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Sacred Conservation

by
Scope Correspondent
In order to study the butterflies, evolutionary biologist Janice Bossart needed a sacrificial sheep. The offering (part of a ceremony to appease Ghanaian tribal elders and the gods) would gain Bossart access to the sacred grove where centuries of religious protection had preserved local forest habitat creating a safe haven for butterfly species.

Bossart’s research is part of a growing trend—exploring how modern conservation efforts are not only compatible, but often more effective, when combined with incumbent religious practices protecting natural areas. This success has caused some researchers to propose a formal partnering of the two.

To Bossart, all the rigmarole to get into sacred forests is good news. When it comes to these groves, “The ones that have weaker protective measures are not as high quality as the ones that have strong protective measures,” said Bossart, citing the noticeably better health of the latter (they generally had fewer gaps in their canopies). Protective measures vary depending on cultures but take the form of anything that restricts or discourages people from exploiting the sacred area, such as involved permission ceremonies, local patrolling by religious officials, or taboos condemning harmful resource extraction or even entrance.

While the marriage of conservation and religion makes many nervous, scientists may be becoming less hesitant. “There have been some successes. There’s no doubt about it, conservation does work, but there have been so many failures. Once you begin to realize that some of the real on-the-ground successes that you find all over the world have nothing to do with the conservation movement, and have everything to do with religious beliefs, the temptation is tremendous to try to bring the two together,” said Jan Salick, who has been studying sacred space-conservation links for over ten years.

Studies linking indigenous cultural beliefs to ecological biodiversity have cropped up worldwide over the past two decades with varying foci, such as birds in China, plants in India, and small mammals and bats in Africa.

The successes of this conservation linkage have not gone under the radar. In 2005, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) published a 143-page research report titled Beyond Belief: Linking faiths and protected areas to support biodiversity conservation, in which it was stated, “Sacred areas are probably the oldest form of habitat protection on the planet and still form a large and mainly unrecognized network of sanctuaries around the world.” Three years later, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), released Sacred Natural Sites: Guidelines for Protected Area Managers.

A new study may convince skeptics that the idea of mixing conservation with religion is not unscientific. Last year, Xiaoli Shen of Peking University released “the first systematic study on the spatial distribution and management functions of Tibetan sacred sites across a large scale as well as their potential role in conservation.” While previous research sought to establish sacred spaces as biodiversity strongholds, Shen’s team focuses on how to apply that link.

In an effort to illuminate the social mechanisms behind how sacred space management leads to conservation, Shen and her team spent from 2004 to 2007 conducting a thorough investigation of 213 sacred mountains in the Ganzi province, one of the most biologically diverse temperate ecosystems in the world. The researchers visited 74 monasteries and mapped 154 sacred mountains, documenting how the local monastery managed the site; the site boundaries; its associated spiritual significance, taboos and legends; how many families or communities worshiped a given mountain; and to what extent the sacred site overlapped with official nature reserves.

The study also sought to explore how sacred spaces overlapped with established natural reserves in areas like cooperation and geography. Nearly a third of the surveyed sacred mountains were wholly or partially located within one of the 17 nature reserves. But few of the monasteries, whether located within a reserve or outside of one, had written or oral agreements with the government for management.

A majority of the monasteries, though, were active on their own. Seventy-three percent assigned a specific person for sacred site management, and about sixty-four percent actively patrolled their area. A sampling of the monasteries showed that the major impediments to improved management were lack of funding, pressure on resources, lack of legal recognition or government support, and lack of human resources.

The higher degree of conservation in Tibetan sacred areas is not just quantifiable under a microscope, it is visible to the naked eye, said Shen, who mentioned blue sheep, white-lipped deer, wolf, pheasants and black bear as regular residents “I have seen them all and all were seen near the sacred places,” said Shen.

Tibet’s preservation successes have caused some to call it a renegade of the basic law of environment and economy: that environmental state rises with local income level. Tibet’s high emphasis on nature’s intrinsic value is likely what allowed it to evolve differently, wrote Shen in a related paper echoing her Ph.D. advisor, Lu Zhi. “Lu Zhi saw an exception to this rule in the Tibetan region where people highly value the mountains, rivers, trees, and wild animals on their land.” Shen herself pointed out that she “…had never seen such a place with crystal clear rivers, snow-capped mountains, and blue sky.”

Tibet’s emphasis on nature can be attributed to its dominant religion, Buddhism. The article cites past studies emphasizing that Buddhist values—such as universal respect of life, the high esteem of land and the protection of natural deities—are often linked with the well-being of local people, their land and the accumulation of “merits for individuals in the pursuit of eternal happiness”.

However, the story of natural protection in Tibet goes back much further than Buddhism. Others have pointed out that sacred sites have been protected there for centuries due to pre-Buddhist religious traditions. Despite the promise sacred sites offer for conservation efforts, the best practice route is not clear-cut. Sacred sites differ in size, social constructs, threats, and recognition. They can take many forms, including lakes, forbidden areas, pilgrimage routes, mountains, forest groves, relics or even an individual tree. Additionally, not all sacred sites are cared for equally. The preservation of a site depends on how much the traditional practices associated with the sites, are still in place, “but unfortunately for a lot of them, not very many,” said Bossart of areas she had worked in.

The danger to sacred sites can also vary. In Tibet they can run the gamut—from tourism or hunting to road construction, mining, and hydropower development. “The big problem in Tibet, of course, is that the government runs conservation and the government is Chinese and they do not recognize religion. They’ve gotten to the point where they’re interested in working with local people, but they’re not convinced that working with religion is part of their mandate. In China, it is much more difficult than other places. In Nepal, it can be quite easy. Depending on the country and what the political situation is, it can be more or less easy,” said Salick.

Despite difficulties, successful alliances of Tibetan communities with scientists, policy makers, and outside society, is not far off. Shen’s upcoming study dissects how a non-governmental organization, the Shanshui Conservation Center, is successfully bridging the gap between these communities for the benefit of ecological and cultural preservation.

While Tibet as a case study yields a promising outlook, turning its approaches into a one-size-fits-all solution for the rest of the world would be naive. There is a great diversity in local people, sacred spaces, terrains, threats, and “…many visions of sacredness as well,” said Salick. It is “…a daunting endeavor from any perspective and in any country,” ends Bossart’s recent paper, “But that’s certainly what needs to happen,” she said.

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