Sacred natural sites as mensurative fragmentation experiments in long‐inhabited multifunctional landscapes

Abstract

Well‐controlled landscape experiments have played key roles in advancing fragmentation science, but such experiments are costly and may not be possible in many ecosystems – including the long‐inhabited landscapes typical of many developing countries. In such contexts observational studies of pre‐existing forest patches may offer valuable insights, but these bring other challenges including the non‐random location of patches, the heterogeneous matrix between patches, and patch‐specific management practices that may influence forest community composition. This paper argues that sacred natural sites might provide a middle ground between experimental and observational studies, allowing for more rigorous mensurative fragmentation experiments in long‐inhabited multi‐functional landscapes. To illustrate this potential, we analyze the drivers of productivity in ‘church forests’ across northern Ethiopia. These forest patches conserved by followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox church provide ample variation in area, edge, and surrounding matrix characteristics. Church forests also provide variation in long‐term forest community composition, elevation and rainfall. Finally, unlike most observational studies, church forests offer a relatively stable institutional structure, including longstanding religious norms, allowing researchers to control for some heterogeneity in human influences. By combining remotely sensed data on church forest patches (n = 2558) with field data on church forest tree species composition (n = 27) and social survey data on church forest management practices (n = 145 respondents in 6 church communities) we show how ecological and anthropogenic factors influence church forest productivity. Like experimental patches, church forest productivity increases with size and decreases with amount of edge; productivity also increases with rainfall and increased tree species diversity within a given patch. But there is also evidence that church forest productivity and species composition are both affected by human management rooted in longstanding religious norms. Findings highlight how studies in sacred natural sites systems might help understand relationships between forest productivity, species diversity, and human management in long‐fragmented landscapes.

Changes in community perspectives on the roles and rules of church forests in northern Ethiopia: evidence from a panel survey of four Ethiopian Orthodox communities

“…In addition to providing prayer spaces and other cultural benefits, church forests in northern Ethiopia are valuable repositories of biological diversity, and may even offer glimpses of what, if allowed, might one day regenerate on the degraded landscape (Aerts et al 2006;Aynekulu et al 2016). But church forests are also economic entities -providing food, medicine, and sometimes firewood, timber and fodder to communities around them (Bongers et al 2006;Amare et al 2016;Reynolds et al 2017). Without effective governance institutions, these benefits-flows would presumably have ceased long ago.…”

“…Today there are reportedly more than 35,000 Orthodox communities in Ethiopia (Wassie et al 2009), with remote sensing analyses by Aerts et al (2016) estimating as many as 19,400 church forests in the Ethiopian highlands, with a total area of 39,000-57,000 ha. A recent inventory using high-resolution satellite imagery revealed more than 8000 church forests in the Amhara Region alone, ranging from <1 ha to over 100 ha in size (Reynolds et al 2015(Reynolds et al , 2017.…”

“…But regardless of the history of church forest establishment, or whether church forests are remnants of native forest, natural regeneration of secondary forest, or even the result of human cultivation (i.e. "garden forests"), there is broad agreement that these forests now constitute unique ecosystems on the Ethiopian landscape (Cardelús et al 2012;Aerts et al 2016;Reynolds et al 2017). Surveys of a small sample of 28 church forests by Wassie et al (2010) revealed 168 woody species -including 160 indigenous to Ethiopia.…”

“…Rather, they are complex social-ecological systems that have provided a variety of cultural, ecological, and economic benefits for churches and surrounding communities for centuries (Wassie et al 2010;Reynolds et al 2017). In other words, the church forests of Ethiopia are not only valuable cultural and ecological resources, but they also represent a unique and longstanding conservation institution in the midst of a dynamic agrarian landscape (Berhane et al 2013;Cardelús et al 2013;Aerts et al 2016;Klepeis et al 2016;Scull et al 2016).…”

The role of churches in maintaining bird diversity: A case study from southern Poland

“…The latter can be important as the conservation benefits of sacred sites have been documented in several religions (Dudley et al 2009). For example, sacred natural sites in Ethiopia (Reynolds et al 2017 In the European tradition, Christian churches are often cultural as well as religious centres, especially in rural areas, and for that reason are surrounded by special care, worship and regularly persist for centuries, often through political conflicts and wars (Frascaroli 2013, Klima 2011). Many churches are historic buildings that are closely related to the cultural heritage of the village and surrounding locations (Bartnik 1987).…”