SPIRAL(2024-2026): cross cultural study of sustainable management practices of spiritual landscapes was hosted at PLACES lab (CY Cergy Paris University and CASEs group at the University Pompeu Fabra) and supported by the EUTOPIA Science and Innovation Fellowship Programme and funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 945380.
The SPIRAL project is conducting a cross-cultural study of eco-spiritual practices and pluriversal ways of knowing and relating to sacred forests and spiritual landscapes. Combining broad comparative research across 73 small-scale societies with in-depth, context-specific studies in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Amazon-Andes region of South America, the project explores how diverse knowledge systems shape relationships with nature.
Using a mixed-methods approach, SPIRAL works in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities to co-produce culturally grounded metrics and indicators. These are designed to strengthen the recognition of customary law systems as effective forms of environmental governance under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, while highlighting the role that Indigenous and local ecological knowledge plays in biocultural diversity conservation.
SPIRAL’s primary objective is to document the global diversity of cosmoecologies and eco-spiritual practices that shape relationships between societies and forests. By integrating traditional ecological knowledge and Indigenous knowledgeinto contemporary landscape planning, the project seeks to inform a heritage-sensitive policy framework that supports plural governance systems, customary law, and Indigenous ways of knowing withouth diluting them in Western epistemologies.
Ultimately, SPIRAL contributes to a paradigm shift in conservation science—one that recognizes sacred forestsand other elements of the spiritual landscapes as political and ecological actors within socio-ecological systems.
What Are Sacred Forests?
Sacred Forests are unique social-ecological systems (SESs) found across the globe and closely connected to the cultural, spiritual, and ecological traditions of indigenous people and local communities (IP&LCs). Often located in some of the planet’s most biodiverse regions, Sacred Forests play an essential role in biocultural diversity conservation, yet they remain underrepresented in global forest governance and landscape ecology research.
These forests serve not only as ecological hotspots but also as cultural and spiritual sanctuaries. They are linked to traditional belief systems, religious rituals, historical events, rites of passage, and burial practices. The SESs of Sacred Forests support community-based adaptation strategies grounded in Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Ecological Knowledge Systems (TEK) and indigeneity as an entry point to learn the plurality of relational ontologies and ways of knowing and living forests. Such knowledge helps local populations address environmental and social challenges, including water management, health, agriculture, energy access, food security, and settlement planning.
Research Background and Focus
Building on her doctoral research (2018–2022) in Senegal, which examined the dynamics of ecovillage transitions, the SPIRAL project uses a transdisciplinary and comparative approach to study Sacred Forests across different cultural and geographical contexts. Through a series of case studies, SPIRAL investigates how ecospiritual practices and cosmoecologies influence the governance, protection, and resilience of these forests and spiritual landscapes.
You can also explore our related research on biocultural heritage.
Aim and Future Perspectives
The primary goal of SPIRAL is to document the global diversity of cosmoecologies and ecospiritual practices that shape the societies and forests relationships. By integrating ecological knowledge into contemporary landscape planning, the project aims to inspire a heritage sensitive policy framework to sustain plural relational governance systems and indigenous ways of knowing.
Ultimately, SPIRAL contributes to shift the paradigm in conservation science—one that recognizes Sacred Forests as political agents in socio- ecological systems and customary law as effective governance systems to accomplish biodiversity targets.
Hosted by PLACES lab, Financed by EUTOPIA SIF Network of University Grant Agreement 945380
MEDIA CONTACTS
Alessandra Manzini, EUTOPIA-SIF Marie Sklodowska-Curie COFUND Fellow at CY Cergy Paris University web: alessandramanzini.com contact: alessandra.manzini@cyu.fr
BOOK
Manzini, A. Uimonen, P., Doudji H., Pemunta, V. Phosiso S. Ecospiritual practices in African contexts. Power Dynamics, Biocultural Change and Integrated Landscape ManagementPalgrave Macmillan, London. ISBN978-981-92-4008-1
Related Publications
Manzini, A., Greene, A., Phatthanaphraiwan, S., Hecht, D., Zeng, L., Sunanlikanon, N., Ormsby, A. A., Trakansuphakorn, P., Pasha, M. K. S., Bhagwat, S., Verschuuren, B., & Haenssgen, M. (2026). Alternative pathways for recognizing effective governance of Indigenous territories are critical to achieve global biodiversity targets: Lessons from Asian spiritual landscapes. AMBIO doi: 10.1007/s13280-026-02483-y
Manzini, A., et al., (2026). Mixed methods to assess Sacred Forest management practices Guinea, Togo, Senegal and Benin case studies. Environmental Science and Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104437
Manzini A. (2026) Cosmoecology: a literature review and conceptual synthesis for transdisciplinary research lines [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations]. Open Res Europe 2026, 6:105 https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.22617.2
Biagetti, S., Cunningham, J., Falay, B., Kurcz, M., Lancelotti, C., Lugli, F., Manzini, A., Mayor, A., Piezonka, H., & Zurro, D. (2026). Ethnoarchaeology as a state of mind. Manuscript under review at EAZ Journal. https://doi.org/10.54799/RIXC6738
Manzini, A., Haenssgen, M. J., & Auclair, E. (2026). Repenser One Health par les sciences sociales : savoirs locaux, patrimoine écologique et méthodes de recherche en action. Vers une approche intégrée, située et participative des interactions humain-animal-écosystème, publié dans Développement durable et territoires, vol. 17, n° 1 https://doi.org/10.4000/16ptm Link to Open Edition article
PRESS RELEASE
New Research at CIFOR-ICRAF Symposium Reveals: Global “30×30” Biodiversity Targets Will Fail Without Recognizing African Spiritual Landscapes and IP&LC stewardship
Sacred forests hold key to global conservation future, International Symposium declares
https://www.tcijthai.com/news/2025/12/english/14631
Datasets
- Manzini, A. (2026). SPIRAL project data repository: global cross – cultural study of spiritual landscapes sustainable management practices [Data set]. Forêts et sociétés : dialogues interdisciplinaires : Cosmo – écologies et pratiques écospirituelles : une approche transdisciplinaire des relations humains – forêts, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, Paris. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18604830
- Manzini, A., et al. (2025). Tree Canopy Cover Loss and Gain and Land Use Change Geo Statistics. Zenodo. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15442724.