I do research on conservation and rural development issues in protected areas, World Heritage sites and the wider land and seascape. I link practical conservation experience with applied scientific ...
GROUPE DE COMMISSION DE L'UICN
IUCN WCPA Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas Specialist Group
Vue d'ensemble et description
Description:
The Cultural & Spiritual Values of Protected Areas Specialist Group aims to promote the appropriate recognition and inclusion of all relevant cultural and spiritual values, knowledge, and meanings ...
Leadership de groupe
Mr Bas VERSCHUUREN
I do research on conservation and rural development issues in protected areas, World Heritage sites and the wider land and seascape. I link practical conservation experience with applied scientific research to better understand how human-nature relationships affect management, governance and policy processes. My current research focuses on the role of worldviews, science and ontology in conservation discourses spanning; human wellbeing, Indigenous peoples, protected areas and ecosystem services.
Dr Edwin BERNBAUM
Co-Chair
Edwin Bernbaum, Ph.D., is Co-chair of the IUCN Specialist Group on the Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas (CSVPA). A scholar of comparative religion and mythology, his research and work focus on the relationship between culture and the environment. He is the author of Sacred Mountains of the World (Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition). He initiated and directed a program at The Mountain Institute working with US National Parks such as Yosemite and Hawai'i Volcanoes to develop interpretive materials based on the evocative cultural and spiritual significance of features of nature in cultures around the world. Ed worked on a project at Badrinath, the major Hindu pilgrimage shrine in the Indian Himalayas, in which priests and scientists worked together to encourage pilgrims to replant trees for reasons coming out of their own religious and cultural traditions. He also guided the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) on getting Mount Kailas in Tibet, the most sacred mountain in the world for over a billion people, and the pilgrimage routes leading to it from Nepal and India nominated as a trans-boundary UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ed holds an A.B. in Mathematics from Harvard College and a Ph.D. in Asian Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. He has also done graduate work in social psychology and anthropology.
Edwin Bernbaum, Ph.D., is Co-chair of the IUCN Specialist Group on the Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas (CSVPA). A scholar of comparative religion and mythology, his research and work ...
The cultural and spiritual significance of nature in protected and conserved areas (CSVPA) refers to the values that different cultures, religions and the general public place on natural features of the environment that have great meaning and importance for them. Spiritual values attributed to protected areas refer to the transcendent or immanent significance that features of nature have that put people in touch with a deeper reality greater than themselves that gives meaning and vitality to their lives and motivates them to revere and care for the environment. In the case of protected and conserved areas that are or include sacred sites, these values are intimately related to the beliefs and practices of indigenous traditions and mainstream religions. But protected and conserved areas also have cultural and spiritual significance for people who do not consider themselves religious — as places of inspiration, symbols of identity, etc.
Who we are
The Specialist Group on Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas (CSVPA) is a global network of experts including conservation professionals, heritage practitioners, policy makers, academics, government representatives, community members, custodians, and representatives of religious organisations.
We are concerned with the cultural and spiritual significance of nature that helps support, foster and respect protected and conserved areas and the variety of cultures that the Earth sustains. As a Specialist Group of the WCPA, we have a sharp focus on protected and conserved areas. Most of these areas are in their essence cultural creations that interact with wider human culture, as well as being set against a background of nature and the sacred dimension of nature as a whole.
What we do
CSVPA advises the IUCN and specifically the World Commission of Protected Areas on recognition, conservation and promotion of the cultural and spiritual significance of nature in protected areas' policy, planning, management, governance and evaluation. CSVPA is also active in promoting cultural and spiritual significance of nature in nature conservation beyond protected areas and develops and supports projects and programmes that are in accordance with its mission.
Mission Statement
The mission of the CSVPA is to promote the appropriate recognition and inclusion of all relevant cultural and spiritual values, knowledge, and meanings into nature conservation theory and practice, and in particular, into protected areas policies, planning, management, and evaluation.