The Marriage Ceremonies of the Inhabitants of the Mountain Villages of Kohitang

Surkhandarya is one of the ancient cradles of world civilization, with its rich history. Wide variety of national values, ancient customs, traditions, holidays, ceremonies and the unique examples of folklore has been preserved in that region. Especially, the intangible culture mountainious people of the Kuhitang in Surkhandarya region stands out. The peculiarity of this phase is that regional customs and rituals are not found in other countries and people. Among them, wedding customs hold a special place. In this article, the author, on the basis of approved materials and scientific sources, reveals the peculiar customs associated with the wedding of the mountain villages of Kuhitang.

Importance-Performance Analysis of Mountain Village Promotion Projects in the Forest Sector by Upper-Level Local Governments

Background and objective: Due to the recent crisis of extinction in local areas, the mountain village promotion policy is recognized as an important task. This study examined the priorities of major policy projects in the forest sector that affect mountain village promotion.Methods: For research methods, literature search, expert advisory meetings, and a survey were conducted. The survey was conducted on 42 policy stakeholders from June 1 to August 13, 2021. The literature search was based on policy projects in the forest sector by 8 upper-level local governments including mountain villages. For questionnaire items, 173 forest policy projects were classified into 27 types through expert review, and the importance and performance of each type were rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Paired t-test, IPA, Locus for Focus model, and Borich needs assessment were used as the analysis methods, and the statistical program SPSS 21.0 was used as the analytical tool.Results: The results showed that ‘creating forest-related jobs’ and ‘supporting cultivation of professional forestry workers’ both showed high importance and performance, implying that they would show an effect in mountain village promotion. ‘Creating forests for environmental improvement’, ‘discovering forest cultural assets’ ‘establishing and boosting forest tourism’, ‘providing forest therapy services’, ‘creating forest-related jobs’, ‘supporting community revitalization’, and ‘urban-rural exchanges’ were found to be the types that needed improvement and concentration for mountain village promotion. In particular, ‘creating forests for environmental improvement' and ‘discovering forest cultural assets’ were derived as priority considerations for mountain village promotion policies.Conclusion: In summary, it was found that in order to promote mountain villages, various content projects must be improved and carried out to enhance the physical environment and revitalize mountain villages.

Could COVID-19 Boost Greece’s Village Revival?

In the last decades, Greek villages, especially in mountainous and remote areas, are gradually depopulated and suffer from youth out-migration, school closures and unemployment. During this COVID-19 outbreak, there is an increasing trend of villages as destinations for domestic tourism for short holidays or longer stays. At the same time, this pandemic leads to a significant increase of remote working practices. This article explores the prospect for the revival of traditional villages via an Albergo Diffuso (AD) model with adjustments for both visitors and temporary distance-working residents. We analyze the AD concept as it has been employed in Italy, make minor adjustments to it, and investigate the applicability of such a model in order to overturn the current depopulation of rural and mountain villages in Greece and improve the wellbeing of the local communities. To this end, we present a comprehensive SWOT analysis and discuss the findings. Our approach lays the groundwork for further research that is required to successfully implement AD in mountainous villages.

Progress after the 2015 Nepal Earthquake: Evidence from Two Household Surveys in One of the Hardest-Hit Mountain Villages

Nepal was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 25 April 2015, followed by numerous aftershocks, including a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on 26 April and a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on 12 May. Using two household surveys of a panel of 377 households conducted in February 2016 and March 2020 in one of the hardest-hit mountain villages, we found that most of the households recovered well, having better housing, increased income, improved awareness about disaster risk, and better infrastructure facilities than before the earthquake. Notably, the poverty headcount index reduced by 16% from 2016 to 2020, and more than 90% of the households reconstructed into earthquake-resistant houses with financial and technical support, mainly, from the government. The village has increased the quality and length of rural roads; there is also wider coverage of clean water supply and better functioning school buildings and hospitals. Similarly, the subjective well-being of the people, gauged using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), has also increased. These aspects combined indicate improved community resilience and the sustainable development of the village. However, the progress differs significantly across gender, caste/ethnic as well as income groups, which calls for inclusive reconstruction and recovery policies as well as disaster risk reduction (DRR) frameworks at a local level to contribute to community resilience and sustainable mountain development.

A Note on Tree Worship in the Zaza Folk Beliefs

The article presents some historical evidence about the veneration of individual trees, primarily the juniper and the oak-trees, traditionally considered to be sacred in the Zaza culture, as well as generally groves and forests. Unfortunately, the once vast and rich forestal covering of the Zazas’ main habitat in Dersim (Tunceli), which was a proverbial phenomenon still in the beginning of the 20th century, has been almost totally exterminated as a result of the mistreatment by the Turkish government. The folk beliefs related to tree worship have also been considerably erased from the people’s memory, lingering on only among the elderly in the remote mountain villages as a dwindling echo of the past.