Sacred groves, sacred animals and cultural landmarks like rocks, trees, etc. have been instrumental in conserving the ecological diversity and have community norms attached to them. These are frequently also the spaces for recreation and celebration. Burial and cremation grounds, as also spaces used for open defecation, are spaces of communitarian importance which need to be taken note of. All of these add to the diversity of rural landscapes. The pros and cons of such spaces and the practices associated with them may be discussed here.

There are a variety of archaeological sites in rural landscapes such as temples, hero stones, old boundary markers, abandoned settlement sites, and even pre-historic mounds. Many parts of India, especially the arid and semi-arid regions, are noteworthy for traditional water management structures such as tanks and irrigation structures. Discussions regarding the institutional environment in which they operate and their ecological value may be taken up here.