IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

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www.csvpa.org

Coorodinator for the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative www.sacrednaturalsites.org
EarthCollective - CVNI Biocultural Research and Conservation www.earthcollective.net
E - basverschuuren@gmail.com
T - 0031649393904
S - basverschuuren

The Task Force on the Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas was established in 1998. Anyone who is interested is encouraged to participate, especially if you are willing to invest some time to further the Task Force's activities. Since all participants in the Task Force, including the Coordinator, are volunteers, its work advances quite slowly.

The WCPA has played an important role in bringing together and disseminating methodologies for the identification and quantification of the economic values of protected areas. This work is complemented by that of the Task Force, which seeks to identify, define, and provide guidelines for managing the Cultural and Spiritual dimensions of protected areas. This work is accomplished through e-mail communication among the network participants, working sessions at major events, such as WCPA meetings, and through individual projects.

The original name of the Task Force was unsatisfactory because the term "Non-Material" was too negative, defining the values we are concerned by what they are not rather than what they are. The term also implies acceptance of the Western concept of a split between matter and spirit, a split that does not exist in many cultures.

Why two terms in the new name, instead of just one?
For many people, the word cultural does not adequately represent the transcendent spiritual aspects of existence. The Durban working group considered many terms to try to convey the whole array of values associated with protected areas and nature in general, and the complex relationships between those values. After much discussion, the phrase Cultural and Spiritual Values was agreed upon as the most inclusive way to describe what we are about.

Why were the terms cultural and spiritual chosen?
The term cultural was selected because (1) it is well established as a contrasting term to natural, and so in conservation contexts conveys the idea of concerns going beyond biodiversity, air and water quality, wildlife, etc., and (2) it is universally applicable, since everyone identifies with one (or more) cultures.

The term spiritual was selected rather than sacred because, in some cultures, the term sacred is associated with formal religion. Although religions are a key component of spirituality, there are many people who find and express their spirituality outside a religious context.

In summary, the phrase Cultural and Spiritual Values is intended to encompass, in as inclusive way as is possible, the complete range of supportive values and significance that people find in, and bring to, nature in general and protected areas in particular.

No single word or phrase, in a single language, can hope to accurately express the complexity and richness of the values we are talking about. The following points should always be kept in mind when discussing the work of the Task Force.

The limitations of English. There are over 6,000 languages in the world, and each one has unique strengths (and weaknesses) in how it describes the complexity of existence. There is no widely understood word in English that captures the sense of interconnectedness between humans and the Earth, between the physical world and the world of the spirit, between the mundane and the sacred, and so on. Other languages have words that come closer to hitting the mark (for example, the Spanish cosmovisión) and the Task Force encourages people to seek alternative terms in their own languages that have greater meaning to them.

We are concerned with values that support the protection of and reverence for Earth. One limitation of introducing the term Culture into the title of the Task Force is that there are many cultures that do not value Earth, that believe nature exists only to serve humans, that are locked into a fundamentalism that does not respect other viewpoints. Cultural diversity has great value, but one does not have to support every existing cultural practice in order to support cultural diversity. The Task Force exists to foster those cultural and spiritual values that support and respect nature and the Earth, and the variety of cultures that nature and the Earth sustains.

We are concerned not just with protected areas, but with all of nature and culture. As a Task Force of the WCPA, we have a sharp focus on protected areas. However, protected areas are cultural creations that interact with wider human culture, as well as being set against a background of nature. For example, although the Task Force is concerned with sacred natural sites and larger sacred landscapes as forms of protected areas, we are also vitally concerned with the sacred dimension of nature as a whole.

Culture is alive. The term culture includes not just the past, and not just physical aspects of heritage. It includes living cultures that are not only connected to their ancestors but that continue to change and grow in response to the contemporary world. The term also include all the intangible aspects of culture, many of which lie at the very heart of culture.

The term cultural and spiritual values has a constellation of meanings. As a general summarizing point, the work of the Task Force should be understood to include a range of associated and interconnected meanings whose importance and coherence cannot be expressed in simple terms, and may not be expressible in words at all.

Through the work of the Specialist Group, the WCPA can play an important role in redressing the imbalance between the emphasis given to the tangible and intangible aspects of protected area management. This can be accomplished by assisting WCPA members, and interested individuals around the world, to identify and manage the Cultural and Spiritual attributes of protected areas as a means of maximizing their contribution to society. To this end, the Task Force has already carried out some activities that include:

• definition of the terms most often used to describe Cultural and Spiritual values;
• an issue of PARKS dedicated to the theme of Cultural and Spiritual values;
• publication of the book, "The Full Value of Parks: From Economics to the Intangible", edited by David Harmon and Allen D. Putney, on the intangible values associated with protected areas;
• guidelines on the management of sacred natural sites;
• synthesis of a "Pre-Feasibility for the Development of a Network of Protected Areas Associated with the Gran Ruta Inca; and,
• work with an inter-institutional group to develop a common initiative for the protection and management of sacred natural sites.

 Looking to the future, the task force intends to:

• cooperate with UNESCO, and the Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation, andother interested organizations, in the development and implementation of an inter-institutional initiative on the protection and management of sacred natural sites;
• develop a major project to implement a network of protected areas associated with the Gran Ruta Inca in Andean South America and management of the related cultural landscapes;
• organize a "Dance for the Earth" world event that will focus on the cultural and spiritual links to protected areas;
• work with other institutions to develop impact assessment procedures related to the cultural and spiritual values of protected areas; and,
• development of methodologies for integrating cultural and spiritual values into the planning of protected areas