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    International Overview of Sacred Natural Sites and Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) and the Need for Their Recognition


    Arjjumend, Hasrat and Konstantia, Koutouki and Fagan, Honor and Shibata, Shingo (2018) International Overview of Sacred Natural Sites and Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) and the Need for Their Recognition. Journal of Global Environmental Studies, 13. pp. 33-56.

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    Abstract

    Sacred natural sites and indigenous and community conserved areas (ICCAs) are repositories of biological and cultural diversity, and represent communities’ religious values, customary rules, institutional fabric, traditional knowledge and conservation culture. With changing environments, ICCAs, including sacred sites, face external and internal challenges to their survival, evolution and preservation. As such, ICCAs require recognition on par with the official protected areas managed by governments. Yet despite increasing recognition of ICCAs in international conservation policies, they still largely lack effective and appropriate recognition in national policies and practices. In addition to exploring sacred groves as ICCAs, this article examines the policy and legal instruments that recognize ICCAs at the international and national levels. This article also recommends strategies to enhance the protection of ICCAs, including by shifting the paradigm from government-controlled protected areas to community-controlled conservation areas. National policies and legislation must give more prominence to the customary laws and traditional institutions of the indigenous peoples and local communities managing these conservation areas, as well as acknowledging their rights to self-governance and self-determination.

    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Sacred groves; Sacred natural sites; ICCA; Indigenous people; Protected areas; Community conservation;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
    Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute, MUSSI
    Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > National Institute for Regional and Spatial analysis, NIRSA
    Item ID: 9432
    Depositing User: Honor Fagan
    Date Deposited: 30 Apr 2018 14:57
    Journal or Publication Title: Journal of Global Environmental Studies
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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