1. Introduction: Re-awakening the Power of Place: Ancient Philosophy and Practice with Current Relevance for Protected Areas and Conservation in Asia Bas Verschuuren Section 1: Themes and Perspectives on the Conservation of Asian Sacred Natural Sites 2. The Asian Philosophy of Protected Areas Amran Hamzah 3. Sacred Mountains in Asia: Themes and Implications for Protected Areas Edwin Bernbaum 4. Can World Heritage Status Help Protect Sacred Sites in Asia? Alison Ormsby, Wendy Jackson and Shonil Bhagwat Section 2: National Perspectives and Strategies for the Conservation of Sacred Natural Sites 5. Sacred Mandala: Protecting Bhutan’s Sacred Natural Sites Liza Zogib, Khenpo Phuntshok Tashi, Tshewang Gyalpo, Sangay Dendhup, Riamsara Kuyakanon, Kelzang Wangchuk, Lopen Namgay Tenzin and Ngawang Gyeltshen 6. Indian Sacred Natural Sites: Ancient Traditions of Reverence and Conservation Explained from a Hindu Perspective Rana P.B. Singh and Pravin S. Rana 7. Interface between Sacred Natural Sites and Formal Protected Areas for Biodiversity Conservation in Nepal Jailab Kumar Rai and Sudeep Jana Section 3: Legal Approaches and Governance of Sacred Natural Sites 8. Customary Laws Governing the Sacred Natural Sites of the Xe Champhone Ramsar Site in Lao PDR: Implications for Site Management Raphaël Glémet, Patricia Moore, Ketsana Phommachanh and Minavanh Pholsena 9. Legal Interpretation of the Sacred Natural Sites and Cultural Heritage of the Dongaria Kondhs in India Radhika Borde 10. Forum Pekaseh in the Management of Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru, UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Bali Antoinette Royo, Wiwik Dharmiasih and Yunus Arbi 11. The Pa’oh’s Governance System and Kakku: Implications for Heritage Conservation from Burma/Myanmar Jonathan Liljeblad Section 4: The Conservation of Sacred Lands Meets the Challenges of Development 12. Kailash Sacred Landscape: Bridging Cultural heritage, Conservation and Development through a Transboundary Landscape Approach Abhimanyu Pandey, Rajan Kotru and Nawraj Pradhan 13. Mount Fuji’s History as a Spiritual Realm and Means for its Preservation Toshihiko Ono, Tetsuro Hongo and Kiyotatsu Yamamoto 14. Animism and Traditional Knowledge Disappear in Virachey National Park, Cambodia Gregory McCann and Yi-Chung Hsu 15. Holy Hills: Sanctuaries of Biodiversity in Xishuangbanna, South West China Lily Zeng and Gaëtan Reuse Section 5: A Role for Custodians and Religious Leaders in the Conservation of Sacred Natural Sites 16. Lakes of the Gods: Sacred High Altitude Lakes of Uttarakhand, India Jatinder Kaur and Khima Nand Balodi 17. Ysyk-Köl Lake, the Planet’s Third Eye: Sacred Sites in Ysyk-Köl Biosphere Reserve, Kyrgyzstan Aibek Samakov and Fikret Berkes 18. Sacred Tsum Valley: Improving Biodiversity Conservation with Lessons for Effective Management of Protected Areas in Nepal Jailab Rai, Nima Lama and Bas Verschuuren 19. Past and Present Biocultural Significance of Sea Turtles for Local Communities on the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia Vanda Mendonca, Boutros Abi-Aoun and Mohamed El Baradey Section 6: Dualing Spirits and Sciences: Revisiting the Foundations of Conservation 20. Lua people: Traditions, Beliefs and Sacred Natural Sites in Northern Thailand Narong Pongpandecha and Ken Taylor 21. Creating New Discursive Terrain for the Custodians of the Tibetan Spiritscape in North West Yunnan John Studley and Awang Jikmed 22. Where Culture and Nature Meet: Recreating Spiritual and Religious Practices for Site Management and Governance in Takht-e Soleyman Lake, Iran Minoo Hassani Esfehani 23. Ritual and Cultural Revival at Tuvan Sacred Natural Sites Supports Indigenous Governance and Conservation of Nature in China Yuxin Hou 24. Conclusions: How the Cultural, Spiritual and Philosophical Underpinnings of Sacred Natural Sites can make Conservation in Asia more Effective and Sustainable Bas Verschuuren

"During the past three decades I have photographed and studied 800 places of pilgrimage in more than 150 countries. This gives me a rare vantage point from which to comment on the research and publishing work of Bas Verschuuren. In his newest book, Asian Sacred Natural Sites, he has with consistently high quality given us a comprehensive coverage of the fascinating subject." – Martin Gray, National Geographic photographer and author of Sacred Earth: Places of Peace and Power (2007)"An exciting set of essays contributing to one of humanity's most pressing challenges: how to re-establish our place within nature, respecting it as the source of all life, in ways that go beyond the physical and material into the spiritual and ethical, and learning from peoples who have done it for millennia." – Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh, India and co-editor of Protected Areas, Governance and Management (2015) "Asian Sacred Natural Sites shows that today’s protected areas draw from ancient ideas of the sacred values of nature. Our ancestors gave special status to certain ecologically productive places, and the authors convince us that treating protected areas with a sense of sacredness will help ensure a productive future for all." – Jeffrey A. McNeely, former IUCN Chief Scientist and Asian protected area systems design expert for the Asian Development Bank "At last! This fascinating and in-depth book tells of the inherent links between sacred places and environment and therefore between faith and conservation. Most of our national parks only exist because they have been sacred for centuries and therefore could become parks. This book provides the vital stepping stone for secular conservation to finally work as partner with the worlds of faith and together to create a more sacred future." – Martin Palmer, Alliance of Religion and Conservation "This is a very skillfully edited, most substantial, and high-quality survey in depth of sacred natural sites in Asia, covering theory as well as practice. This fascinating benchmark contribution deserves careful consideration by a wide and diverse audience including scientists and academics interested in the interrelationships of culture, religion, and ecology as well as conservationists and environmentalists in general." – Leslie E. Sponsel, University of Hawai`i, USA and author of Spiritual Ecology (2012) "This book’s exceptionally rich set of case studies from across Asia powerfully attests to the important role of sacred natural sites in biocultural diversity. To this the volume adds a strong critique of mainstream conservation and a cogent call for reforming the conceptualization, governance, and management of protected areas to respect sacred natural sites' conservation significance, numinous character, and the worldviews, rights, responsibilities, and concerns of their indigenous, community, and faith group custodians. Highly recommended." – Stan Stevens, University of Massachusetts, USA and author of Indigenous Peoples, National Parks, and Protected Areas (2014) "The value of sacred sites for the conservation of ecosystems and organisms is increasingly being recognised... This is both a wide-reaching and specialist text which brings together a broad range of authors, disciplines and examples". - A.M. Mannion, Bulletin of the British Ecological Society