Mount Kailas, Tibet

For assurance of long-term sustainability, environmental conservation programs need to be grounded in deeply held values and cultural beliefs. Mountains, as the highest features of the landscape, have tended to become associated with the highest ideals and aspirations of societies around the world, making them ideal places to inspire environmental conservation programs.

The remote Himalayan peak of Mount Kailas, rising aloof above the Tibetan Plateau, directs the minds of millions of Hindus and Buddhists toward the utmost attainments of spiritual liberation. Mount Sinai in the Middle East occupies a special place in the Bible as the imposing site where Moses received the Ten Commandments, the basis of law and ethics in Western civilization.

In the United States, pristine mountain environments within parks like Great Smoky Mountains, Mount Rainier, and Yosemite enshrine cultural and inspirational values basic to American society. As the writings of well-known conservationists such as John Muir demonstrate, views of mountains as places of inspiration and renewal helped give rise to the modern environmental movement and have played a key role in galvanizing public support for national parks and the protection of nature.

The Mountain Institute’s Sacred Mountains Program works globally to:

The Mountain Institute’s (TMI) Sacred Mountains Program has been collaborating with the National Park Service (NPS) to develop innovative interpretive and educational materials based on the evocative associations of mountains and features of mountain environments in mainstream American, Native American, and cultures around the world. By drawing on spiritual and cultural traditions around the world to connect with the heritages and interests of different cultural and ethnic groups, such as Native American, Native Hawaiian, African-American, Asian American, and Latino, the project helps to diversify the currently limited visitor base for National Parks and protected areas in the United States. It also presents multiple perspectives that enrich the general public’s experience of nature and encourages stewardship of the environment.

In addition, the project seeks to present what indigenous peoples want known about their relationships with Parks and protected areas and to help to promote respect and protections for their sacred sites and traditions. Interpretive and educational materials - such as traveling outreach exhibits, interpretive trails, educational wayside signs, publications, and artwork - that resonate with different people and their diverse heritages and backgrounds help to enrich visitors’ experiences and give them deep-seated reasons for conserving the environment - in both the parks and back home.

A strength of the TMI project with National Parks its inclusiveness, so that no one feels left out and everyone feels there is a place for their views. This approach encourages understanding and respect for what mountains mean to to others as well as oneself.

The following is a sampling of the various products and activities completed or initiated so far in the project. We have prepared and distributed packets with descriptions and illustrations of these samples as one means of spreading the approach to other parks and protected areas. Other means have included presentations to various audiences and more detailed workshops for interpreters and rangers.

Mount Rainier National Park
Washington

"Mountain Views"
Traveling exhibit that relates evocative meanings of Mount Rainier, an icon of the Northwest U.S., to other major mountains such as Kilimanjaro and Fuji.

Partnership Achievement Award
Pacific West Region Partnership Achievement Award from National Park Service for work with Mount Rainier National Park.

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
Hawai’i

Traditional Hawaiian Artwork
Commissioning of sculpture and painting for Kilauea Visitor Center selected by Native Hawaiian elders that highlight traditional Hawaiian views of Kilauea and Mauna Loa and the volcano deity Pele.

Exhibits and Waysides
Integration of Native Hawaiian perspectives into visitors center exhibits and the creation of waysides that encourage contemplation of nature throughout the park.

Yosemite National Park
California

Lower Yosemite Falls Wayside Project
Consultation on waysides leading to Lower Yosemite Falls—the most popular trail in the Park—with themes that include the cultural meanings of waterfalls around the world.

“Experience Your America II”
Permanent photographic exhibit at the Yosemite Museum combining inspirational quotes and pictures to evoke the spirituality of wilderness and nature at all 58 major US National Parks.

The Sacred Mountains Program has initiated a project on “Mountain Cultural Landscapes in Central Asia” with TMI’s Hiimalayan Program. This new initiative seeks to work with local organizations and communities to understand and use cultural values placed on features of the environment as a basis for community-based conservation activities and sustainable livelihoods focused around sacred sites in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The Sacred Mountains Program is also working with the Himalayan Progam on a “Sacred Sites Trail” project in Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) National Park in Nepal. This project seeks to restore neglected monasteries and shrines and relate them to the cultural landscape of the Sherpa people with its sacred mountains, springs, and groves. It is part of a larger initiative on sacred sites and biodiversity conservation in South Asia.

The Sacred Mountains Program is planning to work with TMI’s Andes Program, focusing on the rich cultural heritage of the ancient Inca Trail that spans more than 6,000 kilometers and crosses the highest mountains in South America.

The Sacred Mountains Program is publishing and creating internet databases for its "Mountains and People, People and Mountains” handbook, which connects different ethnic and cultural groups to natural features in mountain ecosystems.

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