Dr. Archana Godboleis the Founder Director of the Pune based NGO- Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF).A Plant Taxonomist and Ethnobiologist by training, she has developed various ...
GROUPE DE COMMISSION DE L'UICN
IUCN WCPA Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas Specialist Group
Leadership de groupe
Dr Archana GODBOLE
Chair
Dr. Archana Godboleis the Founder Director of the Pune based NGO- Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF).A Plant Taxonomist and Ethnobiologist by training, she has developed various programmes of AERF through the work on the ground for the last 28 years. She has been responsible for developing various programmes and initiatives of AERF and has represented the NGO on many national as well as international fora.
Dr. Godbole has worked with indigenous communities from North-East India for six years, documenting traditional knowledge that has been used for sustainable natural resources management. Through AERF, she now focuses on promoting indigenous people’s partnerships and champions the cause of addressing food security , food sovereignty and climate change issues .
Dr. Godbole firmly believes in Civil Society action beyond thinking and research. Being a Civil Society Observer of Climate Investment Funds (The World Bank ), for nine years she is constantly trying to influence international processes through effective civil society networks in South Asia and Pacific.
She has developed a Northern Western Ghats Conservation Network of organisations working for conservation in the area since 2011 and is part of the ‘Save the Western Ghats' group, which is an informal congregation of organisations and individuals working for advocacy and action for people and conservation in the 6 states of Western Ghats.
Dr. Godbole is an invited NGO member representative of Clinton Global Initiative and AERF’s commitment on Safeguarding Forests and Biodiversity of north Western Ghats has been felicitated in CGI annual meeting of 2011.
Dr, Archana has received the prestigious Whitley Associate Award in 2007 for her long term work on Conservation of Sacred Forests in the Northern Western Ghats. She is a LEAD fellow (Leadership for Environment and Development) which is a global network of more than 3000 professionals with expertise of almost every discipline.
Maintaining sacred forests as a strategy of adaption, linking them to private forest conservation has been successfully initiated and pursued by Dr. Godbole since the inception of AERF in 1995.Under her leadership AERF developed innovative approaches of green enterprises and inking conservation with businesses for mainstreaming biodiversity conservation. Archana is a passionate conservation practitioner, always thinking and testing solutions for sustaining biodiversity conservation.
Dr. Godbole represented IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) as a part of two member mission to assess the Mongolian Government’s proposal of Burkhan Khaldan Mountain ranges for the UNESCO world heritage site and specifically studied the sacred sites within this proposed nomination.
Constantly working for innovative approaches for conservation on the ground has been her commitment of life.
Ms Radhika BORDE
Dr Alison ORMSBY
Alison Ormsby has a PhD in Environmental Studies and was a professor of Environmental Studies for 20 years. Dr. Ormsby has taught human ecology and policy courses and published about topics that relate to the interaction of people and nature, including sustainable communities, wildlife policy, citizen science, sustainable tourism, and ethnobotany. She is a member of the IUCN Citizen Science Task Force, the Specialist Group for Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas, and the SSC Medicinal Plant Specialist Group. She has conducted research on sacred forests and protected areas in Sierra Leone, Ghana, Madagascar, Thailand, and India.
Alison Ormsby has a PhD in Environmental Studies and was a professor of Environmental Studies for 20 years. Dr. Ormsby has taught human ecology and policy courses and published about topics that ...
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.