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deforested mid-western landscape of the USA (Cocks 2006). The forests represent part of the
communities' ancestral domain, contributing to their sense of place and spiritual identity. In
the northern highlands of Ethiopia, almost all afromontane forest has been converted to cul-
tivated land and pastures, but islands remain around the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido
Churches. The church forests are valued for a wide range of ecosystem services including
wood for maintenance and construction of church buildings, providing charcoal, food, tradi-
tional medicines, and sacred utensils, inks, and dyes for use by monks, hermits, and church
students. They serve as classrooms for church schools, as well as tranquil spaces, sheltered
from wind and sun, for meditation and prayer. They also provide venues for religious festivals,
and have symbolic importance, reminding passing Christians of the guarding role of the
church. Church followers are allowed to collect seeds, medicines, and fruits, but cannot col-
lect wood, fodder, seedlings, and honey (Bongers et al. 2006). The church has long been asso-
ciated with forest conservation and there is a high level of commitment from church followers
to forest protection, restoration and expansion, in contrast to a lack of engagement with gov-
ernment reforestation programmes (Bongers et al. 2006).
Building on local institutions and respecting cultural practices can help embed protected
areas and ensure their future sustainability. Such initiatives are especially needed as tradi-
tional values erode and long-held taboos are overturned (Massey et al. 2011). In Kudat, north-
ern Malaysian Borneo, Rungus people conserved forest patches believed to be protected by
spirits, thereby conserving both forest biodiversity and protecting watersheds. However,
eroding beliefs in power of the spirits and the spread of Christianity in the twentieth century
led to declining forest protection. Incoming people, including researchers, broke local taboos
with impunity and this further corroded local beliefs in the importance of forest protection.
Loss of forest cover and water shortages were exacerbated by the spread of fast-growing
Aca-
cia
plantations, planted by the government for pulp production. Now, village leaders are
working in partnership with the UNDP Climate Change Programme, to oppose the Forest
Department's
Acacia mangium
plantations, protect remaining sacred forests and restore
water provision (Massey et al. 2011). In coastal Kenya, the sacred Kaya forests are the only
remaining fragments of the Zanzibar-Inhambane lowland moist forests (Kibet 2011). The
Mijikenda people used Kaya forests as a refuge against aggression from unfriendly neigh-
bours, and their destruction was forbidden. Species diversity and forest cover is higher in
sacred areas and traditional management has an important role in protecting the remaining
fragments, which range in size from 2 ha to more than 500 ha in size. Though fear of divine
retribution and the authority of the Kaya elders is eroding and the remaining fragments are
under pressure from agriculture, timber, mining, firewood collection, many people remain
committed to the culture and traditions (Kibet 2011). Some of the groves are now protected as
National Monuments and several have been listed as World Heritage Sites.
There is potential for revitalizing cultural ecosystem services and strengthening their role
in biodiversity conservation (Bhagwat et al. 2011). In the Western Ghats of India, sacred for-
ests are important refuges of biodiversity within heavily transformed landscapes (Bhagwat
et al. 2005, Ormsby and Bhagwat 2010). About 30% of land is formally protected, and outside
of these areas, the network of over 1,200 sacred forest groves provide significant havens for
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