Publication of a IUCN guidance on the cultural and spiritual significance of nature

“Cultural and spiritual significance of nature. Guidance for protected and conserved area governance and management” has just been published in the collection of good practice guides of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, number 32.

It is the result of a long project of the IUCN Specialist Group on Cultural and Spiritual values ​​of Protected Areas, to which the Silene Association has given continued support, from its very beginnig in ​​2008. The aid of the International Agency for Nature Conservation of Vilm, German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, over the last three years has been decisive.

In the age of systemic crisis in which we live, this guide helps to rethink the foundations and values ​​that underpin conservation policies. It provides case studies and real examples from around the world for all the guidelines it proposes, with the aim of inspiring fairer and more effective models of nature conservation and helping to overcome those derived from Western cultural colonialism.

You may freely donwload the Best Practice Guideline #32 here.