Sheka Forest – Ethiopia
The Sheka Forest in southwest Ethiopia, known as the last indigenous forest in Ethiopia, has long been a source of livelihoods and spiritual practices for local communities.
Hill Of Tara – Republic of Ireland
Tens of centuries ago, amid Ireland’s iconic green, rolling landscape, the kings of Ireland were anointed on a hill of tremendous importance—a place where spirituality met with royalty, and mythical traditions began. The Hill of Tara, one of the most revered spiritual sites in Ireland, is a place where druids held festivals, priestesses were trained and shaman’s rites were performed.
Haida Gwaii – Canada
Haida Gwaii, a chain of islands off the coast of British Columbia, has been the home of the Haida people for untold centuries. The distinct coastal culture of the Haida depends on the once-abundant red cedar trees, forests that have been decimated by five decades of intensive clear-cutting.
Sacred Groves of Ghana – Ghana
Sacred forest groves dot the otherwise increasingly degraded landscape of Ghana, in West Africa, providing oases of biodiversity and tradition. The pressures of poverty, cultural change, and migration are causing inhabitants to harvest resources from the groves at an unsustainable rate.
Ward Valley – United States
In the vast and rocky Mojave Desert of Southern California, Ward Valley is sacred land for the five lower Colorado River Indian tribes, and critical habitat for the endangered—and traditionally revered—desert tortoise Gopherus agassizii.
Sri Pada – Sri Lanka
Atop a conical mountain in Sri Lanka sits a large foot-shaped impression in rock that gives the peak its name: Sri Pada or “holy footprint.” This sacred spot, which is also known as Adam’s Peak, figures in the stories of four major faith traditions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam
Kaya Forests – Kenya
Along the southern coast of Kenya, the sacred kaya forests of the Mijikenda tribes are a living legacy of the people’s history, culture and religion. For centuries, these once-extensive lowland forests shielded the homesteads, called “kaya,” of the Mijikenda from invading tribes and served as burial grounds
Mount Olympus – Greece
Mount Olympus exists both as a physical mountain and a metaphorical place. Greek and Roman mythology imagined it as the home of their 12 primary gods and goddesses, and throughout history, several peaks in Greece, Turkey and Cyprus have been named Olympus.
Weeli Wolli Springs – Australia
In the arid inland regions of the Pilbara, in Western Australia, water is a precious resource. Permanent bodies of water are rare, and many creeks flow only during short annual rainy seasons. In this unique ecosystem, water sources are carefully guarded to maintain the delicate balance that enables this land and the life within it to thrive.
Tsodilo Hills – Botswana
The term “Bushmen” may bring to mind a romanticized image of the African people living harmoniously in the vast desert, hunting and gathering as their ancestors did for millennia.