GREECE: San Francisco Peaks focus for world sacred sites

Holy San Francisco Peaks a Focal Point for International Sacred Site Guidelines
http://www.unobserver.com/

OURANOUPOLIS, Greece --During a 4-day conference in Ouranoupolis, Greece, an international assembly convened to present case studies of Sacred Sites from around the world. Studies of sacred sites under threat included Romania, Korea, Morocco, Russia, Australia, Greece and Arizona’s San Francisco Peaks. The conference was organized by the Delos Initiative on Sacred Protected Natural Sites in Technologically Developed Countries.

“It is impressive that on an international level, the Holy San Francisco Peaks issue will be helping other organizations and individuals learn how to protect their own Natural Sacred Sites”, said Jeneda Benally, a volunteer with the Save the Peaks Coalition who presented the Holy San Francisco Peaks at the conference by contributing a power point presentation and co-authoring a case study with acclaimed Professor Larry Hamilton.

The objective of the meeting was to understand key points concerning the integration of spiritual concerns in the management of natural sites. The case studies will be used for policy makers in newly developing countries.

The San Francisco Peaks are holy to 13 tribes and culturally significant to 22 tribes. The San Francisco Peaks have been the focus of a controversy due to a Forest Service and ski resort plan to expand its development and use reclaimed waste water for snowmaking on the Holy site. Tribes and environmental groups have been victorious in the Ninth Circuit Court to stop the expansion but the Forest Service and ski resort have recently been granted a legal review of the decision. An appeal will be heard on December 11, 2007 in Pasadena, CA.Orthodox Christian Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, praised Benally and the other participants of an IUCN workshop on the protection of sacred lands.

“It is with great interest that we learned of the workshop you are organizing in the framework of IUCN - The World Conservation Union”, he said.

“Its purpose is very close to our interests. The Ecumenical Patriarchate has been teaching a responsible role of human beings towards Creation as its stewards and protectors.”The Delos Initiative was launched in 2004, in the context of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) of the IUCN (The World Conservation Union) and its Task Force on Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas. This is the second meeting and its theme was “Providing Guidance for Sacred Protected Natural Sites in Developed Countries."

The workshop took place near Mount Athos, a World Heritage Site and one of the most renowned cultural and natural places on Earth, where spiritual and natural values have worked together for many centuries to model a unique landscape with high biodiversity and cultural value.

For more information: THE DELOS INITIATIVE http://www.med-ina.org/delos and

Save the Peaks Coalition http://www.savethepeaks.org/

Courtesy photo: Jeneda Benally, Navajo, with her daughter, in center.