Biocultural Diversity for Sustainable Ecological, Cultural and Sacred Landscapes: The Biocultural Landscape Approach - Landscape Ecology for Sustainable Environment and Culture - page 63

TEK, together with cultural and sacred landscapes, can contribute to modern
techniques of sustainable land use and can maintain and enhance natural, cultural
and spiritual values of land and their communities (see Berkes 1999 ). These local
communities and indigenous peoples were taught to care for land and life, thus the
land where they lived, and where native people still live, is their holy land.
However over the centuries they have struggled to protect their sacred places:
sacred grounds where their ancestors rest, sanctuaries for medicinal plants, and
landscapes of unusual natural power and cultural significance.
Devils Tower, in the Black Hills of Wyoming, USA, is an example. The story
tells that if a dying man, poor in body and spirit, went into the Black Hills, he
would emerge from there restored and in excellent health. These hills were hence
considered by the local indigenous people as being the centre of life, and all
around them the places and landscapes were considered sacred and kept 'in light of
reverence' (Beggs and McLeod 2003 ). However human activities could be dev-
astating, as in the case of a mining operation using large quantities of water, with
the effect of drastically reducing the production of holy springs in the area (ibid.).
In 1906, President Roosevelt declared Devils Tower as the first United States
National Monument. Today it is also listed under the protected landscapes and
seascapes of IUCN (Category V).
Sacred groves are another expression of TEK. They are one type of Japan's
Satoyama cultural landscape and play an important role in the preservation of
habitats and their biodiversity. These small-scale woods are isolated from larger
forests, and surrounded by Shinto shrines and other places of Shinto and Buddhist
worship all over Japan. Vegetation in sacred groves has been protected for centuries
as a subject of worship, and can therefore often provide vital hints on the original
plants and on the relationship between nature and humans in a particular region.
Sacred groves, moreover, can serve as stepping stones to link the vegetation of
larger forests, or can provide green space for recreation not only in rural but also in
peri-urban and urban areas. Furthermore, they host traditional Shinto ceremonies
and festivals, and are highly valued as cultural properties. As illustrated at the
Symposium 'Landscape ecological perspectives on biocultural diversity and sacred
landscape' of the IALE 8th World Congress, today the preservation of sacred
groves is struggling due to the impact of development around them. Research is
currently being carried out on their vegetation and the relationships with local
people from a landscape ecology perspective, with the aim to suggest strategies to
conserve Japan's sacred groves (Fukamachi and Rackham 2012 ).
East Asian landscape character, besides, is often associated with the concept of
Feng-shui, which is a combination of the terms feng (wind) and shui (water). The
purpose of Feng-shui is not limited to traditional land use, but extends to landscape
ecology, contemporary land use management and cultural landscape policies. The
notion of Chisanchisu, nevertheless, is common in countries like Korea, meaning
that the happiness of people can be secured through the virtuous management of
mountains and water sources (Hong and Kim 2011 ). This philosophy has been
influential in East Asia for centuries, and is now reflected in the national land use
policies of several countries. However, the excessive development of industries