Vol. 81 No. 2s (2026): Conference Proceedings Old-Growth Forests and Ancient Trees: A Treasure of Nature, Life and Culture, Firenze 1 October 2025 / Vallombrosa 2-3 October 2025
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Sacred forests in space and time: Intangible Cultural Heritage and naturebased solutions

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  • Shonil Bhagwat
Shonil Bhagwat
Th e Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes - MK7 6AA United Kingdom.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/ifm-1254

Published 2026-10-06

Keywords

  • centuries old trees,
  • indigenous knowledge,
  • Intangible Cultural Heritage; nature-based solutions,
  • old-growth forests,
  • sacred forests

How to Cite

Bhagwat, S. (2026). Sacred forests in space and time: Intangible Cultural Heritage and naturebased solutions. L’Italia Forestale E Montana, 81(2s), 249–257. https://doi.org/10.36253/ifm-1254

Copyright (c) 2026 Shonil Bhagwat

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Sacred forests have a long history of protection and many of them are old-growth forests with centuries old trees important for conservation. Some of these forests can be traced back to lands and territories inhabited for millennia by Indigenous peoples. These sites are considered important in the development of religion and spirituality in our distant ancestors and today their Intangible Cultural Heritage demonstrates a special relationship between people and nature. Numerous examples of sacred forests exist throughout the world. These hundreds of thousands of sites are distributed across all inhabited continents. They are living example of nature-culture entanglements. In this paper, I present an overarching perspective on sacred forests that spans their global distribution and their historical origins. I propose a conceptual framework to understand sacred forests in space and in time. Based on this understanding of sacred forests, I suggest that their recognition, conservation, and sustainable management are essential to deliver nature-based solutions to today’s global environmental challenges.

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