244 Synergies between spiritual and natural heritage for habitat conservation in the Barents Euro-Arctic Region Alexander N. Davydov Barents Euro-Arctic Region: a components to its work on nature con- tool for international cooperation servation and, especially, on protected in the North of Europe areas. On 11 January 1993 in Kirkenes, Nor- BEAR is managed by the Barents Euro- way, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Arctic Council (BEAC) which is repre- Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, sented by the Ministers of Foreign Af- Russia and Sweden signed a Declara- fairs of Finland, Norway, Russia and tion of the Establishing of International Sweden. BEAC elaborates the general Organisation Barents Euro-Arctic Re- strategy of cooperation. Practical ques- gion (BEAR). BEAR has several mech- tions are delegated to the Barents Sec- anisms to promote the cooperation retariat, which is located in Kirkenes. among the northern regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. One of For practical reasons, the Barents Pro- them is the Habitat Contact Forum gramme was organised into ten work- (HCF). Gradually, HCF has started to ing groups on culture, environment, ed- incorporate cultural and even spiritual ucation, indigenous peoples, agricul- < Remnants of a sacred grove next to the chapel of Saint Spirit in Glazovo village, Kenozero, Kenozersky National Park (Archangel Region, Russia). 245 ture, reindeer-breeding, economics, the need for further establishment of science and development, health-care, new protected areas, proper manage- and transport and communications. ment of existing ones, and other rele- vant issues (HCF II, 2003, Appendix 2: Nowadays, BEAR unites the Northern 1). At HCF I, a mandate was defined provinces of Norway (Nordland, Troms, and a list of international projects was and Finnmark), Sweden (Våsterbotten, developed. Norrbotten), Finland (Finnish Lapland, Oulu including North Ostrobothnia and The second HCF was organised in No- Kainuu), and Russia (Republic of Kare- vember 2001 in Petrozavodsk, Repub- lia, Republic of Komi, Murmansk Re- lic of Karelia (Russia). A work plan for gion, Archangelsk Region and Nenets conservation issues of protected areas Autonomous Area). in BEAR was prepared on a 3-year ba- sis to meet the obligations set by the Arctic Council (CAFF/CPAN), IUCN Habitat Contact Forum: a tool for and the CBD. New projects were dedi- international environmental and cated to designing and establishing cultural cooperation in BEAR new protected areas, biosphere re- serves, ‘green belts’, and transbound- The cooperation of the Nordic Coun- ary protected areas, as well as to sus- tries with North-West Russia in the field tainable tourism development in pro- of nature protection started with the in- tected areas, but there were no special ternational environmental expeditions in sessions or projects dedicated to their this region. All these expeditions includ- cultural and spiritual values. ed scientists connected with nature conservation and cultural heritage pro- The third HCF was organised in Kuhmo tection (Davydov, 2003). The first expe- (Finland) on November 2003. There dition was organised around the Onega was a session on ‘Nature and Man’ Peninsula in summer 1997 (Onezhskoe and a working group created on ‘Cul- tural and Ethnical Questions and Local Pomorje 1997). Inspired by the second Participation’. The working group stat- expedition (Belomorsko-Kuloiskoe Pla- ed that a deeper understanding of pro- teau 1998), a group of experts started tected areas, including the cultural planning an international workshop on heritage, is an essential part of HCF protected areas in BEAR. work. It suggested that cultural com- The first International Contact Forum ponents should be incorporated into on Habitat Conservation in the Barents the work on habitat conservation, es- Region (or Habitat Contact Forum) pecially the ideas of people living or was established in Trondheim, Norway near protected areas. HCF empha- in November 1999 (HCF I, 2000). HCF sised that ‘although the natural herit- was meant to be an arena for coopera- age is relatively well-studied, the cul- tion on habitat conservation issues in tural heritage has not been sufficiently BEAR to achieve increased focus on investigated and classified in relation 246 A map of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region. to the environment’ (HCF III, 2004: 14). of the local population and indigenous In the paper by Davydov (HCF III, people in habitat conservation. In this 2004:66-67) the term spiritual habitat respect the cultural heritage of indige- was formulated based on the investi- nous peoples living on protected natu- gations of the holy groves tradition in ral territories is of vital importance. It is Kenozero National Park. also important that the peoples and lo- cal population themselves should be in- The fourth HCF was organised in Sykty- volved in the system of direct consulta- vkar, Republic of Komi (Russia) in Sep- tion and decision making process con- tember 2005. There were five working cerning protected natural territories.’ groups, including one on ‘Ethic and (HCF IV, 2006: 233). It also recom- Cultural Problems’. At the resolution, the mended to include an item connected role of the environment and indigenous with local population into the pro- and local populations was underlined gramme of the next HCFs and to devel- (HCF IV, 2006: 235). The working group op a long term international ethnic and proposed that: ‘In connection with eco- ecological project on natural, cultural nomics globalisation and human inter- and historical heritage in BEAR (HCF IV, ference in natural, cultural and histori- 2006: 233). Unfortunately, the project cal sphere, we are greatly anxious was never realised. about the matters of cultural and ethnic development and also the participation The HCF themes were affected by the 247 work of the Delos Initiative. The SNS of activities developed so far. (HCF VI, Ukonsaari Island was presented at the 2010: 70–71, 157–158). A.L. Fedyaev first Delos workshop (Norokorpi and and O.V. Churakova touched the ques- Ojanlatva, 2007) and the Solovetsky Is- tions of the reasonable practicality, and lands SNS at the second Delos work- the spiritual and moral need to restore shop (Davydov et al, 2009). At the Nor- technologically damaged Northern dic-Russian conference on ‘The last areas (HCF VI, 2010: 156). S. Sohlberg large intact forests in North-West Rus- discussed the RAIPON/CAFF Sacred sia: protection and sustainable use’ Natural Site project (2001–2004), the (Steinkjer and Lierne, 2007), the Delos RAIPON seminar (2007), and UNESCO Initiative was introduced by Davydov. meetings in Copenhagen (2006). He The conference recommended intro- proposed that HCF VI should initiate a ducing the ideas of Delos Initiative to kick off meeting for a project of synergy the next HCF. of SNSs on natural and cultural heritag- es (HCF VI, 2010, 162). The fifth HCF was held in Umeå, Swe- den, on October 2008. HCFs had be- The synergy was also emphasised in came a part of the official Barents co- the cases from Finnish Lapland by operation and they were organised Norokorpi (HCF VI, 2010: 158–159, the with the participation of local people, Russian North by A. Davydov (HCF VI, NGO’s, scientific institutes and federal 2010: 155) and Svalbard/Spitsbergen and regional authorities of BEAR (HCF by W. Gorter and T. Minaeva. Finally, V, 2008: 3). At a session dedicated to N. Skytte presented results of a fieldtrip forest biodiversity conservation, Davy- to Pym-Va-Shor, the SNSs and unique dov presented a paper on SNSs in the hot water springs in Bolshezemelskaya forests of North-West Russia, introduc- tundra of the Nenets Autonomous Area ing the Delos Initiative to HCF (HCF V, (HCF VI, 2010: 161–162). V. Sahi intro- 2008: 54). It was noted that SNSs offer duced folk music as a tool of express- an opportunity to integrate cultural and ing the spiritual values of nature (HCF natural values. The approach may lead VI, 2010: 160–161). to a combination of conservation ef- forts that result in a synergy of benefits for both values (HCF V, 2008: 6). The Hyperborean dimension of the Delos Initiative The sixth HCF was held in Archangelsk from 31 May to 5 June 2010 (HCF VI, BEAR represents the northern most sa- 2010). It included, for the first time, a cred sites in Europe: holy crosses session on the synergy of spiritual and scattered on Svalbard/Spitsbergen, natural values in the BEAR. Franz-Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya Archipelagos, which are now protect- A paper by J.-M. Mallarach and Th. Pa- ed areas of different kinds. payannis on the Delos Initiative ex- plained the idea of the Initiative and the In the mythology of many peoples North 248 is associated with an area filled with cold and purity, a place where ‘the edge of the world’ is located, or the bor- der of oekumene, territory on the Earth occupied and developed by humans. North is also a ‘country of spirits’, the land of the dead. This mythological im- age of the North is emphasised by its geography. The North is truly an ex- traordinary land: winter night last for Rock carvings (rock paintings) in Alta (Finn- many months and the flashes of polar mark, Norway). lights flare up in the sky. In the summer the sky remains light during the nights, and the sun and the moon can be seen feeling of fate is believed to become at the same time. For centuries ‘North- sharper in the extreme conditions, ern dimension’ has been surrounded by which makes the attitude to the sacred the odour of sanctity in the cultures of places also keener. different peoples. In the Greek tradition, All these factors bring people closer to the legendary Leto (Lada), mother of each other, promoting mutual under- Apollo and Artemis, who gave birth to standing among the people of BEAR.