Sacred Natural Entities in Mexico’s Northwest

The Biocultural Unit of Pronatura Mexico developed a methodology and tools, based upon an analysis of ecosystem and habitat types, to inventory Sacred Natural Sites of indigenous peoples in the Mexican Northwestern. Pronatura expanded the task to register the whole of the region’s Sacred Natural Entities which encompass Sacred Natural Landscapes, Sites, Species, Pilgrimage Routes and other Biocultural Manifestations; this because one can not separate the wholeness that permeates the concept of the “sacred” in the landscape or ecosystem.  Hence, the original methodology was adapted to reflect this crucial appreciation, to facilitate the creation of Mexico’s first formal Regional Inventory of Sacred Natural Entities in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua, focusing on the Cucapa, Papago, Seri, Yaqui, Mayo, Guarijio, Tepehuano del Norte, Pima and Tarahumara Indigenous groups. Results include a detailed map, the first inventory from the ecosystem viewpoint, a threat analysis of sacred sites, and also an analyses of the impact of federal protected areas on the indigenous peoples’ sacred heritage.