What is sacred in sacred natural sites? A literature review from a conservation lens

Ecology and Society: a journal of integrative science for resilience and sustainability

article

Jaime Tatay¹  Amparo Merino¹ 

[1] Universidad Pontificia Comillas

关键词: Indigenous and community conserved areas;    Landscape management;    nature conservation;    protected areas;    sacred natural sites;    taboo;    traditional ecological knowledge;   

DOI  :  10.5751/ES-13823-280112

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Resilience Alliance Publications

【 摘 要 】

Sacred natural sites (SNS) are valuable biocultural hotspots and important areas for nature conservation. They areattracting a growing attention in academic, management, and political fora. The relevance and implications of the sacred nature ofthese sites for the multiple actors involved in their management is widely acknowledged. However, the complexities and ambiguitiessurrounding the notion of "the sacred" have not been researched in depth. Because few previous scholarly works have specificallyexamined a topic that has profound implications for conservation as well as for the communities inhabiting these sites, we aim to fillin the gap by unraveling the conceptualizations and assumptions of "the sacred" in academic, peer reviewed SNS publications. Througha systematic review of the literature performed from a conservation lens, our findings unveil that: (1) Conservationists and protectedareas managers have paid much more attention to SNS than social scientists and religious studies scholars; (2) The sacredness motiftends to be predominantly associated with taboos, bans, and regulations of community-managed resources; (3) The sacred is a highlycomplex concept often used in a binary, dichotomous way, as opposed to the profane and wild related; (4) An instrumental view ofthe sacred can limit the potential to include other intangible values in management and exclude relevant stakeholders; and (5) Theinsights from cultural anthropology, political ecology, and religious studies unveil the power dynamics and hidden assumptions thatoften go unnoticed in the literature. These perspectives should be included in the management of SNS and in policymaking.

【 授权许可】

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