Environmental History 5

Mauro AgnolettiFrancesca Emanueli Editors

Biocultural Diversity in Europe

Environmental History

Volume 5

Series editor

Mauro Agnoletti Florence Italy

kallio21hotmailcom

More information about this series at httpwwwspringercomseries10168

kallio21hotmailcom

Environmental History

Volume 5

Series editor

Mauro Agnoletti Florence Italy

kallio21hotmailcom

More information about this series at httpwwwspringercomseries10168

kallio21hotmailcom

More information about this series at httpwwwspringercomseries10168

kallio21hotmailcom

Mauro Agnoletti bull Francesca EmanueliEditors

Biocultural Diversityin Europe

123

kallio21hotmailcom

EditorsMauro AgnolettiGESAAFUniversity of FlorenceFlorenceItaly

Francesca EmanueliGESAAFUniversity of FlorenceFlorenceItaly

ISSN 2211-9019 ISSN 2211-9027 (electronic)Environmental HistoryISBN 978-3-319-26313-7 ISBN 978-3-319-26315-1 (eBook)DOI 101007978-3-319-26315-1

Library of Congress Control Number 2015956375

copy Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

Chapter 20 is published with kind permission of the Her Majesty the Queen in Right of United Kingdom

This work is subject to copyright All rights are reserved by the Publisher whether the whole or partof the material is concerned specifically the rights of translation reprinting reuse of illustrationsrecitation broadcasting reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way and transmissionor information storage and retrieval electronic adaptation computer software or by similar or dissimilarmethodology now known or hereafter developedThe use of general descriptive names registered names trademarks service marks etc in thispublication does not imply even in the absence of a specific statement that such names are exempt fromthe relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general useThe publisher the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in thisbook are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication Neither the publisher nor theauthors or the editors give a warranty express or implied with respect to the material contained herein orfor any errors or omissions that may have been made

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by SpringerNatureThe registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland

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Chapter 15Religion and the Managementof the Commons The Sacred Forestsof Epirus

Kalliopi Stara Rigas Tsiakiris Vasilis Nitsiakos and John M Halley

Abstract Sacred natural sites (SNS) and especially forests constitute almostcertainly the worldrsquos oldest conservation systems The reasons for their mainte-nance are related very often with concrete ways of managing local resources andecosystems through religious rules In Zagori and Konitsa NW Greece sacredforests exist in most villages Their vegetation and forest structure variety alongwith cultural elements such as identities of the communities who had establishedthem the purpose of their establishing the different rituals implemented for theirtransformation from profane to sacred associated taboos and their particular his-tory create their unique character Accepted uses in sacred forests are depended tothe purpose of their establishment More often hunting grazing collection ofplants mushrooms and dead branches are allowed while taboos are mainly con-nected with the trees themselves Sacred forests display nowadays a newly emergedvalue for biodiversity conservation and they can serve as a locally adapted exemplarof successful historical conservation systems

Keywords Sacred Natural Sites Old growth forests Northern Pindos NationalPark Greece Mediterranean mountains Biocultural diversity

K Stara (amp) JM HalleyDepartment of Biological Applications and Technology University of IoanninaUniversity Campus 45110 Ioannina Greecee-mail kallio21hotmailcom kstarauoiccgr

JM Halleye-mail jhalleyccuoigr

R TsiakirisForestry Service of Ioannina M Kotopouli 62 45445 Ioannina Greecee-mail rigastsiakirisgmailcom

V NitsiakosDepartment of History and Archeology University of Ioannina University Campus45110 Ioannina Greecee-mail bnitsiakccuoigr

copy Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016M Agnoletti and F Emanueli (eds) Biocultural Diversity in EuropeEnvironmental History 5 DOI 101007978-3-319-26315-1_15

283

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151 Introduction

Sacred Natural Sites (SNS) have been defined as areas with special significance topeople and communities (Oviedo and Jeanrenaud 2007) Sacred sites can be thehome of gods places related with spiritually significant historical events or peopleor places of worship expressing a unique sense or spirit of place (Antrop 2005Dudley and Higgins-Zogib 2012) They are often associated with temples shrinesmosques churches pilgrimage trails or epiphanies of the divine in natural features(Verschuuren et al 2010) Their sacredness is often related with a forebodingexpressed as a taboo that prevents their exploitation for private use Because sacredsites have been managed as protected areas they have been recognized as theworldrsquos oldest conservation systems (Dudley et al 2009)

SNS exist all over the world In spite of the common Christian view of sacrednature as idolatry (Dudley and Higgins-Zogib 2012 Frascaroli 2013) in Greecethere are well-known examples of Christian Orthodox SNS such as the rock pillarsof Meteora (Lyratzaki 2007) and the monastic community of Mt Athos (Papayannis2007) However spirituality is also expressed on a smaller scale by outlyingchurches and their emblematic trees or groves that magically encircle or markvillage boundaries with the power of the cross (Stara et al 2012) Such sacred sitesoften specify liminal or dangerous places boundaries significant routes importantresources or drinkable water (Nixon 2006) SNS also denote concrete ways ofmanaging local resources through religious rules (ie Anderson et al 2005Chandran and Hughes 2000 Sharma et al 1999 Virtanen 2002 Watley and Colfer2004) In historical contexts where religious institutions were closely connectedwith political authorities the term ldquosacredrdquo functioned as a synonym for acommunity-based management of common resources though social taboos (Byerset al 2001 Rutte 2011) Religion can attach sacred values to specific resourcesregulating their use by means of threats of punishments of a supernatural characterfor the trespassers (Colding and Folke 2001 Rutte 2011)

In this paper we present the natural and cultural characteristics of 16 repre-sentative sacred forests in the mountains of Epirus in North West Greece that serveas exemplars for managing natural resources and conserving ecosystems throughreligious rules

152 Materials and Methods

1521 Description of the Study Area

Our study areas include the municipalities of Zagori and Konitsa in the Pindos rangeof NW Greece These areas flourished under Ottoman occupation (1479ndash1912) butnowadays are among the least populated areas of Greece Mt Grammos (2520 m)defines the northern limit while Mt Smolikas (2637 m) the second highest mountain

284 K Stara et al

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of Greece is located to the east The Kataacutera (literally ldquoaccursedrdquo) pass nearMeacutetsovo and newly constructed Egnatia highway demarcate the southern boundarywhile the long ridge of Mt Mitsikeli completes the square to the west

Our research area encloses a large diversity of mountains including rough ter-rain with steep rocky slopes scree-slopes escarpments and ravines of the hardlimestone or erodible flysch and ophiolite that develop into badlands The deepgorges and steep valleys of the Vikos Voidomatis and Aoos rivers created suitableshelter during the ice ages with flourishing microhabitats that still host a greatbiodiversity of flora and fauna that feature many endemic or rare species of EuropeDescending from the alpine and subalpine anthropogenic meadows above tree limitBosnian and black-pine forests (Pinus heldreichii and P nigra) in the form of openwood pastures give way to dense fir beech and oak forests (Abies x borisii-regisFagus sylvatica Quercus spp) mixed with several other broadleaved speciesPastoral woodlands and open scrublands created a diverse cultural landscapedominated by rangelands until recently but now due to land abandonment thelandscape is mainly dominated by young mixed broadleaved forest and denseschlerophyllus scrublands The recent homogenization of the vegetation has alsohidden the mosaic of cultivated terraces shredded oakeries orchards rivulet gar-dens and extended overgrazed bushland near most mountain villages

The local identities of the various peoples who came to this area are imprinted onthe landscape through the long interaction between people and Nature Descendingagain from the mountain peaks to the lowlands in Zagori but focusing on peoplethis time we first see the summer pastures above the tree line corresponding topastoral transhumant Sarakatsani who started to use the land from the eighteenthcentury After the Second World War (WWII) many of these people settled per-manently in the villages of the area (Campbell 1964) In the oak vegetation zone ofthe central and west parts of Zagori where most of the villages are located thelandscape presents relics of the characteristic mosaic of permanent mountain set-tlements The inhabitants of that area were initially settled agriculturalists From theseventeenth century men started to immigrate to Europe Africa and America Thatin combination with the privileges that Zagorians enjoyed during the period of theOttoman occupation has resulted in an impressive prosperity that is still visible inthe settlements and landscape From the thirteenth century south and south-eastZagori (Vlachozaacutegoro) was occupied by the linguistically distinct Vlach transhu-mant pastoral community Today the forested areas of south-east Zagori areinhabited by settled Vlachs still known as ldquowoodcuttersrdquo

As far as the area of Konitsa is concerned there is also a quite clear corre-spondence between ecological zones and cultural unities The high mountain pas-tures are occupied by Vlach transhumant pastoralists who spend their summer timein the villages of Aetomilitsa (on Grammos Mt) and Fourka (on Smolikas Mt) andmove to the plains of Thessaly and Macedonia for the winter time What mostlycharacterizes these communities from an ecological point of view are the customarypractices of managing collective resources on the basis of a balance between human

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 285

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population animals and the available pastures which belong to the whole com-munity Sedentary Vlachs reside also in the Aoos valley in a cluster of settlementslined up along the river which developed historically their own distinctive localculture based on forestry and agriculture with complementary domestic animalhusbandry The lowland in the zone between the settlements and the river is cul-tivated in the past the zone of the cultivated land used to extend to the north of thesettlements Above the settlements there are also zones of preserved woodland andthickets as well as pastures and further away forests which constitute an importantfactor of the local economy In the past this population specialized also in crafts andprofessions related to forests such as sawyers and tar-dealers

As to the Sarantaporos valley it is a unity which specialized historically in crafts(stone masonry painting-hagiography wood carving carpentry) that is why allthese villages are called mastorohoacuteria (literally ldquocraftsmanvillagesrdquo) Occupyingthe oak zone these communities were initially agropastoral At some historicalmoment their male population turned to technical specialization (eighteenthndashnine-teenth century) due to demographic and economical hardship This phenomenonstarted to decline at the end of the nineteenth century and disappeared in thesecond-half of the twentieth century

Another unit is formed by the villages of the Konitsa plain which combineagriculture with animal husbandry These villages used to belong to local beys inOttoman times but after their liberation they became free and developed a localeconomy based on small holdings plus a small-scale domestic animal husbandryPeople from the town of Konitsa itself own also land in the plain which wasdistributed to them by the state (a large part of them are Asia Minor refugees thatsettled in Konitsa in 1923) The town of Konitsa itself constitutes the administra-tive commercial and cultural center of the municipality Konitsa has always been acenter and a crossing It has been a place of cultural input where various culturalelements met and has functioned as a channel for the osmosis among differentpeople and cultures To all this the well-known bazaar played a central role(Nitsiakos 2008)

National laws and presidential or ministerial edicts protect part of the culturalheritage of the area mainly Byzantine and post-Byzantine monuments private orpublic buildings or entire settlements Infrastructure related to the network oftransportation (bridges stone-paved lanes) or with pre-industrial agriculture (watermills threshing floors) that date back as far as the fifteenth century also constitutecharacteristic examples of local architecture Moreover the area is well known forits high ecological value and has a great conservation importance Therefore it isprotected by several Greek and European laws and part of it has been designated asthe National Forest of Pindus (1966) the National Forest of Vikos-Aoos (1973) thebiogenetic reserve of Pindos (1976) the Northern Pindos National Park (2005) theVikos-Aoos UNESCO Geopark (2010) and includes eleven NATURA 2000 sitesSpecial Protected Areas (SPAs) for bird conservation and Sites of CommunityImportance (SCIs) for habitat and species protection

286 K Stara et al

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1522 The Study on the Sacred Natural Sites of Epirus

The study of the SNS of Epirus started in 2000 and was initially involved 23villages in Zagori (Stara et al 2015a) Work resumed in 2012 through an inter-disciplinary research programme based at the University of Ioannina(THALIS-SAGE 2012ndash2015 ldquoConservation through Religion the Sacred Forests ofEpirusrdquo) Our aim was the study of sacred forests as an effective conservationsystem and their bio-cultural value focusing not only in their cultural and spiritualvalue but also in their biodiversity importance using as criteria groups of organismsdepending on mature trees such as lichens birds bats fungi saproxylic insects andsoil biodiversity (Read 2000 Rackham 2006)

Through extensive archival and ethnographic research and fieldwork we locatedthe SNS of every village but we orientated our study on forests excluding isolatedmature trees or small groves in church yards We asked people to tell us about thereasons of maintenance of their sacred forests their history ritual activitiessupernatural guardians accepted and non-acceptable uses taboos and storiesrelating to trespassing in these forests We confirmed peoplersquos narratives in com-munity archives and we visited the forests accompanied with locals where possible

In order to create common research areas for different scientific disciplinesincluding colleagues who studied biodiversity in detail we chose a subset of thesacred forests of the area using as first priority criteria their classification in differentgeographic and cultural units (Fig 151) This covered most of the diversityexisting in the area inasmuch as we chosed at least one representative forest fromeach geographic-cultural unit (Fig 152 Table 151)

We selected forests that were bigger than 45 ha applying also a rough criterionof 70 tree cover excluding those that were open woodland pastures in the pastwith an exception if this vegetation type was only represented in this form Inaddition we chose representatives of at least one of all vegetation types existing inthe area Good preservation status was also considered as some sacred forests havebeen partly destroyed Sacred forest boundaries based on ethnographical andarchival research were later identified and mapped by the use of orthorectified aerialphotographs of the year 1945 which is the oldest complete set of aerial photographsin the area

During our visit to each forest we recorded the geology and bedrock typechecked for the presence of landslides fallen rocks water and springs and notedalso vegetation type forest structure past and recent uses existing buildings orother artifacts We defined their recent and older borders in as much detail aspossible A rapid biodiversity survey was focused on easily identifiable largemammals and raptors All data were entered into a GIS environment for furtheranalysis (topography inclination etc)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 287

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153 Results and Discussion

1531 The Sacred Commons

All different cultural units in the area preserve sacred forests and used religion as astrategy to control management during the Ottoman occupation In that period these

Fig 151 Location of the research area and the selected 16 characteristic sacred forests in Konitsaand Zagori municipalities in Epirus NW Greece

288 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

1Ph

ysical

characteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname(in

Greek)

Forestname(in

Eng

lish)

Tow

nVillage

CulturalG

eographicun

itVegetationtype

Area

(ha)

Altitude

(m)

1Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Koacuten

itsa

Kon

itsaplain

Black

pine

11570

760ndash

1600

2Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Maacutezi

Kon

itsaplain

Broadleaved

oak

1040

560ndash

645

4K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Virginrsquosforest

Aidon

ochoacute

riKon

itsaplain

Mixed

broadleaved

1980

715ndash

960

3Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Chion

iaacutedes

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Mixed

broadleaved

4130

1120

ndash

1300

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Virginrsquosforest

Elaphoacutetop

osCentral-W

est

(CW)Zagori

Pricklyoak

2910

660ndash

890

6Livaacutedi

Meado

wManassiacute

CW

Zagori

Mixed

broadleaved

537

1000

ndash

1400

7Livaacutedi

Meado

wVrysochoacuteri

EastZ

agoriAoo

svalley

Broadleaved

oak

1040

930ndash

1150

8Livadaacutekia

Smallmeado

ws

Viacutetsa

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

490

917

9Mereaacuteo

Com

mon

land

Palio

seacuteli

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

2240

1100

ndash

1340

10AgiacuteaParaskeviacute

SantaParaskevi

Vov

ouacutessa

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

680

980ndash

1070

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sSaintCharalampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

1702

530ndash

600

12Traacutefos

Ditch

Moacutelista

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Black

pine

4329

880ndash

1220

13Plaacutei

Slop

eMikro

Paacuteping

oCW

Zagori

Stinking

Grecian

junipers

2823

1200

ndash

1550

14Gradiacutesta

Fortress

Kapeacutesov

oCW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

236

950ndash

1170

15Aniacutelia

Non

sunn

yKaacutetoPedinaacute

CW

Zagori

Pricklyoak

103

848ndash

963

16Touacute

fa(the

core

area)

Thicket

Greveniacuteti

EastZagori

Beechmixed

broadleaved

1172

1060

ndash

1380

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 289

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mountain communities enjoyed privileges and a kind of ldquoautonomyrdquo from theOttomans while the Church found herself in the special position to substitute politicalpower and judicature (Mihailaris 2004) Local authorities comprehending theimportance of forests especially in cases where these could be used as protectivewood belts against natural hazards decided on their protection with the support ofreligion as supernatural guardian Supernatural fears based on pre-Christian beliefs ofnature-spirits (Stara 2012a) coalesced in the idea of a dangerous and powerful sacredwhich aided the political power to enforce among the members of a closed societyconformity of moral respect toward common important resources such as forests Asconceptualized elements sacred forests functioned also as cultural codes (Colding andFolke 2001) that could protect social order secure the prosperity of the communitydelineate admissible relations between itsmembers and define categories such as goodand bad inside and outside safe and dangerous (Douglas 1966)

Our archival work revealed communal agreements which prove that somesacred forests used to be private land that belonged to different villagers Narrativesenforce such decisions as people often refer to toponyms that indicate propertyrights of certain villagers inside the sacred forests Moreover existence of privatetrees inside the sacred forests such as sweet chestnuts that ex-owners of the land areallowed to harvest are indirect indicators that such areas were once private land

1532 The Names

Sacred forests are refereed to with the same term ieraacute in Greek literature but inspoken language the preferred general term is klisiast(i)kaacute which are literally thosebelonging to the Church Another synonym is vakouacutefika from the Turkish vakufwhich signifies a bequest from which the income should be used for public benefit(Moutafchieva 1988)

Many sacred forests are named kouriacute or with syncope kri with the meaning of apiece of forest kept as protected with the potential to be used as a reserve for com-munity needs or Church income Other sacred forests are called livaacutedia (in plural)Livaacutedi literally means meadow but our field research revealed that these areas do nothave the typical appearance of an open grassland On the contrary they are wood-lands which function as protective wood belts above villages Therefore we relatethe etymology of the world with the ancient Greek livaacutes (literally ldquowater droprdquo) (Staraand Tsiakiris 2010) Moreover the Palioseli village sacred forest is named mereaacuteo(miriye in Turkishmeriaacutes in Greek) and means the public land (Moutafchieva 1988)

When the forest is dedicated to a church that is found in its vicinity the protectorsaint gives his or her name not only to the sacred forest but also to the terrainaround it This expresses the domestication of the land the protection by the saintand the subjugation of the forces of nature to the spiritual power of the holypersonage to which the site is dedicated (Nixon 2006 Stewart 1991) Other sacredforests take their names from the salient features of the landform following theclassical rules of landscape onomatopoieia (Martin 1995)

290 K Stara et al

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1533 The Physical Characteristics of the Sacred Forests

Most sacred forests are located above villages and with a size of no more than 50 ha(Table 151) Most mountain villages of the area are located in the altitudinal zonewhere oak forests grow Accordingly most selected sacred forests are dominated bymixed broadleaved woodlands consisted mainly by broadleaved oaks (Q pubescensQ frainetto Q trojana Q cerris) while mixed broadleaves have also a big per-centage with maples (Acer monspesulanum A obtusatum) horbeams (Carpinusorientalis Ostrya carpinifolia) being the commonest trees reaching the crown ofthese forests Monumental trees of beeches black pines and junipers (Juniperusfoetidissima J excelsa) can be found in respective forests Thus the biggest pricklyoaks (Q coccifera) in the wider area are to be found only in SNS in the vicinity of thevillages in the lower altitudes Dendrochronology is underway for the oldest trees inthe above forests but many old trees are aging more than 200 years while there areexamples of trees (junipers oaks black pines) older than 350 years (Aris Kyparissisand Valentino Marini Govigli personal comm Sarris 2008)

Two sacred forests are exceptionally large the beech forest above Grevenitivillage (1172 ha) and the black-pine forest above Konitsa town (1157 ha) accordingto their borders shown in the aerial photographs of year 1945 While most of the 16selected sacred forests are located above 1000 m this of Konitsa and the uniquejuniper forest of Mikro Papingo reach the highest altitudes (1600 and 1550 mrespectively) Konitsa town sacred forest has the widest range of all starting from760 m altitude just above the last houses and reaching the top of the steep slope thathangs above the town By contrast the abandoned village of Mesovouni has thelowest sacred forest (of broadleaved oak) starting at just 530 m altitude

Inclination of the bedrock which was mainly limestone or sometimes flysch wasin most cases very steep and our field survey revealed that rockfalls landslides andeven snow avalanches are not rare phenomena and are imprinted in the forest historyIn certain cases as in Manassi village rockfalls destroyed recently a church insidethe forest while in Palioseli village rolling rocks have been found to have strickenthe standing trees and these were later stabilized by local people Landslides eventoday frequently destroy roads bridges and infrastructure mainly in the EasternZagori such as the destruction of buildings in Greveniti village (2013) where themost extensive sacred beech forest is found It was not a surprise to find that mostsacred forests also host springs rivulets or even water reservoirs

Our detailed biodiversity survey has not finished yet but our visits to the field sofar reveal that all sacred forests serve as breeding sites of raptorial species especiallysort toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) that seemto prefer those forests while evidence of the presence of tawny owl (Stix aluco) wasfound in most cases This was expected as raptors in general show site fidelity andthose forest patches were probably the only breeding sites containing enough bigtrees and having less disturbance in the near past Bio-indicators confirmed thepresence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) also in all the sacred forests we visited

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 291

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1534 The Ritual and Other Praxes

Dedication to a church and most often to the church of the village patron even if itlies in villagersquos center or in the vicinity of the forest was the commonest praxis todivide sacred from secular land Interestingly aphorismoacutes (excommunication) wasalso often used as a sanctification practice Excommunication in the first Christiancenturies constituted a pure ecclesiastical punishment visited on people Howeverduring the fourteenthndasheighteenth century the practice was extended to applications inprivate issues of economic or social nature In that context it could be used as anabstract threat capable of stigmatizing someone (eg a trespasser on a sacred forest)with exclusion from the Church its mysteries and social events related to religiouslife Moreover it could impose to trespassers and their generation a cursed live anddamn their souls to the heritage of eternal hell (Mihailaris 2004) Locals recall anatmosphere of intense religiosity and fear The ceremony was implemented ad loc atthe edge of the forest singing certain curse psalms of David (eg Ps 58 Ps 109)ringing the bell holding black candles using an upside down cauldron and gen-erally reversing the regular order of things Use might even be made of the number ofpriests that announced the excommunication Numbers three and seven especiallystrengthened its force and this is the reason why some excommunicated forests arecalled eftapaacutepada (literally excommunicated by seven priests) (Stara 2012b)

Dedication and excommunication were not mutually exclusive On the contraryexcommunication and in some cases also communal agreements could be used toenforce dedication After the establishment of the modern Greek state excommuni-cation gaveway to new forms ofModern European Justice and communal agreementswere addressed to the Forestry Service which published special forestry regulationsfor the management of the sacred forests However locals continued to relate regu-lations to taboos associated with the supernatural guardians of the sacred forests

1535 The Supernatural Guardians of the Sacred Forests

The Virgin Mary (Panagiacutea) Saint Nicholas (Ai Nikoacutelas) Santa Paraskevi (AgiacuteαParaskeviacute or Staviacutenere in Vlach) and Saint Charalampos (Ai Charaacutelampos) act in thesacred forests as the intermediaries between the God and people St Paraskevi is oneof the dragon-killer saints the protector of fountains in local culture thus we expecther appearance in sacred forests where aquifer protection is likely to be among theirservices St Nikolas is protector of travelers in folk religion and thus beloved toEpirus where every family had migrant sons (Stara et al 2015as) However his springcelebration [May 20th relics translation to Bari-Italy which is one of the mostimportant pilgrimage centers of St Nikolas in Europe (Ševčenko 1983)] also coin-cides with the period that transhumant shepherd families return from winter tosummer pastures and this is accompanied with passage rites such as food offerings Inthe sacred forest of St Nicholas in Vitsa village this date used to regulate the opening

292 K Stara et al

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of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

kallio21hotmailcom

when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

EditorsMauro AgnolettiGESAAFUniversity of FlorenceFlorenceItaly

Francesca EmanueliGESAAFUniversity of FlorenceFlorenceItaly

ISSN 2211-9019 ISSN 2211-9027 (electronic)Environmental HistoryISBN 978-3-319-26313-7 ISBN 978-3-319-26315-1 (eBook)DOI 101007978-3-319-26315-1

Library of Congress Control Number 2015956375

copy Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

Chapter 20 is published with kind permission of the Her Majesty the Queen in Right of United Kingdom

This work is subject to copyright All rights are reserved by the Publisher whether the whole or partof the material is concerned specifically the rights of translation reprinting reuse of illustrationsrecitation broadcasting reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way and transmissionor information storage and retrieval electronic adaptation computer software or by similar or dissimilarmethodology now known or hereafter developedThe use of general descriptive names registered names trademarks service marks etc in thispublication does not imply even in the absence of a specific statement that such names are exempt fromthe relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general useThe publisher the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in thisbook are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication Neither the publisher nor theauthors or the editors give a warranty express or implied with respect to the material contained herein orfor any errors or omissions that may have been made

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by SpringerNatureThe registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland

kallio21hotmailcom

Chapter 15Religion and the Managementof the Commons The Sacred Forestsof Epirus

Kalliopi Stara Rigas Tsiakiris Vasilis Nitsiakos and John M Halley

Abstract Sacred natural sites (SNS) and especially forests constitute almostcertainly the worldrsquos oldest conservation systems The reasons for their mainte-nance are related very often with concrete ways of managing local resources andecosystems through religious rules In Zagori and Konitsa NW Greece sacredforests exist in most villages Their vegetation and forest structure variety alongwith cultural elements such as identities of the communities who had establishedthem the purpose of their establishing the different rituals implemented for theirtransformation from profane to sacred associated taboos and their particular his-tory create their unique character Accepted uses in sacred forests are depended tothe purpose of their establishment More often hunting grazing collection ofplants mushrooms and dead branches are allowed while taboos are mainly con-nected with the trees themselves Sacred forests display nowadays a newly emergedvalue for biodiversity conservation and they can serve as a locally adapted exemplarof successful historical conservation systems

Keywords Sacred Natural Sites Old growth forests Northern Pindos NationalPark Greece Mediterranean mountains Biocultural diversity

K Stara (amp) JM HalleyDepartment of Biological Applications and Technology University of IoanninaUniversity Campus 45110 Ioannina Greecee-mail kallio21hotmailcom kstarauoiccgr

JM Halleye-mail jhalleyccuoigr

R TsiakirisForestry Service of Ioannina M Kotopouli 62 45445 Ioannina Greecee-mail rigastsiakirisgmailcom

V NitsiakosDepartment of History and Archeology University of Ioannina University Campus45110 Ioannina Greecee-mail bnitsiakccuoigr

copy Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016M Agnoletti and F Emanueli (eds) Biocultural Diversity in EuropeEnvironmental History 5 DOI 101007978-3-319-26315-1_15

283

kallio21hotmailcom

151 Introduction

Sacred Natural Sites (SNS) have been defined as areas with special significance topeople and communities (Oviedo and Jeanrenaud 2007) Sacred sites can be thehome of gods places related with spiritually significant historical events or peopleor places of worship expressing a unique sense or spirit of place (Antrop 2005Dudley and Higgins-Zogib 2012) They are often associated with temples shrinesmosques churches pilgrimage trails or epiphanies of the divine in natural features(Verschuuren et al 2010) Their sacredness is often related with a forebodingexpressed as a taboo that prevents their exploitation for private use Because sacredsites have been managed as protected areas they have been recognized as theworldrsquos oldest conservation systems (Dudley et al 2009)

SNS exist all over the world In spite of the common Christian view of sacrednature as idolatry (Dudley and Higgins-Zogib 2012 Frascaroli 2013) in Greecethere are well-known examples of Christian Orthodox SNS such as the rock pillarsof Meteora (Lyratzaki 2007) and the monastic community of Mt Athos (Papayannis2007) However spirituality is also expressed on a smaller scale by outlyingchurches and their emblematic trees or groves that magically encircle or markvillage boundaries with the power of the cross (Stara et al 2012) Such sacred sitesoften specify liminal or dangerous places boundaries significant routes importantresources or drinkable water (Nixon 2006) SNS also denote concrete ways ofmanaging local resources through religious rules (ie Anderson et al 2005Chandran and Hughes 2000 Sharma et al 1999 Virtanen 2002 Watley and Colfer2004) In historical contexts where religious institutions were closely connectedwith political authorities the term ldquosacredrdquo functioned as a synonym for acommunity-based management of common resources though social taboos (Byerset al 2001 Rutte 2011) Religion can attach sacred values to specific resourcesregulating their use by means of threats of punishments of a supernatural characterfor the trespassers (Colding and Folke 2001 Rutte 2011)

In this paper we present the natural and cultural characteristics of 16 repre-sentative sacred forests in the mountains of Epirus in North West Greece that serveas exemplars for managing natural resources and conserving ecosystems throughreligious rules

152 Materials and Methods

1521 Description of the Study Area

Our study areas include the municipalities of Zagori and Konitsa in the Pindos rangeof NW Greece These areas flourished under Ottoman occupation (1479ndash1912) butnowadays are among the least populated areas of Greece Mt Grammos (2520 m)defines the northern limit while Mt Smolikas (2637 m) the second highest mountain

284 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

of Greece is located to the east The Kataacutera (literally ldquoaccursedrdquo) pass nearMeacutetsovo and newly constructed Egnatia highway demarcate the southern boundarywhile the long ridge of Mt Mitsikeli completes the square to the west

Our research area encloses a large diversity of mountains including rough ter-rain with steep rocky slopes scree-slopes escarpments and ravines of the hardlimestone or erodible flysch and ophiolite that develop into badlands The deepgorges and steep valleys of the Vikos Voidomatis and Aoos rivers created suitableshelter during the ice ages with flourishing microhabitats that still host a greatbiodiversity of flora and fauna that feature many endemic or rare species of EuropeDescending from the alpine and subalpine anthropogenic meadows above tree limitBosnian and black-pine forests (Pinus heldreichii and P nigra) in the form of openwood pastures give way to dense fir beech and oak forests (Abies x borisii-regisFagus sylvatica Quercus spp) mixed with several other broadleaved speciesPastoral woodlands and open scrublands created a diverse cultural landscapedominated by rangelands until recently but now due to land abandonment thelandscape is mainly dominated by young mixed broadleaved forest and denseschlerophyllus scrublands The recent homogenization of the vegetation has alsohidden the mosaic of cultivated terraces shredded oakeries orchards rivulet gar-dens and extended overgrazed bushland near most mountain villages

The local identities of the various peoples who came to this area are imprinted onthe landscape through the long interaction between people and Nature Descendingagain from the mountain peaks to the lowlands in Zagori but focusing on peoplethis time we first see the summer pastures above the tree line corresponding topastoral transhumant Sarakatsani who started to use the land from the eighteenthcentury After the Second World War (WWII) many of these people settled per-manently in the villages of the area (Campbell 1964) In the oak vegetation zone ofthe central and west parts of Zagori where most of the villages are located thelandscape presents relics of the characteristic mosaic of permanent mountain set-tlements The inhabitants of that area were initially settled agriculturalists From theseventeenth century men started to immigrate to Europe Africa and America Thatin combination with the privileges that Zagorians enjoyed during the period of theOttoman occupation has resulted in an impressive prosperity that is still visible inthe settlements and landscape From the thirteenth century south and south-eastZagori (Vlachozaacutegoro) was occupied by the linguistically distinct Vlach transhu-mant pastoral community Today the forested areas of south-east Zagori areinhabited by settled Vlachs still known as ldquowoodcuttersrdquo

As far as the area of Konitsa is concerned there is also a quite clear corre-spondence between ecological zones and cultural unities The high mountain pas-tures are occupied by Vlach transhumant pastoralists who spend their summer timein the villages of Aetomilitsa (on Grammos Mt) and Fourka (on Smolikas Mt) andmove to the plains of Thessaly and Macedonia for the winter time What mostlycharacterizes these communities from an ecological point of view are the customarypractices of managing collective resources on the basis of a balance between human

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 285

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population animals and the available pastures which belong to the whole com-munity Sedentary Vlachs reside also in the Aoos valley in a cluster of settlementslined up along the river which developed historically their own distinctive localculture based on forestry and agriculture with complementary domestic animalhusbandry The lowland in the zone between the settlements and the river is cul-tivated in the past the zone of the cultivated land used to extend to the north of thesettlements Above the settlements there are also zones of preserved woodland andthickets as well as pastures and further away forests which constitute an importantfactor of the local economy In the past this population specialized also in crafts andprofessions related to forests such as sawyers and tar-dealers

As to the Sarantaporos valley it is a unity which specialized historically in crafts(stone masonry painting-hagiography wood carving carpentry) that is why allthese villages are called mastorohoacuteria (literally ldquocraftsmanvillagesrdquo) Occupyingthe oak zone these communities were initially agropastoral At some historicalmoment their male population turned to technical specialization (eighteenthndashnine-teenth century) due to demographic and economical hardship This phenomenonstarted to decline at the end of the nineteenth century and disappeared in thesecond-half of the twentieth century

Another unit is formed by the villages of the Konitsa plain which combineagriculture with animal husbandry These villages used to belong to local beys inOttoman times but after their liberation they became free and developed a localeconomy based on small holdings plus a small-scale domestic animal husbandryPeople from the town of Konitsa itself own also land in the plain which wasdistributed to them by the state (a large part of them are Asia Minor refugees thatsettled in Konitsa in 1923) The town of Konitsa itself constitutes the administra-tive commercial and cultural center of the municipality Konitsa has always been acenter and a crossing It has been a place of cultural input where various culturalelements met and has functioned as a channel for the osmosis among differentpeople and cultures To all this the well-known bazaar played a central role(Nitsiakos 2008)

National laws and presidential or ministerial edicts protect part of the culturalheritage of the area mainly Byzantine and post-Byzantine monuments private orpublic buildings or entire settlements Infrastructure related to the network oftransportation (bridges stone-paved lanes) or with pre-industrial agriculture (watermills threshing floors) that date back as far as the fifteenth century also constitutecharacteristic examples of local architecture Moreover the area is well known forits high ecological value and has a great conservation importance Therefore it isprotected by several Greek and European laws and part of it has been designated asthe National Forest of Pindus (1966) the National Forest of Vikos-Aoos (1973) thebiogenetic reserve of Pindos (1976) the Northern Pindos National Park (2005) theVikos-Aoos UNESCO Geopark (2010) and includes eleven NATURA 2000 sitesSpecial Protected Areas (SPAs) for bird conservation and Sites of CommunityImportance (SCIs) for habitat and species protection

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1522 The Study on the Sacred Natural Sites of Epirus

The study of the SNS of Epirus started in 2000 and was initially involved 23villages in Zagori (Stara et al 2015a) Work resumed in 2012 through an inter-disciplinary research programme based at the University of Ioannina(THALIS-SAGE 2012ndash2015 ldquoConservation through Religion the Sacred Forests ofEpirusrdquo) Our aim was the study of sacred forests as an effective conservationsystem and their bio-cultural value focusing not only in their cultural and spiritualvalue but also in their biodiversity importance using as criteria groups of organismsdepending on mature trees such as lichens birds bats fungi saproxylic insects andsoil biodiversity (Read 2000 Rackham 2006)

Through extensive archival and ethnographic research and fieldwork we locatedthe SNS of every village but we orientated our study on forests excluding isolatedmature trees or small groves in church yards We asked people to tell us about thereasons of maintenance of their sacred forests their history ritual activitiessupernatural guardians accepted and non-acceptable uses taboos and storiesrelating to trespassing in these forests We confirmed peoplersquos narratives in com-munity archives and we visited the forests accompanied with locals where possible

In order to create common research areas for different scientific disciplinesincluding colleagues who studied biodiversity in detail we chose a subset of thesacred forests of the area using as first priority criteria their classification in differentgeographic and cultural units (Fig 151) This covered most of the diversityexisting in the area inasmuch as we chosed at least one representative forest fromeach geographic-cultural unit (Fig 152 Table 151)

We selected forests that were bigger than 45 ha applying also a rough criterionof 70 tree cover excluding those that were open woodland pastures in the pastwith an exception if this vegetation type was only represented in this form Inaddition we chose representatives of at least one of all vegetation types existing inthe area Good preservation status was also considered as some sacred forests havebeen partly destroyed Sacred forest boundaries based on ethnographical andarchival research were later identified and mapped by the use of orthorectified aerialphotographs of the year 1945 which is the oldest complete set of aerial photographsin the area

During our visit to each forest we recorded the geology and bedrock typechecked for the presence of landslides fallen rocks water and springs and notedalso vegetation type forest structure past and recent uses existing buildings orother artifacts We defined their recent and older borders in as much detail aspossible A rapid biodiversity survey was focused on easily identifiable largemammals and raptors All data were entered into a GIS environment for furtheranalysis (topography inclination etc)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 287

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153 Results and Discussion

1531 The Sacred Commons

All different cultural units in the area preserve sacred forests and used religion as astrategy to control management during the Ottoman occupation In that period these

Fig 151 Location of the research area and the selected 16 characteristic sacred forests in Konitsaand Zagori municipalities in Epirus NW Greece

288 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

1Ph

ysical

characteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname(in

Greek)

Forestname(in

Eng

lish)

Tow

nVillage

CulturalG

eographicun

itVegetationtype

Area

(ha)

Altitude

(m)

1Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Koacuten

itsa

Kon

itsaplain

Black

pine

11570

760ndash

1600

2Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Maacutezi

Kon

itsaplain

Broadleaved

oak

1040

560ndash

645

4K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Virginrsquosforest

Aidon

ochoacute

riKon

itsaplain

Mixed

broadleaved

1980

715ndash

960

3Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Chion

iaacutedes

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Mixed

broadleaved

4130

1120

ndash

1300

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Virginrsquosforest

Elaphoacutetop

osCentral-W

est

(CW)Zagori

Pricklyoak

2910

660ndash

890

6Livaacutedi

Meado

wManassiacute

CW

Zagori

Mixed

broadleaved

537

1000

ndash

1400

7Livaacutedi

Meado

wVrysochoacuteri

EastZ

agoriAoo

svalley

Broadleaved

oak

1040

930ndash

1150

8Livadaacutekia

Smallmeado

ws

Viacutetsa

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

490

917

9Mereaacuteo

Com

mon

land

Palio

seacuteli

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

2240

1100

ndash

1340

10AgiacuteaParaskeviacute

SantaParaskevi

Vov

ouacutessa

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

680

980ndash

1070

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sSaintCharalampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

1702

530ndash

600

12Traacutefos

Ditch

Moacutelista

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Black

pine

4329

880ndash

1220

13Plaacutei

Slop

eMikro

Paacuteping

oCW

Zagori

Stinking

Grecian

junipers

2823

1200

ndash

1550

14Gradiacutesta

Fortress

Kapeacutesov

oCW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

236

950ndash

1170

15Aniacutelia

Non

sunn

yKaacutetoPedinaacute

CW

Zagori

Pricklyoak

103

848ndash

963

16Touacute

fa(the

core

area)

Thicket

Greveniacuteti

EastZagori

Beechmixed

broadleaved

1172

1060

ndash

1380

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 289

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mountain communities enjoyed privileges and a kind of ldquoautonomyrdquo from theOttomans while the Church found herself in the special position to substitute politicalpower and judicature (Mihailaris 2004) Local authorities comprehending theimportance of forests especially in cases where these could be used as protectivewood belts against natural hazards decided on their protection with the support ofreligion as supernatural guardian Supernatural fears based on pre-Christian beliefs ofnature-spirits (Stara 2012a) coalesced in the idea of a dangerous and powerful sacredwhich aided the political power to enforce among the members of a closed societyconformity of moral respect toward common important resources such as forests Asconceptualized elements sacred forests functioned also as cultural codes (Colding andFolke 2001) that could protect social order secure the prosperity of the communitydelineate admissible relations between itsmembers and define categories such as goodand bad inside and outside safe and dangerous (Douglas 1966)

Our archival work revealed communal agreements which prove that somesacred forests used to be private land that belonged to different villagers Narrativesenforce such decisions as people often refer to toponyms that indicate propertyrights of certain villagers inside the sacred forests Moreover existence of privatetrees inside the sacred forests such as sweet chestnuts that ex-owners of the land areallowed to harvest are indirect indicators that such areas were once private land

1532 The Names

Sacred forests are refereed to with the same term ieraacute in Greek literature but inspoken language the preferred general term is klisiast(i)kaacute which are literally thosebelonging to the Church Another synonym is vakouacutefika from the Turkish vakufwhich signifies a bequest from which the income should be used for public benefit(Moutafchieva 1988)

Many sacred forests are named kouriacute or with syncope kri with the meaning of apiece of forest kept as protected with the potential to be used as a reserve for com-munity needs or Church income Other sacred forests are called livaacutedia (in plural)Livaacutedi literally means meadow but our field research revealed that these areas do nothave the typical appearance of an open grassland On the contrary they are wood-lands which function as protective wood belts above villages Therefore we relatethe etymology of the world with the ancient Greek livaacutes (literally ldquowater droprdquo) (Staraand Tsiakiris 2010) Moreover the Palioseli village sacred forest is named mereaacuteo(miriye in Turkishmeriaacutes in Greek) and means the public land (Moutafchieva 1988)

When the forest is dedicated to a church that is found in its vicinity the protectorsaint gives his or her name not only to the sacred forest but also to the terrainaround it This expresses the domestication of the land the protection by the saintand the subjugation of the forces of nature to the spiritual power of the holypersonage to which the site is dedicated (Nixon 2006 Stewart 1991) Other sacredforests take their names from the salient features of the landform following theclassical rules of landscape onomatopoieia (Martin 1995)

290 K Stara et al

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1533 The Physical Characteristics of the Sacred Forests

Most sacred forests are located above villages and with a size of no more than 50 ha(Table 151) Most mountain villages of the area are located in the altitudinal zonewhere oak forests grow Accordingly most selected sacred forests are dominated bymixed broadleaved woodlands consisted mainly by broadleaved oaks (Q pubescensQ frainetto Q trojana Q cerris) while mixed broadleaves have also a big per-centage with maples (Acer monspesulanum A obtusatum) horbeams (Carpinusorientalis Ostrya carpinifolia) being the commonest trees reaching the crown ofthese forests Monumental trees of beeches black pines and junipers (Juniperusfoetidissima J excelsa) can be found in respective forests Thus the biggest pricklyoaks (Q coccifera) in the wider area are to be found only in SNS in the vicinity of thevillages in the lower altitudes Dendrochronology is underway for the oldest trees inthe above forests but many old trees are aging more than 200 years while there areexamples of trees (junipers oaks black pines) older than 350 years (Aris Kyparissisand Valentino Marini Govigli personal comm Sarris 2008)

Two sacred forests are exceptionally large the beech forest above Grevenitivillage (1172 ha) and the black-pine forest above Konitsa town (1157 ha) accordingto their borders shown in the aerial photographs of year 1945 While most of the 16selected sacred forests are located above 1000 m this of Konitsa and the uniquejuniper forest of Mikro Papingo reach the highest altitudes (1600 and 1550 mrespectively) Konitsa town sacred forest has the widest range of all starting from760 m altitude just above the last houses and reaching the top of the steep slope thathangs above the town By contrast the abandoned village of Mesovouni has thelowest sacred forest (of broadleaved oak) starting at just 530 m altitude

Inclination of the bedrock which was mainly limestone or sometimes flysch wasin most cases very steep and our field survey revealed that rockfalls landslides andeven snow avalanches are not rare phenomena and are imprinted in the forest historyIn certain cases as in Manassi village rockfalls destroyed recently a church insidethe forest while in Palioseli village rolling rocks have been found to have strickenthe standing trees and these were later stabilized by local people Landslides eventoday frequently destroy roads bridges and infrastructure mainly in the EasternZagori such as the destruction of buildings in Greveniti village (2013) where themost extensive sacred beech forest is found It was not a surprise to find that mostsacred forests also host springs rivulets or even water reservoirs

Our detailed biodiversity survey has not finished yet but our visits to the field sofar reveal that all sacred forests serve as breeding sites of raptorial species especiallysort toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) that seemto prefer those forests while evidence of the presence of tawny owl (Stix aluco) wasfound in most cases This was expected as raptors in general show site fidelity andthose forest patches were probably the only breeding sites containing enough bigtrees and having less disturbance in the near past Bio-indicators confirmed thepresence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) also in all the sacred forests we visited

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 291

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1534 The Ritual and Other Praxes

Dedication to a church and most often to the church of the village patron even if itlies in villagersquos center or in the vicinity of the forest was the commonest praxis todivide sacred from secular land Interestingly aphorismoacutes (excommunication) wasalso often used as a sanctification practice Excommunication in the first Christiancenturies constituted a pure ecclesiastical punishment visited on people Howeverduring the fourteenthndasheighteenth century the practice was extended to applications inprivate issues of economic or social nature In that context it could be used as anabstract threat capable of stigmatizing someone (eg a trespasser on a sacred forest)with exclusion from the Church its mysteries and social events related to religiouslife Moreover it could impose to trespassers and their generation a cursed live anddamn their souls to the heritage of eternal hell (Mihailaris 2004) Locals recall anatmosphere of intense religiosity and fear The ceremony was implemented ad loc atthe edge of the forest singing certain curse psalms of David (eg Ps 58 Ps 109)ringing the bell holding black candles using an upside down cauldron and gen-erally reversing the regular order of things Use might even be made of the number ofpriests that announced the excommunication Numbers three and seven especiallystrengthened its force and this is the reason why some excommunicated forests arecalled eftapaacutepada (literally excommunicated by seven priests) (Stara 2012b)

Dedication and excommunication were not mutually exclusive On the contraryexcommunication and in some cases also communal agreements could be used toenforce dedication After the establishment of the modern Greek state excommuni-cation gaveway to new forms ofModern European Justice and communal agreementswere addressed to the Forestry Service which published special forestry regulationsfor the management of the sacred forests However locals continued to relate regu-lations to taboos associated with the supernatural guardians of the sacred forests

1535 The Supernatural Guardians of the Sacred Forests

The Virgin Mary (Panagiacutea) Saint Nicholas (Ai Nikoacutelas) Santa Paraskevi (AgiacuteαParaskeviacute or Staviacutenere in Vlach) and Saint Charalampos (Ai Charaacutelampos) act in thesacred forests as the intermediaries between the God and people St Paraskevi is oneof the dragon-killer saints the protector of fountains in local culture thus we expecther appearance in sacred forests where aquifer protection is likely to be among theirservices St Nikolas is protector of travelers in folk religion and thus beloved toEpirus where every family had migrant sons (Stara et al 2015as) However his springcelebration [May 20th relics translation to Bari-Italy which is one of the mostimportant pilgrimage centers of St Nikolas in Europe (Ševčenko 1983)] also coin-cides with the period that transhumant shepherd families return from winter tosummer pastures and this is accompanied with passage rites such as food offerings Inthe sacred forest of St Nicholas in Vitsa village this date used to regulate the opening

292 K Stara et al

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of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

kallio21hotmailcom

when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

Chapter 15Religion and the Managementof the Commons The Sacred Forestsof Epirus

Kalliopi Stara Rigas Tsiakiris Vasilis Nitsiakos and John M Halley

Abstract Sacred natural sites (SNS) and especially forests constitute almostcertainly the worldrsquos oldest conservation systems The reasons for their mainte-nance are related very often with concrete ways of managing local resources andecosystems through religious rules In Zagori and Konitsa NW Greece sacredforests exist in most villages Their vegetation and forest structure variety alongwith cultural elements such as identities of the communities who had establishedthem the purpose of their establishing the different rituals implemented for theirtransformation from profane to sacred associated taboos and their particular his-tory create their unique character Accepted uses in sacred forests are depended tothe purpose of their establishment More often hunting grazing collection ofplants mushrooms and dead branches are allowed while taboos are mainly con-nected with the trees themselves Sacred forests display nowadays a newly emergedvalue for biodiversity conservation and they can serve as a locally adapted exemplarof successful historical conservation systems

Keywords Sacred Natural Sites Old growth forests Northern Pindos NationalPark Greece Mediterranean mountains Biocultural diversity

K Stara (amp) JM HalleyDepartment of Biological Applications and Technology University of IoanninaUniversity Campus 45110 Ioannina Greecee-mail kallio21hotmailcom kstarauoiccgr

JM Halleye-mail jhalleyccuoigr

R TsiakirisForestry Service of Ioannina M Kotopouli 62 45445 Ioannina Greecee-mail rigastsiakirisgmailcom

V NitsiakosDepartment of History and Archeology University of Ioannina University Campus45110 Ioannina Greecee-mail bnitsiakccuoigr

copy Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016M Agnoletti and F Emanueli (eds) Biocultural Diversity in EuropeEnvironmental History 5 DOI 101007978-3-319-26315-1_15

283

kallio21hotmailcom

151 Introduction

Sacred Natural Sites (SNS) have been defined as areas with special significance topeople and communities (Oviedo and Jeanrenaud 2007) Sacred sites can be thehome of gods places related with spiritually significant historical events or peopleor places of worship expressing a unique sense or spirit of place (Antrop 2005Dudley and Higgins-Zogib 2012) They are often associated with temples shrinesmosques churches pilgrimage trails or epiphanies of the divine in natural features(Verschuuren et al 2010) Their sacredness is often related with a forebodingexpressed as a taboo that prevents their exploitation for private use Because sacredsites have been managed as protected areas they have been recognized as theworldrsquos oldest conservation systems (Dudley et al 2009)

SNS exist all over the world In spite of the common Christian view of sacrednature as idolatry (Dudley and Higgins-Zogib 2012 Frascaroli 2013) in Greecethere are well-known examples of Christian Orthodox SNS such as the rock pillarsof Meteora (Lyratzaki 2007) and the monastic community of Mt Athos (Papayannis2007) However spirituality is also expressed on a smaller scale by outlyingchurches and their emblematic trees or groves that magically encircle or markvillage boundaries with the power of the cross (Stara et al 2012) Such sacred sitesoften specify liminal or dangerous places boundaries significant routes importantresources or drinkable water (Nixon 2006) SNS also denote concrete ways ofmanaging local resources through religious rules (ie Anderson et al 2005Chandran and Hughes 2000 Sharma et al 1999 Virtanen 2002 Watley and Colfer2004) In historical contexts where religious institutions were closely connectedwith political authorities the term ldquosacredrdquo functioned as a synonym for acommunity-based management of common resources though social taboos (Byerset al 2001 Rutte 2011) Religion can attach sacred values to specific resourcesregulating their use by means of threats of punishments of a supernatural characterfor the trespassers (Colding and Folke 2001 Rutte 2011)

In this paper we present the natural and cultural characteristics of 16 repre-sentative sacred forests in the mountains of Epirus in North West Greece that serveas exemplars for managing natural resources and conserving ecosystems throughreligious rules

152 Materials and Methods

1521 Description of the Study Area

Our study areas include the municipalities of Zagori and Konitsa in the Pindos rangeof NW Greece These areas flourished under Ottoman occupation (1479ndash1912) butnowadays are among the least populated areas of Greece Mt Grammos (2520 m)defines the northern limit while Mt Smolikas (2637 m) the second highest mountain

284 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

of Greece is located to the east The Kataacutera (literally ldquoaccursedrdquo) pass nearMeacutetsovo and newly constructed Egnatia highway demarcate the southern boundarywhile the long ridge of Mt Mitsikeli completes the square to the west

Our research area encloses a large diversity of mountains including rough ter-rain with steep rocky slopes scree-slopes escarpments and ravines of the hardlimestone or erodible flysch and ophiolite that develop into badlands The deepgorges and steep valleys of the Vikos Voidomatis and Aoos rivers created suitableshelter during the ice ages with flourishing microhabitats that still host a greatbiodiversity of flora and fauna that feature many endemic or rare species of EuropeDescending from the alpine and subalpine anthropogenic meadows above tree limitBosnian and black-pine forests (Pinus heldreichii and P nigra) in the form of openwood pastures give way to dense fir beech and oak forests (Abies x borisii-regisFagus sylvatica Quercus spp) mixed with several other broadleaved speciesPastoral woodlands and open scrublands created a diverse cultural landscapedominated by rangelands until recently but now due to land abandonment thelandscape is mainly dominated by young mixed broadleaved forest and denseschlerophyllus scrublands The recent homogenization of the vegetation has alsohidden the mosaic of cultivated terraces shredded oakeries orchards rivulet gar-dens and extended overgrazed bushland near most mountain villages

The local identities of the various peoples who came to this area are imprinted onthe landscape through the long interaction between people and Nature Descendingagain from the mountain peaks to the lowlands in Zagori but focusing on peoplethis time we first see the summer pastures above the tree line corresponding topastoral transhumant Sarakatsani who started to use the land from the eighteenthcentury After the Second World War (WWII) many of these people settled per-manently in the villages of the area (Campbell 1964) In the oak vegetation zone ofthe central and west parts of Zagori where most of the villages are located thelandscape presents relics of the characteristic mosaic of permanent mountain set-tlements The inhabitants of that area were initially settled agriculturalists From theseventeenth century men started to immigrate to Europe Africa and America Thatin combination with the privileges that Zagorians enjoyed during the period of theOttoman occupation has resulted in an impressive prosperity that is still visible inthe settlements and landscape From the thirteenth century south and south-eastZagori (Vlachozaacutegoro) was occupied by the linguistically distinct Vlach transhu-mant pastoral community Today the forested areas of south-east Zagori areinhabited by settled Vlachs still known as ldquowoodcuttersrdquo

As far as the area of Konitsa is concerned there is also a quite clear corre-spondence between ecological zones and cultural unities The high mountain pas-tures are occupied by Vlach transhumant pastoralists who spend their summer timein the villages of Aetomilitsa (on Grammos Mt) and Fourka (on Smolikas Mt) andmove to the plains of Thessaly and Macedonia for the winter time What mostlycharacterizes these communities from an ecological point of view are the customarypractices of managing collective resources on the basis of a balance between human

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 285

kallio21hotmailcom

population animals and the available pastures which belong to the whole com-munity Sedentary Vlachs reside also in the Aoos valley in a cluster of settlementslined up along the river which developed historically their own distinctive localculture based on forestry and agriculture with complementary domestic animalhusbandry The lowland in the zone between the settlements and the river is cul-tivated in the past the zone of the cultivated land used to extend to the north of thesettlements Above the settlements there are also zones of preserved woodland andthickets as well as pastures and further away forests which constitute an importantfactor of the local economy In the past this population specialized also in crafts andprofessions related to forests such as sawyers and tar-dealers

As to the Sarantaporos valley it is a unity which specialized historically in crafts(stone masonry painting-hagiography wood carving carpentry) that is why allthese villages are called mastorohoacuteria (literally ldquocraftsmanvillagesrdquo) Occupyingthe oak zone these communities were initially agropastoral At some historicalmoment their male population turned to technical specialization (eighteenthndashnine-teenth century) due to demographic and economical hardship This phenomenonstarted to decline at the end of the nineteenth century and disappeared in thesecond-half of the twentieth century

Another unit is formed by the villages of the Konitsa plain which combineagriculture with animal husbandry These villages used to belong to local beys inOttoman times but after their liberation they became free and developed a localeconomy based on small holdings plus a small-scale domestic animal husbandryPeople from the town of Konitsa itself own also land in the plain which wasdistributed to them by the state (a large part of them are Asia Minor refugees thatsettled in Konitsa in 1923) The town of Konitsa itself constitutes the administra-tive commercial and cultural center of the municipality Konitsa has always been acenter and a crossing It has been a place of cultural input where various culturalelements met and has functioned as a channel for the osmosis among differentpeople and cultures To all this the well-known bazaar played a central role(Nitsiakos 2008)

National laws and presidential or ministerial edicts protect part of the culturalheritage of the area mainly Byzantine and post-Byzantine monuments private orpublic buildings or entire settlements Infrastructure related to the network oftransportation (bridges stone-paved lanes) or with pre-industrial agriculture (watermills threshing floors) that date back as far as the fifteenth century also constitutecharacteristic examples of local architecture Moreover the area is well known forits high ecological value and has a great conservation importance Therefore it isprotected by several Greek and European laws and part of it has been designated asthe National Forest of Pindus (1966) the National Forest of Vikos-Aoos (1973) thebiogenetic reserve of Pindos (1976) the Northern Pindos National Park (2005) theVikos-Aoos UNESCO Geopark (2010) and includes eleven NATURA 2000 sitesSpecial Protected Areas (SPAs) for bird conservation and Sites of CommunityImportance (SCIs) for habitat and species protection

286 K Stara et al

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1522 The Study on the Sacred Natural Sites of Epirus

The study of the SNS of Epirus started in 2000 and was initially involved 23villages in Zagori (Stara et al 2015a) Work resumed in 2012 through an inter-disciplinary research programme based at the University of Ioannina(THALIS-SAGE 2012ndash2015 ldquoConservation through Religion the Sacred Forests ofEpirusrdquo) Our aim was the study of sacred forests as an effective conservationsystem and their bio-cultural value focusing not only in their cultural and spiritualvalue but also in their biodiversity importance using as criteria groups of organismsdepending on mature trees such as lichens birds bats fungi saproxylic insects andsoil biodiversity (Read 2000 Rackham 2006)

Through extensive archival and ethnographic research and fieldwork we locatedthe SNS of every village but we orientated our study on forests excluding isolatedmature trees or small groves in church yards We asked people to tell us about thereasons of maintenance of their sacred forests their history ritual activitiessupernatural guardians accepted and non-acceptable uses taboos and storiesrelating to trespassing in these forests We confirmed peoplersquos narratives in com-munity archives and we visited the forests accompanied with locals where possible

In order to create common research areas for different scientific disciplinesincluding colleagues who studied biodiversity in detail we chose a subset of thesacred forests of the area using as first priority criteria their classification in differentgeographic and cultural units (Fig 151) This covered most of the diversityexisting in the area inasmuch as we chosed at least one representative forest fromeach geographic-cultural unit (Fig 152 Table 151)

We selected forests that were bigger than 45 ha applying also a rough criterionof 70 tree cover excluding those that were open woodland pastures in the pastwith an exception if this vegetation type was only represented in this form Inaddition we chose representatives of at least one of all vegetation types existing inthe area Good preservation status was also considered as some sacred forests havebeen partly destroyed Sacred forest boundaries based on ethnographical andarchival research were later identified and mapped by the use of orthorectified aerialphotographs of the year 1945 which is the oldest complete set of aerial photographsin the area

During our visit to each forest we recorded the geology and bedrock typechecked for the presence of landslides fallen rocks water and springs and notedalso vegetation type forest structure past and recent uses existing buildings orother artifacts We defined their recent and older borders in as much detail aspossible A rapid biodiversity survey was focused on easily identifiable largemammals and raptors All data were entered into a GIS environment for furtheranalysis (topography inclination etc)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 287

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153 Results and Discussion

1531 The Sacred Commons

All different cultural units in the area preserve sacred forests and used religion as astrategy to control management during the Ottoman occupation In that period these

Fig 151 Location of the research area and the selected 16 characteristic sacred forests in Konitsaand Zagori municipalities in Epirus NW Greece

288 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

1Ph

ysical

characteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname(in

Greek)

Forestname(in

Eng

lish)

Tow

nVillage

CulturalG

eographicun

itVegetationtype

Area

(ha)

Altitude

(m)

1Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Koacuten

itsa

Kon

itsaplain

Black

pine

11570

760ndash

1600

2Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Maacutezi

Kon

itsaplain

Broadleaved

oak

1040

560ndash

645

4K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Virginrsquosforest

Aidon

ochoacute

riKon

itsaplain

Mixed

broadleaved

1980

715ndash

960

3Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Chion

iaacutedes

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Mixed

broadleaved

4130

1120

ndash

1300

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Virginrsquosforest

Elaphoacutetop

osCentral-W

est

(CW)Zagori

Pricklyoak

2910

660ndash

890

6Livaacutedi

Meado

wManassiacute

CW

Zagori

Mixed

broadleaved

537

1000

ndash

1400

7Livaacutedi

Meado

wVrysochoacuteri

EastZ

agoriAoo

svalley

Broadleaved

oak

1040

930ndash

1150

8Livadaacutekia

Smallmeado

ws

Viacutetsa

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

490

917

9Mereaacuteo

Com

mon

land

Palio

seacuteli

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

2240

1100

ndash

1340

10AgiacuteaParaskeviacute

SantaParaskevi

Vov

ouacutessa

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

680

980ndash

1070

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sSaintCharalampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

1702

530ndash

600

12Traacutefos

Ditch

Moacutelista

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Black

pine

4329

880ndash

1220

13Plaacutei

Slop

eMikro

Paacuteping

oCW

Zagori

Stinking

Grecian

junipers

2823

1200

ndash

1550

14Gradiacutesta

Fortress

Kapeacutesov

oCW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

236

950ndash

1170

15Aniacutelia

Non

sunn

yKaacutetoPedinaacute

CW

Zagori

Pricklyoak

103

848ndash

963

16Touacute

fa(the

core

area)

Thicket

Greveniacuteti

EastZagori

Beechmixed

broadleaved

1172

1060

ndash

1380

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 289

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mountain communities enjoyed privileges and a kind of ldquoautonomyrdquo from theOttomans while the Church found herself in the special position to substitute politicalpower and judicature (Mihailaris 2004) Local authorities comprehending theimportance of forests especially in cases where these could be used as protectivewood belts against natural hazards decided on their protection with the support ofreligion as supernatural guardian Supernatural fears based on pre-Christian beliefs ofnature-spirits (Stara 2012a) coalesced in the idea of a dangerous and powerful sacredwhich aided the political power to enforce among the members of a closed societyconformity of moral respect toward common important resources such as forests Asconceptualized elements sacred forests functioned also as cultural codes (Colding andFolke 2001) that could protect social order secure the prosperity of the communitydelineate admissible relations between itsmembers and define categories such as goodand bad inside and outside safe and dangerous (Douglas 1966)

Our archival work revealed communal agreements which prove that somesacred forests used to be private land that belonged to different villagers Narrativesenforce such decisions as people often refer to toponyms that indicate propertyrights of certain villagers inside the sacred forests Moreover existence of privatetrees inside the sacred forests such as sweet chestnuts that ex-owners of the land areallowed to harvest are indirect indicators that such areas were once private land

1532 The Names

Sacred forests are refereed to with the same term ieraacute in Greek literature but inspoken language the preferred general term is klisiast(i)kaacute which are literally thosebelonging to the Church Another synonym is vakouacutefika from the Turkish vakufwhich signifies a bequest from which the income should be used for public benefit(Moutafchieva 1988)

Many sacred forests are named kouriacute or with syncope kri with the meaning of apiece of forest kept as protected with the potential to be used as a reserve for com-munity needs or Church income Other sacred forests are called livaacutedia (in plural)Livaacutedi literally means meadow but our field research revealed that these areas do nothave the typical appearance of an open grassland On the contrary they are wood-lands which function as protective wood belts above villages Therefore we relatethe etymology of the world with the ancient Greek livaacutes (literally ldquowater droprdquo) (Staraand Tsiakiris 2010) Moreover the Palioseli village sacred forest is named mereaacuteo(miriye in Turkishmeriaacutes in Greek) and means the public land (Moutafchieva 1988)

When the forest is dedicated to a church that is found in its vicinity the protectorsaint gives his or her name not only to the sacred forest but also to the terrainaround it This expresses the domestication of the land the protection by the saintand the subjugation of the forces of nature to the spiritual power of the holypersonage to which the site is dedicated (Nixon 2006 Stewart 1991) Other sacredforests take their names from the salient features of the landform following theclassical rules of landscape onomatopoieia (Martin 1995)

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1533 The Physical Characteristics of the Sacred Forests

Most sacred forests are located above villages and with a size of no more than 50 ha(Table 151) Most mountain villages of the area are located in the altitudinal zonewhere oak forests grow Accordingly most selected sacred forests are dominated bymixed broadleaved woodlands consisted mainly by broadleaved oaks (Q pubescensQ frainetto Q trojana Q cerris) while mixed broadleaves have also a big per-centage with maples (Acer monspesulanum A obtusatum) horbeams (Carpinusorientalis Ostrya carpinifolia) being the commonest trees reaching the crown ofthese forests Monumental trees of beeches black pines and junipers (Juniperusfoetidissima J excelsa) can be found in respective forests Thus the biggest pricklyoaks (Q coccifera) in the wider area are to be found only in SNS in the vicinity of thevillages in the lower altitudes Dendrochronology is underway for the oldest trees inthe above forests but many old trees are aging more than 200 years while there areexamples of trees (junipers oaks black pines) older than 350 years (Aris Kyparissisand Valentino Marini Govigli personal comm Sarris 2008)

Two sacred forests are exceptionally large the beech forest above Grevenitivillage (1172 ha) and the black-pine forest above Konitsa town (1157 ha) accordingto their borders shown in the aerial photographs of year 1945 While most of the 16selected sacred forests are located above 1000 m this of Konitsa and the uniquejuniper forest of Mikro Papingo reach the highest altitudes (1600 and 1550 mrespectively) Konitsa town sacred forest has the widest range of all starting from760 m altitude just above the last houses and reaching the top of the steep slope thathangs above the town By contrast the abandoned village of Mesovouni has thelowest sacred forest (of broadleaved oak) starting at just 530 m altitude

Inclination of the bedrock which was mainly limestone or sometimes flysch wasin most cases very steep and our field survey revealed that rockfalls landslides andeven snow avalanches are not rare phenomena and are imprinted in the forest historyIn certain cases as in Manassi village rockfalls destroyed recently a church insidethe forest while in Palioseli village rolling rocks have been found to have strickenthe standing trees and these were later stabilized by local people Landslides eventoday frequently destroy roads bridges and infrastructure mainly in the EasternZagori such as the destruction of buildings in Greveniti village (2013) where themost extensive sacred beech forest is found It was not a surprise to find that mostsacred forests also host springs rivulets or even water reservoirs

Our detailed biodiversity survey has not finished yet but our visits to the field sofar reveal that all sacred forests serve as breeding sites of raptorial species especiallysort toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) that seemto prefer those forests while evidence of the presence of tawny owl (Stix aluco) wasfound in most cases This was expected as raptors in general show site fidelity andthose forest patches were probably the only breeding sites containing enough bigtrees and having less disturbance in the near past Bio-indicators confirmed thepresence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) also in all the sacred forests we visited

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 291

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1534 The Ritual and Other Praxes

Dedication to a church and most often to the church of the village patron even if itlies in villagersquos center or in the vicinity of the forest was the commonest praxis todivide sacred from secular land Interestingly aphorismoacutes (excommunication) wasalso often used as a sanctification practice Excommunication in the first Christiancenturies constituted a pure ecclesiastical punishment visited on people Howeverduring the fourteenthndasheighteenth century the practice was extended to applications inprivate issues of economic or social nature In that context it could be used as anabstract threat capable of stigmatizing someone (eg a trespasser on a sacred forest)with exclusion from the Church its mysteries and social events related to religiouslife Moreover it could impose to trespassers and their generation a cursed live anddamn their souls to the heritage of eternal hell (Mihailaris 2004) Locals recall anatmosphere of intense religiosity and fear The ceremony was implemented ad loc atthe edge of the forest singing certain curse psalms of David (eg Ps 58 Ps 109)ringing the bell holding black candles using an upside down cauldron and gen-erally reversing the regular order of things Use might even be made of the number ofpriests that announced the excommunication Numbers three and seven especiallystrengthened its force and this is the reason why some excommunicated forests arecalled eftapaacutepada (literally excommunicated by seven priests) (Stara 2012b)

Dedication and excommunication were not mutually exclusive On the contraryexcommunication and in some cases also communal agreements could be used toenforce dedication After the establishment of the modern Greek state excommuni-cation gaveway to new forms ofModern European Justice and communal agreementswere addressed to the Forestry Service which published special forestry regulationsfor the management of the sacred forests However locals continued to relate regu-lations to taboos associated with the supernatural guardians of the sacred forests

1535 The Supernatural Guardians of the Sacred Forests

The Virgin Mary (Panagiacutea) Saint Nicholas (Ai Nikoacutelas) Santa Paraskevi (AgiacuteαParaskeviacute or Staviacutenere in Vlach) and Saint Charalampos (Ai Charaacutelampos) act in thesacred forests as the intermediaries between the God and people St Paraskevi is oneof the dragon-killer saints the protector of fountains in local culture thus we expecther appearance in sacred forests where aquifer protection is likely to be among theirservices St Nikolas is protector of travelers in folk religion and thus beloved toEpirus where every family had migrant sons (Stara et al 2015as) However his springcelebration [May 20th relics translation to Bari-Italy which is one of the mostimportant pilgrimage centers of St Nikolas in Europe (Ševčenko 1983)] also coin-cides with the period that transhumant shepherd families return from winter tosummer pastures and this is accompanied with passage rites such as food offerings Inthe sacred forest of St Nicholas in Vitsa village this date used to regulate the opening

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of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

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when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

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avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

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transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

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References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

151 Introduction

Sacred Natural Sites (SNS) have been defined as areas with special significance topeople and communities (Oviedo and Jeanrenaud 2007) Sacred sites can be thehome of gods places related with spiritually significant historical events or peopleor places of worship expressing a unique sense or spirit of place (Antrop 2005Dudley and Higgins-Zogib 2012) They are often associated with temples shrinesmosques churches pilgrimage trails or epiphanies of the divine in natural features(Verschuuren et al 2010) Their sacredness is often related with a forebodingexpressed as a taboo that prevents their exploitation for private use Because sacredsites have been managed as protected areas they have been recognized as theworldrsquos oldest conservation systems (Dudley et al 2009)

SNS exist all over the world In spite of the common Christian view of sacrednature as idolatry (Dudley and Higgins-Zogib 2012 Frascaroli 2013) in Greecethere are well-known examples of Christian Orthodox SNS such as the rock pillarsof Meteora (Lyratzaki 2007) and the monastic community of Mt Athos (Papayannis2007) However spirituality is also expressed on a smaller scale by outlyingchurches and their emblematic trees or groves that magically encircle or markvillage boundaries with the power of the cross (Stara et al 2012) Such sacred sitesoften specify liminal or dangerous places boundaries significant routes importantresources or drinkable water (Nixon 2006) SNS also denote concrete ways ofmanaging local resources through religious rules (ie Anderson et al 2005Chandran and Hughes 2000 Sharma et al 1999 Virtanen 2002 Watley and Colfer2004) In historical contexts where religious institutions were closely connectedwith political authorities the term ldquosacredrdquo functioned as a synonym for acommunity-based management of common resources though social taboos (Byerset al 2001 Rutte 2011) Religion can attach sacred values to specific resourcesregulating their use by means of threats of punishments of a supernatural characterfor the trespassers (Colding and Folke 2001 Rutte 2011)

In this paper we present the natural and cultural characteristics of 16 repre-sentative sacred forests in the mountains of Epirus in North West Greece that serveas exemplars for managing natural resources and conserving ecosystems throughreligious rules

152 Materials and Methods

1521 Description of the Study Area

Our study areas include the municipalities of Zagori and Konitsa in the Pindos rangeof NW Greece These areas flourished under Ottoman occupation (1479ndash1912) butnowadays are among the least populated areas of Greece Mt Grammos (2520 m)defines the northern limit while Mt Smolikas (2637 m) the second highest mountain

284 K Stara et al

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of Greece is located to the east The Kataacutera (literally ldquoaccursedrdquo) pass nearMeacutetsovo and newly constructed Egnatia highway demarcate the southern boundarywhile the long ridge of Mt Mitsikeli completes the square to the west

Our research area encloses a large diversity of mountains including rough ter-rain with steep rocky slopes scree-slopes escarpments and ravines of the hardlimestone or erodible flysch and ophiolite that develop into badlands The deepgorges and steep valleys of the Vikos Voidomatis and Aoos rivers created suitableshelter during the ice ages with flourishing microhabitats that still host a greatbiodiversity of flora and fauna that feature many endemic or rare species of EuropeDescending from the alpine and subalpine anthropogenic meadows above tree limitBosnian and black-pine forests (Pinus heldreichii and P nigra) in the form of openwood pastures give way to dense fir beech and oak forests (Abies x borisii-regisFagus sylvatica Quercus spp) mixed with several other broadleaved speciesPastoral woodlands and open scrublands created a diverse cultural landscapedominated by rangelands until recently but now due to land abandonment thelandscape is mainly dominated by young mixed broadleaved forest and denseschlerophyllus scrublands The recent homogenization of the vegetation has alsohidden the mosaic of cultivated terraces shredded oakeries orchards rivulet gar-dens and extended overgrazed bushland near most mountain villages

The local identities of the various peoples who came to this area are imprinted onthe landscape through the long interaction between people and Nature Descendingagain from the mountain peaks to the lowlands in Zagori but focusing on peoplethis time we first see the summer pastures above the tree line corresponding topastoral transhumant Sarakatsani who started to use the land from the eighteenthcentury After the Second World War (WWII) many of these people settled per-manently in the villages of the area (Campbell 1964) In the oak vegetation zone ofthe central and west parts of Zagori where most of the villages are located thelandscape presents relics of the characteristic mosaic of permanent mountain set-tlements The inhabitants of that area were initially settled agriculturalists From theseventeenth century men started to immigrate to Europe Africa and America Thatin combination with the privileges that Zagorians enjoyed during the period of theOttoman occupation has resulted in an impressive prosperity that is still visible inthe settlements and landscape From the thirteenth century south and south-eastZagori (Vlachozaacutegoro) was occupied by the linguistically distinct Vlach transhu-mant pastoral community Today the forested areas of south-east Zagori areinhabited by settled Vlachs still known as ldquowoodcuttersrdquo

As far as the area of Konitsa is concerned there is also a quite clear corre-spondence between ecological zones and cultural unities The high mountain pas-tures are occupied by Vlach transhumant pastoralists who spend their summer timein the villages of Aetomilitsa (on Grammos Mt) and Fourka (on Smolikas Mt) andmove to the plains of Thessaly and Macedonia for the winter time What mostlycharacterizes these communities from an ecological point of view are the customarypractices of managing collective resources on the basis of a balance between human

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 285

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population animals and the available pastures which belong to the whole com-munity Sedentary Vlachs reside also in the Aoos valley in a cluster of settlementslined up along the river which developed historically their own distinctive localculture based on forestry and agriculture with complementary domestic animalhusbandry The lowland in the zone between the settlements and the river is cul-tivated in the past the zone of the cultivated land used to extend to the north of thesettlements Above the settlements there are also zones of preserved woodland andthickets as well as pastures and further away forests which constitute an importantfactor of the local economy In the past this population specialized also in crafts andprofessions related to forests such as sawyers and tar-dealers

As to the Sarantaporos valley it is a unity which specialized historically in crafts(stone masonry painting-hagiography wood carving carpentry) that is why allthese villages are called mastorohoacuteria (literally ldquocraftsmanvillagesrdquo) Occupyingthe oak zone these communities were initially agropastoral At some historicalmoment their male population turned to technical specialization (eighteenthndashnine-teenth century) due to demographic and economical hardship This phenomenonstarted to decline at the end of the nineteenth century and disappeared in thesecond-half of the twentieth century

Another unit is formed by the villages of the Konitsa plain which combineagriculture with animal husbandry These villages used to belong to local beys inOttoman times but after their liberation they became free and developed a localeconomy based on small holdings plus a small-scale domestic animal husbandryPeople from the town of Konitsa itself own also land in the plain which wasdistributed to them by the state (a large part of them are Asia Minor refugees thatsettled in Konitsa in 1923) The town of Konitsa itself constitutes the administra-tive commercial and cultural center of the municipality Konitsa has always been acenter and a crossing It has been a place of cultural input where various culturalelements met and has functioned as a channel for the osmosis among differentpeople and cultures To all this the well-known bazaar played a central role(Nitsiakos 2008)

National laws and presidential or ministerial edicts protect part of the culturalheritage of the area mainly Byzantine and post-Byzantine monuments private orpublic buildings or entire settlements Infrastructure related to the network oftransportation (bridges stone-paved lanes) or with pre-industrial agriculture (watermills threshing floors) that date back as far as the fifteenth century also constitutecharacteristic examples of local architecture Moreover the area is well known forits high ecological value and has a great conservation importance Therefore it isprotected by several Greek and European laws and part of it has been designated asthe National Forest of Pindus (1966) the National Forest of Vikos-Aoos (1973) thebiogenetic reserve of Pindos (1976) the Northern Pindos National Park (2005) theVikos-Aoos UNESCO Geopark (2010) and includes eleven NATURA 2000 sitesSpecial Protected Areas (SPAs) for bird conservation and Sites of CommunityImportance (SCIs) for habitat and species protection

286 K Stara et al

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1522 The Study on the Sacred Natural Sites of Epirus

The study of the SNS of Epirus started in 2000 and was initially involved 23villages in Zagori (Stara et al 2015a) Work resumed in 2012 through an inter-disciplinary research programme based at the University of Ioannina(THALIS-SAGE 2012ndash2015 ldquoConservation through Religion the Sacred Forests ofEpirusrdquo) Our aim was the study of sacred forests as an effective conservationsystem and their bio-cultural value focusing not only in their cultural and spiritualvalue but also in their biodiversity importance using as criteria groups of organismsdepending on mature trees such as lichens birds bats fungi saproxylic insects andsoil biodiversity (Read 2000 Rackham 2006)

Through extensive archival and ethnographic research and fieldwork we locatedthe SNS of every village but we orientated our study on forests excluding isolatedmature trees or small groves in church yards We asked people to tell us about thereasons of maintenance of their sacred forests their history ritual activitiessupernatural guardians accepted and non-acceptable uses taboos and storiesrelating to trespassing in these forests We confirmed peoplersquos narratives in com-munity archives and we visited the forests accompanied with locals where possible

In order to create common research areas for different scientific disciplinesincluding colleagues who studied biodiversity in detail we chose a subset of thesacred forests of the area using as first priority criteria their classification in differentgeographic and cultural units (Fig 151) This covered most of the diversityexisting in the area inasmuch as we chosed at least one representative forest fromeach geographic-cultural unit (Fig 152 Table 151)

We selected forests that were bigger than 45 ha applying also a rough criterionof 70 tree cover excluding those that were open woodland pastures in the pastwith an exception if this vegetation type was only represented in this form Inaddition we chose representatives of at least one of all vegetation types existing inthe area Good preservation status was also considered as some sacred forests havebeen partly destroyed Sacred forest boundaries based on ethnographical andarchival research were later identified and mapped by the use of orthorectified aerialphotographs of the year 1945 which is the oldest complete set of aerial photographsin the area

During our visit to each forest we recorded the geology and bedrock typechecked for the presence of landslides fallen rocks water and springs and notedalso vegetation type forest structure past and recent uses existing buildings orother artifacts We defined their recent and older borders in as much detail aspossible A rapid biodiversity survey was focused on easily identifiable largemammals and raptors All data were entered into a GIS environment for furtheranalysis (topography inclination etc)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 287

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153 Results and Discussion

1531 The Sacred Commons

All different cultural units in the area preserve sacred forests and used religion as astrategy to control management during the Ottoman occupation In that period these

Fig 151 Location of the research area and the selected 16 characteristic sacred forests in Konitsaand Zagori municipalities in Epirus NW Greece

288 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

1Ph

ysical

characteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname(in

Greek)

Forestname(in

Eng

lish)

Tow

nVillage

CulturalG

eographicun

itVegetationtype

Area

(ha)

Altitude

(m)

1Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Koacuten

itsa

Kon

itsaplain

Black

pine

11570

760ndash

1600

2Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Maacutezi

Kon

itsaplain

Broadleaved

oak

1040

560ndash

645

4K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Virginrsquosforest

Aidon

ochoacute

riKon

itsaplain

Mixed

broadleaved

1980

715ndash

960

3Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Chion

iaacutedes

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Mixed

broadleaved

4130

1120

ndash

1300

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Virginrsquosforest

Elaphoacutetop

osCentral-W

est

(CW)Zagori

Pricklyoak

2910

660ndash

890

6Livaacutedi

Meado

wManassiacute

CW

Zagori

Mixed

broadleaved

537

1000

ndash

1400

7Livaacutedi

Meado

wVrysochoacuteri

EastZ

agoriAoo

svalley

Broadleaved

oak

1040

930ndash

1150

8Livadaacutekia

Smallmeado

ws

Viacutetsa

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

490

917

9Mereaacuteo

Com

mon

land

Palio

seacuteli

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

2240

1100

ndash

1340

10AgiacuteaParaskeviacute

SantaParaskevi

Vov

ouacutessa

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

680

980ndash

1070

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sSaintCharalampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

1702

530ndash

600

12Traacutefos

Ditch

Moacutelista

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Black

pine

4329

880ndash

1220

13Plaacutei

Slop

eMikro

Paacuteping

oCW

Zagori

Stinking

Grecian

junipers

2823

1200

ndash

1550

14Gradiacutesta

Fortress

Kapeacutesov

oCW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

236

950ndash

1170

15Aniacutelia

Non

sunn

yKaacutetoPedinaacute

CW

Zagori

Pricklyoak

103

848ndash

963

16Touacute

fa(the

core

area)

Thicket

Greveniacuteti

EastZagori

Beechmixed

broadleaved

1172

1060

ndash

1380

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 289

kallio21hotmailcom

mountain communities enjoyed privileges and a kind of ldquoautonomyrdquo from theOttomans while the Church found herself in the special position to substitute politicalpower and judicature (Mihailaris 2004) Local authorities comprehending theimportance of forests especially in cases where these could be used as protectivewood belts against natural hazards decided on their protection with the support ofreligion as supernatural guardian Supernatural fears based on pre-Christian beliefs ofnature-spirits (Stara 2012a) coalesced in the idea of a dangerous and powerful sacredwhich aided the political power to enforce among the members of a closed societyconformity of moral respect toward common important resources such as forests Asconceptualized elements sacred forests functioned also as cultural codes (Colding andFolke 2001) that could protect social order secure the prosperity of the communitydelineate admissible relations between itsmembers and define categories such as goodand bad inside and outside safe and dangerous (Douglas 1966)

Our archival work revealed communal agreements which prove that somesacred forests used to be private land that belonged to different villagers Narrativesenforce such decisions as people often refer to toponyms that indicate propertyrights of certain villagers inside the sacred forests Moreover existence of privatetrees inside the sacred forests such as sweet chestnuts that ex-owners of the land areallowed to harvest are indirect indicators that such areas were once private land

1532 The Names

Sacred forests are refereed to with the same term ieraacute in Greek literature but inspoken language the preferred general term is klisiast(i)kaacute which are literally thosebelonging to the Church Another synonym is vakouacutefika from the Turkish vakufwhich signifies a bequest from which the income should be used for public benefit(Moutafchieva 1988)

Many sacred forests are named kouriacute or with syncope kri with the meaning of apiece of forest kept as protected with the potential to be used as a reserve for com-munity needs or Church income Other sacred forests are called livaacutedia (in plural)Livaacutedi literally means meadow but our field research revealed that these areas do nothave the typical appearance of an open grassland On the contrary they are wood-lands which function as protective wood belts above villages Therefore we relatethe etymology of the world with the ancient Greek livaacutes (literally ldquowater droprdquo) (Staraand Tsiakiris 2010) Moreover the Palioseli village sacred forest is named mereaacuteo(miriye in Turkishmeriaacutes in Greek) and means the public land (Moutafchieva 1988)

When the forest is dedicated to a church that is found in its vicinity the protectorsaint gives his or her name not only to the sacred forest but also to the terrainaround it This expresses the domestication of the land the protection by the saintand the subjugation of the forces of nature to the spiritual power of the holypersonage to which the site is dedicated (Nixon 2006 Stewart 1991) Other sacredforests take their names from the salient features of the landform following theclassical rules of landscape onomatopoieia (Martin 1995)

290 K Stara et al

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1533 The Physical Characteristics of the Sacred Forests

Most sacred forests are located above villages and with a size of no more than 50 ha(Table 151) Most mountain villages of the area are located in the altitudinal zonewhere oak forests grow Accordingly most selected sacred forests are dominated bymixed broadleaved woodlands consisted mainly by broadleaved oaks (Q pubescensQ frainetto Q trojana Q cerris) while mixed broadleaves have also a big per-centage with maples (Acer monspesulanum A obtusatum) horbeams (Carpinusorientalis Ostrya carpinifolia) being the commonest trees reaching the crown ofthese forests Monumental trees of beeches black pines and junipers (Juniperusfoetidissima J excelsa) can be found in respective forests Thus the biggest pricklyoaks (Q coccifera) in the wider area are to be found only in SNS in the vicinity of thevillages in the lower altitudes Dendrochronology is underway for the oldest trees inthe above forests but many old trees are aging more than 200 years while there areexamples of trees (junipers oaks black pines) older than 350 years (Aris Kyparissisand Valentino Marini Govigli personal comm Sarris 2008)

Two sacred forests are exceptionally large the beech forest above Grevenitivillage (1172 ha) and the black-pine forest above Konitsa town (1157 ha) accordingto their borders shown in the aerial photographs of year 1945 While most of the 16selected sacred forests are located above 1000 m this of Konitsa and the uniquejuniper forest of Mikro Papingo reach the highest altitudes (1600 and 1550 mrespectively) Konitsa town sacred forest has the widest range of all starting from760 m altitude just above the last houses and reaching the top of the steep slope thathangs above the town By contrast the abandoned village of Mesovouni has thelowest sacred forest (of broadleaved oak) starting at just 530 m altitude

Inclination of the bedrock which was mainly limestone or sometimes flysch wasin most cases very steep and our field survey revealed that rockfalls landslides andeven snow avalanches are not rare phenomena and are imprinted in the forest historyIn certain cases as in Manassi village rockfalls destroyed recently a church insidethe forest while in Palioseli village rolling rocks have been found to have strickenthe standing trees and these were later stabilized by local people Landslides eventoday frequently destroy roads bridges and infrastructure mainly in the EasternZagori such as the destruction of buildings in Greveniti village (2013) where themost extensive sacred beech forest is found It was not a surprise to find that mostsacred forests also host springs rivulets or even water reservoirs

Our detailed biodiversity survey has not finished yet but our visits to the field sofar reveal that all sacred forests serve as breeding sites of raptorial species especiallysort toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) that seemto prefer those forests while evidence of the presence of tawny owl (Stix aluco) wasfound in most cases This was expected as raptors in general show site fidelity andthose forest patches were probably the only breeding sites containing enough bigtrees and having less disturbance in the near past Bio-indicators confirmed thepresence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) also in all the sacred forests we visited

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 291

kallio21hotmailcom

1534 The Ritual and Other Praxes

Dedication to a church and most often to the church of the village patron even if itlies in villagersquos center or in the vicinity of the forest was the commonest praxis todivide sacred from secular land Interestingly aphorismoacutes (excommunication) wasalso often used as a sanctification practice Excommunication in the first Christiancenturies constituted a pure ecclesiastical punishment visited on people Howeverduring the fourteenthndasheighteenth century the practice was extended to applications inprivate issues of economic or social nature In that context it could be used as anabstract threat capable of stigmatizing someone (eg a trespasser on a sacred forest)with exclusion from the Church its mysteries and social events related to religiouslife Moreover it could impose to trespassers and their generation a cursed live anddamn their souls to the heritage of eternal hell (Mihailaris 2004) Locals recall anatmosphere of intense religiosity and fear The ceremony was implemented ad loc atthe edge of the forest singing certain curse psalms of David (eg Ps 58 Ps 109)ringing the bell holding black candles using an upside down cauldron and gen-erally reversing the regular order of things Use might even be made of the number ofpriests that announced the excommunication Numbers three and seven especiallystrengthened its force and this is the reason why some excommunicated forests arecalled eftapaacutepada (literally excommunicated by seven priests) (Stara 2012b)

Dedication and excommunication were not mutually exclusive On the contraryexcommunication and in some cases also communal agreements could be used toenforce dedication After the establishment of the modern Greek state excommuni-cation gaveway to new forms ofModern European Justice and communal agreementswere addressed to the Forestry Service which published special forestry regulationsfor the management of the sacred forests However locals continued to relate regu-lations to taboos associated with the supernatural guardians of the sacred forests

1535 The Supernatural Guardians of the Sacred Forests

The Virgin Mary (Panagiacutea) Saint Nicholas (Ai Nikoacutelas) Santa Paraskevi (AgiacuteαParaskeviacute or Staviacutenere in Vlach) and Saint Charalampos (Ai Charaacutelampos) act in thesacred forests as the intermediaries between the God and people St Paraskevi is oneof the dragon-killer saints the protector of fountains in local culture thus we expecther appearance in sacred forests where aquifer protection is likely to be among theirservices St Nikolas is protector of travelers in folk religion and thus beloved toEpirus where every family had migrant sons (Stara et al 2015as) However his springcelebration [May 20th relics translation to Bari-Italy which is one of the mostimportant pilgrimage centers of St Nikolas in Europe (Ševčenko 1983)] also coin-cides with the period that transhumant shepherd families return from winter tosummer pastures and this is accompanied with passage rites such as food offerings Inthe sacred forest of St Nicholas in Vitsa village this date used to regulate the opening

292 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

kallio21hotmailcom

when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

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avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

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References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

of Greece is located to the east The Kataacutera (literally ldquoaccursedrdquo) pass nearMeacutetsovo and newly constructed Egnatia highway demarcate the southern boundarywhile the long ridge of Mt Mitsikeli completes the square to the west

Our research area encloses a large diversity of mountains including rough ter-rain with steep rocky slopes scree-slopes escarpments and ravines of the hardlimestone or erodible flysch and ophiolite that develop into badlands The deepgorges and steep valleys of the Vikos Voidomatis and Aoos rivers created suitableshelter during the ice ages with flourishing microhabitats that still host a greatbiodiversity of flora and fauna that feature many endemic or rare species of EuropeDescending from the alpine and subalpine anthropogenic meadows above tree limitBosnian and black-pine forests (Pinus heldreichii and P nigra) in the form of openwood pastures give way to dense fir beech and oak forests (Abies x borisii-regisFagus sylvatica Quercus spp) mixed with several other broadleaved speciesPastoral woodlands and open scrublands created a diverse cultural landscapedominated by rangelands until recently but now due to land abandonment thelandscape is mainly dominated by young mixed broadleaved forest and denseschlerophyllus scrublands The recent homogenization of the vegetation has alsohidden the mosaic of cultivated terraces shredded oakeries orchards rivulet gar-dens and extended overgrazed bushland near most mountain villages

The local identities of the various peoples who came to this area are imprinted onthe landscape through the long interaction between people and Nature Descendingagain from the mountain peaks to the lowlands in Zagori but focusing on peoplethis time we first see the summer pastures above the tree line corresponding topastoral transhumant Sarakatsani who started to use the land from the eighteenthcentury After the Second World War (WWII) many of these people settled per-manently in the villages of the area (Campbell 1964) In the oak vegetation zone ofthe central and west parts of Zagori where most of the villages are located thelandscape presents relics of the characteristic mosaic of permanent mountain set-tlements The inhabitants of that area were initially settled agriculturalists From theseventeenth century men started to immigrate to Europe Africa and America Thatin combination with the privileges that Zagorians enjoyed during the period of theOttoman occupation has resulted in an impressive prosperity that is still visible inthe settlements and landscape From the thirteenth century south and south-eastZagori (Vlachozaacutegoro) was occupied by the linguistically distinct Vlach transhu-mant pastoral community Today the forested areas of south-east Zagori areinhabited by settled Vlachs still known as ldquowoodcuttersrdquo

As far as the area of Konitsa is concerned there is also a quite clear corre-spondence between ecological zones and cultural unities The high mountain pas-tures are occupied by Vlach transhumant pastoralists who spend their summer timein the villages of Aetomilitsa (on Grammos Mt) and Fourka (on Smolikas Mt) andmove to the plains of Thessaly and Macedonia for the winter time What mostlycharacterizes these communities from an ecological point of view are the customarypractices of managing collective resources on the basis of a balance between human

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 285

kallio21hotmailcom

population animals and the available pastures which belong to the whole com-munity Sedentary Vlachs reside also in the Aoos valley in a cluster of settlementslined up along the river which developed historically their own distinctive localculture based on forestry and agriculture with complementary domestic animalhusbandry The lowland in the zone between the settlements and the river is cul-tivated in the past the zone of the cultivated land used to extend to the north of thesettlements Above the settlements there are also zones of preserved woodland andthickets as well as pastures and further away forests which constitute an importantfactor of the local economy In the past this population specialized also in crafts andprofessions related to forests such as sawyers and tar-dealers

As to the Sarantaporos valley it is a unity which specialized historically in crafts(stone masonry painting-hagiography wood carving carpentry) that is why allthese villages are called mastorohoacuteria (literally ldquocraftsmanvillagesrdquo) Occupyingthe oak zone these communities were initially agropastoral At some historicalmoment their male population turned to technical specialization (eighteenthndashnine-teenth century) due to demographic and economical hardship This phenomenonstarted to decline at the end of the nineteenth century and disappeared in thesecond-half of the twentieth century

Another unit is formed by the villages of the Konitsa plain which combineagriculture with animal husbandry These villages used to belong to local beys inOttoman times but after their liberation they became free and developed a localeconomy based on small holdings plus a small-scale domestic animal husbandryPeople from the town of Konitsa itself own also land in the plain which wasdistributed to them by the state (a large part of them are Asia Minor refugees thatsettled in Konitsa in 1923) The town of Konitsa itself constitutes the administra-tive commercial and cultural center of the municipality Konitsa has always been acenter and a crossing It has been a place of cultural input where various culturalelements met and has functioned as a channel for the osmosis among differentpeople and cultures To all this the well-known bazaar played a central role(Nitsiakos 2008)

National laws and presidential or ministerial edicts protect part of the culturalheritage of the area mainly Byzantine and post-Byzantine monuments private orpublic buildings or entire settlements Infrastructure related to the network oftransportation (bridges stone-paved lanes) or with pre-industrial agriculture (watermills threshing floors) that date back as far as the fifteenth century also constitutecharacteristic examples of local architecture Moreover the area is well known forits high ecological value and has a great conservation importance Therefore it isprotected by several Greek and European laws and part of it has been designated asthe National Forest of Pindus (1966) the National Forest of Vikos-Aoos (1973) thebiogenetic reserve of Pindos (1976) the Northern Pindos National Park (2005) theVikos-Aoos UNESCO Geopark (2010) and includes eleven NATURA 2000 sitesSpecial Protected Areas (SPAs) for bird conservation and Sites of CommunityImportance (SCIs) for habitat and species protection

286 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

1522 The Study on the Sacred Natural Sites of Epirus

The study of the SNS of Epirus started in 2000 and was initially involved 23villages in Zagori (Stara et al 2015a) Work resumed in 2012 through an inter-disciplinary research programme based at the University of Ioannina(THALIS-SAGE 2012ndash2015 ldquoConservation through Religion the Sacred Forests ofEpirusrdquo) Our aim was the study of sacred forests as an effective conservationsystem and their bio-cultural value focusing not only in their cultural and spiritualvalue but also in their biodiversity importance using as criteria groups of organismsdepending on mature trees such as lichens birds bats fungi saproxylic insects andsoil biodiversity (Read 2000 Rackham 2006)

Through extensive archival and ethnographic research and fieldwork we locatedthe SNS of every village but we orientated our study on forests excluding isolatedmature trees or small groves in church yards We asked people to tell us about thereasons of maintenance of their sacred forests their history ritual activitiessupernatural guardians accepted and non-acceptable uses taboos and storiesrelating to trespassing in these forests We confirmed peoplersquos narratives in com-munity archives and we visited the forests accompanied with locals where possible

In order to create common research areas for different scientific disciplinesincluding colleagues who studied biodiversity in detail we chose a subset of thesacred forests of the area using as first priority criteria their classification in differentgeographic and cultural units (Fig 151) This covered most of the diversityexisting in the area inasmuch as we chosed at least one representative forest fromeach geographic-cultural unit (Fig 152 Table 151)

We selected forests that were bigger than 45 ha applying also a rough criterionof 70 tree cover excluding those that were open woodland pastures in the pastwith an exception if this vegetation type was only represented in this form Inaddition we chose representatives of at least one of all vegetation types existing inthe area Good preservation status was also considered as some sacred forests havebeen partly destroyed Sacred forest boundaries based on ethnographical andarchival research were later identified and mapped by the use of orthorectified aerialphotographs of the year 1945 which is the oldest complete set of aerial photographsin the area

During our visit to each forest we recorded the geology and bedrock typechecked for the presence of landslides fallen rocks water and springs and notedalso vegetation type forest structure past and recent uses existing buildings orother artifacts We defined their recent and older borders in as much detail aspossible A rapid biodiversity survey was focused on easily identifiable largemammals and raptors All data were entered into a GIS environment for furtheranalysis (topography inclination etc)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 287

kallio21hotmailcom

153 Results and Discussion

1531 The Sacred Commons

All different cultural units in the area preserve sacred forests and used religion as astrategy to control management during the Ottoman occupation In that period these

Fig 151 Location of the research area and the selected 16 characteristic sacred forests in Konitsaand Zagori municipalities in Epirus NW Greece

288 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

1Ph

ysical

characteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname(in

Greek)

Forestname(in

Eng

lish)

Tow

nVillage

CulturalG

eographicun

itVegetationtype

Area

(ha)

Altitude

(m)

1Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Koacuten

itsa

Kon

itsaplain

Black

pine

11570

760ndash

1600

2Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Maacutezi

Kon

itsaplain

Broadleaved

oak

1040

560ndash

645

4K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Virginrsquosforest

Aidon

ochoacute

riKon

itsaplain

Mixed

broadleaved

1980

715ndash

960

3Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Chion

iaacutedes

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Mixed

broadleaved

4130

1120

ndash

1300

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Virginrsquosforest

Elaphoacutetop

osCentral-W

est

(CW)Zagori

Pricklyoak

2910

660ndash

890

6Livaacutedi

Meado

wManassiacute

CW

Zagori

Mixed

broadleaved

537

1000

ndash

1400

7Livaacutedi

Meado

wVrysochoacuteri

EastZ

agoriAoo

svalley

Broadleaved

oak

1040

930ndash

1150

8Livadaacutekia

Smallmeado

ws

Viacutetsa

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

490

917

9Mereaacuteo

Com

mon

land

Palio

seacuteli

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

2240

1100

ndash

1340

10AgiacuteaParaskeviacute

SantaParaskevi

Vov

ouacutessa

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

680

980ndash

1070

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sSaintCharalampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

1702

530ndash

600

12Traacutefos

Ditch

Moacutelista

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Black

pine

4329

880ndash

1220

13Plaacutei

Slop

eMikro

Paacuteping

oCW

Zagori

Stinking

Grecian

junipers

2823

1200

ndash

1550

14Gradiacutesta

Fortress

Kapeacutesov

oCW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

236

950ndash

1170

15Aniacutelia

Non

sunn

yKaacutetoPedinaacute

CW

Zagori

Pricklyoak

103

848ndash

963

16Touacute

fa(the

core

area)

Thicket

Greveniacuteti

EastZagori

Beechmixed

broadleaved

1172

1060

ndash

1380

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 289

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mountain communities enjoyed privileges and a kind of ldquoautonomyrdquo from theOttomans while the Church found herself in the special position to substitute politicalpower and judicature (Mihailaris 2004) Local authorities comprehending theimportance of forests especially in cases where these could be used as protectivewood belts against natural hazards decided on their protection with the support ofreligion as supernatural guardian Supernatural fears based on pre-Christian beliefs ofnature-spirits (Stara 2012a) coalesced in the idea of a dangerous and powerful sacredwhich aided the political power to enforce among the members of a closed societyconformity of moral respect toward common important resources such as forests Asconceptualized elements sacred forests functioned also as cultural codes (Colding andFolke 2001) that could protect social order secure the prosperity of the communitydelineate admissible relations between itsmembers and define categories such as goodand bad inside and outside safe and dangerous (Douglas 1966)

Our archival work revealed communal agreements which prove that somesacred forests used to be private land that belonged to different villagers Narrativesenforce such decisions as people often refer to toponyms that indicate propertyrights of certain villagers inside the sacred forests Moreover existence of privatetrees inside the sacred forests such as sweet chestnuts that ex-owners of the land areallowed to harvest are indirect indicators that such areas were once private land

1532 The Names

Sacred forests are refereed to with the same term ieraacute in Greek literature but inspoken language the preferred general term is klisiast(i)kaacute which are literally thosebelonging to the Church Another synonym is vakouacutefika from the Turkish vakufwhich signifies a bequest from which the income should be used for public benefit(Moutafchieva 1988)

Many sacred forests are named kouriacute or with syncope kri with the meaning of apiece of forest kept as protected with the potential to be used as a reserve for com-munity needs or Church income Other sacred forests are called livaacutedia (in plural)Livaacutedi literally means meadow but our field research revealed that these areas do nothave the typical appearance of an open grassland On the contrary they are wood-lands which function as protective wood belts above villages Therefore we relatethe etymology of the world with the ancient Greek livaacutes (literally ldquowater droprdquo) (Staraand Tsiakiris 2010) Moreover the Palioseli village sacred forest is named mereaacuteo(miriye in Turkishmeriaacutes in Greek) and means the public land (Moutafchieva 1988)

When the forest is dedicated to a church that is found in its vicinity the protectorsaint gives his or her name not only to the sacred forest but also to the terrainaround it This expresses the domestication of the land the protection by the saintand the subjugation of the forces of nature to the spiritual power of the holypersonage to which the site is dedicated (Nixon 2006 Stewart 1991) Other sacredforests take their names from the salient features of the landform following theclassical rules of landscape onomatopoieia (Martin 1995)

290 K Stara et al

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1533 The Physical Characteristics of the Sacred Forests

Most sacred forests are located above villages and with a size of no more than 50 ha(Table 151) Most mountain villages of the area are located in the altitudinal zonewhere oak forests grow Accordingly most selected sacred forests are dominated bymixed broadleaved woodlands consisted mainly by broadleaved oaks (Q pubescensQ frainetto Q trojana Q cerris) while mixed broadleaves have also a big per-centage with maples (Acer monspesulanum A obtusatum) horbeams (Carpinusorientalis Ostrya carpinifolia) being the commonest trees reaching the crown ofthese forests Monumental trees of beeches black pines and junipers (Juniperusfoetidissima J excelsa) can be found in respective forests Thus the biggest pricklyoaks (Q coccifera) in the wider area are to be found only in SNS in the vicinity of thevillages in the lower altitudes Dendrochronology is underway for the oldest trees inthe above forests but many old trees are aging more than 200 years while there areexamples of trees (junipers oaks black pines) older than 350 years (Aris Kyparissisand Valentino Marini Govigli personal comm Sarris 2008)

Two sacred forests are exceptionally large the beech forest above Grevenitivillage (1172 ha) and the black-pine forest above Konitsa town (1157 ha) accordingto their borders shown in the aerial photographs of year 1945 While most of the 16selected sacred forests are located above 1000 m this of Konitsa and the uniquejuniper forest of Mikro Papingo reach the highest altitudes (1600 and 1550 mrespectively) Konitsa town sacred forest has the widest range of all starting from760 m altitude just above the last houses and reaching the top of the steep slope thathangs above the town By contrast the abandoned village of Mesovouni has thelowest sacred forest (of broadleaved oak) starting at just 530 m altitude

Inclination of the bedrock which was mainly limestone or sometimes flysch wasin most cases very steep and our field survey revealed that rockfalls landslides andeven snow avalanches are not rare phenomena and are imprinted in the forest historyIn certain cases as in Manassi village rockfalls destroyed recently a church insidethe forest while in Palioseli village rolling rocks have been found to have strickenthe standing trees and these were later stabilized by local people Landslides eventoday frequently destroy roads bridges and infrastructure mainly in the EasternZagori such as the destruction of buildings in Greveniti village (2013) where themost extensive sacred beech forest is found It was not a surprise to find that mostsacred forests also host springs rivulets or even water reservoirs

Our detailed biodiversity survey has not finished yet but our visits to the field sofar reveal that all sacred forests serve as breeding sites of raptorial species especiallysort toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) that seemto prefer those forests while evidence of the presence of tawny owl (Stix aluco) wasfound in most cases This was expected as raptors in general show site fidelity andthose forest patches were probably the only breeding sites containing enough bigtrees and having less disturbance in the near past Bio-indicators confirmed thepresence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) also in all the sacred forests we visited

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 291

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1534 The Ritual and Other Praxes

Dedication to a church and most often to the church of the village patron even if itlies in villagersquos center or in the vicinity of the forest was the commonest praxis todivide sacred from secular land Interestingly aphorismoacutes (excommunication) wasalso often used as a sanctification practice Excommunication in the first Christiancenturies constituted a pure ecclesiastical punishment visited on people Howeverduring the fourteenthndasheighteenth century the practice was extended to applications inprivate issues of economic or social nature In that context it could be used as anabstract threat capable of stigmatizing someone (eg a trespasser on a sacred forest)with exclusion from the Church its mysteries and social events related to religiouslife Moreover it could impose to trespassers and their generation a cursed live anddamn their souls to the heritage of eternal hell (Mihailaris 2004) Locals recall anatmosphere of intense religiosity and fear The ceremony was implemented ad loc atthe edge of the forest singing certain curse psalms of David (eg Ps 58 Ps 109)ringing the bell holding black candles using an upside down cauldron and gen-erally reversing the regular order of things Use might even be made of the number ofpriests that announced the excommunication Numbers three and seven especiallystrengthened its force and this is the reason why some excommunicated forests arecalled eftapaacutepada (literally excommunicated by seven priests) (Stara 2012b)

Dedication and excommunication were not mutually exclusive On the contraryexcommunication and in some cases also communal agreements could be used toenforce dedication After the establishment of the modern Greek state excommuni-cation gaveway to new forms ofModern European Justice and communal agreementswere addressed to the Forestry Service which published special forestry regulationsfor the management of the sacred forests However locals continued to relate regu-lations to taboos associated with the supernatural guardians of the sacred forests

1535 The Supernatural Guardians of the Sacred Forests

The Virgin Mary (Panagiacutea) Saint Nicholas (Ai Nikoacutelas) Santa Paraskevi (AgiacuteαParaskeviacute or Staviacutenere in Vlach) and Saint Charalampos (Ai Charaacutelampos) act in thesacred forests as the intermediaries between the God and people St Paraskevi is oneof the dragon-killer saints the protector of fountains in local culture thus we expecther appearance in sacred forests where aquifer protection is likely to be among theirservices St Nikolas is protector of travelers in folk religion and thus beloved toEpirus where every family had migrant sons (Stara et al 2015as) However his springcelebration [May 20th relics translation to Bari-Italy which is one of the mostimportant pilgrimage centers of St Nikolas in Europe (Ševčenko 1983)] also coin-cides with the period that transhumant shepherd families return from winter tosummer pastures and this is accompanied with passage rites such as food offerings Inthe sacred forest of St Nicholas in Vitsa village this date used to regulate the opening

292 K Stara et al

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of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

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when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

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avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

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transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

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kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

population animals and the available pastures which belong to the whole com-munity Sedentary Vlachs reside also in the Aoos valley in a cluster of settlementslined up along the river which developed historically their own distinctive localculture based on forestry and agriculture with complementary domestic animalhusbandry The lowland in the zone between the settlements and the river is cul-tivated in the past the zone of the cultivated land used to extend to the north of thesettlements Above the settlements there are also zones of preserved woodland andthickets as well as pastures and further away forests which constitute an importantfactor of the local economy In the past this population specialized also in crafts andprofessions related to forests such as sawyers and tar-dealers

As to the Sarantaporos valley it is a unity which specialized historically in crafts(stone masonry painting-hagiography wood carving carpentry) that is why allthese villages are called mastorohoacuteria (literally ldquocraftsmanvillagesrdquo) Occupyingthe oak zone these communities were initially agropastoral At some historicalmoment their male population turned to technical specialization (eighteenthndashnine-teenth century) due to demographic and economical hardship This phenomenonstarted to decline at the end of the nineteenth century and disappeared in thesecond-half of the twentieth century

Another unit is formed by the villages of the Konitsa plain which combineagriculture with animal husbandry These villages used to belong to local beys inOttoman times but after their liberation they became free and developed a localeconomy based on small holdings plus a small-scale domestic animal husbandryPeople from the town of Konitsa itself own also land in the plain which wasdistributed to them by the state (a large part of them are Asia Minor refugees thatsettled in Konitsa in 1923) The town of Konitsa itself constitutes the administra-tive commercial and cultural center of the municipality Konitsa has always been acenter and a crossing It has been a place of cultural input where various culturalelements met and has functioned as a channel for the osmosis among differentpeople and cultures To all this the well-known bazaar played a central role(Nitsiakos 2008)

National laws and presidential or ministerial edicts protect part of the culturalheritage of the area mainly Byzantine and post-Byzantine monuments private orpublic buildings or entire settlements Infrastructure related to the network oftransportation (bridges stone-paved lanes) or with pre-industrial agriculture (watermills threshing floors) that date back as far as the fifteenth century also constitutecharacteristic examples of local architecture Moreover the area is well known forits high ecological value and has a great conservation importance Therefore it isprotected by several Greek and European laws and part of it has been designated asthe National Forest of Pindus (1966) the National Forest of Vikos-Aoos (1973) thebiogenetic reserve of Pindos (1976) the Northern Pindos National Park (2005) theVikos-Aoos UNESCO Geopark (2010) and includes eleven NATURA 2000 sitesSpecial Protected Areas (SPAs) for bird conservation and Sites of CommunityImportance (SCIs) for habitat and species protection

286 K Stara et al

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1522 The Study on the Sacred Natural Sites of Epirus

The study of the SNS of Epirus started in 2000 and was initially involved 23villages in Zagori (Stara et al 2015a) Work resumed in 2012 through an inter-disciplinary research programme based at the University of Ioannina(THALIS-SAGE 2012ndash2015 ldquoConservation through Religion the Sacred Forests ofEpirusrdquo) Our aim was the study of sacred forests as an effective conservationsystem and their bio-cultural value focusing not only in their cultural and spiritualvalue but also in their biodiversity importance using as criteria groups of organismsdepending on mature trees such as lichens birds bats fungi saproxylic insects andsoil biodiversity (Read 2000 Rackham 2006)

Through extensive archival and ethnographic research and fieldwork we locatedthe SNS of every village but we orientated our study on forests excluding isolatedmature trees or small groves in church yards We asked people to tell us about thereasons of maintenance of their sacred forests their history ritual activitiessupernatural guardians accepted and non-acceptable uses taboos and storiesrelating to trespassing in these forests We confirmed peoplersquos narratives in com-munity archives and we visited the forests accompanied with locals where possible

In order to create common research areas for different scientific disciplinesincluding colleagues who studied biodiversity in detail we chose a subset of thesacred forests of the area using as first priority criteria their classification in differentgeographic and cultural units (Fig 151) This covered most of the diversityexisting in the area inasmuch as we chosed at least one representative forest fromeach geographic-cultural unit (Fig 152 Table 151)

We selected forests that were bigger than 45 ha applying also a rough criterionof 70 tree cover excluding those that were open woodland pastures in the pastwith an exception if this vegetation type was only represented in this form Inaddition we chose representatives of at least one of all vegetation types existing inthe area Good preservation status was also considered as some sacred forests havebeen partly destroyed Sacred forest boundaries based on ethnographical andarchival research were later identified and mapped by the use of orthorectified aerialphotographs of the year 1945 which is the oldest complete set of aerial photographsin the area

During our visit to each forest we recorded the geology and bedrock typechecked for the presence of landslides fallen rocks water and springs and notedalso vegetation type forest structure past and recent uses existing buildings orother artifacts We defined their recent and older borders in as much detail aspossible A rapid biodiversity survey was focused on easily identifiable largemammals and raptors All data were entered into a GIS environment for furtheranalysis (topography inclination etc)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 287

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153 Results and Discussion

1531 The Sacred Commons

All different cultural units in the area preserve sacred forests and used religion as astrategy to control management during the Ottoman occupation In that period these

Fig 151 Location of the research area and the selected 16 characteristic sacred forests in Konitsaand Zagori municipalities in Epirus NW Greece

288 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

1Ph

ysical

characteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname(in

Greek)

Forestname(in

Eng

lish)

Tow

nVillage

CulturalG

eographicun

itVegetationtype

Area

(ha)

Altitude

(m)

1Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Koacuten

itsa

Kon

itsaplain

Black

pine

11570

760ndash

1600

2Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Maacutezi

Kon

itsaplain

Broadleaved

oak

1040

560ndash

645

4K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Virginrsquosforest

Aidon

ochoacute

riKon

itsaplain

Mixed

broadleaved

1980

715ndash

960

3Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Chion

iaacutedes

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Mixed

broadleaved

4130

1120

ndash

1300

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Virginrsquosforest

Elaphoacutetop

osCentral-W

est

(CW)Zagori

Pricklyoak

2910

660ndash

890

6Livaacutedi

Meado

wManassiacute

CW

Zagori

Mixed

broadleaved

537

1000

ndash

1400

7Livaacutedi

Meado

wVrysochoacuteri

EastZ

agoriAoo

svalley

Broadleaved

oak

1040

930ndash

1150

8Livadaacutekia

Smallmeado

ws

Viacutetsa

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

490

917

9Mereaacuteo

Com

mon

land

Palio

seacuteli

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

2240

1100

ndash

1340

10AgiacuteaParaskeviacute

SantaParaskevi

Vov

ouacutessa

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

680

980ndash

1070

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sSaintCharalampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

1702

530ndash

600

12Traacutefos

Ditch

Moacutelista

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Black

pine

4329

880ndash

1220

13Plaacutei

Slop

eMikro

Paacuteping

oCW

Zagori

Stinking

Grecian

junipers

2823

1200

ndash

1550

14Gradiacutesta

Fortress

Kapeacutesov

oCW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

236

950ndash

1170

15Aniacutelia

Non

sunn

yKaacutetoPedinaacute

CW

Zagori

Pricklyoak

103

848ndash

963

16Touacute

fa(the

core

area)

Thicket

Greveniacuteti

EastZagori

Beechmixed

broadleaved

1172

1060

ndash

1380

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 289

kallio21hotmailcom

mountain communities enjoyed privileges and a kind of ldquoautonomyrdquo from theOttomans while the Church found herself in the special position to substitute politicalpower and judicature (Mihailaris 2004) Local authorities comprehending theimportance of forests especially in cases where these could be used as protectivewood belts against natural hazards decided on their protection with the support ofreligion as supernatural guardian Supernatural fears based on pre-Christian beliefs ofnature-spirits (Stara 2012a) coalesced in the idea of a dangerous and powerful sacredwhich aided the political power to enforce among the members of a closed societyconformity of moral respect toward common important resources such as forests Asconceptualized elements sacred forests functioned also as cultural codes (Colding andFolke 2001) that could protect social order secure the prosperity of the communitydelineate admissible relations between itsmembers and define categories such as goodand bad inside and outside safe and dangerous (Douglas 1966)

Our archival work revealed communal agreements which prove that somesacred forests used to be private land that belonged to different villagers Narrativesenforce such decisions as people often refer to toponyms that indicate propertyrights of certain villagers inside the sacred forests Moreover existence of privatetrees inside the sacred forests such as sweet chestnuts that ex-owners of the land areallowed to harvest are indirect indicators that such areas were once private land

1532 The Names

Sacred forests are refereed to with the same term ieraacute in Greek literature but inspoken language the preferred general term is klisiast(i)kaacute which are literally thosebelonging to the Church Another synonym is vakouacutefika from the Turkish vakufwhich signifies a bequest from which the income should be used for public benefit(Moutafchieva 1988)

Many sacred forests are named kouriacute or with syncope kri with the meaning of apiece of forest kept as protected with the potential to be used as a reserve for com-munity needs or Church income Other sacred forests are called livaacutedia (in plural)Livaacutedi literally means meadow but our field research revealed that these areas do nothave the typical appearance of an open grassland On the contrary they are wood-lands which function as protective wood belts above villages Therefore we relatethe etymology of the world with the ancient Greek livaacutes (literally ldquowater droprdquo) (Staraand Tsiakiris 2010) Moreover the Palioseli village sacred forest is named mereaacuteo(miriye in Turkishmeriaacutes in Greek) and means the public land (Moutafchieva 1988)

When the forest is dedicated to a church that is found in its vicinity the protectorsaint gives his or her name not only to the sacred forest but also to the terrainaround it This expresses the domestication of the land the protection by the saintand the subjugation of the forces of nature to the spiritual power of the holypersonage to which the site is dedicated (Nixon 2006 Stewart 1991) Other sacredforests take their names from the salient features of the landform following theclassical rules of landscape onomatopoieia (Martin 1995)

290 K Stara et al

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1533 The Physical Characteristics of the Sacred Forests

Most sacred forests are located above villages and with a size of no more than 50 ha(Table 151) Most mountain villages of the area are located in the altitudinal zonewhere oak forests grow Accordingly most selected sacred forests are dominated bymixed broadleaved woodlands consisted mainly by broadleaved oaks (Q pubescensQ frainetto Q trojana Q cerris) while mixed broadleaves have also a big per-centage with maples (Acer monspesulanum A obtusatum) horbeams (Carpinusorientalis Ostrya carpinifolia) being the commonest trees reaching the crown ofthese forests Monumental trees of beeches black pines and junipers (Juniperusfoetidissima J excelsa) can be found in respective forests Thus the biggest pricklyoaks (Q coccifera) in the wider area are to be found only in SNS in the vicinity of thevillages in the lower altitudes Dendrochronology is underway for the oldest trees inthe above forests but many old trees are aging more than 200 years while there areexamples of trees (junipers oaks black pines) older than 350 years (Aris Kyparissisand Valentino Marini Govigli personal comm Sarris 2008)

Two sacred forests are exceptionally large the beech forest above Grevenitivillage (1172 ha) and the black-pine forest above Konitsa town (1157 ha) accordingto their borders shown in the aerial photographs of year 1945 While most of the 16selected sacred forests are located above 1000 m this of Konitsa and the uniquejuniper forest of Mikro Papingo reach the highest altitudes (1600 and 1550 mrespectively) Konitsa town sacred forest has the widest range of all starting from760 m altitude just above the last houses and reaching the top of the steep slope thathangs above the town By contrast the abandoned village of Mesovouni has thelowest sacred forest (of broadleaved oak) starting at just 530 m altitude

Inclination of the bedrock which was mainly limestone or sometimes flysch wasin most cases very steep and our field survey revealed that rockfalls landslides andeven snow avalanches are not rare phenomena and are imprinted in the forest historyIn certain cases as in Manassi village rockfalls destroyed recently a church insidethe forest while in Palioseli village rolling rocks have been found to have strickenthe standing trees and these were later stabilized by local people Landslides eventoday frequently destroy roads bridges and infrastructure mainly in the EasternZagori such as the destruction of buildings in Greveniti village (2013) where themost extensive sacred beech forest is found It was not a surprise to find that mostsacred forests also host springs rivulets or even water reservoirs

Our detailed biodiversity survey has not finished yet but our visits to the field sofar reveal that all sacred forests serve as breeding sites of raptorial species especiallysort toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) that seemto prefer those forests while evidence of the presence of tawny owl (Stix aluco) wasfound in most cases This was expected as raptors in general show site fidelity andthose forest patches were probably the only breeding sites containing enough bigtrees and having less disturbance in the near past Bio-indicators confirmed thepresence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) also in all the sacred forests we visited

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 291

kallio21hotmailcom

1534 The Ritual and Other Praxes

Dedication to a church and most often to the church of the village patron even if itlies in villagersquos center or in the vicinity of the forest was the commonest praxis todivide sacred from secular land Interestingly aphorismoacutes (excommunication) wasalso often used as a sanctification practice Excommunication in the first Christiancenturies constituted a pure ecclesiastical punishment visited on people Howeverduring the fourteenthndasheighteenth century the practice was extended to applications inprivate issues of economic or social nature In that context it could be used as anabstract threat capable of stigmatizing someone (eg a trespasser on a sacred forest)with exclusion from the Church its mysteries and social events related to religiouslife Moreover it could impose to trespassers and their generation a cursed live anddamn their souls to the heritage of eternal hell (Mihailaris 2004) Locals recall anatmosphere of intense religiosity and fear The ceremony was implemented ad loc atthe edge of the forest singing certain curse psalms of David (eg Ps 58 Ps 109)ringing the bell holding black candles using an upside down cauldron and gen-erally reversing the regular order of things Use might even be made of the number ofpriests that announced the excommunication Numbers three and seven especiallystrengthened its force and this is the reason why some excommunicated forests arecalled eftapaacutepada (literally excommunicated by seven priests) (Stara 2012b)

Dedication and excommunication were not mutually exclusive On the contraryexcommunication and in some cases also communal agreements could be used toenforce dedication After the establishment of the modern Greek state excommuni-cation gaveway to new forms ofModern European Justice and communal agreementswere addressed to the Forestry Service which published special forestry regulationsfor the management of the sacred forests However locals continued to relate regu-lations to taboos associated with the supernatural guardians of the sacred forests

1535 The Supernatural Guardians of the Sacred Forests

The Virgin Mary (Panagiacutea) Saint Nicholas (Ai Nikoacutelas) Santa Paraskevi (AgiacuteαParaskeviacute or Staviacutenere in Vlach) and Saint Charalampos (Ai Charaacutelampos) act in thesacred forests as the intermediaries between the God and people St Paraskevi is oneof the dragon-killer saints the protector of fountains in local culture thus we expecther appearance in sacred forests where aquifer protection is likely to be among theirservices St Nikolas is protector of travelers in folk religion and thus beloved toEpirus where every family had migrant sons (Stara et al 2015as) However his springcelebration [May 20th relics translation to Bari-Italy which is one of the mostimportant pilgrimage centers of St Nikolas in Europe (Ševčenko 1983)] also coin-cides with the period that transhumant shepherd families return from winter tosummer pastures and this is accompanied with passage rites such as food offerings Inthe sacred forest of St Nicholas in Vitsa village this date used to regulate the opening

292 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

kallio21hotmailcom

when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

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avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

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References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

1522 The Study on the Sacred Natural Sites of Epirus

The study of the SNS of Epirus started in 2000 and was initially involved 23villages in Zagori (Stara et al 2015a) Work resumed in 2012 through an inter-disciplinary research programme based at the University of Ioannina(THALIS-SAGE 2012ndash2015 ldquoConservation through Religion the Sacred Forests ofEpirusrdquo) Our aim was the study of sacred forests as an effective conservationsystem and their bio-cultural value focusing not only in their cultural and spiritualvalue but also in their biodiversity importance using as criteria groups of organismsdepending on mature trees such as lichens birds bats fungi saproxylic insects andsoil biodiversity (Read 2000 Rackham 2006)

Through extensive archival and ethnographic research and fieldwork we locatedthe SNS of every village but we orientated our study on forests excluding isolatedmature trees or small groves in church yards We asked people to tell us about thereasons of maintenance of their sacred forests their history ritual activitiessupernatural guardians accepted and non-acceptable uses taboos and storiesrelating to trespassing in these forests We confirmed peoplersquos narratives in com-munity archives and we visited the forests accompanied with locals where possible

In order to create common research areas for different scientific disciplinesincluding colleagues who studied biodiversity in detail we chose a subset of thesacred forests of the area using as first priority criteria their classification in differentgeographic and cultural units (Fig 151) This covered most of the diversityexisting in the area inasmuch as we chosed at least one representative forest fromeach geographic-cultural unit (Fig 152 Table 151)

We selected forests that were bigger than 45 ha applying also a rough criterionof 70 tree cover excluding those that were open woodland pastures in the pastwith an exception if this vegetation type was only represented in this form Inaddition we chose representatives of at least one of all vegetation types existing inthe area Good preservation status was also considered as some sacred forests havebeen partly destroyed Sacred forest boundaries based on ethnographical andarchival research were later identified and mapped by the use of orthorectified aerialphotographs of the year 1945 which is the oldest complete set of aerial photographsin the area

During our visit to each forest we recorded the geology and bedrock typechecked for the presence of landslides fallen rocks water and springs and notedalso vegetation type forest structure past and recent uses existing buildings orother artifacts We defined their recent and older borders in as much detail aspossible A rapid biodiversity survey was focused on easily identifiable largemammals and raptors All data were entered into a GIS environment for furtheranalysis (topography inclination etc)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 287

kallio21hotmailcom

153 Results and Discussion

1531 The Sacred Commons

All different cultural units in the area preserve sacred forests and used religion as astrategy to control management during the Ottoman occupation In that period these

Fig 151 Location of the research area and the selected 16 characteristic sacred forests in Konitsaand Zagori municipalities in Epirus NW Greece

288 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

1Ph

ysical

characteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname(in

Greek)

Forestname(in

Eng

lish)

Tow

nVillage

CulturalG

eographicun

itVegetationtype

Area

(ha)

Altitude

(m)

1Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Koacuten

itsa

Kon

itsaplain

Black

pine

11570

760ndash

1600

2Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Maacutezi

Kon

itsaplain

Broadleaved

oak

1040

560ndash

645

4K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Virginrsquosforest

Aidon

ochoacute

riKon

itsaplain

Mixed

broadleaved

1980

715ndash

960

3Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Chion

iaacutedes

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Mixed

broadleaved

4130

1120

ndash

1300

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Virginrsquosforest

Elaphoacutetop

osCentral-W

est

(CW)Zagori

Pricklyoak

2910

660ndash

890

6Livaacutedi

Meado

wManassiacute

CW

Zagori

Mixed

broadleaved

537

1000

ndash

1400

7Livaacutedi

Meado

wVrysochoacuteri

EastZ

agoriAoo

svalley

Broadleaved

oak

1040

930ndash

1150

8Livadaacutekia

Smallmeado

ws

Viacutetsa

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

490

917

9Mereaacuteo

Com

mon

land

Palio

seacuteli

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

2240

1100

ndash

1340

10AgiacuteaParaskeviacute

SantaParaskevi

Vov

ouacutessa

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

680

980ndash

1070

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sSaintCharalampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

1702

530ndash

600

12Traacutefos

Ditch

Moacutelista

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Black

pine

4329

880ndash

1220

13Plaacutei

Slop

eMikro

Paacuteping

oCW

Zagori

Stinking

Grecian

junipers

2823

1200

ndash

1550

14Gradiacutesta

Fortress

Kapeacutesov

oCW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

236

950ndash

1170

15Aniacutelia

Non

sunn

yKaacutetoPedinaacute

CW

Zagori

Pricklyoak

103

848ndash

963

16Touacute

fa(the

core

area)

Thicket

Greveniacuteti

EastZagori

Beechmixed

broadleaved

1172

1060

ndash

1380

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 289

kallio21hotmailcom

mountain communities enjoyed privileges and a kind of ldquoautonomyrdquo from theOttomans while the Church found herself in the special position to substitute politicalpower and judicature (Mihailaris 2004) Local authorities comprehending theimportance of forests especially in cases where these could be used as protectivewood belts against natural hazards decided on their protection with the support ofreligion as supernatural guardian Supernatural fears based on pre-Christian beliefs ofnature-spirits (Stara 2012a) coalesced in the idea of a dangerous and powerful sacredwhich aided the political power to enforce among the members of a closed societyconformity of moral respect toward common important resources such as forests Asconceptualized elements sacred forests functioned also as cultural codes (Colding andFolke 2001) that could protect social order secure the prosperity of the communitydelineate admissible relations between itsmembers and define categories such as goodand bad inside and outside safe and dangerous (Douglas 1966)

Our archival work revealed communal agreements which prove that somesacred forests used to be private land that belonged to different villagers Narrativesenforce such decisions as people often refer to toponyms that indicate propertyrights of certain villagers inside the sacred forests Moreover existence of privatetrees inside the sacred forests such as sweet chestnuts that ex-owners of the land areallowed to harvest are indirect indicators that such areas were once private land

1532 The Names

Sacred forests are refereed to with the same term ieraacute in Greek literature but inspoken language the preferred general term is klisiast(i)kaacute which are literally thosebelonging to the Church Another synonym is vakouacutefika from the Turkish vakufwhich signifies a bequest from which the income should be used for public benefit(Moutafchieva 1988)

Many sacred forests are named kouriacute or with syncope kri with the meaning of apiece of forest kept as protected with the potential to be used as a reserve for com-munity needs or Church income Other sacred forests are called livaacutedia (in plural)Livaacutedi literally means meadow but our field research revealed that these areas do nothave the typical appearance of an open grassland On the contrary they are wood-lands which function as protective wood belts above villages Therefore we relatethe etymology of the world with the ancient Greek livaacutes (literally ldquowater droprdquo) (Staraand Tsiakiris 2010) Moreover the Palioseli village sacred forest is named mereaacuteo(miriye in Turkishmeriaacutes in Greek) and means the public land (Moutafchieva 1988)

When the forest is dedicated to a church that is found in its vicinity the protectorsaint gives his or her name not only to the sacred forest but also to the terrainaround it This expresses the domestication of the land the protection by the saintand the subjugation of the forces of nature to the spiritual power of the holypersonage to which the site is dedicated (Nixon 2006 Stewart 1991) Other sacredforests take their names from the salient features of the landform following theclassical rules of landscape onomatopoieia (Martin 1995)

290 K Stara et al

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1533 The Physical Characteristics of the Sacred Forests

Most sacred forests are located above villages and with a size of no more than 50 ha(Table 151) Most mountain villages of the area are located in the altitudinal zonewhere oak forests grow Accordingly most selected sacred forests are dominated bymixed broadleaved woodlands consisted mainly by broadleaved oaks (Q pubescensQ frainetto Q trojana Q cerris) while mixed broadleaves have also a big per-centage with maples (Acer monspesulanum A obtusatum) horbeams (Carpinusorientalis Ostrya carpinifolia) being the commonest trees reaching the crown ofthese forests Monumental trees of beeches black pines and junipers (Juniperusfoetidissima J excelsa) can be found in respective forests Thus the biggest pricklyoaks (Q coccifera) in the wider area are to be found only in SNS in the vicinity of thevillages in the lower altitudes Dendrochronology is underway for the oldest trees inthe above forests but many old trees are aging more than 200 years while there areexamples of trees (junipers oaks black pines) older than 350 years (Aris Kyparissisand Valentino Marini Govigli personal comm Sarris 2008)

Two sacred forests are exceptionally large the beech forest above Grevenitivillage (1172 ha) and the black-pine forest above Konitsa town (1157 ha) accordingto their borders shown in the aerial photographs of year 1945 While most of the 16selected sacred forests are located above 1000 m this of Konitsa and the uniquejuniper forest of Mikro Papingo reach the highest altitudes (1600 and 1550 mrespectively) Konitsa town sacred forest has the widest range of all starting from760 m altitude just above the last houses and reaching the top of the steep slope thathangs above the town By contrast the abandoned village of Mesovouni has thelowest sacred forest (of broadleaved oak) starting at just 530 m altitude

Inclination of the bedrock which was mainly limestone or sometimes flysch wasin most cases very steep and our field survey revealed that rockfalls landslides andeven snow avalanches are not rare phenomena and are imprinted in the forest historyIn certain cases as in Manassi village rockfalls destroyed recently a church insidethe forest while in Palioseli village rolling rocks have been found to have strickenthe standing trees and these were later stabilized by local people Landslides eventoday frequently destroy roads bridges and infrastructure mainly in the EasternZagori such as the destruction of buildings in Greveniti village (2013) where themost extensive sacred beech forest is found It was not a surprise to find that mostsacred forests also host springs rivulets or even water reservoirs

Our detailed biodiversity survey has not finished yet but our visits to the field sofar reveal that all sacred forests serve as breeding sites of raptorial species especiallysort toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) that seemto prefer those forests while evidence of the presence of tawny owl (Stix aluco) wasfound in most cases This was expected as raptors in general show site fidelity andthose forest patches were probably the only breeding sites containing enough bigtrees and having less disturbance in the near past Bio-indicators confirmed thepresence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) also in all the sacred forests we visited

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 291

kallio21hotmailcom

1534 The Ritual and Other Praxes

Dedication to a church and most often to the church of the village patron even if itlies in villagersquos center or in the vicinity of the forest was the commonest praxis todivide sacred from secular land Interestingly aphorismoacutes (excommunication) wasalso often used as a sanctification practice Excommunication in the first Christiancenturies constituted a pure ecclesiastical punishment visited on people Howeverduring the fourteenthndasheighteenth century the practice was extended to applications inprivate issues of economic or social nature In that context it could be used as anabstract threat capable of stigmatizing someone (eg a trespasser on a sacred forest)with exclusion from the Church its mysteries and social events related to religiouslife Moreover it could impose to trespassers and their generation a cursed live anddamn their souls to the heritage of eternal hell (Mihailaris 2004) Locals recall anatmosphere of intense religiosity and fear The ceremony was implemented ad loc atthe edge of the forest singing certain curse psalms of David (eg Ps 58 Ps 109)ringing the bell holding black candles using an upside down cauldron and gen-erally reversing the regular order of things Use might even be made of the number ofpriests that announced the excommunication Numbers three and seven especiallystrengthened its force and this is the reason why some excommunicated forests arecalled eftapaacutepada (literally excommunicated by seven priests) (Stara 2012b)

Dedication and excommunication were not mutually exclusive On the contraryexcommunication and in some cases also communal agreements could be used toenforce dedication After the establishment of the modern Greek state excommuni-cation gaveway to new forms ofModern European Justice and communal agreementswere addressed to the Forestry Service which published special forestry regulationsfor the management of the sacred forests However locals continued to relate regu-lations to taboos associated with the supernatural guardians of the sacred forests

1535 The Supernatural Guardians of the Sacred Forests

The Virgin Mary (Panagiacutea) Saint Nicholas (Ai Nikoacutelas) Santa Paraskevi (AgiacuteαParaskeviacute or Staviacutenere in Vlach) and Saint Charalampos (Ai Charaacutelampos) act in thesacred forests as the intermediaries between the God and people St Paraskevi is oneof the dragon-killer saints the protector of fountains in local culture thus we expecther appearance in sacred forests where aquifer protection is likely to be among theirservices St Nikolas is protector of travelers in folk religion and thus beloved toEpirus where every family had migrant sons (Stara et al 2015as) However his springcelebration [May 20th relics translation to Bari-Italy which is one of the mostimportant pilgrimage centers of St Nikolas in Europe (Ševčenko 1983)] also coin-cides with the period that transhumant shepherd families return from winter tosummer pastures and this is accompanied with passage rites such as food offerings Inthe sacred forest of St Nicholas in Vitsa village this date used to regulate the opening

292 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

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when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

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References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

153 Results and Discussion

1531 The Sacred Commons

All different cultural units in the area preserve sacred forests and used religion as astrategy to control management during the Ottoman occupation In that period these

Fig 151 Location of the research area and the selected 16 characteristic sacred forests in Konitsaand Zagori municipalities in Epirus NW Greece

288 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

1Ph

ysical

characteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname(in

Greek)

Forestname(in

Eng

lish)

Tow

nVillage

CulturalG

eographicun

itVegetationtype

Area

(ha)

Altitude

(m)

1Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Koacuten

itsa

Kon

itsaplain

Black

pine

11570

760ndash

1600

2Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Maacutezi

Kon

itsaplain

Broadleaved

oak

1040

560ndash

645

4K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Virginrsquosforest

Aidon

ochoacute

riKon

itsaplain

Mixed

broadleaved

1980

715ndash

960

3Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Chion

iaacutedes

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Mixed

broadleaved

4130

1120

ndash

1300

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Virginrsquosforest

Elaphoacutetop

osCentral-W

est

(CW)Zagori

Pricklyoak

2910

660ndash

890

6Livaacutedi

Meado

wManassiacute

CW

Zagori

Mixed

broadleaved

537

1000

ndash

1400

7Livaacutedi

Meado

wVrysochoacuteri

EastZ

agoriAoo

svalley

Broadleaved

oak

1040

930ndash

1150

8Livadaacutekia

Smallmeado

ws

Viacutetsa

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

490

917

9Mereaacuteo

Com

mon

land

Palio

seacuteli

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

2240

1100

ndash

1340

10AgiacuteaParaskeviacute

SantaParaskevi

Vov

ouacutessa

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

680

980ndash

1070

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sSaintCharalampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

1702

530ndash

600

12Traacutefos

Ditch

Moacutelista

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Black

pine

4329

880ndash

1220

13Plaacutei

Slop

eMikro

Paacuteping

oCW

Zagori

Stinking

Grecian

junipers

2823

1200

ndash

1550

14Gradiacutesta

Fortress

Kapeacutesov

oCW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

236

950ndash

1170

15Aniacutelia

Non

sunn

yKaacutetoPedinaacute

CW

Zagori

Pricklyoak

103

848ndash

963

16Touacute

fa(the

core

area)

Thicket

Greveniacuteti

EastZagori

Beechmixed

broadleaved

1172

1060

ndash

1380

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 289

kallio21hotmailcom

mountain communities enjoyed privileges and a kind of ldquoautonomyrdquo from theOttomans while the Church found herself in the special position to substitute politicalpower and judicature (Mihailaris 2004) Local authorities comprehending theimportance of forests especially in cases where these could be used as protectivewood belts against natural hazards decided on their protection with the support ofreligion as supernatural guardian Supernatural fears based on pre-Christian beliefs ofnature-spirits (Stara 2012a) coalesced in the idea of a dangerous and powerful sacredwhich aided the political power to enforce among the members of a closed societyconformity of moral respect toward common important resources such as forests Asconceptualized elements sacred forests functioned also as cultural codes (Colding andFolke 2001) that could protect social order secure the prosperity of the communitydelineate admissible relations between itsmembers and define categories such as goodand bad inside and outside safe and dangerous (Douglas 1966)

Our archival work revealed communal agreements which prove that somesacred forests used to be private land that belonged to different villagers Narrativesenforce such decisions as people often refer to toponyms that indicate propertyrights of certain villagers inside the sacred forests Moreover existence of privatetrees inside the sacred forests such as sweet chestnuts that ex-owners of the land areallowed to harvest are indirect indicators that such areas were once private land

1532 The Names

Sacred forests are refereed to with the same term ieraacute in Greek literature but inspoken language the preferred general term is klisiast(i)kaacute which are literally thosebelonging to the Church Another synonym is vakouacutefika from the Turkish vakufwhich signifies a bequest from which the income should be used for public benefit(Moutafchieva 1988)

Many sacred forests are named kouriacute or with syncope kri with the meaning of apiece of forest kept as protected with the potential to be used as a reserve for com-munity needs or Church income Other sacred forests are called livaacutedia (in plural)Livaacutedi literally means meadow but our field research revealed that these areas do nothave the typical appearance of an open grassland On the contrary they are wood-lands which function as protective wood belts above villages Therefore we relatethe etymology of the world with the ancient Greek livaacutes (literally ldquowater droprdquo) (Staraand Tsiakiris 2010) Moreover the Palioseli village sacred forest is named mereaacuteo(miriye in Turkishmeriaacutes in Greek) and means the public land (Moutafchieva 1988)

When the forest is dedicated to a church that is found in its vicinity the protectorsaint gives his or her name not only to the sacred forest but also to the terrainaround it This expresses the domestication of the land the protection by the saintand the subjugation of the forces of nature to the spiritual power of the holypersonage to which the site is dedicated (Nixon 2006 Stewart 1991) Other sacredforests take their names from the salient features of the landform following theclassical rules of landscape onomatopoieia (Martin 1995)

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1533 The Physical Characteristics of the Sacred Forests

Most sacred forests are located above villages and with a size of no more than 50 ha(Table 151) Most mountain villages of the area are located in the altitudinal zonewhere oak forests grow Accordingly most selected sacred forests are dominated bymixed broadleaved woodlands consisted mainly by broadleaved oaks (Q pubescensQ frainetto Q trojana Q cerris) while mixed broadleaves have also a big per-centage with maples (Acer monspesulanum A obtusatum) horbeams (Carpinusorientalis Ostrya carpinifolia) being the commonest trees reaching the crown ofthese forests Monumental trees of beeches black pines and junipers (Juniperusfoetidissima J excelsa) can be found in respective forests Thus the biggest pricklyoaks (Q coccifera) in the wider area are to be found only in SNS in the vicinity of thevillages in the lower altitudes Dendrochronology is underway for the oldest trees inthe above forests but many old trees are aging more than 200 years while there areexamples of trees (junipers oaks black pines) older than 350 years (Aris Kyparissisand Valentino Marini Govigli personal comm Sarris 2008)

Two sacred forests are exceptionally large the beech forest above Grevenitivillage (1172 ha) and the black-pine forest above Konitsa town (1157 ha) accordingto their borders shown in the aerial photographs of year 1945 While most of the 16selected sacred forests are located above 1000 m this of Konitsa and the uniquejuniper forest of Mikro Papingo reach the highest altitudes (1600 and 1550 mrespectively) Konitsa town sacred forest has the widest range of all starting from760 m altitude just above the last houses and reaching the top of the steep slope thathangs above the town By contrast the abandoned village of Mesovouni has thelowest sacred forest (of broadleaved oak) starting at just 530 m altitude

Inclination of the bedrock which was mainly limestone or sometimes flysch wasin most cases very steep and our field survey revealed that rockfalls landslides andeven snow avalanches are not rare phenomena and are imprinted in the forest historyIn certain cases as in Manassi village rockfalls destroyed recently a church insidethe forest while in Palioseli village rolling rocks have been found to have strickenthe standing trees and these were later stabilized by local people Landslides eventoday frequently destroy roads bridges and infrastructure mainly in the EasternZagori such as the destruction of buildings in Greveniti village (2013) where themost extensive sacred beech forest is found It was not a surprise to find that mostsacred forests also host springs rivulets or even water reservoirs

Our detailed biodiversity survey has not finished yet but our visits to the field sofar reveal that all sacred forests serve as breeding sites of raptorial species especiallysort toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) that seemto prefer those forests while evidence of the presence of tawny owl (Stix aluco) wasfound in most cases This was expected as raptors in general show site fidelity andthose forest patches were probably the only breeding sites containing enough bigtrees and having less disturbance in the near past Bio-indicators confirmed thepresence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) also in all the sacred forests we visited

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 291

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1534 The Ritual and Other Praxes

Dedication to a church and most often to the church of the village patron even if itlies in villagersquos center or in the vicinity of the forest was the commonest praxis todivide sacred from secular land Interestingly aphorismoacutes (excommunication) wasalso often used as a sanctification practice Excommunication in the first Christiancenturies constituted a pure ecclesiastical punishment visited on people Howeverduring the fourteenthndasheighteenth century the practice was extended to applications inprivate issues of economic or social nature In that context it could be used as anabstract threat capable of stigmatizing someone (eg a trespasser on a sacred forest)with exclusion from the Church its mysteries and social events related to religiouslife Moreover it could impose to trespassers and their generation a cursed live anddamn their souls to the heritage of eternal hell (Mihailaris 2004) Locals recall anatmosphere of intense religiosity and fear The ceremony was implemented ad loc atthe edge of the forest singing certain curse psalms of David (eg Ps 58 Ps 109)ringing the bell holding black candles using an upside down cauldron and gen-erally reversing the regular order of things Use might even be made of the number ofpriests that announced the excommunication Numbers three and seven especiallystrengthened its force and this is the reason why some excommunicated forests arecalled eftapaacutepada (literally excommunicated by seven priests) (Stara 2012b)

Dedication and excommunication were not mutually exclusive On the contraryexcommunication and in some cases also communal agreements could be used toenforce dedication After the establishment of the modern Greek state excommuni-cation gaveway to new forms ofModern European Justice and communal agreementswere addressed to the Forestry Service which published special forestry regulationsfor the management of the sacred forests However locals continued to relate regu-lations to taboos associated with the supernatural guardians of the sacred forests

1535 The Supernatural Guardians of the Sacred Forests

The Virgin Mary (Panagiacutea) Saint Nicholas (Ai Nikoacutelas) Santa Paraskevi (AgiacuteαParaskeviacute or Staviacutenere in Vlach) and Saint Charalampos (Ai Charaacutelampos) act in thesacred forests as the intermediaries between the God and people St Paraskevi is oneof the dragon-killer saints the protector of fountains in local culture thus we expecther appearance in sacred forests where aquifer protection is likely to be among theirservices St Nikolas is protector of travelers in folk religion and thus beloved toEpirus where every family had migrant sons (Stara et al 2015as) However his springcelebration [May 20th relics translation to Bari-Italy which is one of the mostimportant pilgrimage centers of St Nikolas in Europe (Ševčenko 1983)] also coin-cides with the period that transhumant shepherd families return from winter tosummer pastures and this is accompanied with passage rites such as food offerings Inthe sacred forest of St Nicholas in Vitsa village this date used to regulate the opening

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of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

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when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

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avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

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transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

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References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

1Ph

ysical

characteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname(in

Greek)

Forestname(in

Eng

lish)

Tow

nVillage

CulturalG

eographicun

itVegetationtype

Area

(ha)

Altitude

(m)

1Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Koacuten

itsa

Kon

itsaplain

Black

pine

11570

760ndash

1600

2Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Maacutezi

Kon

itsaplain

Broadleaved

oak

1040

560ndash

645

4K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Virginrsquosforest

Aidon

ochoacute

riKon

itsaplain

Mixed

broadleaved

1980

715ndash

960

3Kou

riacuteProtectedforest

Chion

iaacutedes

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Mixed

broadleaved

4130

1120

ndash

1300

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Virginrsquosforest

Elaphoacutetop

osCentral-W

est

(CW)Zagori

Pricklyoak

2910

660ndash

890

6Livaacutedi

Meado

wManassiacute

CW

Zagori

Mixed

broadleaved

537

1000

ndash

1400

7Livaacutedi

Meado

wVrysochoacuteri

EastZ

agoriAoo

svalley

Broadleaved

oak

1040

930ndash

1150

8Livadaacutekia

Smallmeado

ws

Viacutetsa

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

490

917

9Mereaacuteo

Com

mon

land

Palio

seacuteli

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

2240

1100

ndash

1340

10AgiacuteaParaskeviacute

SantaParaskevi

Vov

ouacutessa

Kon

itsa

Aoo

svalley

Black

pine

680

980ndash

1070

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sSaintCharalampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

CW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

1702

530ndash

600

12Traacutefos

Ditch

Moacutelista

Kon

itsa

Sarantaporos

valley

Black

pine

4329

880ndash

1220

13Plaacutei

Slop

eMikro

Paacuteping

oCW

Zagori

Stinking

Grecian

junipers

2823

1200

ndash

1550

14Gradiacutesta

Fortress

Kapeacutesov

oCW

Zagori

Broadleaved

oak

236

950ndash

1170

15Aniacutelia

Non

sunn

yKaacutetoPedinaacute

CW

Zagori

Pricklyoak

103

848ndash

963

16Touacute

fa(the

core

area)

Thicket

Greveniacuteti

EastZagori

Beechmixed

broadleaved

1172

1060

ndash

1380

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 289

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mountain communities enjoyed privileges and a kind of ldquoautonomyrdquo from theOttomans while the Church found herself in the special position to substitute politicalpower and judicature (Mihailaris 2004) Local authorities comprehending theimportance of forests especially in cases where these could be used as protectivewood belts against natural hazards decided on their protection with the support ofreligion as supernatural guardian Supernatural fears based on pre-Christian beliefs ofnature-spirits (Stara 2012a) coalesced in the idea of a dangerous and powerful sacredwhich aided the political power to enforce among the members of a closed societyconformity of moral respect toward common important resources such as forests Asconceptualized elements sacred forests functioned also as cultural codes (Colding andFolke 2001) that could protect social order secure the prosperity of the communitydelineate admissible relations between itsmembers and define categories such as goodand bad inside and outside safe and dangerous (Douglas 1966)

Our archival work revealed communal agreements which prove that somesacred forests used to be private land that belonged to different villagers Narrativesenforce such decisions as people often refer to toponyms that indicate propertyrights of certain villagers inside the sacred forests Moreover existence of privatetrees inside the sacred forests such as sweet chestnuts that ex-owners of the land areallowed to harvest are indirect indicators that such areas were once private land

1532 The Names

Sacred forests are refereed to with the same term ieraacute in Greek literature but inspoken language the preferred general term is klisiast(i)kaacute which are literally thosebelonging to the Church Another synonym is vakouacutefika from the Turkish vakufwhich signifies a bequest from which the income should be used for public benefit(Moutafchieva 1988)

Many sacred forests are named kouriacute or with syncope kri with the meaning of apiece of forest kept as protected with the potential to be used as a reserve for com-munity needs or Church income Other sacred forests are called livaacutedia (in plural)Livaacutedi literally means meadow but our field research revealed that these areas do nothave the typical appearance of an open grassland On the contrary they are wood-lands which function as protective wood belts above villages Therefore we relatethe etymology of the world with the ancient Greek livaacutes (literally ldquowater droprdquo) (Staraand Tsiakiris 2010) Moreover the Palioseli village sacred forest is named mereaacuteo(miriye in Turkishmeriaacutes in Greek) and means the public land (Moutafchieva 1988)

When the forest is dedicated to a church that is found in its vicinity the protectorsaint gives his or her name not only to the sacred forest but also to the terrainaround it This expresses the domestication of the land the protection by the saintand the subjugation of the forces of nature to the spiritual power of the holypersonage to which the site is dedicated (Nixon 2006 Stewart 1991) Other sacredforests take their names from the salient features of the landform following theclassical rules of landscape onomatopoieia (Martin 1995)

290 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

1533 The Physical Characteristics of the Sacred Forests

Most sacred forests are located above villages and with a size of no more than 50 ha(Table 151) Most mountain villages of the area are located in the altitudinal zonewhere oak forests grow Accordingly most selected sacred forests are dominated bymixed broadleaved woodlands consisted mainly by broadleaved oaks (Q pubescensQ frainetto Q trojana Q cerris) while mixed broadleaves have also a big per-centage with maples (Acer monspesulanum A obtusatum) horbeams (Carpinusorientalis Ostrya carpinifolia) being the commonest trees reaching the crown ofthese forests Monumental trees of beeches black pines and junipers (Juniperusfoetidissima J excelsa) can be found in respective forests Thus the biggest pricklyoaks (Q coccifera) in the wider area are to be found only in SNS in the vicinity of thevillages in the lower altitudes Dendrochronology is underway for the oldest trees inthe above forests but many old trees are aging more than 200 years while there areexamples of trees (junipers oaks black pines) older than 350 years (Aris Kyparissisand Valentino Marini Govigli personal comm Sarris 2008)

Two sacred forests are exceptionally large the beech forest above Grevenitivillage (1172 ha) and the black-pine forest above Konitsa town (1157 ha) accordingto their borders shown in the aerial photographs of year 1945 While most of the 16selected sacred forests are located above 1000 m this of Konitsa and the uniquejuniper forest of Mikro Papingo reach the highest altitudes (1600 and 1550 mrespectively) Konitsa town sacred forest has the widest range of all starting from760 m altitude just above the last houses and reaching the top of the steep slope thathangs above the town By contrast the abandoned village of Mesovouni has thelowest sacred forest (of broadleaved oak) starting at just 530 m altitude

Inclination of the bedrock which was mainly limestone or sometimes flysch wasin most cases very steep and our field survey revealed that rockfalls landslides andeven snow avalanches are not rare phenomena and are imprinted in the forest historyIn certain cases as in Manassi village rockfalls destroyed recently a church insidethe forest while in Palioseli village rolling rocks have been found to have strickenthe standing trees and these were later stabilized by local people Landslides eventoday frequently destroy roads bridges and infrastructure mainly in the EasternZagori such as the destruction of buildings in Greveniti village (2013) where themost extensive sacred beech forest is found It was not a surprise to find that mostsacred forests also host springs rivulets or even water reservoirs

Our detailed biodiversity survey has not finished yet but our visits to the field sofar reveal that all sacred forests serve as breeding sites of raptorial species especiallysort toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) that seemto prefer those forests while evidence of the presence of tawny owl (Stix aluco) wasfound in most cases This was expected as raptors in general show site fidelity andthose forest patches were probably the only breeding sites containing enough bigtrees and having less disturbance in the near past Bio-indicators confirmed thepresence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) also in all the sacred forests we visited

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 291

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1534 The Ritual and Other Praxes

Dedication to a church and most often to the church of the village patron even if itlies in villagersquos center or in the vicinity of the forest was the commonest praxis todivide sacred from secular land Interestingly aphorismoacutes (excommunication) wasalso often used as a sanctification practice Excommunication in the first Christiancenturies constituted a pure ecclesiastical punishment visited on people Howeverduring the fourteenthndasheighteenth century the practice was extended to applications inprivate issues of economic or social nature In that context it could be used as anabstract threat capable of stigmatizing someone (eg a trespasser on a sacred forest)with exclusion from the Church its mysteries and social events related to religiouslife Moreover it could impose to trespassers and their generation a cursed live anddamn their souls to the heritage of eternal hell (Mihailaris 2004) Locals recall anatmosphere of intense religiosity and fear The ceremony was implemented ad loc atthe edge of the forest singing certain curse psalms of David (eg Ps 58 Ps 109)ringing the bell holding black candles using an upside down cauldron and gen-erally reversing the regular order of things Use might even be made of the number ofpriests that announced the excommunication Numbers three and seven especiallystrengthened its force and this is the reason why some excommunicated forests arecalled eftapaacutepada (literally excommunicated by seven priests) (Stara 2012b)

Dedication and excommunication were not mutually exclusive On the contraryexcommunication and in some cases also communal agreements could be used toenforce dedication After the establishment of the modern Greek state excommuni-cation gaveway to new forms ofModern European Justice and communal agreementswere addressed to the Forestry Service which published special forestry regulationsfor the management of the sacred forests However locals continued to relate regu-lations to taboos associated with the supernatural guardians of the sacred forests

1535 The Supernatural Guardians of the Sacred Forests

The Virgin Mary (Panagiacutea) Saint Nicholas (Ai Nikoacutelas) Santa Paraskevi (AgiacuteαParaskeviacute or Staviacutenere in Vlach) and Saint Charalampos (Ai Charaacutelampos) act in thesacred forests as the intermediaries between the God and people St Paraskevi is oneof the dragon-killer saints the protector of fountains in local culture thus we expecther appearance in sacred forests where aquifer protection is likely to be among theirservices St Nikolas is protector of travelers in folk religion and thus beloved toEpirus where every family had migrant sons (Stara et al 2015as) However his springcelebration [May 20th relics translation to Bari-Italy which is one of the mostimportant pilgrimage centers of St Nikolas in Europe (Ševčenko 1983)] also coin-cides with the period that transhumant shepherd families return from winter tosummer pastures and this is accompanied with passage rites such as food offerings Inthe sacred forest of St Nicholas in Vitsa village this date used to regulate the opening

292 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

kallio21hotmailcom

when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

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avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

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transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

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References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

mountain communities enjoyed privileges and a kind of ldquoautonomyrdquo from theOttomans while the Church found herself in the special position to substitute politicalpower and judicature (Mihailaris 2004) Local authorities comprehending theimportance of forests especially in cases where these could be used as protectivewood belts against natural hazards decided on their protection with the support ofreligion as supernatural guardian Supernatural fears based on pre-Christian beliefs ofnature-spirits (Stara 2012a) coalesced in the idea of a dangerous and powerful sacredwhich aided the political power to enforce among the members of a closed societyconformity of moral respect toward common important resources such as forests Asconceptualized elements sacred forests functioned also as cultural codes (Colding andFolke 2001) that could protect social order secure the prosperity of the communitydelineate admissible relations between itsmembers and define categories such as goodand bad inside and outside safe and dangerous (Douglas 1966)

Our archival work revealed communal agreements which prove that somesacred forests used to be private land that belonged to different villagers Narrativesenforce such decisions as people often refer to toponyms that indicate propertyrights of certain villagers inside the sacred forests Moreover existence of privatetrees inside the sacred forests such as sweet chestnuts that ex-owners of the land areallowed to harvest are indirect indicators that such areas were once private land

1532 The Names

Sacred forests are refereed to with the same term ieraacute in Greek literature but inspoken language the preferred general term is klisiast(i)kaacute which are literally thosebelonging to the Church Another synonym is vakouacutefika from the Turkish vakufwhich signifies a bequest from which the income should be used for public benefit(Moutafchieva 1988)

Many sacred forests are named kouriacute or with syncope kri with the meaning of apiece of forest kept as protected with the potential to be used as a reserve for com-munity needs or Church income Other sacred forests are called livaacutedia (in plural)Livaacutedi literally means meadow but our field research revealed that these areas do nothave the typical appearance of an open grassland On the contrary they are wood-lands which function as protective wood belts above villages Therefore we relatethe etymology of the world with the ancient Greek livaacutes (literally ldquowater droprdquo) (Staraand Tsiakiris 2010) Moreover the Palioseli village sacred forest is named mereaacuteo(miriye in Turkishmeriaacutes in Greek) and means the public land (Moutafchieva 1988)

When the forest is dedicated to a church that is found in its vicinity the protectorsaint gives his or her name not only to the sacred forest but also to the terrainaround it This expresses the domestication of the land the protection by the saintand the subjugation of the forces of nature to the spiritual power of the holypersonage to which the site is dedicated (Nixon 2006 Stewart 1991) Other sacredforests take their names from the salient features of the landform following theclassical rules of landscape onomatopoieia (Martin 1995)

290 K Stara et al

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1533 The Physical Characteristics of the Sacred Forests

Most sacred forests are located above villages and with a size of no more than 50 ha(Table 151) Most mountain villages of the area are located in the altitudinal zonewhere oak forests grow Accordingly most selected sacred forests are dominated bymixed broadleaved woodlands consisted mainly by broadleaved oaks (Q pubescensQ frainetto Q trojana Q cerris) while mixed broadleaves have also a big per-centage with maples (Acer monspesulanum A obtusatum) horbeams (Carpinusorientalis Ostrya carpinifolia) being the commonest trees reaching the crown ofthese forests Monumental trees of beeches black pines and junipers (Juniperusfoetidissima J excelsa) can be found in respective forests Thus the biggest pricklyoaks (Q coccifera) in the wider area are to be found only in SNS in the vicinity of thevillages in the lower altitudes Dendrochronology is underway for the oldest trees inthe above forests but many old trees are aging more than 200 years while there areexamples of trees (junipers oaks black pines) older than 350 years (Aris Kyparissisand Valentino Marini Govigli personal comm Sarris 2008)

Two sacred forests are exceptionally large the beech forest above Grevenitivillage (1172 ha) and the black-pine forest above Konitsa town (1157 ha) accordingto their borders shown in the aerial photographs of year 1945 While most of the 16selected sacred forests are located above 1000 m this of Konitsa and the uniquejuniper forest of Mikro Papingo reach the highest altitudes (1600 and 1550 mrespectively) Konitsa town sacred forest has the widest range of all starting from760 m altitude just above the last houses and reaching the top of the steep slope thathangs above the town By contrast the abandoned village of Mesovouni has thelowest sacred forest (of broadleaved oak) starting at just 530 m altitude

Inclination of the bedrock which was mainly limestone or sometimes flysch wasin most cases very steep and our field survey revealed that rockfalls landslides andeven snow avalanches are not rare phenomena and are imprinted in the forest historyIn certain cases as in Manassi village rockfalls destroyed recently a church insidethe forest while in Palioseli village rolling rocks have been found to have strickenthe standing trees and these were later stabilized by local people Landslides eventoday frequently destroy roads bridges and infrastructure mainly in the EasternZagori such as the destruction of buildings in Greveniti village (2013) where themost extensive sacred beech forest is found It was not a surprise to find that mostsacred forests also host springs rivulets or even water reservoirs

Our detailed biodiversity survey has not finished yet but our visits to the field sofar reveal that all sacred forests serve as breeding sites of raptorial species especiallysort toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) that seemto prefer those forests while evidence of the presence of tawny owl (Stix aluco) wasfound in most cases This was expected as raptors in general show site fidelity andthose forest patches were probably the only breeding sites containing enough bigtrees and having less disturbance in the near past Bio-indicators confirmed thepresence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) also in all the sacred forests we visited

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 291

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1534 The Ritual and Other Praxes

Dedication to a church and most often to the church of the village patron even if itlies in villagersquos center or in the vicinity of the forest was the commonest praxis todivide sacred from secular land Interestingly aphorismoacutes (excommunication) wasalso often used as a sanctification practice Excommunication in the first Christiancenturies constituted a pure ecclesiastical punishment visited on people Howeverduring the fourteenthndasheighteenth century the practice was extended to applications inprivate issues of economic or social nature In that context it could be used as anabstract threat capable of stigmatizing someone (eg a trespasser on a sacred forest)with exclusion from the Church its mysteries and social events related to religiouslife Moreover it could impose to trespassers and their generation a cursed live anddamn their souls to the heritage of eternal hell (Mihailaris 2004) Locals recall anatmosphere of intense religiosity and fear The ceremony was implemented ad loc atthe edge of the forest singing certain curse psalms of David (eg Ps 58 Ps 109)ringing the bell holding black candles using an upside down cauldron and gen-erally reversing the regular order of things Use might even be made of the number ofpriests that announced the excommunication Numbers three and seven especiallystrengthened its force and this is the reason why some excommunicated forests arecalled eftapaacutepada (literally excommunicated by seven priests) (Stara 2012b)

Dedication and excommunication were not mutually exclusive On the contraryexcommunication and in some cases also communal agreements could be used toenforce dedication After the establishment of the modern Greek state excommuni-cation gaveway to new forms ofModern European Justice and communal agreementswere addressed to the Forestry Service which published special forestry regulationsfor the management of the sacred forests However locals continued to relate regu-lations to taboos associated with the supernatural guardians of the sacred forests

1535 The Supernatural Guardians of the Sacred Forests

The Virgin Mary (Panagiacutea) Saint Nicholas (Ai Nikoacutelas) Santa Paraskevi (AgiacuteαParaskeviacute or Staviacutenere in Vlach) and Saint Charalampos (Ai Charaacutelampos) act in thesacred forests as the intermediaries between the God and people St Paraskevi is oneof the dragon-killer saints the protector of fountains in local culture thus we expecther appearance in sacred forests where aquifer protection is likely to be among theirservices St Nikolas is protector of travelers in folk religion and thus beloved toEpirus where every family had migrant sons (Stara et al 2015as) However his springcelebration [May 20th relics translation to Bari-Italy which is one of the mostimportant pilgrimage centers of St Nikolas in Europe (Ševčenko 1983)] also coin-cides with the period that transhumant shepherd families return from winter tosummer pastures and this is accompanied with passage rites such as food offerings Inthe sacred forest of St Nicholas in Vitsa village this date used to regulate the opening

292 K Stara et al

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of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

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when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

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avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

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References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

1533 The Physical Characteristics of the Sacred Forests

Most sacred forests are located above villages and with a size of no more than 50 ha(Table 151) Most mountain villages of the area are located in the altitudinal zonewhere oak forests grow Accordingly most selected sacred forests are dominated bymixed broadleaved woodlands consisted mainly by broadleaved oaks (Q pubescensQ frainetto Q trojana Q cerris) while mixed broadleaves have also a big per-centage with maples (Acer monspesulanum A obtusatum) horbeams (Carpinusorientalis Ostrya carpinifolia) being the commonest trees reaching the crown ofthese forests Monumental trees of beeches black pines and junipers (Juniperusfoetidissima J excelsa) can be found in respective forests Thus the biggest pricklyoaks (Q coccifera) in the wider area are to be found only in SNS in the vicinity of thevillages in the lower altitudes Dendrochronology is underway for the oldest trees inthe above forests but many old trees are aging more than 200 years while there areexamples of trees (junipers oaks black pines) older than 350 years (Aris Kyparissisand Valentino Marini Govigli personal comm Sarris 2008)

Two sacred forests are exceptionally large the beech forest above Grevenitivillage (1172 ha) and the black-pine forest above Konitsa town (1157 ha) accordingto their borders shown in the aerial photographs of year 1945 While most of the 16selected sacred forests are located above 1000 m this of Konitsa and the uniquejuniper forest of Mikro Papingo reach the highest altitudes (1600 and 1550 mrespectively) Konitsa town sacred forest has the widest range of all starting from760 m altitude just above the last houses and reaching the top of the steep slope thathangs above the town By contrast the abandoned village of Mesovouni has thelowest sacred forest (of broadleaved oak) starting at just 530 m altitude

Inclination of the bedrock which was mainly limestone or sometimes flysch wasin most cases very steep and our field survey revealed that rockfalls landslides andeven snow avalanches are not rare phenomena and are imprinted in the forest historyIn certain cases as in Manassi village rockfalls destroyed recently a church insidethe forest while in Palioseli village rolling rocks have been found to have strickenthe standing trees and these were later stabilized by local people Landslides eventoday frequently destroy roads bridges and infrastructure mainly in the EasternZagori such as the destruction of buildings in Greveniti village (2013) where themost extensive sacred beech forest is found It was not a surprise to find that mostsacred forests also host springs rivulets or even water reservoirs

Our detailed biodiversity survey has not finished yet but our visits to the field sofar reveal that all sacred forests serve as breeding sites of raptorial species especiallysort toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) that seemto prefer those forests while evidence of the presence of tawny owl (Stix aluco) wasfound in most cases This was expected as raptors in general show site fidelity andthose forest patches were probably the only breeding sites containing enough bigtrees and having less disturbance in the near past Bio-indicators confirmed thepresence of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) also in all the sacred forests we visited

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 291

kallio21hotmailcom

1534 The Ritual and Other Praxes

Dedication to a church and most often to the church of the village patron even if itlies in villagersquos center or in the vicinity of the forest was the commonest praxis todivide sacred from secular land Interestingly aphorismoacutes (excommunication) wasalso often used as a sanctification practice Excommunication in the first Christiancenturies constituted a pure ecclesiastical punishment visited on people Howeverduring the fourteenthndasheighteenth century the practice was extended to applications inprivate issues of economic or social nature In that context it could be used as anabstract threat capable of stigmatizing someone (eg a trespasser on a sacred forest)with exclusion from the Church its mysteries and social events related to religiouslife Moreover it could impose to trespassers and their generation a cursed live anddamn their souls to the heritage of eternal hell (Mihailaris 2004) Locals recall anatmosphere of intense religiosity and fear The ceremony was implemented ad loc atthe edge of the forest singing certain curse psalms of David (eg Ps 58 Ps 109)ringing the bell holding black candles using an upside down cauldron and gen-erally reversing the regular order of things Use might even be made of the number ofpriests that announced the excommunication Numbers three and seven especiallystrengthened its force and this is the reason why some excommunicated forests arecalled eftapaacutepada (literally excommunicated by seven priests) (Stara 2012b)

Dedication and excommunication were not mutually exclusive On the contraryexcommunication and in some cases also communal agreements could be used toenforce dedication After the establishment of the modern Greek state excommuni-cation gaveway to new forms ofModern European Justice and communal agreementswere addressed to the Forestry Service which published special forestry regulationsfor the management of the sacred forests However locals continued to relate regu-lations to taboos associated with the supernatural guardians of the sacred forests

1535 The Supernatural Guardians of the Sacred Forests

The Virgin Mary (Panagiacutea) Saint Nicholas (Ai Nikoacutelas) Santa Paraskevi (AgiacuteαParaskeviacute or Staviacutenere in Vlach) and Saint Charalampos (Ai Charaacutelampos) act in thesacred forests as the intermediaries between the God and people St Paraskevi is oneof the dragon-killer saints the protector of fountains in local culture thus we expecther appearance in sacred forests where aquifer protection is likely to be among theirservices St Nikolas is protector of travelers in folk religion and thus beloved toEpirus where every family had migrant sons (Stara et al 2015as) However his springcelebration [May 20th relics translation to Bari-Italy which is one of the mostimportant pilgrimage centers of St Nikolas in Europe (Ševčenko 1983)] also coin-cides with the period that transhumant shepherd families return from winter tosummer pastures and this is accompanied with passage rites such as food offerings Inthe sacred forest of St Nicholas in Vitsa village this date used to regulate the opening

292 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

kallio21hotmailcom

when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

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avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

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References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

1534 The Ritual and Other Praxes

Dedication to a church and most often to the church of the village patron even if itlies in villagersquos center or in the vicinity of the forest was the commonest praxis todivide sacred from secular land Interestingly aphorismoacutes (excommunication) wasalso often used as a sanctification practice Excommunication in the first Christiancenturies constituted a pure ecclesiastical punishment visited on people Howeverduring the fourteenthndasheighteenth century the practice was extended to applications inprivate issues of economic or social nature In that context it could be used as anabstract threat capable of stigmatizing someone (eg a trespasser on a sacred forest)with exclusion from the Church its mysteries and social events related to religiouslife Moreover it could impose to trespassers and their generation a cursed live anddamn their souls to the heritage of eternal hell (Mihailaris 2004) Locals recall anatmosphere of intense religiosity and fear The ceremony was implemented ad loc atthe edge of the forest singing certain curse psalms of David (eg Ps 58 Ps 109)ringing the bell holding black candles using an upside down cauldron and gen-erally reversing the regular order of things Use might even be made of the number ofpriests that announced the excommunication Numbers three and seven especiallystrengthened its force and this is the reason why some excommunicated forests arecalled eftapaacutepada (literally excommunicated by seven priests) (Stara 2012b)

Dedication and excommunication were not mutually exclusive On the contraryexcommunication and in some cases also communal agreements could be used toenforce dedication After the establishment of the modern Greek state excommuni-cation gaveway to new forms ofModern European Justice and communal agreementswere addressed to the Forestry Service which published special forestry regulationsfor the management of the sacred forests However locals continued to relate regu-lations to taboos associated with the supernatural guardians of the sacred forests

1535 The Supernatural Guardians of the Sacred Forests

The Virgin Mary (Panagiacutea) Saint Nicholas (Ai Nikoacutelas) Santa Paraskevi (AgiacuteαParaskeviacute or Staviacutenere in Vlach) and Saint Charalampos (Ai Charaacutelampos) act in thesacred forests as the intermediaries between the God and people St Paraskevi is oneof the dragon-killer saints the protector of fountains in local culture thus we expecther appearance in sacred forests where aquifer protection is likely to be among theirservices St Nikolas is protector of travelers in folk religion and thus beloved toEpirus where every family had migrant sons (Stara et al 2015as) However his springcelebration [May 20th relics translation to Bari-Italy which is one of the mostimportant pilgrimage centers of St Nikolas in Europe (Ševčenko 1983)] also coin-cides with the period that transhumant shepherd families return from winter tosummer pastures and this is accompanied with passage rites such as food offerings Inthe sacred forest of St Nicholas in Vitsa village this date used to regulate the opening

292 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

kallio21hotmailcom

when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

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Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

of the wood pasture for the village livestock allowing it to graze the sacred forest justafter Service and celebrations in situ until the end of the season

In cases of trespassing saints anger or supernatural power of curses in the formof punishments could range from warnings to severe consequences An instantfreezing of the hand that goes to cut the sacred wood a snake appearing or anaccident during cutting are common saintrsquos warnings After the sacred contagionsaints can appear in trespassers dreams and oblige them to return what they havetaken back to the forest where it belongs or cause them delayed maladies bringabout severe accidents or even sudden death This could be to wrong-doer himselfor to innocent members of his family or his animals (Stara et al 2012)

In the case of excommunication negative examples characters who had not fearedthe anger of God were invoked the lepers of Giezi (2 Kings 5 26ndash27) the gibbet ofJudas (Acts 1 18) the tragic end of Dathan and his family (Old Testament Book ofNumbers 1631) Apart from material calamities those coming into contact withexcommunicated forest might also be denied care and prayers for their dead bodyincreasing possibilities of an unfavorable fate at the Day of Judgement As with allOrthodox punishments excommunication aimed at the moral improvement of tres-passers and their reintroduction at the Church community Thus there was no formalfix imposition in order to do not discourage the sinner from breaking away from theflock eternally excommunicated from the Orthodox faith (Mihailaris 2004)

1536 Reasons of Protection and Maintenanceof the Sacred Forests

Pindos geology and the inherent vulnerability of the landscape (Bailey et al 1998)in combination with the high precipitation of West Greece and the long harshwinters makes protection of settlements compulsory Frequently landslides andtorrents and sometimes avalanches cause severe damage to buildings and roadseven today It is well known that forests have a protective character against naturalhazards due to the barrier effect of standing and fallen trees (Volkwein et al 2011)Our ethnographic and field research confirmed this protective function of sacredforests against natural hazards Additionally these protective sacred forests oftenhosted rivulets and springs regulating runoff precipitation and replenishing villageaquifers (see also Chandran and Hughes 2000)

Other sacred forests were protected as reserves in case of need Evergreenprickly oaks especially could serve as winter fodder preventing livestock starvationduring a long harsh winter In such cases the community controlled harvestingthough communal agreements with a certain fee being paid to the Church SacredForests could also provide an income for the Church and serve the communityrsquoseveryday requirements such as firewood for or the school the church during theservice or the priest when he had no property in the village

Sacred forests might exceptionally even give their timber for the benefit of thecommunity In such a case the rule of protection could change easily particularly

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 293

kallio21hotmailcom

when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

when the reasons were purely religious as seen in other societies (Chandran andHughes 2000) An oral tradition from villageMegalo Papingo says that the protectivejuniper forest of this village gave its timber for the construction of the central churchAs this forest was just above the village reasons of security against erosion required itsreplantation with black pines by the Forestry Department in 1959 (Stara 2000) Butreligious use was not the only exception For example part of the forest of Gradista inKapesovo villagewas clear-cut when benefactors brothers Paschali decided to financethe construction of the famous Paschaacuteleios School in Kapesovo (1864) Gradista wasdedicated to village patron St Nicholas excommunicated and guarded with com-munal agreements Local authorities decided to use its wood to co-finance the projectindirectly for exporting timber and lime necessary for the completion of the worksSimilarly in 1925 the community council of Elaphoacutetopos village decided the estab-lishment of a limekiln in the villagersquos sacred forest dedicated to the Virgin in order torepair the council hall and the schools of the village However the lime kiln ultimatelyneverworked due to a series of tragic events that befell the promoter of the project andhis family which contributed decisively to its cancellation To this day the inhabitantsof Elaphoacutetopos link this tragedy with the wrath of the Virgin falling mercilessly onthose who went messing with her forest (Stara 2009)

Other practical reasons for protection have been also been mentioned by localssuch as the use of the bigger trees as staacutelos (literally livestock shelter from sun in heatof the summer) Locals refer also to aesthetics relating to visual aspects and thebeauty that a forest provides in the landscape and annual celebrations associated withforests that surround outlying churches Moreover historical reasons were offeredsuch as exemption from Ottoman taxes or the potential of the forest to act as ashelter given recent memories from the WWII

Lastly many outlying churches related to sacred forests constitute formerlycentral churches of abandoned now settlements Such sacred forests attach in manycultures taboos that control access and behavior (Chouin 2002) The more the place isused as a sacred place like eg St Nicholas sacred forest inVitsarsquos abandoned villagewhere a local bequest finances annual celebrations the more protected is the sacredforest By contrast when a church is abandoned its forest is gradually neglected

1537 Conservation PracticesmdashAccepted and not AcceptedUses

Thus the effective conservation practice is case dependent and is related to thereasons of establishment and maintenance for every sacred forest in Epirus Theycan vary from strict protection to controlled management (Table 152)

When a church foundation and sacred forest foundation is rationalized as epi-phany of the divine which is a common occurrence in our study area (Stara et al2015as) protection is strict This is the case of the sacred forest of St Paraskevi inVovouacutessa preserved for ceremonial reasons according to local beliefs St Paraskeviis the miraculous village patron who guards and protects the village and its

294 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2Culturalcharacteristicsof

the16

sacred

forestsof

ourstud

y

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

1Kou

riacuteKoacuten

itsa

Com

mun

alagreem

entsOnly

thenamerefers

torelig

ious

practices

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesCuttin

gof

fuelwoo

ddu

ring

WWIIisrepo

rted

astrespassing

2Kou

riacuteMaacutezi

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

oldvillagersquos

patron

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sunin

heat

ofthesummer

(staacutelos)

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedC

uttin

gforp

oles

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

The

repo

rtof

alim

ekiln

intheforestedge

indicatesheavy

managem

entin

thepastTod

aythe

forestisfenced

andgrazingisillegal

3K(ou)riacutestin

Panagiaacute

Aidon

ochoacute

riDedication

VirginMary

Forestof

anabando

nedmon

astery

accordingto

thetradition

Ann

ual

celebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

Aband

onmentof

theplaceisob

viou

s

4Kou

riacuteChion

iaacutedes

Dedication

StParaskevi

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferworshipaesthetics

Strict

protection

Sh

redd

ingis

repo

rted

astrespassing

Maturetrees

arou

ndthechurch

have

been

cut

recently

forsafety

reason

sthe

incomesavedforthechurch

5K(ou)riacutetis

Panagiaacutes

Elaphoacutetop

osDedication

commun

alagreem

ents

VirginMary

ReserveOtto

man

taxesexclusion

managem

entforChu

rchand

Com

mun

ityincome

Con

trolledman

agem

entProtectio

nof

maturetreesin

theview

shed

ofthe

icon

stand

Con

trolledgrazing

acorn

collection

shredd

ing

cutting

for

polesor

fuel

woo

dcharcoal

orlim

ekilnsarerepo

rted

6Livaacutedi

Manassiacute

Unk

nown

inthe

interviewsitis

referred

asvako

uacutefiko

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

anddead

woo

dcollectionwas

acceptedSh

redd

ingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

(con

tinued)

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 295

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

7Livaacutedi

Vrysochoacuteri

Dedication

St

Charalampo

svillagersquos

centralchurch

Protectiv

ewoo

dbelt

Strict

protection

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfireswas

acceptedGrassingisrepo

rted

astrespassing

8Livadaacutekia

Viacutetsa

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

oldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dand

controlledgrazingafterthe20

thof

May

andun

tiltheendof

theseason

The

placeiswellpreserved

9Mereaacuteo

Palio

seacuteli

Excom

mun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferNarrativ

estellthat

the

oaks

inside

theforesthave

been

plantedto

supp

orttheforestrsquos

protectiv

echaracter

Protectionof

maturetrees

Occasionalgrazingandcutting

for

fuelwoo

darerepo

rted

astrespassing

Tim

bercutting

fortheconstructio

nof

abridge

during

theWWIIisrepo

rted

asmandatory

10Agiacutea

Paraskeviacute

Vov

ouacutessa

Dedication

StParaskevi

villagersquos

patron

WorshipThe

locatio

nof

thechurch

inahillby

theriverwas

chosen

throug

hepiphany

bythesaintrsquosicon

herselfPo

ssibly

theforested

hillis

associated

with

theflow

ofAoo

sriver

onhillfoot

StPararaskevirsquosfoun

tain

andtheprotectio

nof

bridgesand

otherinfrastructuresrelatedto

the

river

Strict

protection

Evenhu

ntingand

wild

honeycollections

areno

tacceptedFo

rrecent

path

repairing

andsafety

reason

sselected

treescut

buttrun

ksremainon

site

(con

tinued)

296 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

Tab

le15

2(con

tinued)

Forestname

(inGreek)

Tow

nVillage

Ritu

alpraxis

Protectorsaint

Protectio

nreason

sProtectio

npractices

11Agios

Charaacutelampo

sMesov

ouacuteni

Dedication

St

Charaacutelampo

soldvillagersquos

patron

Forestof

theabando

nedvillage

accordingto

thetradition

annu

alcelebrationisalive

Protectionof

maturetreesin

the

view

shed

ofthechurch

andin

the

fenced

churchyardAband

onmentof

theplaceisno

table

12Traacutefos

Moacutelista

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

protectio

nof

water

aquiferOtto

man

taxes

exclusion

Strict

protection

Occasionalg

razing

andshredd

ingarerepo

rted

astrespassing

Villagersused

theforest

asashelterdu

ring

theWWII

13Plaacutei

Paacuteping

oExcom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbelt

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedoccasion

alcutforfuel

woo

dor

polesisrepo

rted

astrespassing

14Gradiacutesta

Kapeacutesov

oDedication

excommun

ication

commun

alagreem

ents(184

219

57)

StNicho

las

villagersquos

patron

Reserve

forcommun

itypu

blic

works

andlatermanagem

entforChu

rchrsquos

income

Otto

man

taxesexclusion

village

protectio

nfrom

theno

rth

wind

livestock

shelterfrom

sun

Protectionof

maturetreesGrazing

was

acceptedP

arto

ftheoaks

cutfor

theconstructio

nof

thevillage

scho

olin

1864

After

that

controlled

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

was

acceptedFrequent

shredd

ing

andcutting

forfuel

woo

disrepo

rted

astrespassing

15Aniacutelia

KaacutetoPedinaacute

Dedication

commun

alagreem

ents

StNicho

las

Protectedwoo

dbelt

reservefor

winterfodd

erliv

estock

shelterfrom

sun

aesthetics

Protectionof

maturetrees

Collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

forbo

nfirescutting

forpo

lesand

grassing

wereacceptedS

hredding

is

repo

rted

astrespassing

16Touacute

faGreveniacuteti

Excom

mun

ication

ndashProtectiv

ewoo

dbeltabov

evillage

protectio

nof

water

aquiferVillagers

used

theforestas

ashelterdu

ring

the

WWIIwhenNazib

urnedtheirvillage

Strict

protection

Occasional

collectionof

dead

woo

dandshrubs

isrepo

rted

astrespassing

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 297

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

inhabitants Many deaths are associated with trespassing in her sacred foresttherefore even harvests such as hunting collecting of bees or the cultivation of theland in the forest foothills are avoided Permitted actions are limited to the reno-vation of the church and the maintenance of the trail which has been done withminimum interventions aimed at ensuring safe access for visitors

In most sacred forests hunting and collection of dead wood acorns mushroomsand other non-timber wood products (NTWPs) is allowed Grazing in most cases isallowed freely or for certain time periods expect from protective forests in verysteep slopes Shredding is not allowed but it is reported occasionally as trespassingin evergreen prickly oak forests it is done for winter emergency fodder while mixedbroadleaved forests trespassers during spring and summer are seeking fresh fodderfor kids and lambs of their flocks

In all forests prohibitions are related with mature trees However as we havealready mentioned controlled management could permit even timber cutting fornecessary public works or intense management such as in the extreme case ofElaphoacutetopos village where even cutting for the establishment of a lime kiln tocontribute to Churchrsquos income might be allowed However any intervention was

Fig 152 Management of sacred forests can vary from strict protection to controlled intensivemanagement a Vovouacutessa village black pine forest strictly protected for ritual reasonsb Greveniti village beech forest strictly protected excommunicated as protective wood beltc Mikro Paacutepingo village juniper wood pasture excommunicated as protective wood beltd Elaphoacutetopos village prickly oak forest dedicated to the Virgin and protected as villagersquos reserveand for Churchrsquos income

298 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

avoided within sight of the small icon stand As a result today difference betweenthe spiritual center and the borders of the sacred forest are obvious in foreststructure

Regarding the breaking of these rules some tolerance was extended to themembers of lower social strata who when trespassing were asking for Godrsquos mercyChurchrsquos help and communityrsquos charity As a consequence a looser morality wasreserved for them who as an internally distinct social unit were expected to paywith misfortune their failings (Stara 2009)

154 Sacred Natural Forests in Modern Times

Since the WWII changing patterns of land use and population decline have had adramatic effect on the social structure management practices and cultural land-scapes of the area as happened generally in most mountains of Greece The sameforces that threaten the cultural landscape of mountainous Greece threaten also itssacred elements Abandonment collapse of local management systems and theindifference of state authorities has caused many SNS derelict forgotten and left tobe swallowed up by the natural succession that right across the Mediterranean is

Fig 153 Outlying icon stands and crosses here in Aoos valley villages in Konitsa mark paths tochurches or remind people borders of sacred areas Often they consist of directed devotions(taacutemata) that are offered in return of gratitude to saints

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 299

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

transforming the diverse cultural mosaic into impenetrable scrubland prone to fire(Koutsias et al 2012) Old beliefs and taboos are often neglected not only by localshungry for ldquoprogressrdquo but also by many Church authorities who stigmatize them assuperstitions Despite this considerable respect for sacred areas endures in manylocal communities and constitutes an important part of peoplersquos sense of identity(Fig 153)

155 Conclusions

Today Sacred Forests are recognized as the worldrsquos oldest form of nature protec-tion Their cultural value and their contribution to ecosystem services are wellunderstood Some sacred forests especially those with a clear and current protectivecharacter against natural hazards remain stable over time but others are in dangerof losing their meaning because of land abandonment and changing communitypractices The most characteristic such examples are the prickly oak sacred forestsAlthough these forests still protect soil and have aesthetic value they are losingtheir value as livestock shelter or last-resources fodder for hard winters because ofthe reduced goat numbers and replacement of prickly oak foliage by hay (Staraet al 2015)

The rise of environmental concerns and ecological awareness in the last twodecades have recast SNS as key and secure areas of biodiversity conservation(Dudley 2009) This brings into play a new dimension in the values of SNS all overthe world However in the mountainous regions of Epirus as in other parts of theMediterranean modern ideas about ecological value are not easily accepted by localcommunities or local authorities Thus we could say that these SNS contribute to alarge unrecognized ldquoshadowrdquo conservation network Biodiversity conservationadds a new value for many forgotten sacred forests and could potentially enforcetheir acceptance in modernity However it is important for local communities to beable to tell their story of protection of old growth forests as successful local meansof protection that though established in the distant past preserve their sacredcharacter and continue to hold the sense of spirituality in modern times

Acknowledgments This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European SocialFundmdashESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program ldquoEducation and LifelongLearningrdquo of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)mdashResearch Funding ProgramTHALIS Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund We would like tothank our colleagues Alkis Betsis for the creation of the map and GIS work Vaggelis RoumpasDr Giorgos Korakis Dr Vasilis Dalkavoukis Grigoris Manopoulos Aris Kyparissis and ValentinoMarini Govigli for data exchange Dr Jenny Wong and professor Oliver Rackham for their supportand professor Mauro Agnoletti for giving us the opportunity to contribute to this volumeMoreover we would like to thank the Forestry Services of Ioannina Konitsa and Metsovo for thepermission to study their archives Lastly we would like to thank all local participants to the studyfor time and hospitality during field work Without them this research will be never beenaccomplished and the sacred forests will be never protected

300 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

References

Anderson DN Salick J Moseley RK Xiaokun O (2005) Conserving the sacred medicinemountains a vegetation analysis of Tibetan sacred sites in Northwest Yunnan BiodiversConserv 143065ndash3091 doi101007s10531-004-0316-9

Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future Landsc Urban Plan7021ndash34 doi101016jlandurbplan200310002

Bailey GN Chr Ioakim King GPC Turner G Sanchez-Goni MF Sturdy D Winder NP (1998)Northwestern Rpirus in the Palaeolithic In Leeuw SE (ed) Understanding the natural andanthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin TheArchaemedes project Office for Official Publications of the European CommunitiesLuxembourg

Byers BA Cunliffe RN Hudak AT (2001) Linking the conservation of culture and nature a casestudy of sacred forests in Zimbabwe Hum Ecol 29(2)187ndash218 doi101023A1011012014240

Campbell JK (1964) Honour family and patronage A study of institutions and moral values in aGreek Mountain Community Clarendon Press Oxford

Chandran MDS Hughes JD (2000) Sacred groves and conservation the comparative history oftraditional reserves in the mediterranean area and in South India Environ Hist 6169ndash186

Chouin G (2002) Sacred Groves in History Pathways to the Social Shaping of Forest Landscapesin Coastal Ghana IDS Bulletin 33 (1)39ndash46

Colding J Folke C (2001) Social taboos ldquoinvisiblerdquo systems of local resource management andbiological conservation Ecol Apl 11(2)584ndash600 doi1018901051-0761(2001)011[0584STISOL]20CO2

Douglas M (1966) Purity and danger an analysis of concepts of pollution and taboo Routledgeand Kegan Paul London New York

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L (2012) Protected areas and sacred nature a convergence of beliefs InPungetti G Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sites Advances in bioculturalconservation Cambridge University Press UK

Dudley N Higgins-Zogib L Mansourian S (2009) The links between protected areas faiths andsacred natural sites Conserv Biol 23(3)568ndash577 doi101111j1523-1739200901201x

Frascaroli F (2013) Catholicism and conservation the potential of sacred natural sites forbiodiversity management in central Italy Hum Ecol 41587ndash601 doi101007s10745-013-9598-4

Koutsias N Arianoutsou M Kallimanis AS Mallinis G Halley JM Dimopoulos P (2012) Wheredid the fires burn in Peloponnisos Greece the summer of 2007 Evidence for a synergy of fueland weather Agric Fort Meteorol 15641ndash53 doi101016jagrformet201112006

Lyratzaki Ι (2007) Meteora world heritage site Thessaly Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T(eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiativeMontserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany Charman amp Hall LondonMihailaris PD (2004) Aforismos I prosarmogi mias poinis stis anagkaiotites tis Tourkokratias

(Excommunication adaptation of a punishment to the needs of the Ottoman Occupation) 2ndedn National Research FoundationmdashCenter of Modern Greek (In Greek)

Moutafchieva V (1988) Agrarian relations in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies Columbia University Press New York

Nitsiakos V (2008) I Konitsa ke ta horia tis Politismou anatomi (Konitsa and its villages Culturersquosdissection) Prefectural government of Ioannina Epirus AE Ioannina (In Greek)

Nixon L (2006) Making a landscape sacred Outying churches and icon stands in SphakiaSouthwestern Crete Oxbow Books Oxford

Oviedo G Ieanrenaud S (2007) Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditionalpeople In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas and spirituality Proceedings of thefirst workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCN Gland Switzerland

15 Religion and the Management of the Commons hellip 301

kallio21hotmailcom

Papayannis T (2007) Mount Athos Greece In Mallarach J Papayannis T (eds) Protected areas andspirituality Proceedings of the first workshop of the Delos initiative Montserrat 2006 IUCNGland Switzerland

Rackham O (2006) Woodlands Collins LondonRead H (2000) Veteran trees a guide to good management Veteran trees initiative http

publicationsnaturalenglandorgukpublication75035 Accessed 15 Oct 2014Rutte C (2011) The sacred commons conflicts and solutions of resource management in sacred

natural sites Biol Conserv 1442387ndash2394 doi101016jbiocon201106017Sarris D (2008) Kateuthintiries grammes parakolouthisis typon oikotopon (Guideless for different

habitat types monitoring) Management Agency of Vikos - Aoos and Pindos National Parksunpublished technical report

Ševčenko N (1983) The life of Saint Nicholas in Byzantine art Bottega drsquo Erasmo TorinoSharma S Rikhari HC Palni LMS (1999) Conservation of natural resources through religion a

case study from Central Himalaya Soc Nat Resour 12(6)599ndash612 doi101080089419299279461

Stara K (2000) The impact of perceived land-use values on biodiversity conservation in the Vikos-Aoos National Park Papigo Greece Dissertation MSc University of Wales Bangor

Stara K (2009) Sacred woods and groves in the Vikos-Aoos National Park NW Greece Locallyadapted management systems perceptions and values of local societies for the conservation oftheir natural environment Dissertation PhD University of Ioannina Greece (in Greek)

Stara K (2012a) Trees and the sacred in modern Greece Langscape 11(2)60ndash63 httpwwwterralinguaorgblog20120906terralingua-langscape-volume-2-issue-11 Accessed 16 Oct2014

Stara K (2012b) Northern Pindos National Park excommunicated forests In Mallarach JM(ed) Spiritual values of protected areas of Europe Workshop proceedings Federal Agency forNature Conservation Germany httpwwwbfndefileadminMDBdocumentsserviceSkript322pdf Accessed 16 Oct 2014

Stara Κ Tsiakiris R (2010) The sacred woods called ldquomeadowsrdquo in Zagori Pindos mountainsGreece In Sidiropoulou A Mantzanas K Ispikoudis I (eds) Proceedings of the 7th PanhellenicRangeland Congress in Xanthi Thessaloniki (in Greek with english abstract) 14ndash16 Oct 2010httpwwweletgrpageswp-contentuploads09-Pages-from-7o-praktikapdf Accessed 16 Oct2014

Stara K Tsiakiris R Wong JLG (2012) Sacred trees and groves in Zagori Northern PindosNational Park Greece In Gl Pungetti Oviedo G Hooke D (eds) Sacred species and sitesAdvances in biocultural conservation Cambridge University Press UK

Stara K Tsiakiris R Wong JLG (2015) Valuing trees in a changing landscape a case study fromNorthwestern Greece Hum Ecol 43(1) 153ndash167doi101007s10745-014-9706-0

Stara K Tsiakiris R Wong JLG (2015a) The trees of the sacred natural sites of Zagori NWGreece Landsc Res 40(7) 884ndash904 doi101080014263972014911266

Stewart Ch (1991) Demons and the devil Moral imagination in modern Greek culture PrincetonUniversity Press New Jersey

Verschuuren B Wild R McNeely JA Oviedo G (2010) Sacred natural sites Conserving natureand culture earthscan London

Virtanen P (2002) The role of customary institutions in the conservation of biodiversity sacredforests in Mozambique Environ Values 11227ndash241

Volkwein A Schellenberg K Labiouse V Agliardi F Berger F Bourrier F Dorren LKAGerber W Jaboyedoff M (2011) Rockfall characterisation and structural protectionmdasha reviewNat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 112617ndash2651 doi105194nhess-11-2617-2011

Watley RL Pierce Colfer CJ (2004) Sacred forest hunting and conservation in West KalimantanIndonesia Hum Ecol 32(3)313ndash338 doi101023BHUEC000002808430742d0

302 K Stara et al

kallio21hotmailcom