Dear Attila,

recently, we finished the project about Landscape character assessment in Central Serbia. We collected numerous data about ancient trees (Zapis), small wooden churches, and all other evidence of cultural heritage. If you find it interesting, and useful, feel free to contact me about the research.

Best regards,

Dragana 

Drawing upon research undertaken for the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities by a team at the University of Milan, an emerging and converging conception of landscape which is shared by many nations in Europe is identified. It is characterized by the integration of culture, by a shift of emphasis from places of excellence to consideration of the whole territory, by the wish to conserve cultural identity and by a concern for the quality of life of whole populations. In addition to regarding the landscape as an artefact, it can also be regarded as a document, an archive or a palimpsest. Shortcomings in the way that landscapes are currently read are identified, and the range of criteria employed to assess the values of particular landscapes are considered. Finally, there is a plea for a serious exchange of information regarding methodology and operational expertise, in the light of the European Landscape Convention.

Dear Attila, unfortunately this is not my field of investigation. I can only suggest you to see the work of the Professor Shozo Shibata of the Kyoto University. In January, I attended his conference on urban vegetation at the Naples University in which the topic of the sacral trees in Japan was well developed.

Good luck for your researc

Greetings,

India, Bhutan, and China are famous for sacred groves.  I'm light on contacts for this but you should find a good deal of info by googling and following those leads. I once had a contact in Bhutan working on this but lost track;  hunting thru their Ministry of Ag and Forestry should find them;  it's a small place.

Mark Elvin's books on China should be a good source for starters.

A recent book by John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker,  Ecology and Religion, does not discuss sacred groves specifically but would be a good start point

Best of luck,  LCI

Hi Attila...

I am doing research about revitalization for historical areas within jakarta old town, indonesia. I don't it will match with your field of study. But I am willing to have a new research opportunity if possible with various field of studies but still about revitalization, conservation or preservation to broaden my knowledge.

Thank you

Dear Ari,

Your research focus is also very interesting. Since memorial trees represent our living cultural heritage, I am sure that preservation (be it in the form of conservation or revitalisation) is a relevant issue in my research focus as well.

Cheers,

Attila

Attila,

I am working with a group on cultural landscapes in the Czech Republic, a study which includes small sacral architecture sites.  A collaborative project would be very useful and interesting.  Send me an email so we can correspond directly - you can Google me at "Elizabeth Brabec University of Massachusetts" and my email is on my faculty page.

Elizabeth

Dear Attila,

You might be interested in evidence from Serbia. There are numerous old trees named "Zapis" , that have very nice story connected to them. You can read more in the link attached, and if You find it interesting or useful, feel free to contact me.

Best of luck in further research,

Dragana

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapis

Dear Dragana, thank you for this very interesting reference! :-)

Greetings,  just stumbled on this -- Volker Radeloff and the group at Univ Wisconsin.   I didn't read it but suspect it will interest you.

http://silvis.forest.wisc.edu/pubs/In-press

Brandt, J. S., V. Butsic, B. Schwab, T. Kuemmerle, and V. C. Radeloff. The effectiveness of protected areas, sacred sites and logging bans to protect forests from logging in southwest China. Biological Conservation, in press.

Best,  LCI

Dear Attila,

I am very much intereseted to your research. At our department we are about to launch a research on "legendary" urban trees which are standing mostly on urban places important for cultural heritage. I see possibilities to have a cooperation (I could not find your e-mail at Univ's Homepage...). If you can contact me directly (my e-mail and profile is at the Univ Hompage www. uni-corvinus.hu)  we can discuss the details. Best regards, Ildi Reka

In India trees form a part of the cultural landscape. the trees like neem and peepal have religious significance and form a part of the rural landscape.  Banyan tree becuse of the canopy mostly is the space for social gathering in the village. ofcourse as some one has mentioned sacred grooves also form part of few regions to protect the native species.  

For those interested, here is a summary of the ongoing research. A new national research project bid is being developed. Let´s keep in touch. Anyone interested in preparing an interdisciplinar research paper on this issue? I am looking for a team of authors. Work title "Sacral Monuments and Trees in Cultural Landscapes of Different Regions accross the World" A.Toth et al.

Poster Sacral Monuments and Trees as Heritage in the Landscape: Sma...

 Dear Attila,

recently, we finished the project about Landscape character assessment in Central Serbia. We collected numerous data about ancient trees (Zapis), small wooden churches, and all other evidence of cultural heritage. If you find it interesting, and useful, feel free to contact me about the research.

Best regards,

Dragana 

Dear Attila, I am interested in this topic, It is possible that I can carry out a research in Spain..I am the coordinator of Urban tree and Norma Granada Comission of Spanish parks and gardens Association (www.aepjp.es). Please, send me more information about it, the methodology, etc. Regards. Pedro. 

Hello,

I think we met two years ago at a conference in Nitra. I appeared your question about the tree in the cultural landscape, the sacred space on RG [and thanks Tatiana Swoczyna]. It just so happens that the issue of trees in this sense is my focus for several years dealing with this subject. Therefore, very I would likie to work with You.

Regards 

EWA

PS. Better way to contact with me:

[email protected]

Dear Attila,

Your theme is very interesting indeed and it appeals a lot to me as a designer. I'm an architect and urban designer and I always value the importance and role of trees in my projects. And also in my research on age-friendly environments, trees always convey a meaningful and symbolic presence for the elderly (actually, for every person...). I also like to point that out to my Design Sudio students and get them to work with trees in their design proposals.

Actually I've designed a small cemetery in northern Portugal (a small town named S. Joao da Pesqueira) where I introduced a small ceremonial square with cypress alignments, reinterpreting a very old tradition of cypress trees in Portuguese cemeteries. In case this might interest you in the future, we can keep in touch and I'll give you further information.

Specifically on this research of yours, we have in Portugal an old tradition of small sacred elements (crosses, saints) specially placed at road crossings in rural fields, some of them with trees, but it never crossed my mind to look for a "tree pattern" in those situations.

Kind regards,

Antonio

 Dear Attila the subject it is also very interesting for me, as I am working for more that 15 years in that issue. Please let me know more about your idea. 

Kind regards

Kalliopi Stara

Article The Trees of the Sacred Natural Sites of Zagori, NW Greece

Poster RAISING PUBLIC AWARENESS ABOUT SACRED FORESTS USING THE BIO-...