Incorporating Social and Cultural Significance of Large Old Trees in Conservation Policy

In addition to providing key ecological functions, large old trees are a part of a social realm and as such provide numerous social-cultural benefits to people. However, their social and cultural values are often neglected when designing conservation policies and management guidelines. We believe that awareness of large old trees as a part of human identity and cultural heritage is essential when addressing the issue of their decline worldwide. Large old trees provide humans with aesthetic, symbolic, religious, and historic values, as well as concrete tangible benefits, such as leaves, branches, or nuts. In many cultures particularly large trees are treated with reverence. Also, contemporary popular culture utilizes the image of trees as sentient beings and builds on the ancient myths that attribute great powers to large trees. Although the social and cultural role of large old trees is usually not taken into account in conservation, accounting for human-related values of these trees is an important part of conservation policy because it may strengthen conservation by highlighting the potential synergies in protecting ecological and social values. Incorporacion del Significado Social y Cultural de arboles Anejos a Politicas de Conservacion Resumen Ademas de cumplir funciones ecologicas clave, los arboles anejos son una parte del ambito social y como tal proporcionan numerosos beneficios sociales y culturales a la gente. Sin embargo, sus valores sociales y culturales a menudo no reciben atencion cundo se disenan politicas de conservacion y directrices de manejo. Consideramos que la conciencia sobre arboles anejos, como parte de la identidad y patrimonio humanos, es esencial cuando se aborda el tema de su declinacion mundial. Los arboles anejos y grandes proporcionan valores esteticos, simbolicos, religiosos e historicos, asi como beneficios concretos tangibles como hojas, ramas o frutos. En muchas culturas, los arboles anejos son tratados con reverencia. Tambien, la cultura popular contemporanea utiliza la imagen de arboles como seres sensibles y se basa en mitos antiguos que les atribuyen grandes poderes. Mientras que el papel social y cultural de arboles anejos generalmente no es tomado en cuenta en la conservacion, la consideracion de los valores relacionados con humanos de estos arboles es una parte importante de las politicas de conservacion porque pueden fortalecer la conservacion al resaltar las sinergias potenciales de los valores ecologicos y sociales.