Spiritual and cultural values are the intangible benefits of protected areas. They are difficult to quantify in economic terms. In so many ways and in so many places, sacred sites, beliefs, faith groups and protected areas meet, from the water sources inhabited by ancestor spirits of Madagascar’s parks and reserves to the Christian monasteries in Romania’s protected areas, from the pilgrimage routes walked by millions of Hindus and Buddhists in India and Nepal to the mountains, holy for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. Protected areas also help to bring back and sustain long held cultural traditions such as local taboos, or hunting and harvesting seasons result in temporary closures of certain areas (e.g. in many Locally Managed Marine Areas in the Pacific). Protected areas also provide sanctuary for culturally important species (e.g. Dugong, turtles, etc.), protecting and managing populations so that they can be harvested for specific cultural events. Some examples of sacred sites in existing protected areas and their spiritual interactions include:

Mount Kailash, in Parsa Wildlife reserve in the autonomous region of Tibetis an important pilgrimage site for followers of many faiths, including Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, and Hinduism. Most pilgrims walk a holy “kora,” or circuit of the mountain (a distance of 56 kilometres which ascends to over 5,700 metres above sea level).

Gunung Mutis Nature Reserve in West Timor and Indonesia is important to the Meto indigenous people, whose spiritual relationship with nature is of great significance to daily life. Rituals are centred on ancestor worship.

Jirisan National Park in South Korea houses eight Buddhist temples and many cultural treasures (e.g. Gakhwangjeon, a three-story stone pagoda propping up four lions, and the remarkable Gakhwhangjjeon seokdeung, one of the largest existing stone lights).

Shivapuri National Park in Nepal is spiritually significant for the popular shrines and meditation centres for Hindus and Buddhists nestled in the natural surroundings. The Budhanilkantha and Sundarimai shrines and the Nagi monastery attract thousands of pilgrims during festive seasons.

Argentina’s Lanin National Park, its Mapuche Indian name meaning “dead rock,” is famous for its monkeypuzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), which is sacred to the Mapuche Indians, or the “Earth people.”

RB-EB del Beni (Beni Biosphere Reserve and Biological Station), Bolivia is home to the “Chimane,” an ethnic » » group who keep and practice their ancestral rites and customs.

Muntanya de Montserrat National Park, Spain, is nestled in the rocky mountain Montserrat near Barcelona, in Catalonia. It harbours 12 hermitages and two Catholic monasteries, one of which is devoted to the Holy Virgin Mary and has been a pilgrimage centre since the 14th century. Because of its many spiritual, cultural and natural values, Montserrat has become an outstanding identity symbol of Catalonia.

Boabeng Fiema-Monkey Sanctuary, Ghana, is considered as a sacred grove because it supports populations of black and white Colobus monkey (Colobus vellerosus) and Mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona), both of which are revered and strictly protected as sons of the gods of the people of Boabeng and Fiema villages.

Sacred sites also support high biodiversity values, holding considerable potential to support conservation efforts through developing “people-inclusive” protected area management objectives. Because of their unique intercultural and interdisciplinary character they can be a suitable means for environmental education, cross-cultural learning and intergenerational transmission of spiritual and bio-cultural knowledge. The sacred and spiritual dimensions of protected areas reiterate their role in upholding cultural and spiritual values that, like biodiversity, are at risk of external pressures and threats.