Sacred natural sites in Italy have landscape characteristics complementary to protected areas: Implications for policy and planning

There is growing awareness that protected areas (PA) may not suffice to deliver all the targets set by international conventions and guarantee the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in anthropogenic landscapes. However, landscapes such as sacred natural sites (SNS), which are managed with clear benefits for people and nature although not having conservation as their primary purpose, can help deliver those goals. While a number of studies have demonstrated SNS’ values for biodiversity and ecosystem services, the fundamental question of whether and how SNS may complement PA at a national scale has never been addressed. Here, we assembled a nationwide inventory of 2,332 SNS in Italy and compared their spatial distribution and landscape features with those of PA. We showed that there is scarce overlap between SNS and PA and that different factors drive the density of the two networks. SNS are more frequently associated with cultural landscapes at low and medium elevations and in extensively agricultural and peri-urban settings. PA, in contrast, are mainly found in more natural environments, at higher elevations, and farther from human settlements. These results indicate that the two networks largely complement each other and have different benefits for people and biodiversity. Land planning approaches should aim to valorize this complementarity. Instead of simply including SNS into PA, SNS could obtain a legal status through other emerging policy frameworks, such as the recognition of “other effective area-based conservation measures”.