Shadow conservation and the persistence of sacred church forests in northern Ethiopia

Abstract

Land‐use change threatens biodiversity and ecosystem function worldwide. These changes have impacts on weather patterns, carbon storage, biodiversity, and other ecosystem services from regional to local scales. Only 8 percent of tropical forests are formally recognized as conservation areas, however globally, there is a network of sites that are protected because they are sacred and as a result act as ‘shadow’ conservation for biodiversity. Unlike other types of protected sites (e.g., national parks), these sites are seats of religious ritual that anchor a community's cultural identity, while also conserving biological diversity and other ecosystem services. We studied the extent and status of sacred forests in northern Ethiopia, which are threatened because of their small size (~5 ha) and isolation, increasing their exposure to edge effects and human pressures. Using historical and modern imagery, we found that over the last 50 yr, sacred forests have increased in area, but decreased in crown closure. We also found that forest ecological status, via ground‐level investigation, had high mean human disturbance (e.g., trails, plantations, exotic planting; 37%); and that forests close to markets (e.g., cities) increased in area due to planting of Eucalyptus (exotic), indicating a potential threat to their persistence and value as shelters of the church.

Human disturbance impacts the integrity of sacred church forests, Ethiopia

“…2005). The distribution and abundance of the church forests in the region are detailed in another paper [27]. In brief, there are ~1022 church forests in South Gondar, with no forest detected without a church.…”

“…These areas cannot immediately transition back to large intact, mature forests and, thus, the overall health of the forest mosaic is critical to avoid further declines in biodiversity. This is seen acutely in northern Ethiopia where the last remaining forests are small patches that average 5 ha in size [26, 27]. However, while small in size, in South Gondar alone (14,607 km 2 ) there are 1022 of these forests that span elevations and biomes making up ~ 5500 ha of tree cover (Scull, unpublished data).…”

“…These forests have a church at their center and are considered critical in protecting the sacredness of the church and as such their association with the church protects them [28]. This protection due to sacredness is often referred to as shadow conservation [27, 29]. These church forests in northern Ethiopia have shown remarkable persistence; 99% of forests have survived the past half-century, with no forest found without a church [27].…”

“…This protection due to sacredness is often referred to as shadow conservation [27, 29]. These church forests in northern Ethiopia have shown remarkable persistence; 99% of forests have survived the past half-century, with no forest found without a church [27]. However, the density of scattered trees and bushlands that surround these forests has declined over the past 80 y, which amplifies forest isolation and edge effects [4].…”

“…As a result of declining woody biomass outside of the forests, the demand on the forest for both material and non-material use has likely increased, which could compromise the integrity and persistence of these forests on the landscape. Previous work in the region has found that over a 50 y time span, crown closure declined significantly and 37% of the total forest area was characterized by some form of disturbance [27].…”