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SACRED SPECIES

OVERVIEW

Humans have become disconnected with nature and other beings that inhabit our planet: this lies at the very root of our destruction of the natural world. 

 

Imagine a world where human beings have the compassion to live in harmony with other species, where we honour and respect our fellow beings, and interact with them in kindness and care. Can we celebrate and learn from the communities around the world who protect the species they consider sacred? And inspired by them, can we re-imagine our relationships with other beings?

'In the indigenous way, the animals are very sacred. They are considered our relatives. They are part of us, they come into our spirits, into our souls, into our hearts.'  

Sam Bearpaw, Apache and white Mountain Apache Nations, in ANIMA: Animals, Faith, Compassion

The spiritual link to sacred ecology

SACRED TIGERS

Traditional beliefs that have been part of Bhutan's heritage for generations play a significant role in stewarding the country's approach to tiger conservation.

 

Watch this Sacred Tigers video created by WWF Bhutan to know more about the sacred traditions and cultures associated with tigers and how local communities live alongside this majestic big cat in the wild.

A partnership for conservation

GLOBAL SACRED SPECIES INITIATIVE

The Global Sacred Species Initiative is a partnership that includes the organisations DiversEarth, WWF’s Beliefs & Values programme, IUCN CEESP’s Theme on Culture, Spirituality and Conservation, OneNature Initiative and a growing number of local organisations.

 

Its purpose is to bring to light the way local communities relate to other species through the lens of culture and spirituality, providing them with a platform to tell their stories. Many traditional, Indigenous Peoples and religious and spiritual groups regard certain plant and animal species as sacred. This has implications for conservation in many parts of the world.

 

Sometimes recognition of sacredness leads directly to conservation. For example, several species of crane are deliberately protected and fed by local communities, and baobab trees are widely protected in large parts of Africa. In other cases, sacredness does not lead to complete protection, but encourages commitment to sustainable harvesting and habitat protection. This is true of some Australian Indigenous groups with marine turtles, and with the Inuit of northern Alaska and the bowhead whale. 

 

Understanding these sacred connections and motivations to protect globally threatened species will empower conservation practitioners and communities to co-develop more effective species protection strategies. 

This initiative aims to:

  • Help bridge the gap between cultural knowledge/protection systems, and conservation and social science, including behaviour change research.

  • Capture (in case studies, video and audio clips) the local cultural and spiritual relationships of local custodians and species considered sacred, to explore how sacredness can inspire a new way of living compassionately with other beings.

  • Support the co-creation by local communities and conservationists of culturally-appropriate conservation measures.

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Watch this space and check back for news on the Global Sacred Species Initiative!

Learn more

EXPLORE SACRED SPECIES

This platform seeks to provide the space for the custodians of threatened species to tell their stories, which might just help protect them for generations to come. Click on the species below to get a glimpse of some of the world’s sacred fauna and flora.