mohammad al zein et al- cultural and religious keystone species: the need to resacralize nature

8/3/2019 Mohammad Al Zein et al- Cultural and Religious Keystone Species: The Need to Resacralize Nature

1/76

Cultural and Religious Keystone Species

*The Need to Resacralize Nature

18 April 2005


2/76

Mohammad Al Zein

and

Lytton John Musselman, OldDominion University, Norfolk, Virginia

T Robert Sampson, Edwardes

College, Peshawar, Pakistan

Kushan Tennakoon, Perideniya University,

Kandy, Sri Lanka and Old Dominion

University


3/76

Assumption 1: Many biodiversity programsare based on the secular Western science

pattern. As a result Western scientists (andoften western-trained scientists) avoid

considering any relation between religionand conservation science.


4/76

Assumption 2: Most farmers and othersclosest to agrobiodiversity have some

belief in a God or Gods active in creationand nature.


5/76

Assumption 3: Many decision makers andmost scientists are little aware of the

importance of plants in the Holy Koran andother holy and religious writings and how

local people value them.


6/76

This is changing, however, as social andnatural scientists realize the strength of

religious beliefs in shaping local decisionsimpacting biodiversity.


7/76

The term keystone species was coined

by R T Paine in 1969 to refer to speciesessential to the integrity of the community

and its unaltered persistence through time.Their effect is out of proportion to the

keystone species abundance or biomass.

A Simple Taxonomy of

Cultural Keystone Species


8/76

National Symbols

Cultural Keystone SpeciesReligious Keystone Species




9/76

National Symbols





10/76

National plant symbols are species

associated with a specific political unit.These may or may not be cultural or

religious keystone species.




11/76

Plants as National Symbols

Some nations have plants as symbols

on their national flags. Examples includeLebanon with cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus

libani) and Canada with maple (Acersaccharum).


12/76


Many nations figure plants on their coins.


13/76


Examples include:

Leeks, shamrock,

thistle, and rose on

coins of the United

Kingdom.


14/76


Examples include:

The kokerboom tree

(Aloe dichotoma) on

coins of Namibia.


15/76


Examples include:Laurel (Laurus nobilis)

and olive (Oleaeuropea) on coins of

Cyprus (and manyother countries.)


16/76


Many more examples could be given. Infact, most countries figure some plant on

their currency. This clearly documents theimportance of plants as cultural and

national symbols.


17/76

National Symbols





18/76

Cultural Keystone SpeciesPlant species whose existence and symbolic value are

essential to the stability of a cultural group over time.

Adapted from: S. Cristancho and J. Vining. Culturally defined keystone species. Human EcologyReview 11. 2004.




19/76


--A different definition

Indigenous people of a particular landbase identify with

a limited complex of species exceptionally important

to their daily lives. These are cultural keystone species.

After: Garibaldi and Turner. Ecology and Society 2004


20/76

Religious Keystone Species

Plants with iconic cultic value. Without

these plants the religion could not bepracticed.


21/76


Very little attention has been paid

to plants of religious value except incultures with shamanistic religions.


22/76


Trees

Trees are prominent in many religiousnarratives. For example, trees are the

most frequently mentioned livingthings in the Bible except for humans .


23/76


Trees

Narrated Anas bin Malik:Allah's Apostle said, "There is none amongst the

Muslims who plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a

bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, but is

regarded as a charitable gift for him."

Volume 3, Book 39, Number 513


24/76


Trees

Revelation 22

The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the

nations.


25/76

Local people in different cultures useBible and Koran names for

indigenous plants which never grewin their lands. The flora of EasternNorth America, for example, has

many "cedars," which are no relationto the cedar of Lebanon of the

Bible.

Cedar of Lebanon

Atlantic white

cedar, Dismal

Swamp

Chamaecyparis thyoides

Juniperus virginiana

Red cedar

In eastern Sudan the Beja people call


26/76

In eastern Sudan, the Beja people call

the large, arborescentEuphorbia abyssinica,

zaqqm after the tree of Hell mentionedin the Quran (Al-Sfft 37:65, Al-Dukhn

44:49, Al-Waqiah 56:51).

Red Sea Hills,eastern Sudan.

Red Sea Hills

Euphorbia abyssinica

l f l l d li i


27/76

Olive (Olea europea)Som (Amanita muscaria? or (Nelumbo

nucifera?)Grape (Vitis vinifera) and grape products)

Bo tree (Ficus religiosa)

Examples of Cultural and Religious

Keystone species

C l l K S i


28/76


nucifera?)


C l l K i


29/76


nucifera?)

Cultural Keystone species

C l l K S i


30/76

Olive (Olea europea)


Olive is one of two trees in theHoly Koran by which God swears.

Olive grove near Tayasir, Palestine

C l l K S i


31/76



Olive is mentioned more times in theHoly Bible than any other tree.

Olea oleaster, wild olive, Sidi Bou Ghaba,

Kenitra, Morocco.

C l l K S i


32/76



Olive is one of the most widely usedplants in national and cultural identity.

One of the more commonly used

symbols of Palestine is the olive tree.

It is also figured on currency in the

United States

C lt l K t S i


33/76



OliveOak

C lt l K t S i


34/76


nucifera?)


C lt l K t S i


35/76


soma

Som (Amanita muscaria? or (Nelumbo

nucifera?)

C lt l K t S i


36/76


soma

Som is an important element in PashtSufi poetry.

(Pasht is a dominant language inAfghanistan and parts of Pakistan).

C lt l K t S i


37/76


Som

Sound the bells, O moon, arise andshine!

My love is reaping flowers andmay cut her fingers.

The tappa is a common poetic form

in Pasht . Tappas often refer tosom

C lt l K t S i


38/76


Som

The identity ofsom is debatable, eitherthe mushroomAmanita muscaria,

widespread in much of the world, or theaquatic plantNelumbo nucifera.



39/76


soma

Nelumbo nucifera is widespread in Asia and often associated with

Lord Buddha.



40/76


Som

Amanita muscaria. A mychorrhizal hallucogenic mushroomassociated with ancient Aryan culture.



41/76


Som

A recent ethnobotanical study comes to

the conclusion thatNelumbo nuciferais the best candidate forsom based largely

on Hindu and Buddhist imagery.

Andrew McDonald, A Botanical Perspective on the Identiy of Soma (Nelumbo nucifera Gaaertn.)Based on Scriptural and Iconographic RecordsEconomic Botany 58 (Supplement) 2004 pp. 147-173.



42/76


Som

However, this recent study drew heavily

on more recent literature rather than theSanskrit classic,Rg Veda.



43/76


Som

The context in Pasht poemsindicates a forest setting, not an aquatic

habitat. This makesAmanita muscariathe most likely candidate forsom .



44/76


Som

In the case ofsom botanical research isnecessary to determine which plant is

indicated. There may be other culturalkeystone species that need to be

determined.



45/76

Olive (Olea europea)Grape (Vitis vinifera) and grape products)

Som (Amanita muscaria? or (Nelumbonucifera?)



Keystone species



46/76

Grape (Vitis vinifera) and grape products)




47/76

Grape (including grape products) is the

most frequently mentioned plant in theBible.




48/76


In the Bible, Jesusestablishes the symbolism

between Himself andthat of the grapevine

emphasizing fruit as asymbol of pleasing God.

Traditional grape culture near Khalil, Palestine



49/76


Grape and wine are very important

symbols/icons in Christianity.



50/76

Grape (Vitis vinifera) and grape products)Bo tree (Ficus religiosa)




51/76



According to Buddhist teaching, Lord

Buddha attained enlightenment underaFicus religiosa (bo tree).



52/76



As a result, every Buddhist temple and

shrine in Sri Lanka has a bo treeand the leaf of the bo tree is featured

on every temple dome.



53/76



Ficus religiosa, Weligama Bay, Sri Lanka

This tree survived the December2004 tsunami which covered the

tree up to 30 meters.



54/76



Ficus religiosa, Kandy, Sri Lanka

A common sight in

Sri Lankaa bo treewith a small shrine.



55/76



The bo tree becomes both figurativelyand literally the center of a garden

which is the source of plants forAyurvedic medicinal and cultic use.



56/76



Put another way, the bo tree becomes

the focus of a community of plants.



57/76



When this traditional system wasperturbed by colonialism, extensive

erosion and loss of water resourcesoccurred.


58/76

How can the concept of cultural and

religious keystone species helpagrobiodiversity?


59/76

1.Keystone species dont exist in a

vacuum. There are other speciesassociated with them which may also

be of biodiversity interest. Their valueand importance might be enhanced by

association with the keystone species.


60/76

2. Keystone species are already well

known by members of localcommunities.


61/76

3.Through reference to keystone

species, decision makers can respect andlearn from local religious and cultural

traditions.


62/76

What are some community based

projects that use or can use keystonespecies to further their efforts?


63/76


64/76

Some current Islamic biodiversity

efforts:

Grand Mufti of SyriaTree planting in northern Nigeria

Sidi Bou Ghaba, MoroccoReef protection in Tanzania


65/76


efforts:




66/76


efforts:

Grand Mufti of Syria


67/76


efforts:




68/76


efforts:

Tree planting in northern Nigeria


69/76


Trees

Narrated Anas bin Malik:Allah's Apostle said, "There is none amongst the

Muslims who plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a

bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, but is

regarded as a charitable gift for him."

Volume 3, Book 39, Number 513


70/76


efforts:





71/76


efforts:Sidi Bou Ghaba, Morocco



72/76


efforts:Sidi Bou Ghaba, Morocco

Arar(TetraclinisArticulata) is a tree all

Moroccans know. AtSidi Bou Ghaba

children are introducedto its ecology.


73/76


74/76

There is a need to resacralize nature,that is, making nature part of the sacred,

giving it the value it is given by itscreator.


75/76

This is much different than worshipping

nature. Rather, it is viewing nature inlight of the holy writings.


76/76

mohammad al zein et al- cultural and religious keystone species: the need to resacralize nature

Documents