A COMPAS for cultural development A common interest in the sacred dimension of nature gave rise to a closer collaboration between Compas and CVNI. CVNI has been working with Compas since its conference on Endogenous Development and Biocultural Diversity in Geneva in 2006. At that time, CVNI itself was being created as a spin off from research with IUCN focusing on integrating cultural and spiritual values in nature conservation strategies. Part of this work was published with Compas in as part of a book series on Worldviews and Sciences. Based on this CVNI and Comas prepared a popular article outlining the importance of scared sites in endogenous development and nature conservation. The article featured Guatemalan Compas partner Oxlajuj Ajpop  which had proposed a law for recognition of Mayan sacred sites and worldviews with the Guatemalan parliament. The proposal is currently in the process of being legalized and can be seen as a major achievement of indigenous peoples in their struggle for their right of self determination. Compas is also contributing a case study to the sacred sites platform currently under development with CVNI. From collecting medicinal plants in sacred forests in Bolivia to cleansing bad spirits from people in sacred Zambian wetlands, the platform aims to bring out various forms of management of a sacred nature. As it turned out almost all of Compas’ global partners from South America, Africa and India had indicated the importance of sacred sites to their well-being.