A blog post by Shonil Bhagwat, The Open University, UK, Associate Editor for People and Nature.
Read the Plain Language Summary for this paper at Relational Thinking.
Set in the mountainous region of Epirus in north-western Greece, this paper is a fascinating case study of the development, dynamics and resilience of social-ecological systems. The focus of the paper is on five sacred forests and it elegantly charts the trials and tribulations of these forests as well as the people living around them through history.
History tells us that while the rest of Greece was under the Ottoman rule for nearly 400 years (1453-1821), northern Epirus provided a relative ‘safe haven’ for local cultural practices to continue. During this time, although many parts of Epirus region were plundered for resources and suffered heavily from overcultivation and deforestation, the region largely evaded the wholesale Ottoman occupation. Today, this region is known for its numerous sacred forests, typically surrounding small Orthodox Christian churches. These might have been established during the 15th to 17th centuries alongside the establishment of villages in this relatively safe region at the time.
The population of these villages continued to grow until the early 19th century when the plague epidemic struck, and thousands of people died. The decrease in human population meant the recovery of forests between early 19th century until the mid-20th century. Soon, another disaster struck. This time, it was World War II. During 1943 and 1945 many villages in the area were destroyed by the Nazis. During the Civil War that followed, villages were evacuated. Thousands of people abandoned the countryside and moved to cities. This led to another surge in forest recovery which continues to date. What is striking is the direct relationship between depopulation and ecosystem recovery.
What is also fascinating is that the sacred forests in norther Epirus have stood the test of time. Since their establishment in 15th century all the way up to the present time, they have witnessed some very dramatic circumstances for people and nature both. For all this time, the small countryside churches have been the ‘centres of gravity’ for trees to establish, grow and thrive. In many cases, the largest trees recorded in this study were found in the immediate vicinity of the churches. In some cases, they were dispersed throughout the forest, suggesting that the local history matters to the development of trees and forests. What also matters is the strong cultural reason for the establishment of forests; people have to be motivated to protect nature. The establishment of a small shrine back in the 15th century might have been an important trigger to lay the cultural foundations for nature’s recovery.
Resilience is the ability of a system to bounce back when faced with adversity. In the case of northern Epirus, people and nature both show the ability to bounce back. Nature bounced back when an opportunity presented in the early 19th and mid-20th centuries, at times when human pressure on forests was low. The people in northern Epirus also faced existential threats including plague, World War II and the Civil War, but they bounced back when conditions improved. Throughout history, people and nature have demonstrated resilience, not always in a hand-in-glove manner, but with each charting their own pathway to resilience. Today, in politically more stable times, people have a desire for and commitment to connecting with nature. This study is an excellent example of the complex entanglements between people and nature, waiting to be explored and understood.
Read the full paper discussed here, ‘Exploring spatial and temporal resilience in socio-ecological systems: evidence from sacred forests in Epirus, Greece‘, by Valentino Marini Govigli et al., in our Open Access journal.
Read the Plain Language Summary for this paper at Relational Thinking.
Relational Thinking 