[posted on 24 June 2008]
 

Assessment and technical assistance for management of the site of Moulay ‘Abd al-Salâm ibn Mashîsh and other natural sites with religious values

 

 

On the kind initiative from CVSPA member Dr Zakia Zouanat, Gonzalo Oviedo and Josep M. Mallarach were invited by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs of Morocco to visit the site of Moulay ‘Abd al-Salâm ibn Mashîsh, in Jabal La’lâm, Site of Biological and Ecological Interest of Jbel Bouhachem,  to assess the management conditions and provide recommendations for improvement, as well as to more broadly discuss the relevance and opportunities of the protection of sacred natural sites in the context of updating protected area legislation and policies.

 

The team made two field visits to the Jabal La’lâm area, the 9 and 12 of June, and had meetings in Rabat with various government officials, namely the Minister of Habous and Islamic Affairs, the Haut Commissaire des Eaux, Forêts et Lutte contre la Désertification, and the Director of Operations of the Agence pour la Promotion et le Développement Économique et Social des Préfectures et Provinces du Nord. We also met with the Président-Délégué of the Fondation Mohammed VI pour la Protection de l'Environnement – a Foundation presided by HRH The Princess Lalla Hasnaa. more

 

 

 

 

[posted on 04 June 2008]
 

Initiatives on sacred natural sites in Romania – The Vanatori-Neamt Natural Park

Last 22 of May, during a national meeting in Bucharest, in the context of the Euro-pean Day of Parks, Razvan Deju, member of management team of Vanatory-Neamt Natural Park made a presentation about the Sacred Natural Site concept in general, The Delos Initiative, and the particular application of the SNS concept to Vanatori-Neamt. The Management Plan of the Vanatori-Neamt Natural Park already adopted the Sacred Natural Site concept in 2007, and the Natural Park of Buila Vanturarita, which currently is being finalized, may be the second of doing so in Romania. Both Natural Parks are case studies of The Delos Initiative.
 

 

[posted on 04 June 2008]

A holistic approach for the Carpathian Protected Areas

During a Europarc Consulting training course about the elaboration of PA manage-ment plans held in Poiana Brasov, Romania, on 22-24 May, the necessity of a holis-tic approach for natural, cultural and spiritual heritages was presented by Sebastian Catanoiu to representatives of the Carpathian Protected Areas from Poland, Slova-kia, and Romania. All of them, as well as the trainers, agreed that the Carpathian Ecoregion, due to the significance of the existing traditions, faiths, and living in sa-cred places, is a very suitable Ecoregion for implementing this holistic approach.
 

 

 

 

[posted on 02 May 2008]

 

The Delos Initiative at the International workshop of the Task Force on Protected Landscape, North York Moors National Park, England, April-May 2008

The IUCN-International Task Force on Protected Landscapes, met in Scarborough, North York Moors National Park, England, UK, from 27th April to 1st May 2008, hosted by the National Park. Members of the Task Force come from North America, South America and The Caribbean, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

 

Four people from the Task Force on CSVPA were invited to participate by Jessica Brown, TF leader: Rob Wild, leader, Guillermo Rodrígez-Navarro, deputy-chair; Josep-Maria Mallarach, for the joint co-ordination of The Delos Initiative, and Gloria Pungetti, difector of the Cambridge Centre for Landscape.   more
 

 

 

 

[posted on 21 April 2008]

 

18 April 2008 – The International Day for Monuments and Sites on “Religious heritage and sacred places”.

The International Day for Monuments and Sites was established on 18th April 1982, by ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) and later approved at the 22nd UNESCO General Conference in 1983.
This year, to mark the 18th April, ICOMOS has organised activities with regards to the theme “Religious heritage and sacred places”. These activities offer an opportunity to raise public awareness about the protection of the cultural and spiritual heritage.

The web site of the ICOMOS is:
www.icomos.org
(English and French version)
 

 

top

 

[posted on 29 February 2008]

 

Serra de Montsant Natural Park approves Recommendations

 

On the 13^th February 2008 the Board of the Natural Park of Serra de Montsant, Catalonia, Spain, decided to unanimously approve the recommendations of the case-study prepared by Jordi Falgarona, Jaume Estarellas and Josep-Maria Mallarach. The approved recommendations include an expansion of the protected area, and 13 significant planning, public use, education and management measures, aiming to improve the effective integration of natural, cultural and spiritual values within the Natural Park.

This positive outcome has been largely the result of Mr. Ricard Pasanau’s (president of the Board) and Ms. Neus’s Miró (management director of the Park) -to whom grateful appreciation is due- recognition of the goals of the Delos Initiative, and the support of the Silene Association. The Natural Park of Serra de Montsant will be one of the three case-studies of The Delos Initiative proposed as field trips to the participants of the Barcelona WCC.

The web site of the Park is: http://mediambient.gencat.net/cat/el_medi/parcs_de_catalunya/montsant/inici.jsp

(English and Spanish version).


 

 

 

[posted on 20 December 2007]

 

Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos Initiative

 

The Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos Initiative are now released. The workshop was organised on 23-26 November 2006 in Montserrat Monastery, in Catalonia, Spain and was attended by participants from around the globe. During the workshop 10 case-studies were presented, describing the situation in sacred sites located in Finland, Greece, Japan, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom, and the USA. The Proceedings title is Protected Areas and Spirituality and were co-edited by Josep-Maria Mallarach and Thymio Papayannis. The publication is available in both paperback and Cd format. If you wish to acquire a copy, please contact the Publications Service of IUCN" books@iucn.org  at  www.iucn.org/publications. 

 

 

[posted on 28 November 2007]

 

 

The second workshop of the Delos Initiative

 

The second workshop of the Delos Initiative was held on 24-28 October, in Ouranoupolis, a town next to the Holy Mountain of Athos, in Halkidiki, Greece. Thus the Delos Initiative, in the framework of the Task Force on Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas of IUCN/WCPA, continued its activities after the first successful workshop that was held in November 2006, in the Monastery of Montserrat, Spain.

 

 The Ouranoupolis meeting was hosted by Med-INA and was attended by 22 participants from 11 countries. Among them there were representatives of the Holy Community of Mount Athos, the Halkidiki Prefecture, the Greek Ministry of Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works, as well as members of the conservation and religious communities. The meeting was honoured by a message of blessings and guidance of HAH The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome (click here to read text). more 

 

 

[posted on 05 October 2007]

 

Cambridge Centre for Landscape and People - The 3S Conference

 

The Cambridge Centre for Landscape and People organised in 24-26 September in Cambridge, England, the 3S Conference on Sacred Species and Sites.  The aims of the Conference were:

• to report and discuss on recent research findings related to spiritual values of species and sites

• to improve recognition, understanding and dissemination of the spiritual values of species and sites connected with cultures and traditions

• to promote the integration of these values into policy, planning and management

• to facilitate cross-organisational and interdisciplinary dialogue on these values

• to assist the link between cultural and ecological diversity in landscape and nature conservation

• to demonstrate ways in which sacred species and sites can contribute to conservation biology

• to support cooperation between academics and conservationists working in this area

 

Over 30 experts, from four continents participated in the Conference. Rob Wild,  leader of  Task Force CSVPA and two members of the Delos Initiative, Gonzalo Oviedo and Josep-Maria Mallarach were actively engaged in the discussions. The latter made a presentation about The Delos Initiative. It was decided that the proceedings of the 3C Conference, including a paper about the Delos Initiative, will be published in 2008, by the University of Cambridge.

 

 

 

[posted on 21 June 2007]

 

Vanatori-Neamt Natural Park, Romania - Poster with verses from the Genesis

 

Recently, the Vanatori-Neamt Natural Park in Romania has posted one large panel at the entrance of Secu Valley, including verses from the Book of Genesis, as can be seen in the picture. The idea came from the USA Smoky Mountains National Park experience of displaying panels with Native American beliefs developed by the Sacred Mountains Program, as it was presented in the first workshop of The Delos Initiative, held in Montserrat, in 2006.

 

The panel has been funded as part of the GEF-Small Grant Program project called 'Bison Land - a model of biodiversity conservation' developed by an NGO, and it is the first to include verses from a sacred text to connect the values of nature with the inner beliefs of the visitors. The verses were chosen by the Park Administration.

 

Next year, the Park intends to develop another GEF-SGP project, in which the monasteries and convents located inside the Natural Park are deeper involved as partners with the Park Administration, environmental NGOs and local authorities. As part of this effort, more panels with sacred texts will be posted if funds are available.

 

 

[posted on 13 June 2007]

 

Poblet Monastery - Catalonia, Spain

 

During the last months the work at the Poblet case study (Catalonia, Spain) has been progressing smoothly, not only regarding the diagnose and recommendations, but for the implementation of some agreed actions.  Successive meetings with the Board authorities, the managers of the Protected Area, and the responsible for the environmental education facilities, have opened new fields for cooperation with the Abbey of Poblet. An agreement between the monastery and the Diputació de Tarragona (provincial government) has been drafted for preparing an environmental audit for the Monastery, which will combine the local agenda 21 methodology with the Cistercian principles. In addition, it has been agreed that a proposal for improving the integration of the spiritual, cultural and natural values of Poblet will be prepared by Silene Association.  It will include a draft plan for a new interpretation centre at the entrance of the Monastery, which is receiving over 150.000 visitors per year.

 

top

 

 

[posted on 09 May 2007]

 

The Delos2 Workshop

 

 

The second Delos workshop will be held in Ouranoupolis, in Northern Greece, close to Mt. Athos on 24-28 October 2007. The first announcement of this workshop has just been published.

 

 

 

 

[posted on 13 April 2007]

 

 

Mission to Sakya Tashi Ling. Inclusion of Tibetan Buddhist Perspective in the Management of the Property of the Monastery and presentation of a new management plan, Garraf Natural Park, Catalonia, Spain  

 

At the Montserrat workshop, a Buddhist monk (Jamyang Richen / Jordi Gómez) asked The Delos Initiative for guidance so as to improve the inclusion of spiritual and cultural values from their interpretation of Tibetan Buddhist traditions into the management plan of the property of Sakya Tashi Ling monastery.  The management plan itself is being prepared by a consulting firm, sponsored by the Fundació Territori i Paisatge. The monastery is located in the center of El Garraf Natural Park, near Barcelona, and is a case study of The Delos initiative. 

 

Isabel Soria volunteered to undertake this task, after her experience on the Holy island of Arran, Scotland (managed by another Buddhist community) with the support of Josep Maria Mallarach. They were invited to stay in the monastery from the 20^th to the 27^th of January 2007, in order to understand the link between nature and Tibetan Buddhist spiritual values. They had the chance to experience daily life in the monastery, to study plans and documentation and to interview the leader and members of the community, as well as other key actors, such as the mayor of the municipality and a number of visitors. more

 

top

 

[posted on 27 March 2007]

 Development, nature and religion conference

 

A conference on the incorporation of sustainable development in the research agendas of religious studies and theology is organised on 28 September 2007, in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, by the Centre for Sustainable Management and Resources.

 

Lately, sustainable development has gained momentum and the role, intentions and motivation of world religions towards the environment is currently under scrutiny. Although all faiths and life philosophies nurture worldviews on the essence of life, humankind and nature, the positive or negative impact of those worldviews on the environment is by no means clear. In order to promote debate on these issues, it is necessary to examine ways to incorporate  sustainable development in theology and religious studies and explore how they can support the conclusions of new evidence of the rapid climate change, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report and media presentations, such as Al Gore’s move An Inconvenient Truth. For more information please visit: http://topshare.wur.nl/naturevaluation/75370.

 

 

 

 

 

[updated on 23 March 2007]

 

 

Working paper on Sacred Sites and Protected Areas to the next IUCN Summit

 

 

On behalf of the IUCN WCPA Task Force on Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas and The Delos Initiative, B. Verschuuren, J.M. Mallarach and G. Oviedo, members of the Delos working group, will submit a working paper on Sacred Sites and Protected Areas to the next Summit of IUCN Categories of protected areas, to be held in Almería, Spain, from 7-11 May 2007. For more information please visit: http://www.iucn.org/themes/wcpa/theme/categories/summit/summit.html.

 

The working paper proposes that sacred sites (including also sacred natural sites), which fit into national and international definitions of protected areas can, where appropriate, be recognised as legitimate components of protected area systems and can be attributed to any of the six IUCN protected area categories. At the same time, the paper suggests that cultural and spiritual values of protected areas should be better reflected in the whole range of categories, where at the moment are absent from or insufficiently recognised.

 

 

top

 

[posted on 13 December 2006]

 

 

Proceedings of the UNESCO International Symposium on Conserving Cultural and Biological Diversity: the Role of Sacred Natural Sites and Cultural Landscapes

 

 

 

top

 

[posted on 12 July 2006]

Mission to the Holy Island of Arran

In June 2006, Isabel Soria Garcia, member of the Delos Initiative, visited the Holy Island of Arran in Scotland. There she stayed in the Centre for World Peace and Health, one of the two centres of the Island, which is the place for interfaith work and retreat.

She interviewed a series of people of several backgrounds; various stakeholders –such as representatives of the Scottish Natural Heritage and the Council of Arran–, religious leaders, persons in charge of the management of the Island, environmentalists, landscapers, volunteers, visitors etc. In addition, she interviewed the participants of the various activities she had the chance to get involved with (such as an initiation to meditation activity, gardening and forestry). This enabled her to gain a deeper view to the relation of sacred issues with the environment. The sharing of firsthand experience and the exchange of knowledge became easier for her. more

 

 

 

 

[posted on 12 April 2006]

Mission to Doñana-El Rocío

From the 23 to 26 of March Jesús García-Varela and Jordi Falgarona-Bosch, members of the Delos Initiative working group, visited the Doñana area, in southwestern Spain, invited by the Dirección General de la Red de Espacios Naturales Protegidos y Servicios Ambientales (RENPSA) of the regional government of Andalusia.

The aim of the mission was to conduct a series of interviews with key stakeholders of the Doñana-El Rocío case study, following the questionnaire of the Pilot Plan. With the help of Águeda Villa, a local geographer who acted as a facilitator on behalf of RENPSA, the mission was able to contact with local authorities (Almonte town Council Major); officers from Doñana National Park and Doñana Natural Park; representatives of the “Hermandad Matriz de Almonte”  y “Hermandad de Villamanrique”, main brotherhoods having different responsibilities on the pilgrimage organization and El Rocío shrine custodianship; heads of research centers, both natural (Estación Biológica de Doñana) and cultural (Centro de Estudios Rocieros, Museo de El Rocío, Universidad de Huelva). more

 

 

top

 

[posted on 27 February 2006]

 

Mission to Mt. Athos

 

The Athos peninsula in Northern Greece has been declared a World Heritage Site in 1982 both for its nature and rich biodiversity and its culture enshrined in the 20 Monasteries that have been established there starting in the 10^th century AD. In addition, the Sacred Mountain maintains a living monastic tradition exceeding a millennium.

 

At the end of January 2006, a UNESCO mission visited Mt. Athos to ascertain the status of the site both from the environmental and the cultural point of view. Christian Manhart represented the World Heritage Centre and professor Herb Stovel the International Council for Monuments and Sites. Med-INA director Thymio Papayannis represented IUCN - The World Conservation Union.

 

The first impressions from this mission were that Mt. Athos faces a number of threats (such as fires, opening of new roads, excessive exploitation of forests and ineffective management of wastes). Serious measures, however, are taken by the Greek state and the Monastic community to resolve these problems and thus to maintain its unique ecological and cultural / spiritual character. 

 

 

 

 

[posted on 24 November 2005]

 Meteora Visit - questionnaire test

 

 

Within the framework of the Delos Initiative, it has been decided to test the questionnaire that was already reviewed by the Task Force members. The central attempt took place in the area of Meteora, which lies at the Thessaly plain, in Greece. On 18-20 November 2005, we paid our first visit to this distinctive UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site that hosts one of the oldest Monastic communities of the country.  

 

The feeling of owe that the breathtaking landscape creates to the visitor can not be described, nor can it be conveyed by photos. Extremely large monoliths rise in the middle of a valley, fringed by rich and colourful vegetation. The site is also a designated NATURA 2000 area, due its exceptional fauna and flora species. On the inaccessible summits of the stone pillars, the Monasteries were built at the beginning of the 2nd millennium A.D. They are unique examples of architecture and remote places of contemplation. more

 

 

top

 

 

[posted on 21 June 2005]

 

Impressions from a Symposium