Displaying 1 - 3 of 3
Spiritual ecology is described as a preferable and thought-provoking designation for the study of religion and nature. Some of its main past contributions and limitations within cultural anthropology are outlined. Several key needs for future teaching, research, and publication are identified. Selected citations place the subject in broader perspective and provide a convenient entry for those wishing to pursue this exciting and promising new multidisciplinary arena of scientific and scholarly research, instruction, and practical action.
Secular approaches to the environmental crisis have certainly made substantial inroads since the first Earth Day in 1970. Yet, the crisis not only persists, but is getting worse. Happily, there is an additional approach developing—spiritual ecology. Drawing on the wisdom of centuries and a wealth of different traditions, spiritual ecology can generate the profound transformations that are required if ecosanity is to be restored.
Many cultures have survived and adapted successfully for centuries or even millennia (Anderson 2010, 2014; International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources 1997). Others have degraded their habitat and depleted the natural resources in it to the extent of undermining their economic and social viability (Sponsel 2012, 2013a). Among those that have proven to be sustainable, it can be hypothesized that spiritual ecology, and one of its manifestations through sacred places in nature, may be important in facilitating biodiversity conservation in many cases (cf. Grim 2001). Accumulating research from different scientific disciplines is progressively exploring and documenting the possibilities of connections between sacred places and biodiversity conservation around the world (Dudley et al. 2005; Lee and Wauchope 2003; Pungetti et al. 2012; Ramakrishnan et al. 1998; Schaaf and Lee 2006; Verschuuren et al. 2010). In such efforts, environmental anthropology has a strategic role to play in basic research, applied work, and advocacy (Orlove and Brush 1996, Sponsel 2007a).