritual significance. Many combine interestsin both nature and culture in theAppalachian Mountains. A major figure ingenerating interest for the establishmentof the Park in the early twentieth century,Horace Kephart, for example, wrote twoinfluential books reflecting these two interests:Camping and Woodcraft and OurSouthern Highlanders.206

The Cherokees have a number of organizationsdevoted to preserving their culturaland spiritual heritage. The TribalCouncil plays a major role through itsOffice of Cultural Resources. The EasternBand owns and operates the Museum ofthe Cherokee Indian. The CherokeePreservation Foundation, funded by proceedsfrom the casino, supports manyprojects devoted to preserving Cherokeeculture and heritage. Great SmokyMountains National Park is in charge ofpreserving natural and cultural heritagewithin the Park boundaries. Two cooperatingsocieties –Friends of Great SmokyMountains and the Great Smoky MountainsNatural History Association– assistthe Park in this mission with funding andvolunteers.In addition to scientific research andnature conservation, the Park has aprogram of interpretive exhibits, signs,and other activities related to spiritualand cultural values. The main visitorcenter at Sugarlands receives two millionvisitors a year and projects a filmthat highlights Cherokee and Appalachiancultures and the inspirationalvalue of the Great Smoky Mountains.A major photographic exhibitionincludes pictures and inspirationalquotes on 22 other mountainous nationalparks organized around thetheme of the sacredness of mountains.The Ocon-oluftee Visitor Center hostsa Mountain Farm with buildings andexhibits on Appalachian culture.The Park joins forces with the EasternBand and other cultural organizationsto host a Mountain Heritage Day withperformers and artists representingAppalachian and Cherokee cultures.Within the Qualla Boundary, theCherokees promote the teaching oftheir language in their schools andactivities highlighting their cultural andspiritual heritage. In addition to theMuseum of the Cherokee Indian andthe Oconaluftee Indian Village andLiving History Museum, a major exhibitionentitled ‘Unto these Hills’ presentsCherokee culture and history to Parkand casino visitors. ‘Talking Trees’ inthe town of Cherokee have recordingsorally relating Cherokee traditions.Festivals of Appalachian music focusattention on Appalachian culture, as dothe activities of academic organizationssuch as the Appalachian StudiesConference and the nearby Universityof Western North Carolina.Local residents descended from Europeansettlers feel deep connectionswith the land they once owned. TheCherokees view the whole area as partof their ancestral homeland and regardmany features in the Park as sacred.207

Many local residents in the gatewaycommunities are primarily there for economicreasons and have less regard forthe natural and cultural values of theGreat Smoky Mountains, and a largepercentage of visitors come primarily forgambling and resorts. The Park does,however, draw a substantial number ofpeople interested in the mountains andin Appalachian and Cherokee cultures.Pressures and impactsThe human activities with the greatestdynamic impact are related to tourism,both within the Park and in the gatewaycommunities on either side. Outdoorrecreation, predominantly hiking, backpacking,and fishing, draws many visitorsto the area. Because of the extraordinarybiodiversity of the region, scientificresearch and study programs are veryactive in the Park. There is also a growinginterest in preserving and restoringCherokee and Appalachian cultures, asevidenced by festivals, school programs,museums and other cultural activities.Of all economic activities, tourism has thegreatest impact on Great Smoky MountainsNational Park. Tourists spend aroundDedication ceremony in 2006.

one billion dollars a year in the area, mostof it in the gateway communities. The primaryattractions are the gambling casinoin Cherokee and the amusement parks,resorts, and country music in Gatlinburgand Pigeon Forge. However, many ofthese tourists also visit and drive throughthe Park itself. Poaching of naturalresources, in particular, ginseng, is anothereconomic activity that has an impact onnature.Economic activity resulting in increasedindustrial emissions in the region, combinedwith automobile traffic fromtourism, contributes to air and waterpollution in the southern AppalachianMountains. The higher elevations ofGreat Smoky Mountains National Parkreceive some of the highest acid depositionsin North America and growingozone levels are damaging various plantspecies. This acid deposition from airpollution combines with the naturallyacidic bedrock in the range to threatenvarious aquatic ecosystems. Dogs andhorses brought by hikers and campershave also helped to contaminate thestreams with the parasite Giardia. Tourismalong the roads and backcountrylead to litter, waste problems, and, insome cases, poaching, which imperilscertain species. Uncontrolled economicdevelopment in the gateway communitieshas led to degradation of scenicviews and has contributed to air andnoise pollution.On the other hand, tourism, particularlyoutdoor recreation, helps to spread messagesregarding the importance of natureand the need to protect it. If even a fractionof the nine million visitors a year carrythese ideas back to their home communities,this has the potential for considerablepositive impact on conservation in general.The creation of Great Smoky MountainsNational Park and the attention it hasfocused on the value of preserving theenvironment for its own sake, as well asthe tourist income it generates, hasreversed a trend that would have led tothe destruction of most of the ecosystemsin the area. Scientific research has contributedgreatly to the preservation andrestoration of native flora and fauna.Economic development in the gatewaycommunities has led to noisy and garishcommercialisation that distracts visitorsfrom the appreciation of the inspirationalvalues of the mountains and creates anatmosphere that discourages the quietcontemplation of nature. The income generatedby the casino in Cherokee and thegrowing influences of modernization andthe outside world threaten traditionalCherokee practices and beliefs thatemphasize spiritual and cultural values. Inresponse to tourist preconceptions, some209

Cherokees have adopted Western PlainsIndian headdresses, thereby misrepresentingtheir own traditional dress. Thesame interest shown by tourists in Indianculture, however, also offers opportunitiesfor the general public to learn more aboutthe actual cultural and spiritual valuesenshrined in the Cherokee way of life.Exhibits in the Park and at the Museum ofthe Cherokee Indian, in particular, help tointroduce accurate interpretations ofCherokee traditions and their relationshipto the land.Efforts to preserve the natural environmentin Great Smoky Mountains have occasionallyled to conflicts with spiritual and culturalvalues. There is a tension between thescientific priority that aims to preserve thenatural state of the Park and the traditionalCherokee practices of collecting medicinalherbs and other wild foods. The problem isexacerbated when Cherokees try to collectcertain plants and animals not just for theirown use, but to sell for income. A few yearsago Cherokee demands to exchange apiece of the Qualla Boundary for a pristineportion of the Park where they wanted tobuild a school for their children createdadditional tension with Park staff, who didnot want to part with land that had importantbiodiversity value. Issues of land ownershipunderlie many of the potentialconflicts between the conservation of naturalheritage and the protection of culturaland spiritual values: the Cherokees regardGreat Smoky Mountains National Park aspart of their original homeland and feel theyshould have a powerful voice in determiningits use.Great Smoky Mountains National Park hasa comprehensive management plan basedon conservation zones. Most of the Park,92%, is designated a natural zone. Themanagement plan sets aside an additional1% as a historic zone and 7% as a developmentzone. Park police and rangersenforce regulations and there have beenissues over the traditional collection of certainspecies of flora and fauna by Cherokeesand others and over regulations on theroad that crosses the Park. The EasternBand of the Cherokee Nation is in charge ofmanaging and using land in the QuallaBoundary. The main land-use and managementproblems lie in the Gatlinburg andPigeon Forge area on the Tennessee side,where rampant, tasteless development hasled to perhaps the most notorious gatewaycommunity for any national park in theUnited States.Conservation perspectives andsustainabilityTrends in the conservation of natural heritageare mixed. On the positive side, thescientific research and education pro-210

grams focused on the extraordinary biodiversityof the site have increased interestin natural values and have led to efforts toprotect and restore the environment,including the re-introduction of species ofnative fauna that have disappeared. Onthe negative side, air pollution resultingfrom economic development in the surroundingregion is threatening a numberof tree and plant species. Tourism is amixed blessing: it introduces more of thepublic to the value of protecting the GreatSmoky Mountains, but also contributes toeconomic activities in the gateway communitiesthat distract attention from thenatural environment and create eyesoresand other forms of environmental desecrationjust outside the Park.There is a growing interest in theCherokee community in protecting spiritualand cultural heritage. The Museumof the Cherokee Indian and other culturalinstitutions in the Qualla Boundary arepromoting exhibits and activities thathighlight this heritage. The Cherokeesare also putting growing efforts intoteaching their language in their publicschools in order to recover a mainstayof their heritage that was all but lost asa result of the federal and state governments’policies of discouraging thelearning and speaking of Cherokee,which continued up to the middle of thetwentieth century. The establishment ofthe Cherokee Preservation Foundationin 2000 has led to the funding of projectsdevoted to strengthening and preservingCherokee cultural and spiritualheritage.Among the projects funded by theCherokee Preservation Foundation, one,in particular, reflects a growing opennessand interest by Great Smoky MountainsNational Park into working with theCherokees to incorporate their views andintegrate cultural and spiritual perspectivesin Park interpretation. Initiated in1999 as a collaboration between thePark, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee,the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, andThe Mountain Institute, the ‘Mountains,Spirituality’, and the Cherokee project wasdeveloped as a series of bilingual waysideexhibits in English and Cherokee linkingCherokee stories and traditions to featuresof the natural environment –birds,trees, rivers, mountains– along the OconalufteeRiver Trail running 2.4 km from theOconaluftee Visitor Center in the Park tothe Qualla Boundary on the edge of thetown of Cherokee. The Museum of theCherokee Indian selected submissionsfrom contemporary Cherokee artists toillustrate the trail’s waysides. The designswere finalized in 2005 by the NationalPark Service and the text translated intoCherokee by the Office of CulturalResources of the Eastern Band.211

A ceremony in 2006 with Cherokee warriordances and official speeches celebratedthe installation of the completedwaysides and excited considerable publicinterest and media attention. Since manyCherokees, both adults and children,walk this trail for exercise, the signshelp them to pass on their traditions tothe younger generation, promotehealth and good nutrition among tribalmembers, and reinforce the revival andteaching of the Cherokee language intheir schools. The exhibits also enablethem to reach the wider public with themessages they wish to disseminateabout their sacred sites and practices.The project provides an innovativemodel with exciting possibilities forinspiring similar collaborations andwaysides elsewhere in the UnitedStates and around the world.The waysides along the OconalufteeRiver Trail and other interpretive andeducational materials displayed in thePark, the Museum of the CherokeeIndian, and the Qualla Boundary highlightCherokee ideas, stories, and sayingsabout the intimate reciprocalrelationship between humans andnature and encourage Cherokees tocare for the environment. They alsohave great potential for promoting conservationof natural as well as culturalheritage. A powerful example is the followingsaying by a contemporary elder,Jerry Wolfe: “We hold these mountainssacred, believing that the Cherokeewere chosen to take care of the mountainsas the mountains take care ofus.”Similar views of stewardship drawn fromBiblical quotes and associated withAppalachian culture regarding the need toprotect the environment as the divine creationof God entrusted to humans couldbe combined with Cherokee ideas to promoteenvironmental conservation in general.The idea of the Park as a kind ofNoah’s Ark of biodiversity could helpexpand conservation messages and getmore of the American public interested inprotecting the environment. In any case,the beautiful scenery and striking flora andfauna of the Great Smoky Mountains havethe potential to draw attention in a particularlypowerful way to the spiritual andnatural values of the environment.An important way to safeguard the spiritualvalues of the Great SmokyMountains is to draw on existing programsof interpretation and education inthe Park and in the Qualla Boundary.Park interpretation and exhibits thatalready incorporate these values shouldbe drafted and extended to additionalsites in the area. Education programsthrough the cooperating societies and212

the scientific research programs wouldbenefit from having spiritual and culturalperspectives incorporated into their standardecological curricula as complementaryviews that enrich people’sunderstanding and appreciation ofnature. A key component of such a programat Great Smoky MountainsNational Park would be to the incorporationmore material on Cherokee cultureas a living, present-day tradition withimportant messages about the environment.Too much cultural interpretation inthe National Park System focuses on historyand archaeology and only refers toAmerican Indians and other indigenouspeoples in the past tense.The successful collaboration betweenGreat Smoky Mountains, the EasternBand of the Cherokee, the Museum of theCherokee Indian, and The MountainInstitute to develop the Oconaluftee RiverTrail waysides demonstrates the potentialfor synergies between government agencies,local bodies, and non-profit-makingorganizations to work together to conservecultural and natural heritage. Theseentities, along with affiliates and partners,such as the Office of Cultural Resourcesof the Eastern Band, and local donors,such as the Friends of Great SmokyMountains National Park, can be powerfulchampions for continuing this work andpromoting a more integrated approach toIndian guide.

the preservation of spiritual and naturalvalues. Outdoor recreational organizations,such as the local branch of theAppalachian Trail Conservancy, can, inaddition, champion the inspirationalvalue of the mountains as sources ofrenewal and inspiration that can reachout to the wider public and help protectthe Park and its surrounding environment.A well-preserved cultural and naturalheritage can contribute to a healthier,more balanced socio-economic developmentof the area by fostering a moreresponsible, sensitive tourism thatenriches the experience of visitors andmotivates support for the Park and itsbiodiversity. In particular, it can help tomitigate the deleterious effects of unbalanceddevelopment in the gatewaycommunities at the two major entrancesto the Park and encourage local residentsto take a more active role inrestraining any growth that might furtherthreaten the environment. Projects suchas the Oconaluftee River Trail, which hasbrought together parties with conflictingcultural and natural interests in a commonenterprise that all regard as positive,can help overcome conflicts inother areas and encourage people towork together in more harmonious waysfor the preservation of the Park’s wealthof natural and spiritual resources.RecommendationsStudy of the natural heritage of GreatSmoky Mountains National Park is wellestablished,and scientists are activelyengaged in identifying the 100,000 estimatedspecies in the area. The culturaland spiritual heritage of the mountains, onthe other hand, has not been as rigorouslyinvestigated and needs more focusedresearch to identify and fill in gaps in currentknowledge. We need detailed studieson the importance of spiritual andcultural values for different stakeholdergroups and how those values might motivateeach group to protect the environment.These stakeholder groups includethe Cherokees, Park staff, Park visitors,outdoor enthusiasts, naturalists, conservationists,religious groups, advocates ofAppalachian culture, and local residentsand businesses.Most research on Cherokee cultural andspiritual heritage has focused on traditionsof the past and stories collectedfrom a small group of living elders andstorytellers: studies of the prevalenceand importance of this heritage across abroader cross-section of contemporaryCherokee society would help assessopportunities to engage the EasternBand more fully in environmental conservationand sustainable development. Acompilation of inspirational ideas, stories,214

and quotes from naturalists and fromcustodians of Appalachian culture couldprovide useful material for reaching thebroader public with evocative messagesabout the need to conserve the culturaland natural heritage of the Great SmokyMountains. Research carried out in collaborationwith religious leaders from differentdenominations could provide ideasas to how to inspire congregations totake up conservation measures. Christiandenominations play an important rolein Southern life and could galvanize considerablesupport for protecting the biodiversityof the Park if approached theright way through the right messengers.Focusing on spiritual and cultural valuescan generate opportunities for creatingand improving synergies among authoritiesfor protecting the natural, spiritual,and cultural heritage of the Great SmokyMountains. The Park and the EasternBand of the Cherokee were able to find ashared interest in working together onthe Oconaluftee River Trail waysides thathelped them deal with conflicts in otherareas of their relationship. In a similarway, other organizations, such as chambersof commerce, could work togetherwith the Park on inspirational projectsthat do not threaten their interests butallow them to do something meaningfulfor the cultural, spiritual, and natural environmentof the area. In addition to makingmoney, many people in businessseek some kind of meaning in their workand want to leave something of valuebehind. Inspirational, non-threateningprojects could encourage the first stepstowards working together on more contentiousissues such as regulating egregioustourist development just outsidethe Park.Involving people and organizations withspiritual and cultural interests could alsoimprove synergies among authorities. Acommittee of Native Hawaiian elderscalled the Kupuna Committee meets regularlywith the superintendent at Hawai’iVolcanoes National Park to provide input:the creation of a similar committee ofCherokee elders could help Great SmokyMountains National Park work better withthe Eastern Band of the Cherokee tointegrate their perspectives into Parkplans and projects. It is important thatCherokees and others with cultural andspiritual interests in the region beinvolved from the beginning in newundertakings so that they can have a realinfluence on decision-making.Education is one of the most effectivetools for developing an integratedapproach to the conservation of natural,spiritual, and cultural heritage. The superintendentof Mount Rainier National Parkin the northwest United States holds that215

educating visitors influences everythingelse the Park does, from law enforcementto maintenance. If people are informed,they are much more willing to follow rulesand respect others’ beliefs and practices.Other important tools for developing anintegrated approach include incorporatingspiritual and cultural perspectives intoenvironmental impact studies and managementplans. Workshops for legislativeand other bodies could provide additionaltools for integrating these perspectivesinto conservation programs to groundthem in deeply held values and makethem truly sustainable.Efforts to protect the environment andencourage more sustainable developmentneed to show that conserving the cultural,spiritual, and natural heritage of the sitecan enrich people’s lives. One way to dothis is to promote quieter, more contemplativeforms of recreation and tourismthat focus on the role of nature as asource of inner peace and renewal and,as a consequence, have less impact onthe environment. Authorities would dowell to draw on spiritual and cultural valuesto inspire people in local communitiesto come up with their own ways of promotingenvironmental conservation andSome key Cherokee terms“Going to the water” – a key Cherokee ritual of bathing in a river for spiritual purificationperformed daily and before important events.Atagahi – a magic lake hidden in the Smoky Mountains that heals birds and animals.Gunahita Yvwi – “long man,” the term for the river as the Long Man, with its head in themountains, its feet in the sea, and its body growing as it goes along.Duyukta – the path of being in balance, the moral code central to the Cherokee worldview.Qualla Boundary – the ancestral lands of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indian Nation.Shaconage – “blue, like smoke,” a Cherokee description of the Great Smoky Mountains.216

sustainable development, rather thanimposing regulations from above. Finally,inclusive approaches that encourage adiversity of views so that no one feels leftout will have the greatest chance of preservingthe rich natural, cultural, and spiritualheritage of the Great SmokyMountains. People are more inclined toappreciate and support other’s efforts ifthey feel their own views are beingacknowledged and respecte.■ Kephart, H. (1922) Our SouthernHighlanders: a Narrative of Adventure inthe Southern Appalachians and a Studyof Life among the Mountaineers, MacmillanCompany, New York, USA.■Mooney, J. (1992) James Mooney’sHistory, Myths, and Sacred Formulas ofthe Cherokees, Historical Images,Asheville, NC, USA.References■Bernbaum, E. (1997) The Spiritual andCultural Significance of Mountains, in IvesJ. and Messerli, B., ed., Mountains of theWorld - A Global Priority, Parthenon,Oxford, UK.■ Duncan, B. R., ed. (1998) Living Storiesof the Cherokee, The University of NorthCarolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, USA, andLondon, UK.■ Duncan, B. R. and Riggs, B. H. (2003)Cherokee Heritage Trails Guidebook, TheUniversity of North Carolina Press, ChapelHill, NC, USA, and London, UK.Websites■http://www.unep-wcmc.org/protected_areas/data/wh/gsm.html■http://www.great.smoky.mountains.national-park.com/■ http://www.nps.gov/grsm/■ http://www.nc-cherokee.com/■ http://www.cherokeemuseum.org/■ http://www.cherokeepreservationfdn.org/■http://www.mountain.org/sacredmountains(last accessed October 2006)■Kephart, H. (1988, 1917) Camping andWoodcraft: a Handbook for VacationCampers and for Travelers in theWilderness, University of TennesseePress, Knoxville, TN, USA.217

Holy Island, Isle of ArranScotland, United KingdomIsabel SoriaIntroductionHoly Island is situated just off the eastcoast of the Isle of Arran, a short ferry ridefrom the settlement of Lamlash. Arranitself is the largest island in the Firth ofClyde and lies 26 kilometres off theAyrshire coast, North Ayrshire UnitaryCouncil Area, south-west Scotland.Holy Island covers an area of 340hectares and its central peak, MullachMor, rises 314 m a.s.l. Since there are noroads on the island, the only way to travelaround is on foot. The island has been aprivate estate for centuries and wasacquired in 1992 by the Rokpa Trust, anon-profit Buddhist organisation foundedin 1980 by the Tibetan doctor and teacherDr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche. In May 2003,the trust opened the Holy Island Centrefor World Peace and Health in the north ofthe island, along with a monastery retreat,the Kagyu Samyé Ling Tibetan Centre, inanother part of the island. This ‘HolyIsland Project’ is part of the Rokpa Trust’swider 1000-year plan to promote worldpeace, interfaith spirituality and ecologicalsustainability in harmony with nature, allunder the guidance of the project’sExecutive Director and Abbot of KagyuSamyé, the venerable Lama YesheRinpoche. The Centre and retreat provideaccommodation for over 60 people andoffer opportunities for short stays orlonger retreats, as well as courses in meditation,yoga and T’ai Chi. The island’spermanent resident community is madeup of around 15 volunteers, who help runthe Centre for World Peace and Health,and 12 Buddhist nuns who live in theLong Term Retreat Centre, which isclosed to the public.Natural valuesHoly Island is an example of managementthrough ownership and it aims to restorethe natural biodiversity that is one of themain natural values of the site. However,there are currently no officially designatedsites of interest for wildlife on the island.The Holy Island Project states that theobjective of its environmental managementis to protect “a pristine and unspoiledecosystem, where all forms ofnatural life and the land itself are respect-< Dorje Phurba Drubchen ceremony, with Dulmo Choje and other lamas from India and Nepal, Holy Islandof Arran.219

ed, using an approach that is in harmonywith the island’s unique ecology”.visitors who have some expertise in thefield.The owners of the island have created aninternal designation for environmentalmanagement. The east coast of the islandhas been designated as the “East CoastNature Reserve” to protect breedingbirds. Although access to the area is notprohibited, visitors are recommended notto enter the area to avoid disturbing to thebirds.As an undesignated site, the managementof the island is left in the hands ofthe owners. The management of thewhole island is the responsibility of theExecutive Director of the Holy IslandProject, Lama Yeshe Rinpoche. Hedefines the activities needed for environmentalimprovement on the Island.However, since the island receives fundingfrom the Forestry Commission’sMillennium Forest Scheme for developingsemi-natural habitats and planting coastalwoodland, the conservation managementis committed to observing the statutoryconditions of the Woodland GrantScheme. The community also seeksadvice from environmental professionals(on a voluntary basis), conservation agencies,forest rangers from the mainland,governmental environmental organisations(Scottish Natural Heritage andForestry Commission) and informally fromHoly Island features a mosaic of differentsemi-natural habitat types. The mostdominant habitats are dry heath (heathermoorland), woodland (recent plantations)and coastal habitats (rocky shores andsaltmarsh). Although the island forms adramatic landscape, biodiversity is notparticularly high. Like most of the land inScotland, it has been used for agricultureand hill grazing for many centuries (HolyIsland Management Plan, 1996). Nevertheless,the island is still representative ofthe natural heritage of the south ofScotland as described below.The two most interesting natural habitatson Holy Island are the cliffs and coastalheaths, and the marine habitats thatinclude maerl beds in the open water andthe sea-bed environment benthic zone ofthe Firth of Clyde. The cliff and coastalheath habitat supports a wide range ofdifferent natural communities and the biodiversityhere includes refuge areas forrare plants and fragments of semi-naturalwoodland, as well sites for nesting birds.The maerl beds –a collective term for severalspecies of calcified red seaweed- inthe benthic zone are located in the channelbetween Arran and Holy Island andhave been identified as a key site in thecoastal and marine Habitats Biodiversity220

Action Plan. The maerl beds are muchunder appreciated and fragile habitatsthat have never been considered to be ofsufficient quality to merit designation.However, the promotion of both the maerlbeds and the coastal habitats is supportedby the UK Habitat Action Plan and theUK government has a legal commitmentunder the Habitats and Species Directive–albeit only in a general sense under thisvague piece of legislation— to protectthese habitats.In terms of the island’s flora, the dominantcommunities are heath, stands of bracken(Pteridum aquilinum) and grassland, withtrees a rarity. For many centuries theisland has been extensively used for grazingdomestic animals, although someremnants of ancient natural woodlandremain along the western slopes of theisland up to about 30 m a.s.l. There is alsosome natural regeneration of birch (Betulapubescens); the reforestation carried outin 1996 consisted mainly of the planting ofpedunculate oak (Quercus robur), Europeanash (Fraxinus excelsior) and Sorbussps. The two plant species of most intereston Holy Island are the healthy populationof the nationally scarce rockwhitebeam (Sorbus rupicola), a very rareplant on Arran and supposedly one of theoriginal parents of the endemic Sorbusarranensis (a hybrid), and bearberry(Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), a prostrateevergreen shrub of the Ericaceae family,rare in southwest Scotland.The Island has an important diversity andrichness of sea birds: Cormorant (Phalacrocoraxcarbo), Shag (Phalacrocoraxaristotelis), Oystercatcher (Haematopusostralegus) and Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis)all nest in the sandstone cliffs on theeastern side of island (Holy Island ProjectNews, 1997). Large mixed colonies ofHerring Gull (Larus argentatus), GreaterBlack-backed Gull (Larus marinus) andLesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus)exist mainly on the northeast side of theisland; Gannets (Sula bassana) comefrom the nearby colony on Aisla Craig (abird sanctuary) to fish in Lamlash Bay.Other birds found on the island includeStonechat (Saxicola torquata) breeding onthe shore, and Common Buzzards thatvisit from Arran.The marine life in the waters surroundingHoly Island is of interest and CommonSeals (Phoca vitulina) and BaskingSharks (Cetorhinus maximus) are regularvisitors. The agro-biodiversity of theisland is increased by the Soay sheep(Ovis aries), one of the United Kindom’soldest surviving livestock breeds, feralgoats (Capra hircus) and a few of theoriginal native ponies of the Western Islesof Scotland, Eriskay ponies (Equus caballus).221

The main activities relating to the island’snatural heritage are focused on environmentalrestoration and include the solvingof the problems caused by overgrazingand the replanting with native treespecies. Two conservation managementplans were written by volunteer consultantsin 1992 and 1996.The activities proposed in these plansinclude the following:- Planting 30,000 native trees in a fencedoffarea to prevent grazing damage.- Bracken clearance to restore pastureland.- Rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum)clearance: this shrub is a pest inScottish forests and has spread throughoutthe island since it was planted originallyat the farmhouse.- Monitoring wildlife.At the moment trees have been plantedas was planned and now the greatestefforts are being put into clearing therhododendron. In terms of animal management,the management plan for1996 states that advice will be soughton appropriate stock densities for conservationgrazing. At the moment thenumber of grazing animals is thought tobe acceptable and animals are left tograze on their own and are not subjectto herding.Visitors and local people are respondingvery positively to the new managementstrategy focused towards nature conservationthat is being promoted by theisland’s owners. People from Arran havethe feeling that the Buddhists are takinggood care of the island.Since acquiring the island, the Buddhistshave been disseminating environmentalinformation and have set up an informationcentre on Holy Island where volunteersprovide information about theisland’s natural and spiritual values. Theyhave also produced informative brochuresfor visitors and have established a regularlymaintained footpath that crosses theisland via its most interesting sites.Spiritual and cultural valuesThe main significance of Holy Island isits spiritual value. It has been considereda sacred place since the sixth century,when St. Molaise —a CelticChristian— retreated there to live as ahermit. Even then it was already recognisedas a holy site by the indigenousCeltic peoples, who referred to it as the‘Island of the Water Spirit’. Since thedays of St. Molaise the island has beenregarded as sacred by Catholics andother Christians. Nowadays, however,the spiritual interest of the island has222

een extended by its recent acquisitionby the Tibetan Buddhists as a place ofretreat.Most of the sites of spiritual and culturalvalue on the island date from the days ofSt Molaise. St. Molaise’s Cave, wherethe saint lived, lies on the western shoreof the island and nearby there is a circularsandstone block known as either StMolaise’s Table or the Judgment Stone.The monastery that once stood on HolyIsland is purported to be on the northwesterncorner of the island andbetween this site and St. Molaise’s Cavethere is another cave, known as theSmugglers’ Cave. This cave was used forecclesiastical purposes and there are anumber of crosses carved upon the walls.Also near St. Molaise’s Cave there is theHoly Well, which is associated with thehistory of St. Molaise. It was thought “tobring a blessing to those who drink fromit” and to heal the sick. The Holy Well haslong been known to Catholics as a placefor healing. The Saint was believed tohave miraculous powers and so becamea figure of popular devotion, and itbecame customary to celebrate St.Molaise’s day on April 18. The cave andthe well are still sacred for Christians andare treated as such by the Buddhists.Holy Island near the eastern coast of the Isle of Arran.223

It is important to appreciate how St.Molaise came to settle on Holy Island asthis understanding provides clues to theorigins of the sanctity of the island. Inthose days many holy men in the Celticchurch went on pilgrimages with noapparent destination in mind believing thatthey would be guided to an appropriateplace. It seems that St. Molaise followedthis tradition and, influenced by Celticmyths, considered Arran to be the ‘Landof the Blessed’. This power of attractionalso brought the Tibetans to the islandand Lama Yeshe has commented thatduring his three-year retreat he had avision of an island in Scotland and HolyIsle’s footprint-like outline attracted hisattention as being auspicious to their faith.Additionally, it is said that a strong lay-line(earth energy line) crosses the island fromnorth to south and gives the island a specialspiritual status. Many people feel thatit is the island’s inherent spiritual qualitiesthat make it such a sacred place. Whetherit be due to these inherent qualities or thevalues conferred on the island by the peoplethat have visited and lived there overthe centuries, Holy Island undoubtedlyplays an important role in the spiritual historyof different faiths, from both West andEast, and it thus can be considered as asacred site.Since 1992, the Tibetan Buddhist ownershave brought their own spiritual values tothe specific context of Holy Island.However, for the Tibetan Buddhists,nature itself has a sacred value and, inturn, all nature is sacred. On the islandthey can live as a part of nature and thisgives them the necessary environmentthey seek to develop their full spirituality.Following Tibetan tradition they believethat the island is full of natural spirits suchas Naga, the Water Spirit, who helps youreach enlightenment. All of your actionshave an effect on these natural spirits andyou can be helped by them or hindered bythem, depending on your attitude towardsnature. There are rocks all over the islandthat are decorated with Tibetan Buddhistdesigns (Green and White Tara, theKarmapa) and other symbols that encourageyou in your spiritual practices. As well,there are written mantras and a number ofprayer signs.Today it is the island’s owners, the TibetanBuddhists, who are in charge of the culturaland spiritual heritage of the island.However, all decisions relating to Christianvalues have to be agreed upon by theCatholic Church because of the sacredconnections of the site with St. Molaise.The sacred values of the island are bothrecognised and enhanced by a variety ofdifferent activities including a regular pilgrimageto St. Molaise’s Cave for miraclesand healing. However, the custom ofwalking to the well has stopped since224

Arran became Presbyterian. The spiritualvalue of the island was also enshrined bythe custom practiced until the end of theeighteenth century of using it as a burialground for the community of Lamlash.The Holy Island Project promotes spiritualactivities and aims to promote harmonybetween nature and living beings and thusachieve spiritual progress in people of allfaiths. The primary objectives developedby the project aimed at enhancing spiritualpractices include:- Establishing the Centre for World Peaceand Health. This is a place for people of allfaiths and health to come to and focuseson global spirituality and living in harmonywith the environment. It aims to be a centralpoint for interfaith connection andretreat.- Creating the Long-term Retreat Centrefor Tibetan Buddhist Nuns, focused onkeeping alive the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.The central tenets of this retreat arethe teachings of Karma Kagyu.These actions that aim to enhance thespiritual value of the island are complementedwith other activities such as:- The designation of Holy Island as aUnited Kingdom Sacred Site by theAlliance of Religions and Conservation.- Preservation of the Christian Celtic heritageof the site by means of the maintenanceand interpretation of sacred sites.- Different spiritual ceremonies. Interfaithservices with different representativesfrom all of the world’s mainstream faithsthat associate religion with natural harmony.- Specific Buddhist ceremonies such asthe Drupchen, held on Holy Island to contributetowards ending the obstacles weface in the world today: natural disasters,floods, earthquakes, war and violence. ADrupchen is an intensive period of spiritualpractice involving a large group ofLamas and other Buddhist and non-Buddhist practitioners from west andeast. Its role is to transform negative energyinto positive energy. During this ceremony,the visiting Lamas consecrated thesite of the proposed Stupa (a traditionalBuddhism building that symbolises andtransmits the energy of perfect wisdomand compassion) for World Peace. Thefunction of both the Drupchen and theStupa is to balance the elements and climate,and bring peace of mind and harmonyto all living beings.The attitude of the local population andvisitors toward the spiritual value of thesite has fluctuated over the years.Ownership of the island changed repeat-225

edly over the last century and this hasgenerated uncertainty regarding the conservationof the island. When theBuddhists acquired the island conflictsarose with the local population mainlybecause the Buddhists chose to revealtheir plans to deny access to some of thewestern part of the island in a publicmeeting. However, today the attitudes ofboth parties have been clarified andaccess for visitors to Holy Island has beenimproved rather than restricted. A ferryruns regularly and an open day has beenestablished to enable people to visit theCentre for World Peace and Health. Inaddition the paths to the spiritual sites onthe island have been improved and thishas helped the new owners and their newspiritual values to gain acceptance fromtheir neighbours in the local population.Furthermore, the spiritual values of theisland are attracting new visitors from allover the world, some of whom arebecoming part of the local community.The new visitors attend the courses heldon the island and people visit or volunteerto work as part of a personal search for aspecial place in which to develop theirspirituality. Amongst the visitors to theisland there are always people who arecurious to see what is happening there orto discover for themselves what is specialabout a place known as ‘Holy Island’. AChristian tradition of visiting sites connectedwith St. Molaise still exists, even ifnowadays it is most relevant to the peopleof Lamlash.The Buddhists’ idea of improving thesacred value of the site has beenendorsed by both the Catholic Church,the church most affected by the newBuddhist tradition on the island, and theChurch of Scotland (the Presbyterianchurch that reformed the Catholic doctrinesin the sixteenth century accordingto the principles of John Calvin), themajority church on Arran.The current feelings of the Buddhist communitycan be summed up in the followingstatement: “Today, with the acquisition ofHoly Island by the Buddhist Community,two different traditions meet, bondedtogether by their respect for these peacefulplaces. From now on the Samye Lingcommunity will be cultivating an island forthe nourishment of the human spirit’.Pressures and impactsAs an island, Holy Island has a privilegedstatus regarding pressures andimpacts from the outside. It is alsoimportant to highlight again the fact thatthe island is in private hands and that itis managed with conservation in mind.However, there are still some human226

activities that are having a negativeimpact on the site.At the moment the main activity that couldbe considered to be a threat to the islandis tourism. Tourism is increasing on theIsle of Arran and Holy Island representsone of the tourist attractions for visitors toArran, although it is not one of the top 10visitor attractions in the area. Since theBuddhists’ purchase of the island, thelocal tourist office has begin to distributeleaflets to promote visits. Tourist activitymostly consists of visitors coming to HolyIsland for the day. The information centreestimates that around 5,000 people visitedthe island for the day last year.Although visitor numbers are not high, theimpact of these day-visits is real. Most visitorswalk around the island and climbMullach Mor, activities that lead to erosionand path damage. People also occasionallywander into the protected area in theeast of the island, thereby breaking theowners’ rules. As tourism increases, visitorsmay become a potential danger tothe conservation of both the natural andspiritual values of the island.When the Tibetan Buddhists first boughtthe island they considered the idea of notallowing people to access the westernTibetan Buddhist stupas near the Interfaith Centre, Holy Island.

side of the island for part of the year inorder to maintain the peacefulness of thatarea for spiritual practices. However, thisidea was never implemented, maybebecause of the Scottish land reform thatgives statutory rights of access inScotland. These rights are for outdoorrecreation, for crossing land and waterand for some educational and commercialpurposes. Even so, the current ownerswant to welcome everyone to the islandand do not think of visitors as a threat tothe values of the island.Furthermore, aside from tourists, humanimpacts derived from the increasing needsof the community living in the Centre ofWorld Peace and Health could also potentiallythreaten the environmental sustainabilityof the island. This communityconsists of volunteers living on the islandfor long periods, as well as teachers andparticipants on courses and short-term visitors.The Centre provides accommodationfor 60 people and has to meet all the needsof the different people that are stayingthere. Therefore, it has become a comfortableand ‘high-class’ building for peoplestaying on the island, although the increasingdemands of these people seems tohave outstripped the natural resources ofthe island: for example, the increased needfor water leads to restrictions during thesummer, when water has to be collectedfrom natural sources on the island.The good management of the Centre ofWorld Peace and Health comes into conflictwith the management of the island’snatural resources. Although the enhancementof the environmental values of theisland is an important part of the HolyIsland Project, these activities are still secondaryto the development of the project’sspiritual components. An environmentalworkgroup exists, but it has no representationon the management committee ofthe Holy Island Centre. The environmentalworkgroup consists of two volunteersworking full-time on environmental issues,although their lack of knowledge andinstability may be a handicap to the fulfilmentof the management plan. In addition,this plan seems to be of little use asit does not provide any guidelines for specificactions; rather, it provides only generalaims that need to be achieved, therebymaking the task of improving the island’snatural resources even more difficult.The Holy Island of Arran is included in theIsle of Arran Local Plan adopted on 15February 2005. This plan provides for theenforcement of issues concerning land-usein order to promote and control development.All planning applications areassessed within the guidelines of this planand under local designations Holy Island isregarded as a Site of Importance for NatureConservation (SINC). Within these sites, allproposals for development require an envi-228

onmental impact study. Furthermore,where development is permitted, the localcouncil may apply specific conditions tosecure the protection of wildlife. Given itsvolcanic features, Holy Island is also consideredto be part of the Arran coastal landscapeand any development within thiszone has to be referred to the AyrshireLandscape Character Assessment.Conservation perspectives andsustainabilityIn recent times several initiatives haveunsuccessfully tried to have Holy Islanddeclared as a protected site. Currently,other projects are alive, such as the onechampioned by the local organisationCOAST, the Community of Arran SeabedTrust, who have proposed that the seabedwithin Lamlash Bay be declared a MarineProtected Area.As part of the resource management planthe owners of the island have designatedpart of the island as the ‘East Coast NatureReserve’, although this declaration has nolegal backing and is mainly founded on thedesign of the network of footpaths thatmake it difficult to access the area.In order to safeguard the island’s culturaland spiritual values from the potentialnegative impact of human activities, a listof behavioural rules for the island hasbeen drawn up. Even though the ruleshave no statutory regulations, the managersof the island believe that they aresufficient for preserving the island’s inherentvalues. These five golden rules are asfollows:- Protect all life and refrain from killing.- Respect other people’s property andrefrain from stealing.- Speak truthfully and refrain from lying.- Encourage health and refrain from intoxicants.- Respect others and refrain from sexualmisconduct.The main goal of the current managementof the island is for the spiritual values tocontribute to the sustainable managementof the natural values. The Holy IslandProject is defined as an initiative aimed atpromoting a commitment from religionson nature conservation. This commitmentbetween different religions and the environmenthas also received backing fromdifferent patrons, including the H.H. the17th Gyalwa Karmapa, the Most Revd.Richard F. Holloway, and the Bishop ofEdinburgh. The Rt. Hon. Martin Palmer,director of the International Consultancyon Religions Education and Culture(ICOREC) has stated that “the project is asuccessful example of Buddhist awarenessand concern for our natural world229

and those who share it”. Therefore, theHoly Island Project is thought to be apotential interfaith vehicle for a commitmentto nature conservation.interested in the Buddhist traditions and itis hoped that perhaps some change of attitudewill occur as a result of receiving informationon the subject.On Holy Island the Buddhists believe thattheir contribution to nature conservationcomes from their spiritual teachings thataim for a personal commitment of eachhuman being with nature. They haveabsolute conviction that it is people whohave to change first and understand theirown nature and that only then will a feel forthe conservation of nature follow. To helpthis personal search they have specificcourses such as ‘Buddhism and nature’and ‘Meditation in nature’. These courseshave a positive effect on the participantsand attempt to awake an awareness ofbeing in contact with nature; as such HolyIsland works as a promoter of deep experiencesin nature. In addition, there areother activities concerning the daily managementof the island that are evidence ofthe Tibetan way of living in harmony withnature. Visitors to the island observing thisdifferent lifestyle should come away with amore considerate view of nature. Informationabout the Tibetan way of life is alsogiven in the information centre. This allowsday visitors that do not have the chance toexperience the full way of life on the islandto receive information about the spiritualand cultural values of the island. Peoplethat come for a walk usually seem veryThe promotion of the spiritual values onHoly Island is attracting people fromaround world. It is surprising to see howpeople searching for spiritual improvementcome from far away to visit thisScottish island. This benefits tourism inthe area, since the people who come toHoly Island also get to know Arran andspend some days there as well.On Holy Island it is understood that anysuccessful conservation has to be basedon deep philosophical conviction. Therefore,the spiritual development of all humanbeings is enough for conservingnature. However, spirituality by itself is nota valid tool for conserving nature. In orderfor formal protection to come from peopleand from their experiences with nature,we still need management tools, scienceand action from outside to achieve thesustainable management of resourcesand to be able to base conservation ondeeply held human convictions. Althoughthe environmental management of theisland is satisfactory, more can be done tointegrate these concepts into the way oflife of the site. Despite its lack of any outstandingspecific scientific value, the owners’aims to promote the natural230

estoration of the island should be bettersupported. The expert advice that theowners of the island have been given isnot clear and seems to be lacking in content.The synergy that exists on the islandbetween spirituality and nature conservationhas to be backed up by better environmentalexpertise.Support for Holy Island, a site that is notformally designated as a protected area,should come from governmental environmentalinstitutions because thissacred place is achieving importantadvances in conservation.RecommendationsOne of the problems with the project onHoly Island is a lack of a clear visionregarding current policies. The Holy IslandProject provides a good framework for themanagement of the island. A managementplan for the natural resources of theisland also exists, although it is not a feasibletool for the everyday running of conservationactivities on the island. For thevolunteers living on the island, who are thepeople who have to put into practice theenvironmental policies, the aims of theproject are not particularly clear. It seemsTibetan Buddhist monks and nuns meditating in nature.

that management consists essentially ofsolving problems as they appear throughthe common sense of the volunteers. Asis consistent with the patriarchal and hierarchicaltraditional structures of TibetanBuddhism, trends are decided by LamaYeshe, who is advised by differentexperts. This sometimes makes it a littledifficult to understand management policiesand to fully appreciate their aims.The recommendations for improving themanagement of the Holy Island SacredNatural Site are as follows:Everyone who plays a role in the resourcemanagement of the island should beaware of the importance and dynamics ofthe spiritual value of conserving nature.The role of the Holy Island Project for promotingthis spiritual attitude towardsnature and environmental protectionshould be fully recognised. It is part of the‘value’ that the island can ‘export’ to thewider world. As an executive tool forimproving the management of the SacredSite, it is suggested that an overall managementplan that will explain to all theexact nature of the Holy Island Projectshould, with Lama Yeshe’s endorsement,guidance and insights, be drawn up. Thisshould consist of an appropriate integratedland-management plan, in which spiritualvalues and scientific ecology mutuallyenhance each other.The Management plan should considerthe following issues:i. Completion of an accurate biodiversitysurvey in order to fully appreciatethe ecological worth of the island.ii. Actions promoted in the plan shouldbe developed in conjunction thestakeholders in the island’s community,especially with those most oftenresident there. This action plan shouldbe continuously monitored and developedby stakeholders, who shouldalso receive expert advice.iii.Experts should provide the managementtools for developing the bestpossible practices that can be derivedfrom the spiritual values of the stakeholders’ethos. They should also providelong-term technical support formanagers.iv. Technical advice and some financialassistance should be forthcomingfrom government institutions andother external sources.v. A regular monitoring programmeshould be set up with targets and indicatorsto control the achievements ofthe plan. The monitoring process willprovide interesting data on how spirituallybased management may232

improve nature conservation and assuch may be able to strengthen scientificknowledge.vi. The right type of people needed fordeveloping the plan should be found.The members of the island’s communitychange very quickly owing to theturn-over of volunteers and so knowledgeof the management plan oftenhas to be passed on from one groupof volunteers to the next. A core groupof informed and committed peoplewho can develop the plan in the longterm should be identified. The managementplan’s activities should beclearly detailed and specified.vii. The spiritual awareness of peopletowards nature should be enhancedon the island through wider contactwith the world. Visitors should beinformed about the experiences otherpeople have had at the site. In addition,self-awareness activities contributingto a greater awareness ofnature could be promoted and advertisedvia leaflets, signs, audio, videoand personal contacts. This could beperhaps carried out via informationpanels complementing those panelswith prayers that already exist, as wellas through newsletters, writings anddaily life experiences. In order toimprove the promotion of the interfaithcharacteristic of the Holy IslandProject, prayers about nature from differentreligions could be displayed onthese information boards. ScottishNatural Heritage produces free advisorypublications and holds trainingevents to assist in this process.The positive interfaith connection to beexperienced on the island should be promotedto a greater extent. A real commitmentfrom groups of different faithsshould be put into action in order to givemore power to the ideas in the Assisi declaration;and Holy Island could be establishedas a very important place forreligions to work towards nature conservation.The conservation status of the islandshould be promoted in order to back upthe current rules of behaviour establishedby the Tibetan Buddhists. This conservationstatus should take into account theimprovement of both spiritual and ecologicalvalues, without ignoring the fact thatspiritual values are the main driving-forcebehind island management. A SacredNatural Sites legal designation thatencouraged the spiritual-based managementof nature could be promoted.In a wider context, the recovery of the spiritualvalues of a site in the technologicallydeveloped world by a culture coming from233

the non-technological world should beseen as a good way of reinvigorating naturalspiritual values in a site that was almostspiritually dead. This fact may stimulateother cultures to take care of spiritual naturalsites that have been abandoned and toshow just how important nature is even ifthere is no real outstanding biodiversityvalue in the site in question.References■Buchan, M. and Gibb, K. East Ayrshire(2001) Local Biodiversity Action Plan:Safeguarding Our Natural Environment,Communication Section Council Ayrshire.■Campbell, E. (1999) Saints and Sea-Kings: The first Kingdom of the Scots,Edinburgh, Cannongate Books withHistoric Scotland.■McLaughlin, B. (1999) Molaise of Arran,a saint of the Celtic church, Great Britain,W.J. McLaughlin.■Nisker, W. (1998) Buddhas’s Nature,London, Sidney, Auckland and Johannesburg,Rider.■ Tucker, M. E. and Williams, D. R. (1996)Buddhism and Ecology: The interconnectionof Dharma and Deeds, Cambridge,Massachusets, Harvard University Press.Websites■ http://www.holyisland.org/ (Visited 2006)http://www.arrancoast.co.uk/ (Visited 2006)■ http://www.northayrshire.gov.uk/localplans(Visited 21/08/2006)■Downie, R.A. (1993) All about Arran,Blackie & San Limited, London &Glasgow.■http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2003/20030002.htm.(Visited 20/07/2006)■Kabilsingh, C. (1987) Tree of life:Buddhism and protection of nature, with adeclaration in environmental ethics by HisHoliness the Dalai Lama, Geneva,Buddhist perception of nature.■http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf. (Visited22/08/2006)■http://www.snh.org.uk/wwo/Interpretation/default.html(Visited 2006)■Kenny, C. (1998) Molaise: Abbot ofLeighlin and Heremit of Holy Island,Ireland, Morrigan.234

Buddhist divinity, rock painting on Holy Island.

Kolovesi National Park Rock PaintingsSourthern Savo, FinlandMatti Määttä, Minna Oksanen, Tero Sipilä& Arto Vilénplates. Large-scale fracturing, faulting,erosion and weathering resulting inmosaic-like bedrock relief, now largelysubmerged under a labyrinthine systemof channels and lakes.Natural values- Erosion and deposition during the iceage and as the ice sheet finally melted.Kolovesi National Park, one of the mostspectacular sites within the Lake Saimaacomplex of lakes, was established to protectits unique natural and cultural values.Lake Saimaa, the largest and mostfamous lake complex in Finland, is regardedas a site of outstanding universalimportance due to its geological featuresand natural beauty. It is included inFinland’s preliminary list of World Heritagesites as a single site under the denomination‘The Saimaa-Pielinen Lake System’.The landscapes of the Saimaa-PielinenLake System combine ancient Precambrianrocks formed over two billion yearsago with features dating from around theend of the last ice age, less than 12,000years ago. Major processes include:- Tectonic processes related to themovement of ancient continental- Land uplift since the ice age and theconsequent tilting and isolation of theLake Saimaa basin from the BalticSea, and subsequent fluctuating waterlevels.Today, Saimaa-Pielinen consists of naturaland semi-natural landscapes characterisedby a stunning scenic combinationof lakes, shorelines, islands and low hills.The total length of shoreline in Lake-Saimaa is about 25,000 km, includingmore than 14,000 islands of over onehectare. The lakes are covered by snowand ice for 5-6 months of the year.Kolovesi (literally ‘lake of holes’) is part ofthe Lake Saimaa complex. It is exceptionallyrugged and topographical variation ishigh: steep cliffs raise straight from deepwaters to high summits and have inspiredand provided a suitable rock surface for< Kolovesi National Park.237

painters at times of differing water levels.The curving shorelines of the islands andmainland combine in a beautiful andseemingly endless mosaic landscape.Kolovesi is one of the key habitats for theendemic subspecies of the Saimaa RingedSeal (Phoca hispida saimensis), which haslived in a population isolated from the BalticSea for around 8000 years. This seal waslegally protected in 1955; before this datedozens of seals were shot annually. TheSaimaa Ringed Seal population is underthreat and was the first sub-species to beincluded in the IUCN Red Data Book in1966 at its current status of ‘Endangered’ .According to the European Union (CouncilDirective 92743/EEC, Annex IV), thespecies needs strict protection.The Saimaa Ringed Seal breeds on snowpiles along the shorelines of the islets andislands, the only places in Lake Saimaawhere snow accumulates. Pups are bornin lairs under the snow in mid-winter (lateFebruary-early March). Annual pup productionis at present ca. 50-55 newbornsand, based on the annual counts of seallairs and pup production, the presentpopulation size is thought to be around270-280 seals. About 30 seals live inKolovesi, where there are at least five fertileadult females. Kolovesi has the highestseal density in Lake Saimaa at about oneseal per km 2 , which illustrates the pristinenature of the area. The number of seals inKolovesi has slowly increased as a resultof conservation measures, although thepopulation should not yet be regarded asstable or viable and still relies on connectionsto adjacent sub-populations. Themain threats to seal populations are accidentalentrapment in fishing tackle anddisturbance at breeding sites, which canlead to abnormally high lair mortalityamongst the lanugo-covered pups.Lake Saimaa salmon are relicts like theseals, but are not regarded as subspecies.They can be found in Kolovesi,although, unfortunately, their naturalspawning rivers are now used for hydroelectricproduction. Kolovesi is alsoimportant in the protection of the LakeSaimaa Char and in attempts at increasingits natural regeneration. Both fish aredependent on stocks of fingerlings fromfish farms.Kolovesi also provides protection forold-growth forests. Almost all theforests of the region have been loggedover the years as a result of a favourablesituation that allows cut trees to befloated down to processing plants.However, in over half of the total forestcover natural succession has been atwork for over a hundred years. Theseforests are usually located on cliffs nextto the shoreline.238

The heterogenic structure of theseforests provides a high quality environmentfor several threatened species,some of which are all but unique to theboreal vegetation zone. Lately, youngerforests have been ecologically improvedby creating small openings and deliberatelydamaging trees to promote structuraldiversity and increase the amount ofdead and decaying wood in these oncemanaged forests. As well, small areas offorest-covered mires have been restoredby blocking drainage ditches to restorethe water balance.Bears, wolves and lynxes are frequentin the Park and surrounding areas.Recent monitoring has demonstratedthat wolverines also live in the Park,but there is sufficient habitat to preventthem from entering farms and gardens.Every year wolves kill a number ofhunting dogs and even farm animalsand are regarded with some reticenceby local people.Of the threatened bird species, Blackthroated(Gavia arctica) and RedthroatedDivers (Gavia stellata), Osprey(Pandion haliaetus), Lesser BlackbackedGull (Larus fuscus), Hobby(Falco subbuteo) and Red-breastedFlycatcher (Ficedula parva) have allnested in the Park.The use of motor boats in the Park is forbiddenand is the only such area in LakeSaimaa. This has created a silent environmentthat is good for wildlife andhighly appreciated by visitors.Kolovesi was included in the FinnishShoreline Protection Programme 1990,although it was subsequently agreed thatit deserved a higher conservation statusand was thus declared a National Park in1990 with a surface area of 2,300 ha.Subsequently, more land and water hasbeen acquired by the Finnish State andadded onto the Park; these areas are nolonger used for forestry activities. A newact of parliament aimed at enlarging theNational Park and updating its regulatorybasis is currently under debate in theFinnish Parliament, and will increase itstotal surface area to 5,500 ha (around4,500 ha of land and 1,000 ha of water).Kolovesi is also the core area of theEuropean Union Natura 2000 site ofKolovesi-Vaaluvirta-Pyttyselkä, whichhas around 4,800 hectares of land and3,000 hectares of water.The legal regulations governing the Parkare quite strict, being classified as aCategory II park under the IUCN classificationof protected areas. The rockpaintings of Ukonvuori, Havukkavuoriand Vierunvuori are protected by theAntiquities Act.239

Kolovesi National Park is fully owned bythe Finnish State and is managed aspart of the Finnish protected areas networkby Metsähallitus Natural HeritageServices. Metsähallitus is a state-runenterprise that manages state lands andwaters and its Natural Heritage Servicesare a public unit whose main responsibilityis to manage state-owned protectedareas. Management is mainlyfinanced by the budget of the Ministry ofthe Environment. Metsähallitus is alsoresponsible for the conservation andmonitoring of the Saimaa Ringed Seal.Management resources are adequate.The Park has had an operative managementplan since 1993, although it is currentlyunder revision and a new plan isexpected to be ready by 2007. This planis being prepared in a participatorymanner with input from local people andentrepreneurs.An inventory of the natural heritage ofthe site has recently been carried outand the known distribution of keyspecies is recorded. All the data isincorporated into the MetsähallitusGeographic Information System.Map of Kolovesi National Park, and situation within Finland. (Author: Metsähallitus)240

The use of motor engines in boats hasbeen forbidden since 1994 and hasreduced the disturbance to the seals.As such, Kolovesi is the only place withno motor boats in the whole of LakeSaimaa. This has significantly increasedthe importance of the Park to visitors,who seek silence within this extraordinarylandscape and also hope to see aseal. Access is restricted in the lakesystem, although the number of visitorshas been constantly increasing in recentyears. Currently, about 6,500 visitorsvisit Kolovesi annually, almost all ofthem in summer. Over 60 % of all visitorsstay overnight and spend on average3.4 days in the Park, anexceptionally high figure for a nationalpark in southern Finland. Recent visitorsurveys and other studies lay anemphasis on the importance of thesensation of silence in Kolovesi.A network of entry points and campsites has been built. Their use is beingmonitored and, if the site’s carryingcapacity permits, the network may beenlarged if and when the need arises.Local entrepreneurs rent out canoes,provide accommodation and other servicesfor visitors. An average of aboutthree people-years are used to managethe site annually; major work is carriedout by contractors.No people live within the Park boundaries.There is one house that is inhabitedall year around and a few summercottages within the Park’s externalboundaries in small private enclaves.During the setting up of the Park, a groupof local residents were allowed to continuehunting elk within the Park during theautumn. The number of elks killed peryear is regulated on the basis of populationnumbers. Inside the Park there areareas with restricted access aimed atprotecting the seals. Elsewhere, Finnishright-to-roam applies and local peoplepick berries and mushrooms and catchfish. No licences to use fishing nets aresold. Hunting has been an issue duringthe drafting of the new act and the currentsituation, in which a couple of elksper year are shot, is expected to continue.There was some opposition to thesetting up of the Park, although currentlythe Park is regarded favourably by localpeople, who expect to retain their traditionalrights and look forward to a greaterpositive impact of the Park on the localeconomy.Metsähallitus discourages any activity onthe ice whilst seals are in their lairs. Thisprovision, however, is not currentlyincluded in regulations and snowmobiles,for example, are allowed to somedegree on the ice during winter.Restrictions may be imposed if seen fit.241

Spiritual and cultural valuesKolovesi is seen by visitors today as aremote, almost wilderness area.Scientists and archaeologists havebeen able to prove that the area hasbeen occupied fairly constantly forthousands of years and has been animportant waterway, a rich place forhunting and fishing, and a site of shiftingcultivation.The Park features some of the mostrugged rocky areas within the SaimaaLake complex. Its massive rocks wereholy places for a long time for the peoplewho painted the rocks and theseStone Age paintings are today the mainspiritual and cultural values of the area.Finland has the largest accumulation ofprehistoric rock paintings in NorthernEurope. They consist of red ochrepaintings on the steep vertical surfacesof granite rocks: there are none of therock carvings here that are also foundin other parts of Scandinavia or northwestRussia.The choice of the locations of thepaintings in Kolovesi appears to havebeen influenced by the jagged coastallandscape and the winding passagesbetween the islands. Rock paintingswere probably situated deliberatelywhere waterways crossed, on an armof a lake, along the edges of the shortisthmi or on the upper parts of waterfalls.Estimating the age of rock paintings ismostly done on a basis of a comparativeanalysis of the prehistoric coastlines,settlements and the height of thepaintings. Such analyses enable us todetermine the date at which water levelsreached a suitable height below thepaintings. It is assumed that the paintingswere made from a boat or from ontop of the frozen ice. They are locatedmuch higher than today’s water levelwould permit and it is suggested thatthey were painted during the periods ofthe Typical Comb Ware (4,100-3,600cal BC) and the Early Metal Age(3,600-600 cal BC).Many modern observers have been struckby the human likenesses of the naturalfeatures at certain rock painting sites.Some credibility is given to this idea byethnographic information on cults associatedwith distinctively shaped stones inother parts of northern Eurasia. TheSaami cult of the sieidi -rock formationsworshipped as the expression of a supernaturalpower- is of particular relevancehere. Rock paintings are found in threemountain sites (vuori means mountain):242

Vierunvuori cliffPaintings are situated on a cliff near thejunction of the waterway connecting LakeKolovesi and Lake Ruokovesi. The paintingsare situated about 13 meters abovewater level and consist of two elks (onewith a marked heart) and several anthropomorphicfigures in different positions.of two right-hand hand-prints, elks andthree human figures in different positions,as well as some anthropomorphic features(for example, a human face on theprofile of a rock). In the second group, thelowest figures are situated 6.9 m abovethe surface of the lake and consist of threeanimals, probably elks, some lines (someof them snakes) and a human figure withraised hands.Ukonvuori cliffThe name Ukko could refer to old Lapptradition and heritage since it was a nameancient Finnish people gave to highsacred places. In a cave-like recess in thewall of the mountain of Ukonvuori ahuman figure with raised hands and bentlegs is depicted. The figure is situated atthe far end of the cave so that it will catchthe sun. There are also circles and ablurred area of red paint. MetsähallitusNatural Heritage Services has built a smalldock, stairs and a path leading toUkonvuori.Havukkavuori cliffAll these rock paintings have strong connectionsto the Stone Age and ancientFinnish pre-Christian religious traditions.Since many aspects of rock art seem tofind such close parallels in Saami ethnography,the possibility of using a direct historicalanalogy in interpreting northernEuropean hunter-gatherer rock art shouldbe taken seriously.Shamanism is a central element in bothFinnish and Saami pre-Christian religions.The most convincing archaeological evidencefor prehistoric shamanism is foundin northern Eurasia. In Siberia, for example,rock art and the use of holy places(rocks, trees and springs) extends fromprehistory right up into historical times.There are paintings in two different placeson the mountain of Havukkalahdenvuori,both on massive rock cliffs. In the first, thelowest paintings are situated about 9.5 mabove the surface of the lake and consistIt has been suggested that shamanisticcosmology is reflected not only in theiconography of their rock paintings, butalso in their locations within the landscape,which in many respects resembles243

those of Saami sacred sites (sieidi). Themost common type of rock painting site,an imposing rocky precipice rising fromthe lakeshore, can be interpreted asreflecting the aspirations of accessingboth the upper world and the lowerworld, along a symbolic axis. The middleworld is inhabited by human beings,while the upper and lower worlds arethe abode of the gods and spirits.These three levels of cosmos build a‘World Mountain’, a type of belief that iscommon among Finno-Ugric and Altaicpeoples. Rock paintings are situated atthe point where the three elementsearth,water and sky– meet.The most important paintings depicthumans, elks (antlers), boats and handprints.Familiar signs and styles arerepeated in numerous paintings andencourage us to believe that these figuresmay have been meaningful formore than one group of people andwere powerful signs connected withlegends and beliefs.Finnish rock paintings are part of thenorthern hunting and fishing culture. Theymay have been done in special placesthat were thought to bestow good luck onhunters and fishermen – if ignored oroffended, they could deprive the hunter ofhis catch. They may have been part ofsome sacrificial cult and the painter –orshaman– would have been the most influentialperson of the community.The iconography of rock paintings appearsto reflect experiences such as thefalling into trances, summoning spirithelpers, changing one’s physical form andjourneying to the Otherworld. The elk, wesuggest, is pictured not as prey, but as aspirit helper or a ‘soul animal’ of specialimportance. The elk is associated with themiddle world, the bird with the upperworld and the snake with the lower world.Other explanations for rock art can befound in the Finnish national epic poem‘Kalevala’. Ukko is the god of theweather, crops and thunderstorms,according to old Finnish pre-Christiantraditions. He provided protection duringwars and helped hunters and fishermen,and was probably the mostpowerful of the gods, being both fearedand revered. Ukko lived in the sky fromwhere he looked down upon the world.He used a big axe or mace and flashedlightning down on the world. The snakelikefigures in the rock paintings could infact be lightning (= powerful god of thethunderstorm, Ukko). We find the samekind of thunderstorm gods in mythologiesfrom all over Europe and theMiddle-East. Nevertheless, the nameUkko may also refer to a place wherepeople collected shiny quartz stones244

and Ukonvuori does have an old quartzstone quarry.Although the ancient Finnish pre-Christian religious tradition is not alive inFinland anymore, many similarities canbe found between the old religious traditionsof Finno-Ugric and Altaic peoples.While the concept of shamanismseems to explain the function of manydifferent aspects of Finnish rock paintings,there are other explanations forthese painted images and some sitesmay have served different purposesfrom others. More research is neededinto these issues.All ancient monuments and sites inFinland are protected under the provisionsof the Antiquities Act and all the rockpaintings in the area are protected by theFinnish National Board of Antiquities,which takes care of all ancient sites in thearea. Within this Board, the Department ofArchaeology and the Department ofMonuments and Sites are responsible formaintaining and caring for the country’sarchaeological and cultural heritage, aswell as certain provincial museums.The lake areas of Saimaa and Päijännehave the oldest place-names in Finland.We cannot trace any etymological originKolovesi prehistoric rock paintings.

ack to our language as the original languageof the area has disappeared,although the genetic heritage of the peopleis still alive in eastern Finland. Wecould call the people who lived in theSaimaa lake area ‘Laplanders’, althoughwe must understand the differencebetween Lapp and Saami. The Lapps arepeople with a hunting culture who subsistby fishing and hunting. Saami people arean ethnic group (sabmelas in their ownlanguage). The name ‘Lapland’ comesfrom words lape or lappe, which mean aremote area, although the Samean wordslapp and lappo, which mean ‘dismissed’,might also be a possible origin of thename. Lapps were often feared anddespised as shamanic nomads.Metsähallitus Natural Heritage Servicestakes care of nature conservation and thenatural heritage of the area and participatesin the conservation of the culturaland spiritual heritage of the region.Most visitors to Kolovesi National Park arecanoeists, mostly from southern Finlandand abroad. Päivi Tommola has examinedthe natural experience of the visitors in herthesis and the following are her main findings:- For most visitors Kolovesi National Parkis an uninhabited, wilderness-like region. Itis quiet and peaceful and a place wherepeople can feel in touch with nature andrelax.- People feel a connection with nature andthis awakes a respect. Finnish visitorsabove all feel they are going back to theirroots when they visit. They experience areligious-like sensation when they see thetall cliffs rising around them. The onlynoise is that which the visitors themselvesmake, which they hear repeated back asan echo. They can feel a connection withthe past through the rock paintings of thearea.- Visitors are worried about losing thispeaceful and silent area.Development pressuresKolovesi is located in the relatively remotearea of southern Savo in suth-easternFinland. Population density is quite lowand there are only a small and continuouslydiminishing number of people livingon the outskirts of the Park. The maineconomic activity is forestry, which, however,no longer provides much employmentdue to the advance of mechanisation.Metsähallitus owns the majorityof commercial forests: large industrialforestry companies own significant areasof land, although there are quite a few privateforest owners, a minority of them still246

active. Up to the early 1970s, logging andsilviculture provided a significant numberof people living nearby with at least temporarywork. Cultural landscapes aregradually disappearing.There is significant demand for summercottages due to the natural beauty andlocation of Lake Saimaa. Shoreline constructionis subject to planning thatdefines potential plots; many land ownersare selling their plots as their value is quitehigh. Traditionally cottages are built righton the lake shore and so there are fewerfree stretches of shoreline for people fromoutside the Park. Cottage plots are locatedin areas with fewer seals. Building andservicing cottages is an important part ofthe local economy.Nature tourism is gradually increasing.Most Finnish visitors need no more than acanoe to rent, although the growingnumberof foreign visitors has increased thedemand for services.Building cottages on the shorelinereduces access and negatively affects thefeeling of silence. Otherwise, one wouldsay that there is a lack of life in the Park ingeneral and in European terms the areacould be regarded as a ‘wilderness’.Visitor disturbance to the seals is monitoredand information on how to avoid disturbanceis distributed. If the need arises, furtherrestrictions may be required that mighthave a negative impact on nature tourism.Only part of the waters within the Parkboundaries are owned by the state. Nolicences for net fishing are sold for statewaters. In private waters regulations onfishing in areas that are part of the Natura2000 network where there are seals andvoluntary agreements with water ownersare satisfactory. The major issue is theunregulated use of snow mobiles whenthe lakes are frozen over.The disturbance caused by visitors to therock paintings needs more research.Some erosion and vandalism (new paintings)occurs. The Ukonvuori quartz quarryhas caused harm to the paintings andsome have been partly destroyed.Conservation perspectives andsustainabilityThe conservation situation of both naturaland spiritual values will be satisfactoryonce the Finnish Parliament haspassed the Act for enlarging KolovesiNational Park. This, together with thelegislation on ancient sites, will ensurethe protection of both the natural andcultural values of the site. The Act willbe complemented by a revised managementplan that will specify objec-247

tives and permitted activities and detaillower-level regulations.Metsähallitus has recently drafted a culturalstrategy that will place more emphasison identifying, managing andinterpreting the cultural heritage presentwithin its protected areas. It is also hopedthat this will increase the level of funding.A deeper understanding of the roots andspiritual heritage behind the rock paintings,together with its potential inclusion inthe Delos initiative, will increase the overallvalue of Kolovesi. It will give a deepercontext to the feeling of silence and mysticismthat is already highly valued by visitorsand will encourage the possibilities ofnature tourism. Such an understanding ofthe region’s roots and cultural heritage willalso increase local acceptance of thePark. Linking the post-glacial changes inwater levels with the works and beliefs ofthe rock painters is also expected to contributepositively to the universally outstandingvalues required for WorldHeritage nomination. The number of visitorscould be increased during the mainsummer season without putting naturalvalues, including the Saimaa seals, at riskor threatening the feeling of solitude andsilence that reigns in the Park.RecommendationsThe increased emphasis, interpretationand marketing of the cultural and spiritualheritage of Kolovesi remains well in linewith the strategy undertaken byMetsähallitus to improve its culturalapproach to protection. In the future,Kolovesi will be one of the key areas forthis approach thanks to its connectionwith the Delos Initiative. Special emphasiswill be placed on local people as a meansof increasing the local value of the Park.The Delos Initiative approach will be incorporatedinto the management plan. Thestatus and condition of the rock paintingswill be continuously monitored and actiontaken whenever necessary. The featuresof the paintings themselves will be moreaccurately documented using the latesttechnology.Knowledge of the spiritual significance ofthe rock paintings is, however, not yetadequate enough to provide a sound scientificbase for interpretation. The archaeologicalinventory and compilation ofKolovesi modern history is complete. Therock paintings and their surroundingscould be studied in more detail, althoughit is more important to study who thepainters actually were and whether theymoved away from the area voluntarily ornot. Likewise, it will be important to findlinks between the paintings and the belief248

systems of the Fenno-Ugrian indigenouspeople in Russia.References■Kivikäs, P. (2001) Rock Paintings inFinland, Journal Folklore Vol: 6 Issue:18/19, Estonia.■Kivikäs, P. (2005) Kallio, maisema jakalliomaalaus – Rocks, Landscapes andRock Paintings, Finland.■ Koivisto, S. (2006) Archaeological inventoryreport of Kolovesi National Park,unpublished, Finland.■ Lahelma, A. (2005) Between the worlds:Rock art, Landscape and Shamanism inSubneolithic Finland. Norwegian ArchaelogicalReview 38 (1), Norway.■ Lahelma, A. (2006) Communicating with“Stone persons”. Anthropomorphism,Saami religion and Finnish rock art.Cognition and signification in NorthernLandscapes. University of Bergen,Norway.■ Pentikäinen, J. (2006) Järvilappalaiset –keitä he olivat ja mitä heidän pyhät kallionsakertovat?, unpublished, Finland.■Pentikäinen, J. (2005) Karhun kannoilla.Metsänpitäjä ja mies, Finland.■ Saimaa-Pielinen in Finland’s tentative listto UNESCO for World Heritage Sites,(2004) unpublished, Finland.■Taskinen, H. (2006) A Report of theFinnish National Board of Antiquities, Museovirasto,Finland.■Tommola, P. (2006) Erämaassa vaisivistyksen laidalla? Melojien luontokokemuksiaKoloveden ja Linnansaarenkansallispuistoissa, Master’s thesis, Universityof Joensuu, Department of Geography,Finland.■www.outdoors.fi – Kolovesi NationalPark in Metsähallitus Natural Heritageweb-site, Finland (last accessed Nov.2006).■ Lönnrot, E. (1849) Kalevala, Finnishnational epic, Finland.■ Partanen, A. (2006) Saamelainen vai lappalainen,unpublished, Finland.249

Meteora World Heritage SiteThessaly, GreeceIrini LyratzakiThe siteSituated in the plain of Thessaly, theMeteora site occupies a large part of theAntichasia Mountains and the region ofKalambaka, and includes the rock pillarsof Meteora itself and the famous monasteriesbuilt on their summits.The Meteora rock pinnacles form one ofthe most extraordinary landscapes in theworld. Their name derives from theancient Greek word meteoros meaning‘suspended in the air’. Rising over 400 mabove ground level, they were created 60million years ago from deltaic riverdeposits and have subsequently beentransformed by earthquakes and sculptedby rain and wind into a variety of spectacularshapes.Archaeological evidence testifies tohuman presence in the area since thePalaeolithic period and excavations in theTheopetra Cave, 3 km from Meteora,have brought to light evidence of continuoushuman habitation between the MiddlePalaeolithic and the end of the Neolithicperiods (40,000-3,000 BC).Unique samples of medieval monasticarchitecture adorn the summits of theMeteora rock pillars. The first monasterieswere established in the fourteenth century,when monastic communities firstbegan to develop 1 . In all, twenty-fourmonasteries were inhabited during the fifteenthand sixteenth centuries, althoughtoday only six are still active.The area is sparsely inhabited and populationnumbers are gradually falling.Several settlements cling to the mountainslopes and local people depend mainly onagriculture and stock-raising; lower downin the plains irrigated crops are the mainform of agriculture. Nevertheless, animalhusbandry, agriculture and industry nolonger provide sufficient income and so inrecent decades tourism has become themain economic activity of local people.The natural and cultural values of the areaattract increasing numbers of visitors,both Greek and foreign, which means1 It is thought that hermits inhabited the area long before the monasteries were built.< Varlaam Monastery, Meteora.251

greater economic possibilities for theregion, but only at the cost of intensepressure on certain sites. The unique valuesof the region are certainly beneficial,but since they are so vulnerable, theymust be very carefully managed.Natural valuesThe area is a mixture of mountains andfoothills covered by pastures and oakdominatedforests; the actual vegetationdepends on altitude and orientation asmuch as it does on the degree of humanactivity. The region is crossed by LitheosRiver, a tributary of the Pineios River andof great natural interest, in part because ofits riparian forests. As occurs with themajority of Greek rivers, it is threatened inmany ways and currently is not protected.The rocks of Meteora constitute a uniquegeologic formation and the region is alsorich in natural cavities and caves. Fossilsfrom the Theopetra Cave reveal the presenceof a variety of species going backmillions of years.In all 163 bird species have been recordedin the area, of which 120 nest. Tenspecies are either endangered or listed inthe Red Data Book of ThreatenedVertebrates of Greece 2 . One of the fourremaining colonies of Black Kites Milvusmigrans in the country is found in theMeteora-Antichasia Mountains, and thearea is also one of the most importanthabitats in Greece for Egyptian VultureNeophron percnopterus, a species that isthreatened throughout much of Europe.Other bird species of the area includeWhite Stork Ciconia ciconia, Jay Garrulusglandarius, Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos,Little Owl Athene noctua,Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus, LittleRinged Plover Charadrius dubius, BlackRedstart Phoenicurus ochruros andMagpie Pica pica. Mammal species foundat the site include Red Fox Vulpes vulpes,European Wolf Canis lupus, BeechMarten Martes foina, Eastern HedgehogErinaceus concolor, Black rat Rattus rattus,Lesser Horseshoe Bat Rhinolohushipposideros and Weasel Mustela nivalis.As well, several endemic species of flowersuch as Campanula kalambakensis,Centaurea kalambakensis and Centaureachrysocephala occur; the latter two speciesare threatened.The area of Meteora is a SPA (SpecialProtection Area) for birds, a Natura 2000site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site2 Hellenic Zoological Society and Hellenic Ornithological Society (1992), The Red Data Book of ThreatenedVertebrates of Greece, WWF, Athens, Greece.252

for both its natural and cultural values,as well as a Sacred, Holy andImmutable Site. The monastic communityis very interested in environmentalprotection and does its best to safeguardthe unique natural values of thesite that have been well documented inseveral reports and studies, including aUNESCO report (drafted when theregion became a World Heritage Site),an environmental study prepared by theNational Institution of AgriculturalResearch and in the final reports of variousEuropean Union programmes suchas INTERREG, ENVIRREG and LIFE.The predominant activity related to thenatural values of the region is tourism,associated above all with the areaaround the Meteora cliffs. Opinions varyregarding whether the majority of visitorsare interested or not in the naturalvalues of the site, although all agree thatlocal people are not particularly concernedabout environmental issues andlack sufficient environmental education.Current directives regarding the Natura2000 site require zoning and the regulationof activities; however, local peoplereact negatively to any enforcement thatimplies that their activities will be limitedin comparison to the past, when theycould use their land in any way theywished.Spiritual and cultural valuesArchaeology has shown that the area hasbeen inhabited since the Palaeolithic periodand at Theopetra, 3 km from Meteoraand the only excavated cave in Thessaly,evidence of continuous human habitationfrom the Middle Palaeolithic to the end ofthe Neolithic ages has been found.Excavations have brought to light variouscarbonised seeds that had been eithergathered or cultivated, the remains ofhunted and domesticated animals andevidence of permanent and seasonalhabitation during the Neolithic period.Moreover, two human skeletons havebeen found in the cave, one dating fromthe Upper Palaeolithic and the other fromthe Mesolithic. The most extraordinaryfind, however, are the rarely found footprints(left feet) of two children. Otherremains found in the cave include pottery,different types of statuettes, stone toolsmade of flint and other rocks, millstones,bone needles and jewellery made fromseashells.The principal values of the area are theMeteora pinnacles and their monasteries,which attract visitors from around theglobe, and the legacy of Orthodoxy andMonasticism. Hermits looking for seclusionsettled in the caves and rock crevicesof the area in the eighth century and gath-253

ered together on Sundays and importantholidays at the church in Doupiani nearthe village of Kastraki. The numbers ofmonks started to increase and the firstmonasteries were established in the fourteenthcentury. The monastic communitycontinued to grow and during the fifteenthand sixteenth centuries twenty-fourmonasteries were active, although overthe following centuries the communitiesdeclined due to a number of factors suchas invasions and raids by bandits. Todayonly six monasteries are active: Roussanou,Varlaam, Aghios Nikolaos Anapafsas,Megalo (Great) Meteoro orMetamorphosis, Holy Trinity and AghiosStefanos.The monasteries are renowned for theirunique architecture, iconography andlong-term support for various different artssuch as the copying of manuscripts, calligraphy,embroidery and wood carving.The cultural and spiritual values ofMeteora are well documented. Most ofthe historical buildings were described inthe seventh century by the Ephorate ofByzantine Antiquities. The manuscriptshave been classified by the AthensAcademy and the icons and other elementsof cultural heritage have been studiedby the monasteries themselves. Manyitems of cultural importance are on displayin the museums in the monasteries ofAghios Stephanos, Megalo Meteoro andVarlaam, and in the Byzantine Museum inAthens; others, however, were destroyedduring World War II. The values of theOrthodox religion are also recorded in thewords of the Holy Fathers.The cultural values of the region are relatedto its natural elements. In the past,caverns were –and some still are– placeswhere hermits resided, whilst the monasterieswere built on top of the huge rockpinnacles. Moreover, many local customsare related to the changing of the seasonsand Mother Nature herself. Certain customsare of pagan origin and have beendiscouraged by the Church and, morespecifically, by the monastic community.Much of the symbolism of these customshas unfortunately been lost and todaytheir festive character is the only elementthat remains. Many cultural events oncetook place in the area, above all duringholiday periods (Christmas, Easter andCarnival), and today even these celebrationsshow signs of disappearing.Religious activities such as pilgrimages,visits to the monasteries and religious ceremonies,masses, confessions, festivals(once or twice a year), as well as the dailyservices performed in each monastery,are the most important activities thatretain a significant cultural and spiritualcomponent. In Kalambaka, many culturalactivities, symposiums and conferences254

–not necessarily of a religious nature– arealso held and the monasteries occasionallyparticipate in the organisation of theseevents.Everyday life in the area of Meteora isdeeply influenced by the cultural and spiritualvalues of the site. Through their constantand close contact with monasticismin particular and religion in general, localpeople live according to these values andtry and convey them in turn to visitors.They recognise and appreciate these values,and ensure that they are maintainedbecause part of their income depends ontourism. Visitors from other parts ofGreece appreciate these values becauseMeteora is considered as a site of pilgrimage.Some foreign visitors are also awareof the spiritual significance of the site,although most regard Meteora above allas a cultural site. The monks havenoticed, though, that when guided toursfocus on the spiritual qualities of the monumentsvisitors’ ideas change and manyseem to begin to perceive Meteora as asacred place.Most of the spiritual values mentionedabove relate to Orthodoxy and monasti-The unique monastic landscape of Meteora.

cism and are pertinent above all to themonastic community. Nevertheless, it iswidely accepted that most of the valuesare understood by the general public,regardless of class, religion or tradition.Pressures and impactsImpacts on the natural environmentThe environment is under pressure froma number of economic activities, ofwhich tourism (religious, environmental,athletic and cultural) is the most significant.The large number of visitors(around two million a year) creates ahuge strain on the entire region ofMeteora, including Kalambaka. In themid-1990s, the Municipality of Kalambakaand a development company putforward a proposal to limit the flow ofvisitors to the Sacred Site of Meteora.However, the monastic community andlocal businessmen were not in favour ofthe proposed measures.Tourists rarely visit the area for its naturalvalues alone. Their closest contactwith the natural environment of the areais with the fauna and flora surroundingthe monasteries. Locals are not particularlyenvironmentally concerned either,probably due to a lack of environmentaleducation. A characteristic and illustrativeexample of this is their continuednegative reaction to the zoning imposedby the recent NATURA 2000 directives.Apart from tourism, which is almost theonly economic activity of most local people,there are few other human activitiesthat negatively affect the environment. Thelocal population has abandoned most traditionalactivities except stock-raising,which, owing to a lack of proper management,has resulted in over-grazing.Similarly, the uninhibited use of pesticidesand fertilisers in agriculture has had devastatingresults in the area as both lead to soiland underground water nitrate pollution.As ICOMOS observed in 1988: “Themajor threats to the site are both naturaland anthropic. The former includes thepossibility of damage caused by the notparticulary powerful earthquakes thatoccur frequently. The latter include disturbanceby low-flying aircraft [and] theuncontrolled felling of the Platanus forestsin the valleys. As a result of excessive disturbanceand changes in agriculturalpractices the [so important for the area]vulture species require access to safe artificialfeeding sites”.Impacts on the spiritual and cultural heritageAfter Mount Athos, Meteora boasts one ofthe biggest and most important groups of256

monasteries in Greece. The summits of itshuge pillars became the home to monkswho found in Meteora a sanctuary wherethey could isolate themselves from everydaylife, protect themselves from danger,and above all, find a way to get closer toheaven.Modern life, though, has altered themonks’ customs. The excessive numbersof tourists entering the site every yearundoubtedly leave their mark. Spiritualtourism has both negative and positiveaspects. On the one hand, it provides arelatively good income for the monasteriesthat has probably enabled them to preservetheir valuable treasures. On theother hand, the monasteries’ improvedfinancial position has had a negativeimpact upon the monks’ ascetic way oflife as it has resulted in greater comfortand less spirituality, which flies in the faceof the spirit of monasticism.The large number of visitors wishing toconsult the monks constitutes an additionalstrain. In order to preserve itsmonastic way of life, the community hasscheduled a controlled visiting programmeand has had to restrict access toseveral parts of the monasteries.Since the declaration of the site assacred, hang-gliding and rock climbinghave also been firmly restricted to certaincliffs so as to help preserve the spiritualcharacter of the area.Conservation perspectives andsustainabilityConservation of the natural heritageIt is not yet clear who is in charge of environmentalprotection in the area. TheForest Inspection office is in charge of theoverall management of the region, whilethe Archaeological Service is responsiblefor the area surrounding the cliffs. Fewenvironmental NGOs have ever beenactive here and, given the locals’ lack ofenthusiasm, there has never been anygreat move towards the protection of theenvironment.An environmental study by the NationalInstitution of Agricultural Research hasproposed the establishment of a centralAdministrative Body, but it is still unknownif this step will be taken.Protection of the cultural and spiritual heritageThe monasteries have been described byUNESCO as a unique phenomenon ofcultural heritage and they form one of themost important places on the culturalmap of Greece.257

The sixteenth-century frescoes found inthis group of 24 monasteries constitute afundamental stage in the development ofpost-Byzantine painting. Since 1972 themonasteries have been restored and conservationwork is still being carried outannually by specialists including archaeologists,restorers, craftsmen and labourers.The monasteries are in an area withinwhich building work is prohibited or limited.The main authorities with responsibilitiesover the area are the Metropolis of Trikkisand Stagoi, the monastic community, theGreek Ministry of Culture and, morespecifically, the Seventh Ephorate ofByzantine Antiquities. Other authoritiesinvolved are the Municipality ofKalambaka, the Prefecture of Thessaly,ICOMOS and the Society of ThessalicResearch.RecommendationsAesthetically, Meteora is one of thoseplaces where natural and artificial elementscome together in perfect harmonyto create a natural work of art on a monumental,yet human scale. Within this landscapeof awe-inspiring shapes, volumesand textures, one has that rare sensationof feeling both small and large at the sametime in the presence of these outstandingnatural works of art.Nevertheless, this extraordinary naturaland spiritual site requires immediate anddrastic action if it is not to be completelydestroyed by unsustainable human activity.A holistic and integrated plan for theentire region is essential. Sacredness anduncontrolled development are in no waycompatible and so a middle road shouldbe found. All stakeholders (the monasticcommunity, conservationists and themunicipal authority) must agree on a managementplan for the whole area.Although visitors generate income forboth the locals and the monasteries, theirflow must be regulated in order to preservethe spiritual character of the site andthe environment. Activities such as themeetings being organised by universities,the National Institution of AgriculturalResearch and development companiescan all contribute to this cause in a generaland coordinated way by having a positiveimpact on public awareness, anecessary step towards the effectiveimplementation of any integrated plan.It has been asserted that when the environmentis protected, a site’s spiritual andcultural values are improved and its specialcharacter is enhanced. Visitors uponreaching a site such as Meteora could benotified that they are entering a sacredarea and that they must behave accordingly,that is, respect the spirituality of theplace and its environmental values. A visi-258

tor centre run by monks and conservationistsat the entrance to the Sacred Sitecould undertake this task of informing visitors.Visitors must comprehend that thereis a close relationship between the spiritualnature of the site and the state of conservationof the environment. They shouldbe told why the first hermits choseMeteora as a place of residence. The cliffsat Meteora instil in visitors a sense of thepresence of the Creator and encouragecontemplation and a sense of calm. Allthese messages should be conveyed tovisitors by appropriate signs, leaflets andposters placed at the entrance to theSacred Site.The Municipality has every intention of orientatingits work towards the preservationof both cultural and natural values.However, it lacks funds since none areever forthcoming in the State budget. Thegreat wealth that tourism has brought tothe area and the feeling that its entiresocial structure is based on tourismmakes it difficult for the Municipality totake drastic measures in favour of protectingenvironmental and cultural values.Residents must be informed about ortrained in environmental questions regardingtheir region and how conservationrelates to the spirituality of the site. LocalVarlaam Monastery, Meteora.

people should be encouraged to developa mentality that will integrate these valuesinto their everyday activities. Local businessmenshould learn that balanced economicdevelopment will eventually lead togreater profits in the longer term. Trainingcan be started at local schools and inseminars organised jointly by the townauthorities and the monastic communityand aimed at both children and adults.It has been proposed that greater investmentcould be made in the general area ofKalambaka to encourage people to thinkof the religious monuments as Orthodoxpilgrimage sites. Likewise, Meteora and itstreasures could be further promoted bycreating a religious park in Kalambaka.These projects could be highly beneficialfor the area’s development and could bevery positive for the country at Europeanlevel.Given the high degree of credibility ithas among its faithful, the Church willfind it easier than secular organisationsand institutions to encourage people tobecome more actively involved in environmentalconservation. Appropriatesigns, referring to the relevance of spiritualityand nature conservation, couldbe placed at the entrance and insideeach monastery (with references fromthe Bible, for example). During the guidedtours at the monasteries conductedby nuns and monks, special referenceto environmental issues and the sacrednessof the site should be made bythose who wish to contribute to thiscause. Relevant printed material couldalso be handed out to the tour guidesthat accompany tourist groups so thatthey can incorporate it if they chooseinto their guided tours.The NATURA 2000 directives that relateto zoning regulate the economic activitiesthat can be carried out within the site; theymust be applied if sustainable economicdevelopment is to be successful.The various different forms of tourism inthe area (religious, environmental, athleticand cultural) could combine in anaxis upon which rational investmentsaimed at advancing the whole area’sresources (financial, as well as naturaland cultural) are made.Nevertheless, if all the above is to occur,existing knowledge of Meteora must beenhanced by taking into account notonly the immediate surroundings of themonasteries, but also all other aspects(natural and cultural) of the region as awhole. Greater knowledge would assiststakeholders when priorities in managementdecisions have to be establishedand would inspire locals to protect theintrinsic values of their area.260

Recently, the Municipality has completeda study on the development of tourism inthe area that has taken into considerationall types of parameters (environmental,religious and political). Unfortunately, alack of funds is once again an obstacle tofurther development. If protection of thespiritual and the environmental values ofthe area is to become a part of the touristattraction, then it is imperative that the old“more tourism – more money” attitude isabandoned for once and for all.■ Meliadis, I., Radhoglou, K. et al. (2000),Environmental study of a special protectedarea. Management Plan of ‘AntichassiaMountains – Meteora’, NAGREF (NationalAgricultural Research Foundation),Thessaloniki, Greece.Web sites■ http://www.wcmc.org.uk/protected_areas/data/wh/meteora.htmlBibliography■ http://www.travel-info.gr/Greece_guide/thessalia/Meteora/Meteora.htm■Dafis, S., Papastergiadou, E. et al.(1996), Directive 92/43/EEC The Greek‘Habitat’ Project NATURA 2000: AnOverview. Life Contract B4-3200/94/756,Commission of the European CommunitiesDG XI, The Goulandris NaturalHistory Museum – Greek Biotope/Wetland Centre, Thessaloniki, Greece.■http://www.greecetravel.com/meteora/monasteries.html■■http://www.kalampaka.com/gr/meteora/index.asphttp://www.kalampaka.com/gr/othersights/antixasia.asp■Giannopoulos (1926) Meteora: Historicand topographic study, K. Paraskevopoulow,Volos, Greece.■ http://www.ornithologiki.gr/en/sppe/en045.htm■Hellenic Zoological Society and HellenicOrnithological Society (1992), The RedData Book of Threatened Vertebrates ofGreece, WWF, Athens, Greece.261

Mount Athos 1GreeceThymio PapayannisThe siteMt. Athos in the Greek Prefecture ofHalkidiki in south-east Thessaloniki is anelongated rocky peninsula, approximately50-km long and 10-km wide, that links thecontinental part of Greek Macedonia tothe Aegean Sea 2 . The almost perfectlyconical Mt. Athos, the Holy Mountain,rises to a height of 2,033 m and is locatedon the tip of the peninsula, which,although physically connected to themainland, is in fact only accessible by sea.A sense of isolation is thus maintainedand there is strict control over access 3 .Restricted access is a requirement of themonastic community that has existed onMt. Athos for more than 1000 years andas a result a religious centre of great spiritualand cultural importance has evolved.Limited access and the philosophy andpractices of the 20 monasteries built onthe peninsula have contributed to themaintenance of a rich natural environment,both terrestrial and marine, whichhas achieved international recognition.Although part of Greece, Mt. Athos enjoysspecial autonomous status and self-government,as enshrined in a charter signedin 1926 4 ; nevertheless, spiritual guidanceis the responsibility of the EcumenicalPatriarch of Constantinople and the GreekMinistry of Foreign Affairs is in charge ofthe peninsula’s political affairs 5 .Natural valuesThe area has been managed activelyby the monasteries for the past tencenturies and many highly importantnatural values have been preserved, afact that demonstrates the possibilityof harmonious co-existence between1 Based on the results of a UNESCO mission to Mt. Athos in February 2006, in which Thymio Papayannis representedIUCN.2 Historically, Mt. Athos maintained trading and spiritual links with many of the islands of the northern Aegean Sea,especially Lemnos, and traded timber for cheese, grapes and wines and other agricultural products.3 Today there is only a dirt road, closed to all vehicles except fire engines in case of emergency.4 Also recognised in the treaty of accession of Greece to the European Union in 1977.5 Via a civil governor, resident in the village of Karyes, the capital of the peninsula.< Mount Athos, Sacred Mountain, Greece.263

humans and nature. The main naturalvalues of the Mt. Athos peninsula canbe summarised as follows:- An unusual diversity of ecosystems ina very limited area, ranging from alpine(on the summit of the Holy Mountain) toMediterranean (the coast).- Coastal and marine areas rich in biodiversity,as shown by the presence ofMediterranean Monk Seals.- Remnants of Mediterranean-typeforests in certain areas, along withother types of forests.- Great floral and faunal variety, includingendemic and endangered species.More detailed documentation of thebiodiversity of the area is included inthe data sheet 6 for the designation ofMt. Athos as a World Heritage Site in1988, both for its natural and culturalsignificance 7 .In addition, most of the Mt. Athospeninsula (except for a small part in thenorth-west) has been inscribed in theprovisional Greek list of Natura 2000sites 8 and, as such, is protected underthe European Union Habitats Directive(92/43/ EEC). This provisional list is stillbeing finalised for Greece, although itis expected that Mt. Athos will beincluded. As a Natura 2000 site, Mt.Athos should in theory be the responsibilityof the Ministry of Environment,Physical Planning and Public Works.However, due to its heavy work loadand lack of staff, the Ministry’s NatureManagement Service has not yetbecome actively involved in the area.Two years ago, however, a local initiativecommissioned two consultantfirms from Thessaloniki to prepare aSpecial Environmental Study 9 , with aremit approved by the Service onNature Management. It should benoted here that the EC/DG Environmentconsiders the Special EnvironmentalStudies carried out in Greeceas being equivalent to managementplans for the Natura 2000 sites.To date, the actual management of thearea has always been the result of adelicate balance between the needs ofthe monastic communities on Mt.6 See http://whc.unesco.org/archive/ advisory_body_evaluation/454.pdf.7 The only other Greek site with mixed designation (nature plus culture) is Meteora in Thessaly.8 With a site code of GR1270003 and an area of 22,000 ha.9 In accordance with Law 1650 of 1986 on the ‘Protection of the environment’.264

Athos and the corresponding servicesof the Greek state. Traditionally, the 20monastic brotherhoods own the entirearea of the peninsula and have almostcomplete administrative autonomy,although certain matters of commoninterest are handled by the HolyCommunity (Iera Kinotis) of official representativesfrom the 20 monasteries.The Holy Supervision (Iera Epistasia)consists of four members elected bythe five oldest monasteries and is theexecutive body of the community.The Forestry Ephorate 10 plays a majorrole in environmental matters. It shouldbe noted here that the monks have aconsiderable respect for the naturalworld that derives from the teachingsof the Orthodox Church on the sanctityof the Creation, as well as the exampleset by Ecumenical PatriarchBartholomew I. The same cannot besaid of the numerous visitors, who aremainly interested in the religiousaspects of the area, nor of the buildingand forestry contractors and workers,who are usually totally indifferent to thenatural world. Herein lies the crux ofthe question of the environmentaldegradation that is clearly visible incertain parts of the Athos peninsula.Spiritual and cultural valuesAlthough Mt. Athos was inhabited byChristian Orthodox hermits from a muchearlier date, the first organised monastery,Great (Meghisti) Lavra, was established bySt. Athanassius the Athonite in 963 AD. Acontract (typicon) was signed between theByzantine Emperor Ioannis Tsimiskis andthe monks of the area in 972 that definedthe framework and rules of the monasticcommunity. Since then, 19 other monasteriesand many other smaller facilitiessuch as hermitages, sketes, churches andcells have been built.It is worth remarking that during the firstpart of the second millennium Mt. Athoswas an official Byzantine institution, butthat its monasteries have never been solelyGreek and also include even today aBulgarian, a Russian and a Serbianmonastery.From its very beginning, Mt. Athos wasdedicated to the Mother of Christ and sowas known as The Garden of the VirginMary. This is the explanation given for theavaton, the rule prohibiting women andchildren from entering the site that hasbeen strictly enforced throughout theages. In the Byzantine times, Mt. Athos10 Forestry Committee, consisting currently of Fathers Nicodimos (Megisti Lavra), Theodossius (Stavronikita) andEfthymios (Zographou).265

was an important religious centre andplayed a key role in the Empire, withmonks becoming patriarchs and emperorsretreating here for refuge and solace.After a period of decline in moderntimes, Mt. Athos has once again startedto attract a large number of young andeducated monks —many of them ofnon-Greek origin— and has seen arevival of its spiritual role within theOrthodox world. Most of the recentlyarrived monks have an urban backgroundand thus are not as knowledgeableof the austere rural traditions onwhich monastic life is based. On theother hand, they are much more awareof the need to protect the unique culturalheritage of the area and have beenable to apply new technologies availablefor this purpose.Today, the spiritual and cultural valuesof Mt. Athos can be summarised as follows:- Global recognition as major monasticcentres.- Pre-eminent teaching and inspirationalrole throughout the whole ChristianOrthodox world.Map of Athos.266

- Maintenance of a living Orthodox andByzantine tradition for over a millennium.Pressures and impactsConditions- A responsibility for the protection andmanagement of a unique cultural heritage(consisting of architecture, manuscriptsand rare books, icons, religiousobjects, tools and other artefacts) underthe supervision of and in collaborationwith the appropriate services of theMinistry of Culture.On Mt. Athos, the natural environmentand human occupation are inextricablylinked and the conservation of the formeris closely related to the latter. The environmentof Mt. Athos can be divided in distinctzones, whose main characteristics(and threats deriving from human actions)are briefly described below.- Establishment of a school of religiouspainting that has been influential inmany places, including Russia.- A particular system of governmentbased on democratic principles of selfgovernanceand on obedience to spiritualrules.In recent years, the cultural and spiritualtreasures of Mt. Athos have beenmade available to the world throughspecial exhibitions, such as the onerecently organised in Helsinki by theFinnish presidency of the EuropeanUnion. This has been a positive development,but it has also created a muchbroader interest in the Holy Mountainand has increased demand for visits,which the monastic community attemptsto control via the implementationof various measures.Marine zone: The waters around thepeninsula of Mt. Athos are well preservedand are said to be still home to anunknown number of Mediterranean MonkSeals Monachus monachus. There are nosignificant sources of pollution and fishingis not allowed within 500 m of the coast,other than by the monks themselves fortheir own use. Illegal commercial fishing isvery rare due to efficient policing by localcoastguards. Recently, there has beensome debate in the Holy Community as towhether humanitarian reasons aregrounds for allowing local fishermen toenter the no-fishing zone. However, nofinal decision has yet been taken.Coastal zone: Most of the coastline issteep and rocky with just a few pebbleand sandy beaches. There are no naturalharbours and only a little trade enters the267

Peninsula via the sea. The eastern coastis often lashed by northerly winds, whilethe western side is more sheltered andhas a warmer climate. Most of the monasterieshave traditionally always maintainedinstallations on the coastline (arsanas 11 ) formooring and storing small boats. In orderto allow ferries transporting wood andbuilding materials to dock, larger andmore practical port facilities have beenconstructed recently along several stretchesof the coastline; their integration intothe landscape has not always been satisfactory.Forests: Mt. Athos is mostly covered byforest: the particular type of forest variesaccording to the microclimatic zones,which range from Mediterranean-typeevergreen forests12 and maquis atlower levels, through dense chestnut,oak and black pine forests, and up toalpine and sub-alpine vegetation on themountain summit. The forests are stilllargely intact, although there are certainthreats, above all the opening up of newroads, generally for fire protection butalso to facilitate the transportation oftimber. In certain areas, unsustainableforest practices have led to overexploitationand a loss of biodiversity. Inaddition, the monoculture of chestnuttrees for the production of timber hascreated vulnerability to attacks by parasites(for example, Endothia parasitica).It is worth noting that, due to the highcosts of manpower and transport, sustainableforestry in Athos is a financiallymarginal activity, both for the loggersand the monasteries, and thus unsustainableforestry practices occur.Cultivated areas: In the past, a largepart of the Athos peninsula was cultivated,mainly with vineyards and olivegroves. Today, most cultivated areashave been abandoned and have revertedto forest. There is only one majorcommercial exploitation of vines forwine-production 13 , the remaining cultivatedareas consist of small patches ofvines, olive trees and vegetable gardensin the vicinity of the monasteries, mainlytended by the monks for their own use.Inhabited areas: These areas consist ofthe purely monastic facilities (monasteriesand their dependencies, sketes andcells, arsanas), as well as two smalltowns (the main port of Daphne and thecapital Caryes). All are well integratedinto their natural environment and there11 A word that may originate from the Italian arsenale.12 Consisting mainly of Arbutus, cypress, heather, holm oak, laurel, lentisc, phillyrea, pine and wild olive.13 Tsantalis Winemaking lies within the Panteleimon Monastery; there is also a smaller vineyard in Mylopotamos.268

is a harmonious transition from built-upareas into cultivated and forested areas.lower edge of the road, thereby creatingserious environmental degradation.ThreatsThere are various environmental threatsand problems that have to be faced upto. The main such threats are summarisedbelow:Unregulated constructions: In variousplaces, functional installations such asstorehouses (mainly for timber and buildingmaterials) and cement silos have beenerected seemingly without any considerationfor the landscape.Forest degradation: In certain areas offorest, over-exploitation could lead todegradation, even allowing for naturalregeneration.Road network: Mt. Athos already has anextensive network of roads. The density ofroads should be 15-20 m/ha, although incertain monastery properties it approaches40 m/ha, which is considered to beexcessive 14 . Most are dirt tracks 15 andoften become impassable in winter (dueto mud and snow), and can easily revertto forest once abandoned. In recentyears, new roads have been opened andolder ones improved: nevertheless, attimes these roads are much wider thanwould seem to be necessary and arerarely integrated into the landscape. Roadcuttings create steep slopes that are onlyre-vegetated very slowly, while excavatedearth and rocks are often dumped on theWaste management: Each monasterydeals with its own solid and liquid wasteand as a result various unregulated rubbishdumps exist on Mt. Athos. Thesecontribute to environmental degradationand also constitute a potential fire hazard.Recently, an agreement was made totransport solid waste from Caryes to themunicipal dump at Thessaloniki. Nevertheless,this is only intended as a temporarymeasure until a suitable site can befound on Mt. Athos. Another problem isthe dumping of abandoned vehicles (asmall number of which were noted duringa recent mission).Hunting: Although in theory prohibitedon Mt. Athos, some workers (especiallyin forestry) own and use guns. This activityis not appropriate for such a sensitivearea and should be controlled moreeffectively.14 According to a 1999 study by EKBY (Greek Biotope Wetland Centre).15 Except for a large part of the road between Daphne and Caryes.269

Conservation perspectivesPlanning effortsAll of the problems mentioned above originateto a large extent from a lack of anyoverall ‘management plan’ for Mt. Athos.Such a plan has been proposed by manydifferent bodies and one was almostpassed in 1999 as a result of an initiativeoriginating from the Forest Ephorate; it is,however, still pending. In its stead, aSpecial Environmental Study was commissioneda year ago and is still to be finalised.Once completed, the study will be submittedfor approval to both the Holy Communityof Mt. Athos and the Ministry ofEnvironment, Physical Planning and PublicWorks. It is worth noting that any plandesigned for Mt. Athos area as a wholecontradicts the traditional idea of eachmonastery acting as an autonomous institution.This attitude, however, is graduallybeing replaced by an understanding of theneed for a more collective approach.On a more positive note, there have been anumber of significant developments inrecent years in the exploitation of the forests,mainly as a result of the actions of the Mt.Athos Forestry Ephorate. These include:Monastery of Stravonikita, with its vegetable gardens.

- The continued enforcement of the ban ongrazing 16 , which helps the rapid natural regenerationof the forests, above all after fires;- The development of management plansdrawn up by forestry consultants for mostof the monasteries to decide which treespecies are to be exploited;- Various studies on the improvement offorests;- Remedial action regarding road construction.More efficient fire protection has beenachieved 17 through better organisation,appropriate equipment (such as fireengines) and personnel, although themaintenance of the existing material–especially the fire engines– and the trainingof personnel need to be placed on amore systematic basis.Recently, the Holy Community has agreedto the development of a risk assessmentstrategy (including both fire and seismicevents) by the Aristotle University ofThessaloniki.Cultural and spiritual perspectivesIn terms of culture, building restorationwork is being carried out in an appropriatefashion thanks to careful studies by competentarchitects and engineers, althoughexceptions have occurred, usually as aresult of ignorance and the need to usequickly available European Communityfunds. The main threat is from fire, as buildingsare often wooden and possess outdatedheating systems 18 . Great progress,however, has been made in the protectionand safeguarding of removable objects ofgreat cultural value using state-of-the-arttechniques; likewise, the repair of damagecaused by past neglect and exposure toharsh conditions is being remedied.Regarding spiritual issues, the monasticcommunity has attempted to balance itsdesire to welcome and provide spiritualteaching to visiting pilgrims and theneed to mitigate the social and environmentalpressures caused by large numbersof visitors 19 .It is evident from the above that the futureof Mt. Athos as a sacred area, in whichthere is an evident harmony betweennature and human activities, depends to a16 With the exception of a limited number of mules, used mainly for timber transport.17 After the very destructive and extensive forest fire of August 1990.18 A large part (60%) of the Serbian Monastery of Hilandary was burned down in 2004 by a fire caused by an electricheater being left on.19 Who are traditionally welcomed by the monasteries free of charge.271

critical extent on the beliefs and attitudesof the monastic brotherhoods. Outsideinterventions may be positive, althoughprobably not determinant. In this context,certain positive measures promoted bythe Holy Community and the Greek stateshould be implemented rapidly and effectively.RecommendationsThe highest priority for Mt. Athos in termsof both its cultural and natural values isthe preparation, approval and systematicimplementation of an integrated andmulti-disciplinary management plan forthe entire area, which should tackle thefollowing issues:- Evaluation of the current situation, takinginto account the historical co-existence ofnature and spirituality/culture in Mt. Athosand the legitimate needs of the monasticbrotherhoods.- Improved planning of the transportationnetwork throughout the peninsula.- Integrated management of the naturaland human environment.- Sustainable management of forests.- Identification and protection of the culturallandscapes.- Resolution of the problem of solid andliquid waste.- Management of risks, especially fromfires, earthquakes and the possible impactof climate change.Due to the administrative autonomy ofthe monasteries, such a plan shouldfirst take into account all of these recommendationsfor the entire peninsulaand then concentrate in greater detailon proposals for the specific area ofeach monastery.An examination of the content of theSpecial Environmental Study –currentlyin its final phase– indicates that it mightbe sufficient to cover most of the pointsmentioned above with the possibleexception of the question of risk management.An evaluation of the studymight also be required to determinewhether it satisfies the requirements ofthe World Heritage Convention for managementplanning 20 . In this context, it isimportant to make clear that managementplanning should be seen as a continuousand dynamic process, of whichthe drawing up of the management planis but a first step. In addition, theMinistry of Environment, PhysicalPlanning and Public Works should be20 In accordance with the latest decision of the World Heritage Commission.272

encouraged to assign a high priority toits work on Mt. Athos (in accordancewith Law 1650/1986 and Commu-nityDirective 92/43/WWC). This Ministryshould play a key role in the assessment,approval and implementation ofthe Mt. Athos management plan.On a broader level, any integratedapproach to the cultural and naturalheritage of Mt. Athos will require closecollaboration between the Ministries ofCulture and Environment, which todayis minimal. Regarding spiritual questions,Mt. Athos could regain its prominentposition as an intellectual centre ofOrthodox thought by adopting theapproach of HAH the EcumenicalPatriarch on the sanctity of the Creation,which he has promoted through Hisecological symposia 21 . The EcumenicalPatriarchate might consider organisingin the near future a conference on the‘Integrated approach to the spiritual,cultural and natural heritage of sacredsites’ with the support of the DelosInitiative.Positive measuresPositive measures, either already implementedor being considered, include thefollowing:The decision to entrust the HolyCommunity with the power to approve theopening up of new roads and the admittanceof vehicles to Mt. Athos. Once amanagement plan for the entire areaexists, this process will be much easier.A programme for the ecological managementof the chestnut forests funded bythe European Union and implemented bythe Simonopetra Monastery during the1990s has provided useful lessons.Recently the EKBY (the Greek BiotopeWetland Centre 22 ) has been working on aproject for the ‘Rehabilitation of coppiceQuercus ilex and Quercus trainettowoods 23 in Mt. Athos’, in co-operationwith the Holy Community and monasteriesand funded by LIFE-Nature 24 . Thisproject, which aims at increasing biodiversityby restoring tall forests, focuses onselective-inversion thinning applied exper-21 The latest of which was held on the Amazon River in July 2006.22 Established in Thessaloniki, it operates within the framework of the Goulandris Museum of Natural History.23 Holm oak and Hungarian oak forests, respectively.24 Project LIFE03 NAT/GR0093, October 2003 to March 2005 (extended to 2006), with a budget of approximatelytwo million euros. Its scientific director is Professor Spyros Dafis.273

imentally to a pilot area of 500 ha andaims to develop a series of guidelines. Inaddition, it recommends measures suchas:- Preparatory actions for the mapping ofthese forests.- Training of forest workers and monks toimprove the management of forests.- Establishment of a management systemfor the forest areas that have beenthinned.- Public awareness and information activities(web site, publication and meetings).- EKBY prepared in 1999 for the Ministryof Environment, Physical Planning andPublic Works a study on the‘Rehabilitation of slopes along the forestroad network in Mt. Athos’, whichincludes very interesting and well thoughtoutrecommendations.- The preparation of a Special EnvironmentalStudy (to be completed).carry out a study on the management ofsolid and liquid wastes.- The possibility of proceeding with thepreparation of a management study forthe whole Athos peninsula is being discussedby the Forest Ephorate andKEDAK 25 .- The Ministry of Environment, PhysicalPlanning and Public Works is also consideringthe need for measures to protect theMt. Athos Natura 2000 site.Specific recommendationsA number of specific recommendationshave also been included that have alreadybeen presented to the Holy Communityand to the Greek State:Forests- Implementation of the measures for theecological management of the Mt. Athosforests, as contemplated in the Simonopetra/ECproject 26 .- The regional authorities are planning to- Application of the results of the above-25 KEDAK is the Centre for the Preservation of the Athonite Heritage and comes under the auspices of the Ministryof Macedonia and Thrace.26 These include soil-care, the encouragement of mixed forests with the planting of Prunus avium, Tilia platyphyllos,Acer pseudoplatanus and Quercus dalechampii, the selective cutting of chestnut trees every 40 years, the protectionof ancient trees and other similar measures.274

mentioned Holy Community/EKBY/ EuropeanCommunity project to all of the oakforests on the peninsula.- Assessment of the viability of commercialforestry on Mt. Athos in order to determinewhether the income from this activitycould be obtained from other sources(such as EC subsidies). If so, traditionalforestry would be practiced only for theneeds of the monasteries, thereby relaxingthe considerable human and transportpressure that commercial forestry exertson Mt. Athos.- Until such time, the possibility of managingthe Mt. Athos forests sustainably inaccordance with an international forestrycertification system (such as FSC orPEFC) should be contemplated; thiswould also provide commercial advantages.Road construction and maintenance- Rapid assessment of the needs and prioritisationregarding roads within the frameworkof the overall management study (orindependently of the study, if need be).Saint Panteleimonos or the Russian Monastery, view from the sea.

- Forbidding the dumping of excavatedmatter on the lower slopes of roads.- Adoption of the recommendations of theEKBY study on road construction andthe treatment of slopes.Mount Athos, Theological Studies, Vol. 55.■Dawkins, R. M. (1953) Notes on Life inthe Monasteries of Mount Athos, HarvardTheological Review, Vol. 46, No. 4, pp.217-231.- Avoidance of ‘hard’ constructions inconcrete, except where absolutely necessary.- Planting of indigenous tree speciesalong newly opened roads to alleviatetheir impact on the landscape.Waste managementUntil the general study is finished, certainimmediate measures should be carriedout. The following actions are especiallysignificant:- Removal from Mt. Athos of all abandonedvehicles.- Assessment of the feasibility of extendingthe Caryes-Thessaloniki agreement inorder to cover the transport of solid wastefrom the entire peninsula.■Dora, V. (2005) (dissertation) Geographiesof the holy mountain: Post-Byzantine and western representations ofthe monastic republic of Mount Athos(Greece), University of California, LosAngeles, U.S.A.■Gothoni, R. (1998) How Mount Athosbecomes the Holy Mountain of Athos: TheExperiences of Athos Pilgrims, FinnishSociety for the Study of ComparativeReligion, Helsinki, Finland.■Markides K.C. (2002) The Mountain ofSilence: A Search for Orthodox Spirituality,Image, New York, U.S.A.■ Papayannis, Th. and Elissaios, Fr. (1994)Natural space and monasticism: Themaintenance of the Byzantine tradition onMt. Athos, Goulandri-Horn Foundation,Athens (in Greek).Selected bibliography■ Speake, G. (2004) Mount Athos, YaleUniversity Press, U.S.A.■ Buckley, M.J. (1994) Paradise withinReach: Monasticism and Pilgrimage on■ Taft, R.F. (1988) Mount Athos: A LateChapter in the History of the Byzantine276

Rite, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 42,pp. 179-194.■ http://www.culture.gr/2/21/218/e21821.htmlWeb sites■ http://www.hri.org/MPA/other/Agio_Oros/environment.html■■http://www.inathos.gr/http://poseidon.csd.auth.gr/athos/a_hist.html■http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Athos/General/AthosEnvironment.html■http://www.monachos.net/monasticism/athos/index.shtml■http://www.ouranoupoli.com/athos/athos.html277

Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii MountainRange. Mie, Nara and Wakayama Prefectures, JapanMakoto MotonakaDescription of the siteHistorical and Spiritual Values of the siteSince ancient times, the Kii MountainRange has harboured a tradition of natureworship, in which mountains, rocks,forests, trees, rivers and waterfalls are deifiedand revered as objects of worship.Located to the south of the Nara Basin,the site of one of Japan’s ancient capitals,this region is beloved by people from thecapital and recognised as a sacred sitewhere the gods descend and reside.After Buddhism was introduced intoJapan in the sixth century, the KiiMountain Range became the central sitefor ascetic Buddhist practices; theShingon school of esoteric Buddhism,which arrived in the ninth century, alsochose this area as a place in which to performits ascetic rituals.Between the mid-tenth and eleventh centuries,the Shugen school of asceticBuddhism established itself as theindigenous religion of Japan. It combinedelements of pre-Buddhist mountainworship, an esoteric form ofBuddhism called Mikkyô and the Taoistbelief in the immortal Hsien, which wasintroduced from China. The followers ofthe Shugen sect chose the Kii MountainRange as a base for their religious worship.On the basis of the diversity of religiousbeliefs and activities that have been fosteredby the region’s unique geology, climateand vegetation, the three outstandingsacred sites of Yoshino andÔmine, Kumano Sanzan and Kôyasan, aswell as the pilgrimage routes that connectthem, have all become important heritageareas in the Kii Mountain Range.World Heritage ValuesThe Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes inthe Kii Mountain Range were inscribed inthe World Heritage List on the basis ofCultural Criteria (ii), (iii), (iv) and (vi), and theconcept of Associative Cultural Landscapes.< Kii Mountans temple.279

Criterion (ii) The outstanding monumentsand the sites that form the cultural landscapesfound at this site are a uniquefusion between Shinto, rooted in theancient Japanese tradition of natureworship, and Buddhism introduced intoJapan from China and the KoreanPeninsula. These monuments areunmatched elsewhere in the region andillustrate the exchange process that hasoccurred between religious cultures inEast Asia.Criterion (iii) Each compound of theshrines and temples included in thenominated site contains the remains oflost wooden or stone structures thatexist nowhere else and other archaeologicalmaterial pertaining to religiousrituals.Criterion (iv) Many of the temples andshrines in the site are excellent examplesof wooden religious architecture ofgreat historic and artistic value.Criterion (vi) The combination of highlysacred natural objects and sites, thesurrounding forest landscapes and thereligious rituals and festivals that are stillobserved in these sacred mountainsensures that this site possesses a highlydiverse mix of both tangible andintangible elements of heritage.Natural heritageMost of the Kii Mountain Range is coveredby dense verdant forests. Three endemicplants and plant communities thrive in theforests of the site: Oyamarenge, a deciduousshrub belong to the Magnoliaceaefamily, Bukkyougatake Genshirin, a subalpineevergreen coniferous forest consistingmainly of Veitch’s fir (Abies veitchii),and the Nachi primeval forest, a laurel forestdominated by isunoki (the isu tree -Distylium racemosum). They are all widespreadover the mountain ridge and havebeen designated as natural monumentsunder the Law for the Protection ofCultural Properties.All elements in the core area of this WorldHeritage site are designated as nationalhistoric sites, places of scenic beautyand/or natural monuments under the Lawfor the Protection of Cultural Properties.Some of the elements of the site and itsbuffer zone are protected as nationaland/or quasi-national parks under theNatural Park Law. Parts of the site’s bufferzone are protected by the Forest Law andthe Municipal Ordinances for theConservation of Cultural Landscapes.Given that the Kii Mountain Range wasincluded in 2004 in the World HeritageSite list as a Cultural Heritage Site, the280

Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs isnow responsible for the conservation ofthe whole site from the standpoint ofnational and international cultural values.The Ministry for the Environment is incharge of the conservation of national andquasi-national parks, while the JapaneseForestry Agency is in charge of the conservationof national forests included inthe site and the promotion of forestryactivities.The departments for the Protection ofCultural Properties, the Conservation ofthe Natural Environment and ForestryPromotion belonging to the three separateprefectural governments that cover thearea of this World Heritage site are incharge of its overall conservation.Appropriate guidance and assistance isalso provided by the corresponding agenciesand the ministries of the Japanesegovernment.Each local municipality is also in charge ofon-site management from a cultural andnatural point of view. Guidance and assistanceis provided not only by the correspondingnational governmental agenciesand ministries, but also by the three prefectures.The main elements of the site’s naturalheritage are the coniferous and broadleavedforests that cover much of the KiiMountains. Some of the most significantforests (in terms of their size and/or characteristics)and some of the particularlyold and/or tall trees growing in templeand shrine compounds are highlyrevered and are protected as naturalmonuments.Most of the people living in and aroundthis site are aware of its natural value.Most of the pilgrims and hikers who visitthe mountain range also appreciate itsimportance and sometimes express theirconcern at the increasingly negativeimpact of tourism. On the other hand,some of the visitors who visit as part oflarge-scale group tourism pay little attentionto the natural heritage of the site.Spiritual and Cultural valuesThe Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routesin the Kii Mountain Range consist of agroup of sacred sites connected by pilgrimageroutes lying in the Mie, Nara andWakayama Prefectures. The site is associatedwith the Shugen sect of asceticBuddhism that sprung up from a blend ofreligious elements that include the worshipof nature inherent in the Shinto ofancient Japan, the Buddhism introducedfrom the continent that developed in itsown particular fashion in Japan, andTaoist beliefs.281

The spiritual value of the site is closely tiedto local natural and anthropogenic factors.Natural elements consist essentially of thegeographical features of the mountainsthemselves, characterised by verdantconiferous and broadleaved forests, oldtrees growing tall in sacred spots andwaterfalls used uninterruptedly over theyears as sites for ascetic rituals byShugen-do trainees, as well as the coast(Shichi-rimihama) and the KumanogawaRiver, both of which are also significantelements on the pilgrimage trails that connectthe three sacred sites. Other importantsites include various anthropogenicelements such as historic temples andshrines, pilgrimage routes connecting thethree sacred sites and the still-unexcavatedarchaeological remains relating to religiousrituals and practices.The organisation of Shugen ascetic practicesis closely linked to the managementof the sacred spots located along the pilgrimageroutes. The religious organisationsthat run the Buddhist temples andShinto shrines, all generally recognisedand understood by the general public, arealso in charge of the management of thecompounds.The departments in charge of the protectionof cultural sites in the three prefecturalgovernments and the localmunicipalities are responsible for the conservationand enhancement of the culturaland spiritual values of these sites. AnAgency for Cultural Affairs provides technicaland financial assistance and support,while in the case of the temple andshrine compounds, their owners areresponsible for the conservation andenhancement of the sites in consultationwith local municipalities.The main activities related to the spiritualand cultural heritage of the site are theShugen religious ceremonies, rituals, festivals,pilgrimages and ascetic practicesthat are held in the temple/shrine compoundsall along the pilgrimage routes;some of these events are designated asfolk-cultural events by the prefectural governments.Most of the local people and visitors arefully aware of the importance of theShugen religious ceremonies, rituals, festivalsand ascetic practices that are held inthe compounds of the temples andshrines and along the pilgrimage routes.Local people’s work is often closely relatedto the religious activities performed byBuddhist priests and ascetic trainees.Pressures and impactsThe most dynamic human activities in theregion are:282

- Pilgrimages: on-going religious activityas a historical and living tradition.- Tourism: closely linked to the traditionalpilgrimages.- Mass tourism: an increasing numberof visitors (including hikers).- Management or operation of inns,restaurants and other facilities for visitorsby local people.- Infrastructures for lessening the inconveniencesto local people caused byvisitors.Employment in the area essentiallyrevolves around the management oroperation of inns, restaurants and otherfacilities for visitors (including pilgrims).Some of these local economic activitiesmay occasionally have a negativeimpact on the site, although overallthere is no major problem in this sense.Agriculture, forestry, fishery and otherlocal economic activities in the bufferzone have no negative repercussions onthe site.Currently, there is no real serious negativeimpact upon the natural environmentof the site. However, some of theprojects described below that areplanned for the site’s buffer zone mayhave a negative impact on certainplaces of natural and spiritual/culturalsignificance.Pilgrimage, Kii Mountains.

- Construction and improvement ofroads, including the construction oflarge bridges.- Artificial canalisation of rivers to preventfloods.- Construction of wind farms on mountaintops.Buddhist ceremonies, rituals, festivals andShugen ascetic practices are conductedin harmony with the natural environmentand aim to bring people closer to nature.Therefore, potential conflicts between theconservation of the natural heritage andthe protection of spiritual/cultural valuesare unlikely in the foreseeable future.The livelihoods of the local people whohave historically cared for pilgrims alongthe pilgrimage routes depend on activitiessuch as coppicing for charcoal, plantingof Japanese cedar and rice production interraced paddies scattered around villages.Local people have always madeuse of the pilgrimage routes for the transportationof the essential materials theyneed for their daily lives. The Sacred Sitesand Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii MountainRange are a heritage site with close ties toShintoism, Buddhism and Shugen-do, inwhich the surrounding cultural landscapesrelating to local people’s lives and livelihoodsare also a part of the site and itsbuffer zone.Land-use in the site and its buffer zone isdetermined by laws concerning forestry,agricultural promotion and rivers, as wellas landscape conservation ordinancesenacted by the municipalities in the area.Consensus concerning activities alteringthe existing state of the site are reachedthrough three mechanisms: preservationand management plans for each individualdesignated historic site, place of scenicbeauty or natural monument establishedbetween municipalities and land owners;mid-term preservation and managementplans developed individually by each prefecture;and an overall preservation andmanagement plan drawn up jointly by thethree prefectural governments for all therelevant elements in the World HeritageSite.Conservation perspectives andsustainabilityA distinctive characteristic of the naturalenvironment of the site is that all of its naturalelements possess great spiritual andcultural significance and have been wellprotected over the centuries by the religiousactivities that are performed there.Implicitly, thus, the public realise that theconservation of the site’s natural heritageshould be incorporated into any plan forprotecting the site’s cultural and spiritualheritage.284

Due attention has been paid to the factthat the cultural and spiritual value of thesite is closely associated by both localpeople and visitors with the natural environment.The public are aware of theimportance of incorporating the protectionof the site’s cultural and spiritual heritageinto the overall conservation of the site’snatural environment.Due to their great spiritual value, someparts of the densely vegetated templeand shrine compounds are closed to thepublic, a prohibition that may have contributedto the conservation of thesenatural elements and their surroundings.Both the forests that cover the compoundof the Koyasan Buddhist Templeand the Nachi Primeval Forest, locatedbehind the Nachi-Taisha Shinto Shrine,have been well preserved thanks to astrict prohibition based on religious doctrinethat prevents entry to these sites.Owing to their participation in religiousceremonies, rituals and festivals, localpeople and visitors are aware that thesacredness of the site is closely associatedwith its rich natural setting. Moreand more Buddhist priests and practitionersof the Shugen ascetic schoolengage in religious activities and increasinglygreater numbers of people visitthese religious sites on pilgrimage, all ofwhich shows that this cultural manifestationis alive and well here in the spiritualheartland of the Japanese people.People’s lives and livelihoods in theregion depend on the natural environmentsurrounding their homes. Landusecan be classified by type (sacredforests, forest plantations, terracedrice paddies, rivers and seacoasts) andnatural quality (strictly protected naturalareas with a high degree of sacrednessor transitional areas that lie inbetween protected areas and settlements).The protection of sacred naturalsites contributes to the overallassessment for zoning the naturalareas in the region.Thus, the possibility of good positivesynergy between the conservation ofthe site’s natural heritage and the protectionof its spiritual/cultural valuesmust be taken into account.As mentioned earlier, if the socio-economicdevelopment of a region is notto be negatively affected, it is essentialto aim for a harmonious balancebetween the protection of sacred naturalsites and the conservation of thevarious types of natural zones that surroundthem. Highly sacred zones cannotexist in isolation, since they areclosely connected to people’s spirituallives. The integration of natural and285

spiritual values must contribute to thesustainable development of the region.RecommendationsEach municipality should set up a coordinatingcommittee to facilitate the sharing ofappropriate information and the reaching ofagreements regarding the conservation andmanagement of the heritage site betweenthe religious organisations who own thetemples and shrines, local people, localauthorities, stakeholders and other pertinentorganisations. Consensus should bebased upon an in-depth evaluation of notonly the natural values of the site, but alsothe spiritual/cultural values that are associatedwith the site’s natural elements. Thenatural value of the land-use that sustainslocal lives and livelihoods should also beassessed in an appropriate manner.Moreover, on the basis of the site assessmentagreed to by the coordinating committee,a plan including general principlesand comprehensive measures for the correctpreservation and utilisation of the siteand policy for appropriate and effectivemanagement must also be established.This management plan will be highly beneficialfor local people if based on a properassessment of the value of the site and willcontribute greatly to the sustainable socioeconomicdevelopment of the region.It is essential that mechanisms for establishingconsensus, cooperation and coordinationbetween local people, owners ofthe temples and shrines, administrativeorganisations, NGOs and other stakeholdersare set up. In particular, the relevantagencies and departments of localmunicipalities and prefectural and centralgovernments should cooperate in theexchange of information and enforcemeasures to manage the site in an appropriateway.In order to maximise the effectiveness ofthe coordinating committee establishedby the local municipalities, special attentionshould be paid to the following:- Promotion of national and internationalcultural interchanges betweenlocal people and visitors in aspects ofspiritual, cultural and natural heritage.- Encouragement of education foryoung people aimed at highlighting thepurity, beauty and sanctity of the site.- Sharing of information with localpeople, including owners of the templesand shrines.- Encouragement of discussionsregarding the effects on people’s dailylives of the fulfilment of managementpolicies within the heritage site.- Provision of appropriate means forexplaining to visitors the need to protectthe site.286

References■ICOMOS World Heritage EvaluationReport (2004), Sacred Sites andPilgrimage Routes in the Kii MountainRange.■Japanese Government (2004). Nominationdossier for the World HeritageInscription “Sacred Sites and PilgrimageRoutes in the Kii Mountain Range”.■Motonaka, M. (2001) Evaluation andConservation of Sacred Mountains inJapan.■UNESCO Thematic Expert Meeting onAsia-Pacific Sacred Mountains, Japan.Fire ritual.

Vanatori Neamt Natural Park, a Romanian JerusalemNeamt region, Moldavia, RomaniaSebastian CatanoiuA piece of historyTo predict the future, sometimes it isenough merely to understand the past.Romania is not the only Latin country inEastern Europe, but it is the onlyOrthodox Latin country. It is a well knownfact that Romania has the greatest numberof places of worship per head of populationof any country in Europe. After theGreat Schism, the influence of theByzantium Empire ensured that Romaniawould be dominated by OrthodoxChristianity. The spread and survival ofOrthodoxy in Romania was possiblebecause the vacuum left by the waningpower of Byzantium was replaced in theMiddle Ages by the influence of theRussian Empire. This religious influencewas palpable in neighbouring countries(all of them populated by Orthodox Slavs,except for Hungary).For the 1000 years after the RomanEmpire went into retreat (270 BC), wehave very little historical information aboutMoldavia, the eastern-most province ofRomania. From 1000 AD onwards theland was ruled by the Cumans, a nomadicpeople, and legends recall that in order tofight the Cumans and the Tartars, theHungarian kings would send TeutonicKnights to fight on their kingdom’s borders.The fortress at Neamt was built bythese knights between 1210 and 1220and the difficulties arising during its constructionled the Teutonic Knights to takecontrol of most of the region of Neamt.Although this Germanic period lasted forless than 100 years, its legacy is still presenttoday. In popular Romanian neamtmeans ‘German’; thus, not only is thefortress called Cetatea Neamtului, but thetown is named ‘Tirgu Neamt’ and theregion is known as ‘Judetul Neamt’.Because of the security it provided, thismilitary building ushered in a period ofprogress for the region.From 1350 onwards, Orthodox monksfrom the Romanian feudal state of Valahia(near the Byzantium Empire) began toestablish small hermitages in Moldavia.Some grew and became famous - Neamt(1000 monks under the abbot Paisie),Secu (400 monks) or convents such asAgapia and Varatec (each today with 300-400 monks or nuns). Originally, when theregion was poorly populated, the first< Sihastria Monastery Vanatori-Neamt.289

small hermitages were established nearrivers or in places with good access torivers. From the period in which theNeamt fortress and the first monasterieswere built, we have no historical informationabout the villages in the area. It isknown that some villages grew up nearthe fortress or near the monasteries.According to local custom, at the beginningof their reigns every new Moldavianprince had to donate villages, lands orforests to the monasteries. Thus, manyof the villages in the region were ruled bymonasteries and the peasants wereobliged to work there as servants. Themonasteries expanded and became verywealthy and influential and by 1864 theirlands represented almost 10% of thewhole of Moldavia. In this year, princeAlexandru Ioan Cuza confiscated for theMoldavian state a large part of themonastic lands (farmlands and forest), anact that marked the beginning of thedebate on the so-called ‘monasteryquestion’.The arrival of a communist society provideda minimum of economic securityfor most of the citizens. However, thechanges that occurred with the fall ofcommunism in Eastern Europe affectedmany people and because no efficienteconomic solutions were found, manychose the spiritual dimension offered bythe church. The right to private property,protected by post-communist legislation,enabled the monasteries to reclaim theirformer assets and today the monasterieshave regained some of the propertiesthey lost in the past.Natural valuesVanatori-Neamt Natural Park was foundedin 1999 and its first administration wasset up within the framework of theBiodiversity Conservation ManagementProject with as partners the GlobalEnvironmental Facility of the World Bank,the Romanian Government and theRomanian National Forest Administration.The Natural Park corresponds to the fifthcategory of the IUCN, that is, a “Protectedlandscape: protected area, managedmainly for landscape conservation andrecreation”. Since 1999 the Natural Parkhas been managed via the Vanatori-Neamt Natural Park Administration by theNational Forest Administration, a stateownedcompany with a long and distinguishedhistory in forestry. This is acommon situation in Romania: 22 of ournational and natural parks (including theoldest and most famous) are administratedby the National Forest Administration,on the basis of an official contractbetween the Ministry of the Environmentand Water Management and the NationalForest Administration.290

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestryand Rural Development has overallresponsibility for forestry in Romania.The Secretary of State for Forestryoversees the Directorate of Forests,which, in turn, comprises four maindirectorates (Strategy, Policy andForest Regime; Hunting and Fishing;Private Forest Management; and theForest Inspectorate). This structure isunder review and may be reorganised.The Ministry of the Environment andWater Management is responsible forenvironmental policy and strategy; theadministration of protected areas inRomania is under the supervision ofthe same minister. It was announced in2006 that the National Agency forProtected Areas, which still exists onlyon paper, will be handed direct controlof protected areas. The Commissionfor the Protection of Natural Monumentsof the Romanian Academy hasscientific responsibility for all categoriesof protected areas (strictly protectedareas, national parks, naturalmonuments, natural reserves, protectedlandscapes). In areas of forest, theNational Forest Administration hashad, via the protected areas administration,management responsibility upto now. Local authorities are responsiblefor land-use planning, but have limitedcapacity for dealing with issuesaffecting biodiversity.In total the Natural Park covers 30,818 ha,of which 26,322 ha are forest, 2,300 hapastureland, 900 ha hayfields and 700 haurban areas. In 1990 the process ofrestoring forests to their former ownersstarted and today about 5,300 ha of forestinside the park belong to the OrthodoxChurches, 20,900 ha to the NationalForest Administration and about 140 ha tosmall-scale owners. Besides this, thereare still about 4,000 ha that are claimed byboth the National Forest Administrationand the Orthodox Church.One of the initial main objectives of theVanatori Neamt Natural Park administrationwas to control forest management inthe forests belonging to the park. Thisgoal was achieved in 2002, when for thefirst time in Romania the responsibility forforest management inside the park metthe standards of the Forest StewardshipCouncil.Before the restitution of the forests, 5,300ha of forest belonging to the OrthodoxChurch were awarded a ForestStewardship Council certificate. However,with the changes in the control of theforests these 5,300 ha lost their certificateand the new administrators, due to lack offunds, were not able to undergo a newcertification process. Thus, the chance ofachieving international recognition for theNatural Park’s responsible forest manage-291

ment, which takes into consideration environmental,social and economic aspects,was lost.emanating from other famous Europeanspas such as those at Karlsbad,Marienbad and Vichy.The largest part of the Vanatori-NeamtNatural Park lies in the Eastern Carpathianand the Moldavian Sub-Carpathian mountainsystems at heights of between 365and 1231 m (average altitude of almost800 m). The superficial hydrographicalnetwork is part of the Neamtu (Ozana)and Cracau river basins, tributaries thatflow into the right bank of the Moldovaand Bistrita rivers.An important characteristic of the areais the underground mineral water, rich inbicarbonates and magnesium salts. Thesprings of the Baltatesti and Oglinzispas have low flow rates, but a highmineral content. The water of thesesalty springs has been used by localpeople for centuries to cure different ailmentsand for extracting salt by evaporationto use as a food preservative. Theunderground water is situated in highlypermeable sandstone and gritstonedeposits. Initially, the water contains littlesalt, but after entering into directcontact with salty clays they becomevery saline and then take up bicarbonatesand magnesium from the sandstoneand friable gritstones. Chemicalanalyses show that these kinds of mineralwaters are very similar to the waterThe vegetation of the park displays a pronouncedzonation: the foothills are mostlycovered by mixed deciduous forests, dominatedby pedunculate oak (Quercusrobur), small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata) andhornbeam (Carpinus betulus). The montanezone, between 600 and 1100 m, isdominated by two species, Europeanbeech (Fagus sylvatica) and European silverfir (Abies alba). Almost pure beechforests dominate in some areas, althoughgenerally the beech is mixed with silver fir,Norway spruce (Picea abies), andsycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus). In someplaces, the montane zone is dominated byconifers, usually a mixture of silver fir andNorway spruce. Natural stands of yew(Taxus baccata), which are protected underRomanian legislation, can also be found.Inside the Park there are other protectedareas:Dumbrava oak forest (I IUCN): a pedunculateoak forest at 450 m with treesaged between 200 and 300 years andbetween 25 and 30 m tall lying on analluvial deposit in the Ozana River Valleyat the upper altitudinal limit for thespecies. This reserve is important forthe genetic value of its trees and as292

such is protected by the RomanianAcademy.Brass Woods (IV IUCN): this reserve lieson Filioru Hill at 550-650 m and is home toexcellent oak forests of, for example, sessileoak (Quercus petraea), that are over150 years old.Silver Forest (IV IUCN): this silver birch forestis over 100 years old (very old for thisspecies) and lies at 510 m. Like BrassWoods, the Silver Forest is also importantculturally as the site that inspired thefamous Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu.The flora of the park reflects the typicalcharacteristics of the low mountains of theSub-Carpathian zone and is very diverseand well preserved. Recent baseline-surveyshave calculated that the park holds1053 vascular plants (approx. 53% of theflora of the Neamt region and over 25%of all known Romanian plant species), 67species of lichens, 157 species of mossand over 500 species of mushrooms.The area has been well known as a huntingreserve since 1475 (indeed, Vanatorimeans ‘hunters’), when hunting here wasthe preserve of the Moldavian prince andhis court. In all, 35 mammal species(including 10 bat species, Red and RoeA log hermitage, Sihla Monastery.

Deer, Wild Boar, Hare, Wolf, Fox, Wild Cat,Brown Bear, Badger and Pine Marten) livehere, along with 101 species of breedingbirds. The numerous birds of prey reflectthe stability of the region’s ecosystems. Aswell, 13 amphibian species and seven fishspecies are found here. However, one ofthe main attractions of the park is theEuropean Bison, present in a Bisonreserve set up in 1968. Thanks to the reintroductionprogramme carried out by theVanatori-Neamt Natural Park administration,European Bison can now be found insemi-liberty in a large acclimatisation area(180 ha). Over the next few years the bisonwill be allowed to roam freely.According to our studies there are at leastfour pastureland and three forest habitats,four mammals, 13 birds, four amphibians,six invertebrates, three kinds of fish andthree plant species that are included inEuropean Union Habitat and SpeciesDirectives (92/43/EEC) and/or BirdDirective Annexes (79/409/EEC). For thisreason, the whole of the park has beenproposed as a Natura 2000 site in theprovisional list for Romania, which is in theprocess of being finalised.People in the area are aware of the mainprotected species and sites in the NaturalPark, although their environmental concerngoes no further. Very few, generallythe most educated people, fully appreciatethe importance of conserving biodiversityon the scale of the park as a whole.The younger generations, above all, havea very important role to play in the conservationand protection of biodiversity bypromoting a proper attitude regarding theunderstanding of nature. Local inhabitantsare aware of the need for sustainabledevelopment in the area and that the naturalvalues of the area must be preserved,since this will mean an improvement intheir living conditions as the area grows asa tourist attraction.The tourists that visit the area are aware ofthe famous reserves inside the Park(Dumbrava, Silver Forest and BrassWood) and are very interested in theEuropean Bison: the Bison reserve is oneof the main points of attraction in the area.Spiritual valuesThe spiritual value of the area is closelyrelated to Orthodox Christianity. One hermitageand two churches in the area usethe Russian Orthodox calendar. The differencesbetween Russian Orthodoxy andRomanian Orthodoxy are insignificant, themost important difference being the twoweekdifference in the calendar. In all,80% of the Romanian population isOrthodox (in our area the percentage ishigher) and so local people and Romanian294

tourists generally share religious values.According to statistics, just 15% oftourists come from foreign countries andvisitors have no problems in understandingthe religious significance of the area.The area of Vanatori-Neamt is veryfamous for its collection of Orthodoxmonasteries. There are almost 40 churches,small hermitages and monasteries, ofwhich 16 are nationally famous. Owing tothe succession of invasions by the Turksand Tartars, amongst others, during theMiddle Ages, some of the older religiousbuildings are heavily fortified.Neamt Monastery was built between 1375and 1391 on the site of an older woodenhermitage. Under abbot Paisie the numberof monks grew to over 1,000 and themonastery came to be known as ‘BigLavra’ or sometimes as the ‘RomanianJerusalem’. Specialists consider it to be themost eloquent expression of the Moldavianarchitectural style. Nearby are the OldIcon, New Icon, Vovidenia (1751), Procov(1714) and Carbuna hermitages, all lying inbeautiful forest settings.Secu Monastery is a stone building datingfrom 1602 belonging to NestorUreche, the father of the chroniclerGrigore Ureche. Nifon Hermitage standsnear this monastery and was also builtdeep in the surrounding forest.Sihastria Monastery was built in the middleof the eighteenth century as a hermitageattached to Secu monastery.Nowadays it consists of a complex ofmonasteries, of which the new one is thebiggest in the area. The Poiana lui Ion hermitageis also new and is administrated bythe prior of Sihastria.Sihla Monastery lies at 1,000 m nearrocky cliffs and spectacular gorges, thesite of Teodora’s cave. This monasterywas built in 1763 and this is also the siteof the famous ‘One-log Hermitage’. Inthe vicinity, stands Daniil Sihastrul(1936), the most isolated hermitage inthe area.The first reference to the convent atVaratec dates from to 1785, when the firstwooden church was built; the presentbuilding was built in 1808.Agapia convent was built in 1644 andpainted by Nicolae Grigorescu (thefamous Romanian painter) between 1858and 1860 and today contains a memorialhouse for Alexandru Vlahuta (a famousRomanian novelist). Old Agapia wasestablished in the mid-sixteenth century ina very traditional orthodox style. The twoconvents at Agapia and Varatec are thebiggest convents in the whole of theOrthodox world (300-400 nuns each) andare famous for their icon painting, embroi-295

dery and weaving that respect old methodsof production.Dobru convent is the oldest convent ormonastery in the region still using theRussian orthodox calendar. Indeed, thevillage of Vanatori was the first place inRomania with a church built for peoplewanting to follow the old RussianOrthodox calendar. Today, its first priestis regarded as a martyr by the local communitysince he was killed at the altar ofhis church for not wanting to change therules of the old traditions.Sfanta Cruce Hermitage was the site ofa terrible battle during the SecondWorld War during which thousands ofRomanian, German and Russian soldierswere killed. After the war, this hermitagewas built in honour of theseunknown soldiers.Aside from the monasteries, which housea lot of holy relics and tombs of religiousand historical figures, there are alsonumerous other places of religious significancefor Orthodox worshippers such asthe cave of Saint Teodora the Pious andthe cell of the priest Cleopa.The monasteries are important fromboth a spiritual and a cultural point ofview. Neamt monastery is also veryfamous for its library (which containsmore than 10,000 medieval books writtenin Slav, Greek and Romanian) andmuseum. In these periods monasterieswere cultural centres and everymonastery was involved in spreadingthe word of the Bible and the Romanianlanguage. Today, there are theologyseminaries (high school level) for boys atNeamt and girls at Agapia.Cultural valuesIn terms of cultural significance, it sufficesto say that, in modern times, a lot ofimportant artists (including Romania’smost famous poet, novelist and painter)lived and created in this splendid region.Some were born and bred in the area andchose to stay, and the area boasts attractionssuch as the Ion Creanga MemorialHouse (the most important Romanian storyteller),the Mihai Sado-veanu MemorialMuseum (the most important Romaniannovelist), the Veronica Micle MemorialHouse (former home of the most importantRomanian poetess), the AlexandruVlahuta Memo-rial House (one of the mostimportant Romanian novelists), theHistory and Ethnography Museum andthe Nicolae Popa Collection of History,Ethnography and Popular Art.Neamt Fortress is a national symbol and,despite having been besieged on numer-296

ous occasions, it was seldom conqueredby force. It is the eternal subjectof Romanian poetry, prose and paintingand during holiday periods many schoolchildren (above all from Moldovaprovince) come to learn about ournational history. In 1650 the fortresswas transformed into a monastery inorder to avoid its demolition by theTurks, who wanted to destroy thisnational symbol. In 1685 it became theproperty of the Secu Monastery andduring an uprising in 1716 was for thefirst time burned down. During the eighteenthcentury it was blown up by theTurks.All monasteries have almost completeadministrative autonomy, although theyare directly subordinate to the MoldavianArchbishop. The main authority on religiousaffairs is the Romanian Patriarchy.The management of the forests in thePark owned by the Orthodox Church iscarried out by a private forestry districtthat is legally under the legal control of theMinistry of Agriculture, Forestry and RuralDevelopment and the Moldavian Archbishop,who receives advice from aForestry Council on policy for all theforests in Moldavia that are property of theOrthodox Church. The capacity for deal-Agapia Veche Monastery, Vanatori-Neamt.

ing with issues of biodiversity in these privateforest districts is limited.The Ministry of Culture and ReligiousAffairs is in charge of the protection andconservation of cultural, religious and historicsites of national importance. Thefunds provided by this ministry gotowards the restoration and maintenanceof monuments, but often these funds arenot sufficient. Local councils take care ofthe locally important sites, although, likewise,funds are limited and monasteriesand churches often have to use their ownfunds.For other projects being developed in thearea (roads, agriculture etc.), the Ministriesof Public Works and Agriculture, Forestand Rural Development are involved.In conclusion, management of the landsowned by the Orthodox Church (agriculturallands, forests, etc.) is theoreticallyunder state supervision (via differing ministries);nevertheless, in practice theabbots, the Moldavian Archbishop andthe Romanian Patriarchy play the mostimportant role. We should note, however,that most of the funds invested in religioussites come from the Orthodox Churches.Every road in the forest seems to pass by amonastery or end at a hermitage. All yearround and, above all, in the summer andduring Orthodox festivals, large numbers ofpilgrims travel to and from these religioussites, attracted by masses, the hram (religiousfestivities of the patron saints of themonasteries, churches, hermitages, etc.),and the religious festivities that are celebratedat Christmas and Easter. Some ofthe so-called ‘weekend visitors’ try to seeas many monasteries as they can in ashort period of time and are interested inevery attraction that can be visited on theroads between the monasteries. Somepilgrims take advantage of the accommodationoffered by the monasteries to stayfor a few days to pray and to obey themonastic rules for a short period of time.In order to enter the monasteries, visitorsmust respect certain rules: respectfulclothing must be worn, women are forbiddento wear trousers or make-up, and theuse of a shawl is compulsory. It is totallyforbidden to drink alcohol or to smokeand a humble, penitent attitude isrequired. External cleanliness does notsuffice and internal purity is also required.All hate, pride and a lack of respect mustbe left outside these monasteries. All visitors,pilgrims, tourists and locals alikeknow and respect these rules.Pressures and impactsIn terms of the economies of the townsand villages inside the Natural Park the298

most important activities are timberextraction and the manufacture of finishedand partially finished wood-based productssuch as panels and furniture. Lowerdown the economic scale come tourism,industry, agriculture, stock-raising andcottage industries. These economic activitiesmainly bring benefits to local companiesand people. However, due to the highunemployment rate, the population is orientedexcessively towards the exploitationof local resources.Life in the Vanatori-Neamt Natural Parkhas been lived for hundreds of years inclose harmony with the surroundingforests. Local inhabitants have createda habit of using the forests as a sourceof income and use its timber and otherresources. Other traditional occupationsinclude farming, horticulture, stock-raising,the selling of animal or vegetalproducts in local fairs and manufacturingand handicrafts. Many of the traditionalways of life still exist. Horses arestill used in a rudimentary way for transportationand as labour in the forest andfields; local stock-raising techniques arenot very efficient and thus generate littleincome. Houses, tools and many of theobjects used in day-to-day life are madeusing local materials and traditionaltechniques. Traditional local architectureis characterised by wooden buildingswith wooden tiles and ornaments, surroundedby wooden sculptured polesand decorated gates.Traditional activities do not have a significantnegative impact on the environmentand so no major conflict existsbetween the park’s objectives and theconservation of holy sites. The mainattractions in the Park area are themedieval monasteries, visited by 65% ofvisitors, while other cultural and historicalsites are the main focus for 20% ofpeople. To a lesser extent, however, visitorsare attracted also by the overallnatural values of the region with itsinherent historical and cultural connotations:areas such as the Silver Forest,the Brass Woods or the European BisonReserve are the main target for about15% of visitors and around 5% of peoplecome for treatment at the Oglinziand Baltatesti spas. The tourists thatvisit the area not only head for themonasteries, but also take in thefortress, the Bison Reserve and the naturalreserves, all of which lie in the sameareas as the monasteries.Access to the Park is easy by car andso a lot of the visitors (60% in all) do notactually stay overnight in the area. Thisis also partly due to the fact that accommodationis limited (there are fewer than50 pensions, hotels or motels, of whichhalf are quite new). In fact, the monas-299

teries provide about 50% of the accommodationin the area.Pilgrimages take place around the mainpoints of interest, although in the case ofweekend or holidays, the park’s picturesquevalleys (Agapia, Secu andNemtisor) are the main destinations forvisitors. There is no charge for visiting anyof the sites other than the Bison reserve.Annually, it is estimated that about400,000 people visit the park.The most dynamic and widespread of allhuman activities in the Vanatori-NeamtNatural Park in the future will be tourismand forest-related activities (logging,sawmills, furniture, etc.). This prognosis isbased on the fact that from 1 January2007 onwards Romania will be a memberof the European Union and on the basis ofthe experience of other European Unionmembers it is easy to predict what willhappen.The demand for high quality wood fromcertified European producers willincrease. Prices will rise and so the pressureon forests will increase. Other economicactivities such as extensiveNeamt Monastery.

agriculture and stock-raising, which,because of low productivity, cannot competewith modern agricultural productionin western European countries, will undergodramatic changes. Forest-relatedactivities will remain one of the main economicactivities for the inhabitants of thearea.It is also expected that the traditionalsources of income for the OrthodoxChurch (donations, heritages, privatefinancial support, etc.) will diminish as thecost of living rises. Likewise, the forestsbelonging to the Orthodox Church willalso be put under increasing pressure.On the other hand, tourism will increase.As mentioned above, half of the accommodationfacilities are new and more stillare under construction. The OrthodoxChurch owns more than half of the totalaccommodation in the area and is currentlybuilding and restoring facilities tocreate more places. Smart modernaccommodation is seen to be important inorder to attract greater numbers oftourists.At a local level, the park is seen as beingbeneficial: it promotes the area as a wholevia its positive image, it encourages ecotourismand offers local people the possibilityof earning a living from recreationaltourism, entertainment and local attractions(the Bison). A single attraction (themonasteries) will not be sufficient forfuture visitors and the possibility of seeingthe Bison in captivity, semi-free or in totalfreedom will provide tourists with a reasonto remain in the area for longer. The newenvironmental educational trails that aredesigned to provide a better idea of thepark’s biodiversity will be another point ofattraction.At the moment the region’s mineralisedwaters are not sufficiently exploited,despite representing a good opportunityfor economic and social growth, and onlytwo spas operate, neither of which is promotedwell enough to attract more healthtourists.In an area of such great interest for nationaland international tourism, the developmentof sustainable tourism is a complexbusiness, mainly due to the joint presencein the same area of monasteries, a natural,montane landscape of rare beauty andethno-folkloric traditions, to which we canadd the historical and cultural significanceof the spas.Impacts on the natural environmentTraditional activities have less impact onthe environment. However, in the near301

future tourism and other forest-relatedactivities will begin to have a far greaterimpact on the area.The main activities that have negativeimpacts on the area are wood extractionand industrialisation. The excessivemechanisation of timber extraction (traditionally,horse- and oxen-drawn cartswere used to extract logs of much smallersize) since new tractors and high capacityand velocity trucks began to be used forlogging means greater impact on forests(specifically on trunks, roots, saplings andsoils). New forest tracks are required,along with roads for these kinds of tractorsand modern roads for the new trucks.Logging takes place on slopes and thecollecting and transportation of cut timberoccurs along riversides, which leads to aprogressive degradation of aquaticecosystems as vegetation is cut back. Inorder to obtain short-term profit with lowinvestment, the initial industrialisation ofour area only aimed to extract timber thatcould be processed cheaply (dried,steamed or made into furniture parts).This means a large volume of wood isextracted for a final product with a lowprice per unit. A large percentage of thistimber is exported and only a small partgoes to Romanian furniture factories. As aresult a lot of sawdust is deposited inwater courses and only the largest companiesuse sawdust as fuel for their ownheating systems, the small companiesstore it up (in our area there are no facilitiesfor making bricks from sawdust asfuel). In areas where wood is extracted,illegal cutting occurs and logging isunpleasant for tourists who want toadmire the beautiful forests of the park.The process of returning the forests totheir former owners is as yet not complete.Logging activities continue to representa danger for biodiversity in theseforests due to a lack of law enforcement.Visitors are especially interested in themonasteries, but also visit the main naturalattractions and pass through theregion’s forests on its roads. Many visit themonasteries in the morning and then havebarbecues or picnics in the forest or onthe rivers banks, not far away from themain road. Most are willing to respect therules and regulations of a protected areain the vicinity of monasteries. Biodiversityis affected in this case by the enviromentalpollution caused in particular by rubbish,fires and car washing, but also ingeneral by the easy access by car to thepark (especially to the beautiful landscapebetween the monasteries in the Secu,Agapia and Nemtisor valleys). Conflictsoccur between tourists who pollute andthose who come to enjoy the park’s naturallandscapes and peacefulness. Illegalcamping is another problem that negativelyaffects the environment for longer302

periods of time and implies ditches dug,branches cut, fires lit and rubbish left inareas of natural quiet (hayfields, forestedges, etc.). Noise pollution disturbsgame. There is also a problem with chaoticdomestic and tourist waste disposalcaused by lack of both education and anintegrated waste system (collection,transportation, storage and recycling).Some threats to the preservation of thelocal way of life are caused by the appearanceof so-called modernity and investorswith financial possibilities but no desire toobserve the traditions of the area and thetype of development carried out to date.Impacts on the spiritual and culturalaspects of the siteThe main economic activity in forestsbelonging to the Orthodox Church and animportant source of income for theMoldavian Archbishop is logging. Some ofthe logs are sawn in the monasteries’ ownsawmills for their own purpose (new constructions,repairs, etc.), while others aresold to the forestry companies. Monasteriesare organised in small communitiesand every large monastery owns foresttractors, log-lifters, chainsaws, in somecases small sawmills and even a wholetimber factory in the case of the Neamtmonastery. The need for timber and woodfor construction is great because everymonastery is aiming to build their ownnew facilities (a new shelter in the case ofAgapia, a new abbot’s house in Neamt,and a new hermitage in Sihastria). Despiteits claims to respect the environment, theOrthodox Church’s day-to-day needs anddevelopment requirements mean that itsforests are seen above all as sources ofincome.Tourism is another source of income formonasteries. Every monastery has its ownaccommodation facilities, some of whichare being modernised respectfully withgreat attention being paid to old Orthodoxtraditions, architecture, austerity and position.Elsewhere, most of the new facilitiesbeing built are modern and able to receivea great number of tourists, and alsorespect traditional styles. The number oftourists that use the monasteries’ facilitiesis increasing, although the ‘quality’ ofthese tourists is lower. Sometimes theloss of tradition because of pressure oftourists is the first step towards the loss ofsacred values of the site.The increasing number of tourists magnifiesthe problem of waste disposal andevery monastery seems to have its ownway of solving this problem. In the case ofthe monasteries near the roads, rubbish isleft in appropriate waste disposal points.However, at those monasteries and her-303

mitages where access by car is difficult,solid and liquid waste both represent areal threat to the environment.The Orthodox Church encourages natureconservation. The monasteries themselves,all places of worship, and their surroundingsare models of cleanliness andgood management. They are seen to playan important role in environmental education,sometimes even more so thanschools because of the force of the examplethey set. However, the protection ofcultural values is sometimes carried outwith a disregard for natural values. Theforest is taken into consideration in dailylife above all as a source of income, andnot as a reservoir of biodiversity. Otherhabitats such as pastures and hayfields,equally important for biodiversity, receivethe same treatment. In some cases, buildingsthat alter the landscape and that arelinked to the monasteries have been builtwithout full legal approval.Conservation perspectivesand sustainabilityTrends in the conservation of thesite’s natural heritageThe main actor promoting nature conservationin the area is the Vanatori-NeamtNatural Park, which is dependent on theNational Forest Authority and the Ministry ofthe Environment and Water Manage-ment.As of 2003, the Natural Park has a managementplan whose main objectives are:Maintain biodiversity;Develop and implement strategy forfree-living ßison;Encourage certification of forest management;Attract tourists and promote local values;Help communities to keep local traditionsand values;Promote and support park-friendlyactivities;Involve public and local communitiesthrough education and public awarenessactivities;Increase the capacity of the park’sadministration and promote closecooperation with all stakeholders.The whole of the park has been proposedas a Natura 2000 site as a result of a biodiversitymonitoring and inventory programme.In order to increase the numberof Bison and to improve their geneticquality, three importations of stock havebeen carried out so far and all the facilitiesfor the Bison reintroduction have beenbuilt (quarantine farm, acclimatisationarea, veterinary laboratory, etc.). Theforestry certificate has been obtained andevery year the certification body carries304

out a monitoring visit. Public interestrevolves around only the most spectacularand well -known elements of the region’snatural heritage: the European Bison,bears, wolves, lynx, yews and the BrassWood and Silver Forest reserves. In orderto inculcate a greater sense of unity in allthe stakeholders in the area and to obtainfurther support for its natural heritage, thepark administration has developed a smallgrants programme and a number of itsown projects. The success of the smallgrants programmes can be measured bythe fulfilment of all of the objectives proposedand also by a greater cohesion inthe park’s activities as a whole.An example of one of the park’s own projectsis the ‘Bison Land’ initiative. Themain idea of this educational and supportcampaign was to use the European Bisonas a flagship species for the area and tointegrate local communities –be theyinside or just outside the park– into acommon micro-region called ‘BisonLand’. After the first year, five local councilsin the area around the Vanatori-NeamtNatural Park agreed to promote a commonpolicy regarding the reintroduction ofthe Bison and nature protection. Likewise,local environmental NGOs also agreed tojoin together in a ‘Bison Land Coalition’ inorder to provoke local interest in the projectSihla Monastery, traditional shelters for hermits; Vanatori-Neamt.

and promote ecological education andpublic awareness regarding the importanceof the presence of the European Bison inthe region. A cultural revival of local pridehas manifested itself in the form of a rekindledinterest in ancient myths and legendsinvolving the Bison and further research intotraditional handicrafts using the Bison as alocal symbol. This experience and the collaborationof local communities will be usefulin future work.In 2006 the park’s new Visitor/InformationCentre was opened. The importance of thiscentre is twofold: it aims not only to promotethe natural heritage of the area, butalso to support local communities in themove towards long-term sustainable development.It also serves as a community centrefor the area and the importance of itsrole in the promotion of the various differentprogrammes being carried out in the parkcannot be overemphasised.The surface area of the special conservationzones within the park has increasedfrom 56 ha to 653 ha. After the Bison arereleased and monitoring begins, furtherareas will be proposed as special conservationzones (above all, the areas preferredby Bison). In these areas, no humanactivity will be allowed (only scientificresearch and strictly controlled tourism).Another 250 ha of special conservationarea have been designated as a ‘secularforest of outstanding value’ to protect theyew forests.Trends in the protection of the culturaland spiritual heritageAll the monasteries have been restored: insome cases, just certain details have beenimproved (Agapia), in other cases modernheating systems are being installed and/orcells and other adjacent constructions arebeing improved. In monastic areas, onlychurch buildings are allowed. Some of theprojects for the monasteries have been initiatedwith European Union funds (roadimprovements, water and waste management,etc.). Owing to both its traditionalstatus and current social conditions, theOrthodox Church is seen as a very credibleinstitution and is currently expanding. Newchurches, monasteries, hermitages andshrines are being built in cities, towns,communes and isolated places, as well asin protected areas. This expansion and itscharacteristics are part of the Church’sstrategy, which is of private and not publicconcern.RecommendationsIt is obvious that the conservation of thenatural heritage and the protection of thecultural and spiritual heritage have a lot in306

common. It is much easier to protectsacred sites if the surrounding natural heritageis also being conserved. As well, theexistence of a sacred site implies thatenvironmental protection will also have aspiritual component. The strategies ofprotecting a natural environment andmaintaining faith are not antagonistic inthe long term. Problems appear in theshort term when debate centres on howstrategies aiming to protect both of thesetendencies are to be implemented. It iseasy to fall into the trap of regarding thegreat numbers of tourists that are attractedto the region’s sacred places as ablight on the protected areas. A lot ofwork has still to be done to transform thisflux of visitors into a true blessing for thepark – this means ‘converting’ thesetourists into protectors of the region’s naturalheritage by means of environmentaleducation. The only possible way of doingthis is for all interested parties to worktogether on as many common initiativesas possible.Sacred Natural Sites must be well definedand finally officially recognised by nationallegislation (according to Romanian lawthere are a number of different ways ofdefining the Sacred Natural Sites that arenot particularly specific: “ … areas that protecthistorical monuments with significantnational interest” (Law 345/2006 ), or “…forested areas in the areas around archaeological,architectural, historical and culturalsites” (Technical Normative nº. 3 forForestry).Sacred natural sites must be included inthe legal limits of protected areas (accordingto Romanian law, a protected area cancontain special conservation zones, zonesof exceptional biodiversity, sustainabledevelopment zones, tourist developmentzones, etc.).Obtaining a high level of protection forsacred natural sites will imply some economicrestraints being put on owners(Natural Forest Administration, monasteries,private owners). In this case, some kindof compensation is required.An integrated management plan drawn upon the basis of public consultation and theexisting management plan is required forthe sacred natural sites already included inprotected areas. This new plan, based oncriteria of spiritual and nature conservationfor the Sacred Natural Sites, must take thefollowing into account:The main goal of the plan must be theprotection of the region’s spiritual andcultural heritage.Internal zoning: the Sacred NaturalSites must have a high level of protectionwithin an area of sufficient size. In307

the case of the most spiritually importantsites within a single protectedarea, a network of Sacred NaturalSites must be established.Other than religious activities the otheractivities that are permissible in theseareas must be defined. According toRomanian law, Sacred Natural Sites inforest areas can be included, for example,in category TII, which allows only fortimber extraction for conservation purposes.According to the HighConservation Value Forest Guide (WWF,IKEA), the Sacred Natural Sites can beincluded in HCVF 6: “Forested areasneeded for the protection of the traditionalcultural identity of local communities”.In important ecological, economic, culturaland religious zones closely linked tolocal communities, conservation and cuttingaimed at natural regeneration areallowed.Joint environmental and religious publicawareness and education programmesmust be implemented in order to emphasizethe wonderful mixture of natural andspiritual features in the region.The strict visiting rules for monasteriesand other sacred places must be extendedto the whole of the sacred natural site.Waste management (collecting, transportation,storage and recycling) must beimproved. This problem can be tackledby involving the waste disposal servicesof the nearby towns and the provision ofdisposal facilities at sacred sites. Thistask is highly necessary for the religiouscommunities and local tourist industry. Itis important to solve the waste disposalproblem because it has a great environmentalimpact on the area and alsobecause it sets a good example for allvisitors to the area.Sustainable development for the area:certification is necessary, not only for theforest and for the wood-processing industry(chain of custody), but also for agriculture(organic farming), tourism, etc.. Theuse of local products must be encouragedand local brands and trade marksfor products and services specific to thearea must also be officially recognised andpromoted.The interview questionnaire for theVanatori-Neamt Natural Park has an extrachapter entitled ‘Property/Administration’.The question “What kind of property doyou think assures the best protection forthe natural heritage?” was answered asfollows: 60% said state property, 35%both state and private property and 5%private property. The same question forspiritual and cultural heritage received thefollowing answers: 65% said state proper-308

ty, 20% both state and private propertyand 5% private property. In the case of theSacred Natural Sites inside a protectedarea, 82% of people said that the runningof the Sacred Natural Sites is best carriedout by the administration of the protectedareas, whereas in the case of SacredNatural Sites not in a protected area, 35%of people said that administration is bestcarried out by land-owners, while 42%suggested other organisations.References■ Chifu, T. (1987) Flora si vegetatia judetuluiNeamt (the flora and vegetation of theNeamt region). Mem.sect.st. Acad. Rom.,X, 1;281-302.■Davidescu, G., Onofrei, T. (1998) TirguNeamt si imprejurimile (Targu Neamt andthe surrounding area), Editura “Egal”, Bacu.■Deju, R., Iorgu, O. (2003) Parcul NaturalVanatori Neamt- diversitate biologica(Vanatori Neamt Natural park-Biologicaldiversity), Editura “ Autograf”, Piatra Neamt.■Erika Stanciu, Maria Mihul, GeorgeDinucu (coord) et al., (2004) GhidulPadurilor cu Valoare Ridicata de Conservare(High Conservation Value ForestGuide), WWF, IKEA■Forest Advocacy Center of Ministry ofForest (1988) Norme tehnice pentru silvicultura(Technical Normative for Forestry),Ministry of Forestry309

7. The Montserrat DeclarationOn sacred natural sites in technologically developedcountriesTAKING INTO ACCOUNT the papers andcase studies from three continents presentedduring the Montserrat Workshopon Nature and Spirituality, held on 23-26November 2006 in the Monastery ofMontserrat in Catalonia, Spain, within theframework of the IUCN/WCPA DelosInitiative, part of the Task Force onCultural and Spiritual Values of ProtectedAreas, as well as the discussions that followed;BENEFITING from the knowledge andexperience of the 40 participants from 8countries, including representatives ofChristian and Buddhist monasteries, international,national and local environmentalauthorities and conservation organisations,academics and individual experts;APPRECIATING the work carried out bythe Delos Initiative during the past twoyears on sacred natural sites in technologicallydeveloped countries;REALISING that sacred natural sites areunder threat even in developed countriesfrom ignorance and neglect, andspecifically from cultural or spiritualbreakdown, unsustainable developmentprojects and resource exploitation,urbanization, mass tourism and lack ofappropriate land-use planning and control;The participants of the workshopMAINTAIN that the sacred has been oneof the most powerful drivers or realitiesfor conservation, inspiring feelings ofawe, veneration and respect. Sacrednatural sites, landscapes, species andindividual elements have been one ofthe most effective forms of nature conservationover the ages, some are oflocal significance, whereas others havesignificance for wider groups, cultures,traditions, and regions;RECOGNISE that nature has intrinsicvalues and meanings, including culturaland spiritual, and is understood by followersof various faiths and spiritual traditionsas a divine manifestation ofsome deeper, sacred reality, howeverthat may be conceived;< Degotalls trail, Montserrat; start of the Catalan pilgrim’s trail to Santiago de Compostela.311

FURTHER RECOGNISE that to ensurelong-term sustainability, conservationgoals, programs and messages needto be grounded in deeply held values,beliefs, ideas, and practices. The conservationcommunity needs to recognizethese aspects and give thesedeeply held values, beliefs, ideas, andpractices the place that they deserve inthe conservation of protected areas.This constitutes both a challenge and agreat opportunity to build support forthe conservation movement, involvingpartners and stakeholders that up tothe present have not been supportive,because they felt excluded by thematerialistic outlook that nature conservationhas often adopted;RECOGNISE AND CONFIRM the actualexistence of sacred natural sites in all of theIUCN categories of protected areas foundin technologically developed countries;FURTHER CONFIRM that the spiritualaspects of sacred sites in protected areascan contribute significantly to the conservationof natural heritage in various ways,mainly by raising awareness in the faithful,inspiring people and involving them inconservation initiatives;safeguarded both from insensitive publicand private development and frompolitical ignorance and that their participationin determining the future of protectedareas must be ensured;ACKNOWLEDGE that the appropriatemanagement of protected areas canenhance the maintenance of the spiritualvalues of sacred natural sites, thuscreating positive synergy among natural,cultural and spiritual values not onlyfor protected sites, but for nature ingeneral;FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGE that positivesynergies between natural, cultural andspiritual values extend to sacred sitesbeyond the boundaries of designatedProtected Areas and therefore functionas a vehicle for supporting and communicatingnature conservation;MAINTAIN that such synergy can beestablished only through close andequitable collaboration between the traditionalcustodians of sacred sites andthose in charge of the management ofprotected areas, with mutual respectthe prerogatives and responsibilities onboth sides;INSIST that the diachronic rights of thecustodians of sacred sites must beSUGGEST that dialogue between thesetwo sides should be encouraged and312

strengthened, so that objectives andrequirements can be fully understood anda common language and —eventually— acommon approach, which integrates bothviews, can be developed;FURTHER SUGGEST that a future goalshould be the development and implementationof integrated managementplans for sacred natural sites, whichwould take into account both spiritual andnature conservation goals; such plans,however, must be prepared with the fullparticipation of all those concerned;POINT OUT that any management measuresconcerning cultural, spiritual and naturalvalues in sacred natural sites mustrespect the universal rights of people andbe based on a broad participatory approach;PLEAD FOR CAUTION that particular careshould be devoted to sites in protectedareas that are sacred for indigenous andtraditional peoples and for minorities; inaddition, the role and contribution of newimmigrants must be taken into account;INDICATE that education and art canplay a key role in creating a climate ofco-operation and understanding inregard to sacred natural sites;ENCOURAGE the Delos Initiative tocontinue its work in facilitating integrationprocesses between the spiritualfaithgroups and the natureconservation organizations and consequentlydevelop and disseminate guidanceon the integrated management ofsacred natural sites;FINALLY EXPRESS THEIR GRATITUDEto the Monastery of Montserrat, theBoard of the Mountain of Montserrat,the Ministry of Environment andHousing of the Government ofCatalonia, the Fundació Territori iPaisatge (Caixa Catalunya savingsbank), and the Delos Co-ordination forthe excellent organisation of theMontserrat Workshop.SUGGEST that in places where multiplefaiths coexist, a diversity of perspectivesmust be recognised, and the collaborationbetween these faiths in workon nature conservation, emphasizingshared values, must be promoted;313

314

8. AcknowledgementsThis volume is the result of the collectiveeffort of a large number of people and weare grateful to all of them, as well as to allthe authors and participants in theWorkshop.The Montserrat Workshop would not havebeen possible without the generous supportof the Governing Board of theMountain of Montserrat, the Ministry ofthe Presidency of Catalonia, the CatalanMinistry of the Environment and Housing,and the Fundació Territori i Paisatge(Caixa Catalunya savings bank), as well asthe collaboration of Metsahallitus-NaturalHeritage of Finland and Fundación deEstudios Tradicionales.Moral support was provided by theMonastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat,in particular from Father Ramon Ribera-Mariné, and Father Ignasi Fossas, JordiFalgarona and Mariona Ortí of the SileneAssociation were in charge of the logisticsbefore, during and after the workshop.Mike Lockwood revised the English of allof the texts, and also translated from theoriginal Catalan the opening addressesand the different view points of theMontserrat case study, as well as SantosCasado’s paper from the original Spanish.The photographs in this volume are by:■ Òscar Bardají and Pere Grima (p.163)■ Josep Bellver i Palou (p. 54)■ Edwin Bernbaum (pp. 20, 44, 100, 104,109, 113, 200, 205, 208, 213 and 287)■ Santos Casado de Otaola (pp. 46, 58,and 67)■ Sebastian Catanoiu (pp. 288, 293, 297and 300)■ Héctor Garrido, CSIC-EBD (pp. 174,182 and 190)■ Jesús García-Varela (pp. 70 and 194)■ Pere Grima (pp. 146 and 163)■Liza Higgins-Zogib (pp. 119, 120 and144).■ Petros Kakouros / EKBY (p. 262)■ Ramon Lamarca i Morell (p. 199)■ Josep-Maria Mallarach i Carrera (pp. 12,17, 28 , 34, 62, 75, 76, 86, 95, 142, 150,154, 159, 270, 305 and 310)■ Metsahälltitus (pp.164, 236, 240 and 245)■ Makoto Motonaka (pp. 278 and 283)■ Eija Ojanlatva (pp. 169 and 173)■ Mariona Ortí (pp. 41 and 139)■ Thymio Papayannis, MED-INA (pp. 255,259 and 275)■ Ana Ramírez Torres (p. 178)315

■ Vicenç Santamaria (p. 134)■ Isabel Soria (pp. 218, 223, 227, 231and 235)■ Montserrat Vilalta (p. 250)■ Antonio Yrigoy (p. 50)■ Maps (pp. 154 and 266) were preparedby Carlos López, Geodata.We are also grateful to the following people,who collaborated in different ways inobtaining certain images: Eulàlia Comas,Irini Lyratzaki, Águeda Villa Díaz, Josep-Maria Henríquez, Mari Laukkanen, Carles-Xavier Noriega and Miquel Rafa.316

Appendix 1Montserrat: Nature and Spirituality1st Workshop of the Delos InitiativeProgrammeFriday, 24 NovemberMonastery of Montserrat23-26 November 2006Catalonia, SpainThursday, 23 NovemberArrival around 16:0017:00■ Welcome and introductions of the participants.■Presentation of the workshop’s goalsand schedule■Short introduction about facilities andlogistics.18:45Vespers19:30Welcome from the Prior of the Monastery.20:15Dinner09:00Coffee09:30Opening of the workshop■Ramon Ribera-Mariné, Prior of theMonastery■ Jordi López, President, SteeringCommittee Natural Park Mountain ofMontserrat■ Miquel Rafa, Head of projects, FundacióTerritori i Paisatge - Caixa Catalunya savingbank■Ramon Luque, Director, Directorate-General for the Natural Environment,Ministry of the Environment and Housing,Autonomous Government of Catalonia■ Puri Canals, IUCN vice-president10:00Speeches■Jesús García-Varela: Nature and Spirituality.■Gonzalo Oviedo: Protected Areas andSacred Natural Sites of Indigenous andTraditional People317

■Edwin Bernbaum: The experience of theSacred Mountains Program■Santos Casado: Spiritual values in thehistory of protected areas of Spain■■Discussion.Session title: The case study of Montserrat.11:30Introduction to the case study ofMontserrat, followed by a guided visit tothe Sant Joan area of old hermitages, ledby the Prior of the Monastery and theDirector of the Natural Park.13:30Picnic at the Holy Grotto hermitage15:30The holy mountain of MontserratPresentations by:17:00Questions and answers17:30Coffee-break17:45Conclusions and recommendations, byJosep-Maria Mallarach18:30End of the sessionSaturday, 25 NovemberSession title: Presentation of the DelosInitiative case studies9:15First session■Ramon Ribera-Mariné, Prior of theMonastery■Jordi Lopez, President, ExecutiveCommittee Board of the MontserratMountain■ Josep Altayó, manager of L’ARSA, publicservices at the Monastery ofMontserrat■Xavier Ariño, Catalan Federation ofHiking and Climbing Clubs■Francesc Diego, Department of theEnvironment and Housing of Catalonia■ Mount Athos, Thymio Papayannis■ Vanatori – Neamt Natural Park, SebastianCataniou■ Kii Mountain Range, Bas Verschuuren■ Questions and answers10:15Coffee-Break10:45Second session■ Kolovesi rock paintings, Matti Määtta318

■ Ajji / Ukonsaari, Yryo Norokörpi■Smoky Mountains National Park, dwinBernbaum■ Questions and answersSunday, 26 NovemberSession title: Conclusions and proposalsfor the Delos Initiative12:00Third session■ El Rocío -Doñana protected areas, JordiFalgarona■ Meteora, Thymio Papayannis■ Questions and answers13:30LunchSession title: Case studies and lessonslearned■ Holy Island of Arran, Isabel Soria■Contribution of sacred natural sites tonature conservation, Liza Higgins-Zogib16:00Open discussion about the diagnoses,chaired by Thymio Papayannis17:00Coffee-break17:10Open discussion about the recommendations,chaired by Edwin Bernbaum9:15■Last open session: Thymio Papayannisand Josep-Maria Mallarach■Contributions to the UNESCO-IUCNGuidelines on sacred natural sites■Proposals to further develop the DelosInitiative■Conclusions and outputs of the workshop11:30Coffee-break and free time.12:00Salve Regina and Virolai (hymn of theBlack Madonna) by the Escolania ofMontserrat (one of the oldest boy’s choirsin Europe).13:30■ Farewell lunch.■Visit to the Les Agulles and Coll de laMassana areas, northern section of thePark, guided by Miquel Rafa, FundacióTerritori i Paisatge (Caixa Catalunya savingsbank).■ Return to Barcelona.31918:30End of the session.

Secretariat:Josep-Maria Mallarach,e-mail: mallarach@silene.esWeb sites:■ The Delos Initiative:www.med-ina.org/delos■ Monastery of Montserrat:www.abadiamontserrat.net■Natura Park of the Mountain of Montserratwww.muntanyamontserrat.net/parc_natural_index.php320

Minimizing the enviromentalimpact of the workshop:Compensating CO 2 emissionsStrategies and actions for nature conservationcannot be understood in isolationfrom social and poverty issues andthe impacts of global climate change.To be really effective and sustainable,we argue that actions should not onlybased on technical decisions, butshould also be rooted in the deepestbeliefs, in the cultural and spiritual valuesof the society.Following the Guidelines for eventgreening 1 , we acknowledge that theDelos Workshop in Montserrat, as anyother similar event, necessarily createssome negative environmental impacts.In our case, we concluded that the mainenvironmental impacts were caused bythe carbon emissions during participant’soutings, including trips to andfrom the airport and the field trip on thelast day, plus the emissions inherent inoperating venues and event activities.Offsetting the carbon footprint can bedone in several ways. The first step is tocalculate the amount of carbon emissionsand the second is to calculate itseconomic value. Following the methodologyof “ZEROCO 2 ” proposed byFundació Natura 2 , a local NGO workingin nature conservation, we calculatedthe total amount of emissions.Once the calculation was done, the nextstep was to invest money to mitigateand compensate the impacts of theemissions. A common way is fundingtree plantations to offset estimated carbonemissions. An alternative option,which we decided to follow after consultationwith leading members of theIUCN Strategic Direction on Governance,Communities, Equity, and LivelihoodRights in Relation to ProtectedAreas (TILCEPA), was to give money toa reliable local organization created tohelp poor people affected by climatechange catastrophes.The Silene Association, as organizer ofthe first workshop of The Delos Initiative,made a donation to compensate theimpact of the CO2 emissions producedby the participants of the workshop toPahamune House, Paha-mune1 Baillie, A. (2004) Leaving a Greening Legacy: Guidelines for event greening. Published by the GautengDepartment of Agriculture, Conservation and Lands Affairs in collaboration with GEF, UNDP and IUCN.Available from www.iucn. org/publications/greening. For information about the zero emissions project, see:http://www.ceroco2.org/Default.aspx.2 For information about the zero emissions project, see: http://www.ceroco2.org/Default.aspx.321

Narammala, in the Kurune-gala District(NWP), Sri Lanka, a centre that rehabilitatesTsunami-affected children and otherchildren in distress. Paha-mune House isa project run by A.M.M. ShahabdeenTrust Foundation, from Sri Lanka 3 .In coherence with the guiding principlesof The Delos Initiative, the modest contributionmade to Pahamune House isthe beginning of a relationship betweenSilene and the A.M.M Sahabdeen TrustFoundation, which aims to develop andorganise environmental educationalactivities for the children at PahamuneHouse. We hope that such awarenesswill help the children conserve natureand understand the spiritual aspect andlinks between all religious traditionsexisting in Sri Lanka. This in turn, shouldhighlight the related ethical and moralattitudes, and emphasise the spiritualresponsibility of every individual to protectthe earth they live in.3 For information about the A.M.M. Shahabdeen Trust Foundation see: http://www.ammstrustfoundation.org/pahamuna2.htm322

Appendix 2ParticipantsJosep Altayó i AgustíDirector GeneralL’Agrícola Regional, SA – l’ARSA081199 Montserrat, SpainTel. +34 93 8777710Xavier AriñoPresidentFederació d’Entitats Excursionistes deCatalunyaFederació Catalana d’Alpinisme i EscaladaRambla 41, Pral.08002 BarcelonaTel. +34 93 4120777Ramon Bisbal i BaróDirectorParc Natural de la Muntanya de Montserrat08199 Montserrat, SpainTel. +34 93 8777701Purificació Canals i VentínIUCN Vice-PresidentDEPANA President – Lliga per a la Defensadel Patrimoni NaturalSant Salvador 9708024 Barcelona, SpainTel. +34 93-2104679Santos Casado de OtaolaFundación Interuniversitaria FernandoGonzález-BernáldezFacultad de Ciencias, Módulo C-XVI,despacho 504.5Universidad Autónoma de Madrid28049 Madrid, SpainTel. +34 91 4977676Sebastian CatanoiuVanatori Neamt Natural ParkVanatori, str. Zimbrului nr.2Jud. NeamtRomaniaTel: + 40 726303Francesc Diego i VivesCap de Servei de ParcsDepartament de Medi Ambient i HabitatgeDr. Roux, 8008017 Barcelona, SpainTel. + 34- 93 5674200Jordi Falgarona i BoschParc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de laGarrotxaAvinguda de Santa Coloma, s/n17800 Olot, SpainTel: +34 972 266202323

Jesús García-VarelaFundación de Estudios TradicionalesApart. Correos 20507800 Eivissa, SpainLiza Higgins-ZogibProtected Areas Officer, Forests for LifeWWF International1196 Gland, SwitzerlandTel: +4122 364 9009Jordi López i CampsPresident de la Comissió ExecutivaPatronat de la Muntanya de MontserratVia Laietana, 46 A pral. 2108003 Barcelona, SpainTel. +34-932956810Thymio PapayannisMed-INA (Mediterranean Institute forNature and Anthropos)23 Voucourestiou Street10671 Athens, GreeceTel: +30210 3600712-4Mariona OrtíAssociació SileneAv Colòmbia 717800 Olot, SpainGonzalo OviedoUICN- The World Conservation Union28 Rue de Mauverney1196 GlandSwitzerlandJosep-Maria Mallarach i CarreraSilene AssociationApartat de Correus 14817800 Olot, SpainTel. +34 972 266599Matti MäättäMetsähallitus, Natural Heritage ServicesAkselinkatu 8SF- 57130 Savonlinna, FinlandYrjö NorokorpiMetsähallitusNatural Heritage ServicesLapland DistrictP.O. Box 8016FIN-96101 Rovaniemi, FinlandMiquel Rafa i ForniellesFundació Territori i PaisatgeCaixa CatalunyaEdifici La PedreraProvença 261-265 2n 2a08008 BarcelonaTel. +34 93 4847367Ramon Ribera-MarinéPriorAbadia de Montserrat08199 Montserrat, SpainTel. +34 93 8777765324

Isabel Soria GarcíaUniversity of EdinburghScotland, United KingdomMobile: +34 692542570Bas VerschuurenCultural Values of Nature InitiativeWageningen URPO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen,The NetherlandsTel: +31317-485089,Mobile+31-(0)6-49393904Carles Castell i PuigÀrea d’Espais NaturalsDiputació de BarcelonaComte d’Urgell, 18708036 Barcelona, SpainTel. +34 93 4022896Ignasi Fossas i ColetStewardAbadia de Montserrat08199 Montserrat, SpainTel. +34 93 8777765ObserversXavier Aparicio i TorrentsPatronat de la Muntanya de MontserratVia Laietana, 46 A, pral. 2108003 Barcelona, SpainTel. +34 93 2956810Aleix BadiaParc Natural de la Muntanya deMontserrat08199 Montserrat, SpainTel. +34 93 8777701Òscar BardajíCap del departament de Premsa iComunicació de MontserratAbadía de Montserrat08199 Montserrat, SpainTel. + 34 93 8777775Ngawang Dorje / Jordi GomezMonestir Sakya Tashi LingManager Fundació PrevainPalau Novella, Parc del GarrafOlivella, Apartat de Correus 22608860 Castelldefels, SpainGloria PungettiCambridge Centre for Landscape andPeopleUniversity of CambridgeCambridge, United KingdomKenty Richardson i ProvansalDirecció General de Polítiques AmbientalsDepartament de Medi Ambient i HabitatgeGeneralitat de CatalunyaAv. Diagonal 523-52508019 Barcelona, SpainTel. +34 93 4445000325

Lluc M. TorcalAbadia de Poblet43430 Vimbodí i Poblet, SpainTel. +34 977 870089Mikel ZabalaFacultat de BiologiaUniversitat de BarcelonaAv. Diagonal, 64508028 Barcelona, SpainTel. +34 93 4021509NOTE: These details were updated at thetime of the Workshop in November 2006.Some may have changed since then.326

327

328