case study: Perpetuating Tibeta exemplars of spiritu Photo above: Men honouring and appeasing a gzhi bdag b CONTACT: Dr John Studley Studley@thunderbolt.me.uk Summary Since Neolithic time’s “spiritscapes”, as gzhi bdag) have been a defining cu in the upper slopes of most mountain conservation. The animistic beliefs th in response to Bon, Tibetan Buddhism Since China’s religious revival (from 1 have established that biodiversity in T biodiversity. It would appear on the b Ward 2006, Studley 2007, Studley 20 of participatory field methods that th “spontaneous recovered” (Schwartz 1 Cultural and spiritual significance of Spiritscapes are a defining feature ch (Blondeau and Steinkellner 1998) or t upper slopes of most mountains. Hist predicated on honouring the numina and flora and fauna. The mountain cu the immediate world, involving cerem (Huber 2004). The gzhi bdag, theoret geography, identity and in sensed pre gzhi bdag in their daily lives but enga and success, in hunting, trading, trave essential element of rural Tibetan life political behaviour. an Spiritscapes as unique re ual governance by burning bsang (juniper)- Near Donggo, Qinghai Province – Awang J i.e. Sacred Natural Sites inhabited by numina ultural feature of Tibetan lay society and thei ns have been exemplars of ritual behaviour t hat support Tibetan spiritscapes have had to m, and they almost became extinct during Th 1978) and the felling ban (1998) conservation Tibetan SNS/spiritscapes have recovered usin basis of the author’s research (Studley 2005, 010, Studley and Awang 2016 Forthcoming) a he spiritual and cultural beliefs that support s 1994) but urgently require international prot nature haracteristic of Tibetan lay society under the a the “cult of height” (Stein 1972) because the torically the cultural identity of Tibetan noma a(gzhi bdag) that inhabit the spiritscapes and ults are part of an animistic and shamanistic monies and rituals which take place in the ho tically “tamed” by Bon and Buddhism are clos esence. Tibetans are not only conscious of th age in rituals and place demands on them for el, farming etc. Participation in gzhi bdag cult e and identity and is expressed in cultural, ec efugia and Jikmed 2017. a spirits (known in Tibetan ir terrestrial abodes (gnas), that mimics explicit nature be discursively recreated he Cultural Revolution. nists (Shen et al 2015) ng the “metrics” of Rowcroft Studley and and predicated on a suite spiritscapes have also tection. aegis of “mountain cults” ey are situated in the ads and farmers was d protecting their abodes tradition concerned with ome and mountain locales oser to lay Tibetans in he constant scrutiny of the r protection and health, ts (Makley 2014) is still an conomic, eco-spiritual and