Terralingua’s magazine Langscape has become a unique venue for promoting understanding and appreciation of biocultural diversity through high-quality text and images. A special issue of Langscape, “Sacred Natural Sites: Sources of Biocultural Diversity”, co-produced with the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative (SNSI) and guest-edited by Bas Verschuuren and Robert Wild, was distributed at the 5th World Conservation Congress. Handsomely designed and illustrated, and printed in full color, this issue contains a wealth of contributions from all over the world. Together, these articles paint a vivid portrait of Sacred Natural Sites, their value and significance, the threats they are undergoing, and the many initiatives underway to protect them.
This issue of Langscape (Vol. 2, Issue 11) was the first one to be disseminated not only in electronic form, but also in printed hardcover magazine format, thanks to our collaborative arrangement with SNSI. It was very well received at the Congress and throughout our network. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can download it here. Or if you’re interested in receiving a printed copy for a minimal cost, please contact the Langscape editor Ortixia Dilts at ortixia [at] terralingua.org .
The next issue of the magazine will be devoted to “emerging paradigms in BCD”, and will be guest-edited by Felipe Montoya Greenheck.
Terralingua was a co-presenter in Conservation Campus session “Learning from the Guardians of Sacred Natural Sites – Dialogue and Exchange” at the 5th World Conservation Congress organized by the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative . This conservation campus was one of a series of events organized together with Gaia Foundation, United Nations University Traditional Knowledge Initiative and the Sacred Land Film Project. SNSI is an outcome of the work of IUCN’s Specialist Group on the Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas. According to SNSI, “Sacred Natural Sites are being increasingly recognized as a resilient conservation network harboring biological and cultural diversity. Their contribution to biodiversity conservation is significant but… legal protection and related policies are often insufficient.” Therefore, this session aimed to bring policy makers, representatives of international organizations, conservationists, and civil society leaders together with custodians of Sacred Natural Sites, to “evaluate the options for international and national policy and practice in order to better legally recognize, safeguard and conserve Sacred Natural Sites”.
In one segment of this day-long session, devoted to “Custodian voices: Oral history and community film”, Terralingua and SNSI shared lessons learned from a recent collaboration on two participatory community videos focusing on Sacred Natural Sites in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The purpose of this collaboration was to give voice to Sacred Natural Sites custodians and other knowledgeable elders, and to highlight the relevance of preserving oral traditions relevant to the conservation of these sites. One of the two Zanzibar videos was shown at the session.
In their remarks throughout the session, custodians from a number of indigenous communities worldwide stressed the vital importance of their languages and oral traditions for preserving the cultural and spiritual values of Sacred Natural Sites. This highlights the need for more work linking the conservation of these sites with the documentation and revitalization of the related oral traditions. In response to this need, we aim to expand this aspect of our work under the umbrella of our Voices of the Earth project.
Alternate browser version: Lang_Vol2_Issue_11_alt (.pdf)
Join Terralingua and the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative as we explore the rich interconnections between Sacred Natural Sites and Biocultural Diversity.
Biocultural Diversity is a living network made up of the millions of species of plants and animals that have evolved in relationship with thousands of human cultures and languages. Languages, cultures, and ecosystems are interdependent. They’re bound together through the myriad ways in which people have interacted with the natural environment, material, social and spiritual.
Through a unique lens of stories, photographs, articles, and a diversity of perspectives this volume of Langscape introduces you to the value of Sacred Natural Sites as valuable sources of biocultural diversity. They are the amongst the oldest places at which intersecting human culture and wild nature have deeply shaped humanity. Their conservation is complex but important not only for the survival of biodiversity and cultural diversity but also for human well-being and life as a whole.
The collaboration between Terralingua and the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative started with the “Voices of the Earth” project which supports custodians of sacred groves in Zanzibar and Ghana to conserve their groves and resources through building on their oral history and biocultural diversity.
Collaboration has also delivered us the opportunity to work together on this volume of Langscape and to take you on this this journey in support of the custodians and communities of sacred natural sites. It is therefore timely that we explore sacred natural sites as sources of biocultural diversity and share the lessons learned from this journey. We hope you will enjoy journeying with us through this special volume of Langscape and we hope you too will share what you will learn with others.
Luisa Maffi and Ortixia Dilts – Terralingua
Bas Verschuuren, Robert Wild – Sacred Natural Sites Initiative
Terralingua’s magazine Langscape has become a unique venue for promoting understanding and appreciation of biocultural diversity through high-quality text and images. A special issue of Langscape, “Sacred Natural Sites: Sources of Biocultural Diversity”, co-produced with the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative (SNSI) and guest-edited by Bas Verschuuren and Robert Wild, was distributed at the 5th World Conservation Congress. Handsomely designed and illustrated, and printed in full color, this issue contains a wealth of contributions from all over the world. Together, these articles paint a vivid portrait of Sacred Natural Sites, their value and significance, the threats they are undergoing, and the many initiatives underway to protect them.
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