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Is conservation undermining the protection of Tibetan Spiritscapes and disenfranchising theirindigenous guardians and numinous owners?

An altar on the roof of a house in Upper Yubeng for honouring and appeasing the gzhi bdag thatinhabit snow peak min tso mu and forested peak ben de ru [Studley 2013]

The sacred natural sites (SNSs) of indigenous societies are mostly supported by a cosmovision that

embraces animism and numinous spiritscapes. Spiritscapes are inhabited, in common with Indian

Sacred Groves, by a presiding divinity or numina and the phenomenon is characterized by psycho-

spiritual connections, cosmic auditing and reciprocity, and behaviour that mimics explicit nature

conservation. In spite of this spiritscapes appear to be less recognised than SNSs associated with

mainstream faiths and misguided conservation paradigms robs them of their cosmological,

cultural, psychological, social and spiritual significance.

Tibetan Spiritscapes (or numinised SNSs)

Spiritscapes are a defining characteristic of Tibetan lay society and are exemplified in mountain

cults and ritually protected refugia (skyabs). Historically the cultural identity of Tibetan nomads

and farmers was predicated on the honouring of their territorial divinity (a yul lha) and the numina

(gzhi bdag) that inhabit most of their Sacred Natural Sites (or gzhi bdag gnas yul). Most mountains

in the Tibetan world are inhabited by a gzhi bdag associated with specific lay communities and

territories. They are part of an animistic and shamanistic tradition concerned with the immediate

world, involving various ceremonies and rituals that take place in the home and mountain locales.

The gzhi bdag theoretically 'tamed' by Buddhism are closer to Tibetan nomads and farmers in both

geography, identity and in sensed presence. In the world of the lay Tibetan, many landscape

features point back to the pre-Bon and pre-Buddhist worship of ancient gods. Tibetans are not only

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conscious of the constant scrutiny of gzhi bdag but engage in rituals and place demands on them

for protection and health, and success, in hunting, trading, travel, farming etc. Participation in

mountain cults is still an essential element of rural Tibetan life and identity and is expressed in

cultural, economic, eco-spiritual and political behaviour. Additionally as a spontaneously recovered

folk practice the gzhi bdag cult lies outside of state control and is a contemporary means of

expressing unique Tibetanness.

Traditional interactions with Sacred Natural Sites

The ritual protection of the domain (or gnas yul) of a gzhi bdag, might be described by

conservationists as explicit nature conservation. In reality, however, the behaviour is much more

complex and sophisticated with humankind comprising only one element of the topocosm under

the rubric of indigenous spiritually-guided governance. Nature conservation, Custodianship

and neoliberal governance are alien concepts that cannot be abstracted from the indigenous reality

of being part of the natural world or belonging to nature.

The Tibetan word co-opted for nature conservation is khor yug srung skyob which is a neologism

without a dynamic equivalent. On the basis of cognitive mapping conducted in Ganzi Prefecture

(2000-2005) it would appear that a nexus (rten brel) of five values coalesce closely around the lay

Tibetan concept of protection (or srung skyob). These seemingly include

1) gzhi bdag gnas yul srung skyob i.e. the ritual protection of Spritcapes (gzhi bdag) and the

reciprocal benefits gained from their protection namely Blessing (byin rlabs) and the gift

or cosmocentric economy which provides environmental and hydrological services.

2) srung skyob byas pa i.e. doing protection (e.g. preventing poaching) by Green monks

(Tibetan Buddhism),

but not conservation or srung dzin (under the aegis of state socialism or state forestry). This

latter finding is supported by research at Lugu Lake (in 2005) where conservation was ranked 8

out of 13 environmental values. Conservation is often regarded as an alien intervention which at

best has a very limited interpretation of culture and at worse is culturally chauvinistic. In contrast

for most lay Tibetans the animistic spiritual importance of protection (srung skyob) is more

significant than the ecological importance of conservation (srung dzin).

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The status of Tibetan gzhi bdag sites

On the basis of a literature study, a bio-cultural audit and GIS mapping it would appear that

spiritscapes are a common phenomenon throughout the Tibetan world and may comprise up to

25% of the Tibetan Plateau (or ca 570,000km2) and up to 60% in some areas (The Yubeng Valley).

The results and conclusions suggest that most Tibetan lay people:-

1) Are familiar with the gzhi bdag cult and estimate that there are typically three gzhi bdag sites

per village with known geospatial extents and comprising 700ha per village.

The protected and sealed gzhi bdag domains of the Yubeng Valley [Studley 2013]

2) Maintain cosmic harmony through ritualized reciprocity between the natural, social and spiritualdomain by:- auditing relations with the gzhi bdag (through dreams, visions, omens, trances ortheophanies), adopting appropriate behaviour in the gzhi bdag domain, honouring and thankingthe gzhi bdag on a regular basis, and engaging in ritual enquiry (divination) in order to makerestitution with or appease an angry gzhi bdag.

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Divination using a heated sheep's shoulder bladetsekok, Amdo Province [O. Wendeker 2013]

3) Consider that currently parents and elders shoulder most of the responsibility for

intergenerational enculturation, given the persecution of most cultural specialists during the

Cultural Revolution

4) Protect gzhi bdag gnas yul as guardians (srung po) which consequently serve as refugia. This

finding is supported by biodiversity studies in the region which suggest significant differences based

on sanctity.

Avid hunter turned eco-spiritual guardian [Studley 2013]

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5) Believe that the preservation of gzhi bdag sites and their biodiversity is contingent upon the

protection of indigenous culture and its intergenerational transmission.

Yubengs defunct primary school closed in 2012 [CCTV]

6) Believe that the gzhi bdag cult and associated SNSs are being undermined by: - ex situ formal

education, conservation, sacred mountain tourism, the market economy, and the destruction of

their cultural universe".

Ensuring international recognition and protection

In the recent past the misguided conservation of Spiritscapes predicated on bio-centric oranthropo-centric approaches have proved disastrous for the local minority people, as well as beingexpensive to police (Army and Conservation staff). They have resulted, at Lugu Lake, in cultural loss,poverty, arson and a loss of local interest in SNS protection and at Sanjiangyuan as a result offorced re-settlement (aka ecological migration) in displacement, dislocation, loss of identity/community, alcoholism and even suicide. Furthermore forced re-settlement inevitably will result inthe loss of pastoral culture, the desacralisation of Sacred Natural Sites and loss of their guardians(srung po) and owners (gzhi bdag)

There is every reason to believe that if international conservation NGOs, with friends in highplaces engage in green grabbing and global governance under the aegis of the New WorldOrder they will also negatively impact the well-being of Tibetan lay people, and their willingness toprotect SNSs.

Further field work is required to confirm the total area of spiritscapes on the Tibetan Plateau but

more importantly there is an urgent need to identify international organisations who can secure

protection for Tibetan spiritscapes predicated on paradigms that resonate with Tibetan

cosmovision, namely:- quantum wholeness, a cosmocentric worldview, and bio-cultural

regeneration

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