Temple Guardians

The conservation of a community’s cultural or natural resources across much of rural India and indeed Asia is closely linked with the function that heritage continues to perform for the community. Traditional management systems have been developed to preserve these resources over the centuries. However, as these resources become increasingly vulnerable, in an era of climatic change and globalisation, traditional communities have to cope with a whole new range of issues. In rare cases, they are able to make the leap by forming new partnerships and developing new models of development that help to carry their traditional way of life into the future. The initiatives undertaken at Basgo in Ladakh have become a well known example of community stewardship in the preservation of their heritage.