Catholicism and Conservation: The Potential of Sacred Natural Sites for Biodiversity Management in Central Italy

The connection between religion, nature and conservation has become a prominent topic among scholars and conservation practitioners. Numerous studies have shown that spiritual beliefs have contributed to preserving important biodiversity in sacred areas around the world. In Western contexts, however, that link has been underexplored, perhaps due to a common view of Christianity as anti-naturalistic. Here, I rely on a literature review and first-hand observations to identify patterns and trends characterizing Catholic sacred sites in Central Italy. I show that a high proportion of the sites are located in natural areas, and that some types of sites and strands of Catholicism are associated with natural settings more frequently than others. Further, these natural sacred sites often display ecological features that highlight their important conservation role. Greater awareness and consideration of local spiritual heritages are recommended to guarantee more effective and integrated management of the site

Healing Animals, Feeding Souls: Ethnobotanical Values at Sacred Sites in Central Italy

Healing Animals, Feeding Souls: Ethnobotanical Values at Sacred Sites in Central Italy. Ethnobotanical knowledge is a fundamental repository of the values and applications of different plants. This knowledge is often related to spiritual beliefs and religious sites, where plants have been nurtured and conserved for their use in rituals and traditional practices. While this link is well known for different areas of the global south, it has hardly been investigated in relatively more secular and modernized Western contexts. Here, we use first-hand vegetation surveys and published records to examine the occurrence of ethnobotanical values at 30 Catholic shrines in Central Italy, and compare them with an equal number of non-sacred control sites. We ask this: to what extent is there an association of useful plants with sacred places in Italy, as found in other cultural contexts? We show that a greater number of useful plants are found at sacred sites. While this is mainly a consequence of the higher species richness of sacred sites, an association with plants used in animal husbandry is particularly evident, and likely related to the deep historical connection between sacred places and pastoralist traditions in Central Italy. Also, we show that there are significant variations in the distribution of old trees; the largest specimens are found at the center of sacred sites, while tree size visibly decreases away from the shrines. This indicates also that individual trees have been actively managed and conserved at sacred sites, probably driven by the symbolic values that old trees frequently embody

A new Vegetation-Plot Database for the Coastal Forests of Kenya

Biodiversity data based on standardised sampling designs are key to ecosystem conservation. Data of this sort have been lacking for the Kenyan coastal forests despite being biodiversity hotspots. Here, we introduce the Kenyan Coastal Forests Vegetation-Plot Database (GIVD ID: AF-KE-001), consisting of data from 158 plots, subdivided into 3,160 subplots, across 25 forests. All plots include data on tree identity, diameter and height. Abundance of shrubs is presented for 316 subplots. We recorded 600 taxa belonging to 80 families, 549 of which identified to species and 51 to genus level. Species richness per forest site varied between 43 and 195 species; mean diameter between 13.0 ± 9.8 and 30.7 ± 20.7 cm; and mean tree height between 5.49 ± 3.99 and 12.29 ± 10.61 m. This is the first plot-level database of plant communities across Kenyan coastal forests. It will be highly valuable for analysing biodiversity patterns and assessing future changes in this ecosystem. Taxonomic reference: African Plant Database (African Plant Database version 3.4.0). Abbreviations: DBH = diameter at breast height; GIVD = Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases; KECF-VPD = Kenyan Coastal Forests Vegetation Plot Database

Investigating sacred natural sites and protected areas for forest area changes in Italy

Forests will be critical to mitigate the effects of climate and global changes. Therefore, knowledge on the drivers of forest area changes are important. Although the drivers of deforestation are well known, drivers of afforestation are almost unexplored. Moreover, protected areas (PAs) effectively decrease deforestation, but other types of area-based conservation measures exist. Among these, sacred natural sites (SNS) deliver positive conservation out- comes while making up an extensive “shadow network” of conservation. How- ever, little is known on the capacity of SNS to regulate land-use changes. Here, we explored the role of SNS and PAs as drivers of forest loss and forest gain in Italy between 1936 and 2018. We performed a descriptive analysis and modeled forest gain and forest loss by means of spatial binomial generalized linear models with residual autocovariates. The main drivers of forest area changes were geographical position and elevation, nonetheless SNS and PAs significantly decreased forest loss and increased forest gain. Although the neg- ative relationship between SNS and forest loss is a desirable outcome, the posi- tive relationship with forest gain is concerning because it could point to abandonment of cultural landscapes with consequent loss of open habitats. We suggest a legal recognition of SNS and an active ecological monitoring and planning to help maintain their positive role in biodiversity conservation. As a novel conservation planning approach, SNS can be used as stepping stones between PAs increasing connectivity and also to conserve small habitat patches threatened by human activities

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients

Catholicism and Conservation: The Potential of Sacred Natural Sites for Biodiversity Management in Central Italy

The connection between religion, nature and conservation has become a prominent topic among scholars and conservation practitioners. Numerous studies have shown that spiritual beliefs have contributed to preserving important biodiversity in sacred areas around the world. In Western contexts, however, that link has been underexplored, perhaps due to a common view of Christianity as anti-naturalistic. Here, I rely on a literature review and first-hand observations to identify patterns and trends characterizing Catholic sacred sites in Central Italy. I show that a high proportion of the sites are located in natural areas, and that some types of sites and strands of Catholicism are associated with natural settings more frequently than others. Further, these natural sacred sites often display ecological features that highlight their important conservation role. Greater awareness and consideration of local spiritual heritages are recommended to guarantee more effective and integrated management of the site

"Do not move Camarina!" Italian wetlands from reclamation to restoration

Wetlands have been, throughout the centuries, even the millennia, the sacrificial scapegoat of the European landscape – a “landscapegoat”, as Giblett brilliantly named it. Expelled from the horizons of western space, most wetland areas of Europe began to know the fate of drainage since the late Middle Ages. Also in virtue of the more effective technologies available, the practice of land reclamation eventually witnessed its historical apex in the course of the 1900s, and to such extents that, by now, swamps and marshes have come to constitute true ecological rarities within the Western European environment. The second part of the last century, however, also happened to attend a curious and rather radical veer in attitudes towards wetlands, whereby the latter ones, also in virtue of improved ecological understanding of their virtues and importance, got to be progressively revaluated, and to even be considered among the earth’s most fundamental ecosystems. Following such developments, concrete actions and plans to preserve the few remaining marshes, and even engage with the restoration of those that had previously been deleted, have begun to spread internationally and rapidly grow in popularity. Italy can safely be seen as a paradigmatic example of similar events. The history, even starting with the Roman colonization, of land reclamation across the peninsula – and the Po Plain in particular – surely stands out as one of the richest and most intense we have record of. Furthermore, land reclamation in Italy was ever associated with more than just economical productivity. The country’s roots in Catholic monasticism, its role – since the renaissance and through the work of such figures as Galileo – as a primary cradle and breeding ground for the modern science of hydraulics, and its ever-lasting agricultural vocation, have all contributed to load the local history of drainages and reclamations with additional symbolism, facets, and complexity. Not the least, land reclamation revealed, for centuries, as perhaps one of the most prominent means of political control and organization of the Italian territory. The v significance of the Italian case has certainly not decreased with the eventual end, due to saturation, of the practice of wetlands drainage. On the contrary, at least in some ways, the country has – in the two last decades – newly proposed itself at the forefront of water management and governance. In this sense, then, we can conclude that, as much as wetlands – in virtue of their shifting significations and role for human communities – constitute an ideal and most profound subject for the study of humanenvironmental relations, Italy represents an optimal and most appropriate site for the study of wetlands throughout history. Based on Italy itself – and, more precisely, the already-mentioned Po Plain – the genesis of the work here presented has been twofold. On the one hand, it was conceived as a thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for a Degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology. On the other one, it was explicitly thought from the outset as a contribution to Prof. Gísli Pálsson’s own comparative research on Icelandic wetlands. In virtue of this latter aspect, the study was undertaken as to come to represent a general and yet informative introductory outlook on the complex and multilayered cultural history of Italian wetlands – from the reclamations of the past, until the developments of the present. The idea of being somehow part of a wider context, and the mission to provide a broad and sufficiently exhaustive insight into a subject which, on the contrary, revealed itself as being overwhelmingly elusive and vast, informed this work structurally, from its very inception. We are aware that, for that sake and purpose, not little had to be sacrificed in terms of local perspectives and specificity. We hope, nonetheless, to have sufficiently counterbalanced that loss, by gaining at least as much on other sides of the inquiry

Grassroots economics for conservation: instruments and alliances for a new economic order

Economic frameworks in conservation have so far mostly focused on the macro scale of human-environmental relations and top-down policy instruments. These approaches have been invaluable in streamlining ecological discourse into the leading global institutions, and advancing the fundamental field of ecological economics. However, the international socio-economic context has profoundly mutated since those frameworks were first conceived in the late 1900s. Some drastic and apparently unrelated changes include: the spectacular growth of non-Western economies; the gravest economic crisis since 1929; growing inequality between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the human population; increasing preying on natural resources driven by profit and attained through illegal means; unprecedented low confidence in financial and administrative institutions; and technological innovations aiming to downsize the role of intermediaries in those same institutions. This new economic order clearly poses great challenges but may also present unexpected opportunities. For these to be seized, however, a new array of tools and approaches need to be developed. We argue that conservationists should increasingly team up with unorthodox economists and social activists to test the effectiveness of alternative economic instruments. These may include decentralized distribution networks, complementary currencies, and peer-review-based certifications. By sustaining communities and livelihoods, grassroots instruments of this kind can equally act as means of economic resistance and contribute to protecting local natural resources. As such, they can represent an ideal complement to the macro-economic frameworks currently applied in conservation.peerReviewe

Linking Biocultural Diversity and Sacred Sites: Evidence and Recommendations in the European Framework

There is growing recognition that sacred natural sites (SNS) formhotspots of biocultural diversity and significantly contribute to conservation intraditional non-western societies. Using empirical evidence from SNS in CentralItaly, we illustrate how a similar link between spiritual, cultural, and biologicalvalues can be fundamental also in relatively secular and modernized Europeancontexts. We show that SNS are key to sustaining traditional practices and localidentities, and represent important instances of biodiversity-rich cultural landscapes.Based on other case studies from across Europe, we suggest that these conclusions can be relevant also at a broader European scale. Greater awareness from planners and policy-makers, however, is needed to safeguard and emphasize the role of European sacred sites as refugia for biocultural diversity. We review policy guidelines on SNS previously developed by International Union for the Conservation for Nature (IUCN) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and aimed at protected area managers andplanners. We assess the applicability of these guidelines in European contexts, and complement them with findings and insight from Central Italy. We provide recommendations for guidelines that are suited to SNS related to mainstream faiths in Europe