First published on 12/31/2008, and last updated on 06/09/2017
There is no one-size-fits-all working definition, or model of CCAs across SW China, where many groups maintain sacred land practices. CCAs can be found on exclusively collective forest, or on one household’s family land but, most importantly, a great number of them are overlapping or co-existing in multiple forms with protected areas. CCAs are found in a nested hierarchical structure. It is important to recognize the significance of sacred land at the household level and through to the regional level. Particularly the ones at the household level are most vulnerable. Without such foundation of day-to-day attachment and practices, the more lofty ones at the top might start to loose their cultural constituency.
