Authors: Zannini, Piero;

Sacred Natural Sites (SNS) have demonstrated their capacity to conserve species and habitats, while being almost ubiquitous. However, most of research has been focusing in tropical areas, neglecting a large portion of SNS and related biodiversity. Here I present some results of an Italy focused project, focusing on different facets of biodiversity and land conservation. First, we created one of the first-ever georeferenced nation-wide survey of SNS and compared SNS distribution with Protected Areas distribution in terms of landscape and land use characteristics. Second, we analysed SNS and Protected areas in respect with forest loss and forest gain. Third, we selected 30 SNS across Italy and sampled plant diversity therein and in control areas to evaluate their contribution to plant diversity conservation. SNS showed a small overlap with Protected Areas, being found in cultural landscapes ofter undergoing land abandonment. We also found that SNS were associated with increased forest gain and decreased forest loss. Finally, SNS showed slightly higher biodiversity values than control areas, with patterns varying across habitats. Results underlie the need for a legal recognition of SNS and innovative policies to help conserve their cultural and natural values.