The intangible heritage of protected natural areas

The paper addresses the methodological and conceptual difficulties encountered in the study of the intangible heritage in general, and specifically in protected natural areas. Problems arise in registering and treating the intangible cultural heritage because of the paradigmatic changes in anthropology, the definition of the intangible heritage in UNESCO documents, and also because of the changed social understanding of desirable and undesirable activities. The basic social unit in the analysis is the household.