Cultural and Spiritual Significance of Nature in Protected Areas: Governance, Management and Policy

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Bas Verschuuren, Steve Brown
Routledge, Aug 15, 2018 - Social Science - 334 pages

Cultural and spiritual bonds with ‘nature’ are among the strongest motivators for nature conservation; yet they are seldom taken into account in the governance and management of protected and conserved areas. The starting point of this book is that to be sustainable, effective, and equitable, approaches to the management and governance of these areas need to engage with people’s deeply held cultural, spiritual, personal, and community values, alongside inspiring action to conserve biological, geological, and cultural diversity.

Since protected area management and governance have traditionally been based on scientific research, a combination of science and spirituality can engage and empower a variety of stakeholders from different cultural and religious backgrounds. As evidenced in this volume, stakeholders range from indigenous peoples and local communities to those following mainstream religions and those representing the wider public. The authors argue that the scope of protected area management and governance needs to be extended to acknowledge the rights, responsibilities, obligations, and aspirations of stakeholder groups and to recognise the cultural and spiritual significance that ‘nature’ holds for people.

The book also has direct practical applications. These follow the IUCN Best Practice Guidelines for protected and conserved area managers and present a wide range of case studies from around the world, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas.

 

Contents

Preface
1986
PART I
2013
Implications of the diversity of concepts and values of nature in
2021
Pathways for deepening connections between
2016
Mainstream faith participation in protected and conserved areas
2017
Implications
2010
Buddhism and the management of sacred sites for biodiversity
The significance of indigenous nature spirituality
The case of the Ramsar Convention on wetlands
Developing guidelines for integrating cultural and spiritual values into
Managing religious pilgrimage to sacred sites in Indian protected areas
Spiritual ecology and nature conservation
Batwa culture and the management of national parks
Human and nonhuman agency and conservation
Lessons
An Australian experience

Involving the general public
Defining new methods and strategies to further integrate
Connecting conservation practices for naturecultures
Reflections on the situational and relational contexts of cultural and spiritual
Index
Copyright

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About the author (2018)

Bas Verschuuren is a freelance biocultural adviser and associate researcher at the Department of Sociology of Development and Change at Wageningen University, the Netherlands. He combines his experience in conservation projects with applied research on the cultural, spiritual, and sacred dimensions of nature in management and policy.

Steve Brown is an honorary associate with the Museum and Heritage Studies Program at the University of Sydney, Australia. His research interests include: conceptualising and operationalising place-attachment in heritage theory and practice; the integration of naturecultures in the heritage management of protected areas; and the material culture of domestic homes and gardens.

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