The Protected Landscape Approach - Centre for Mediterranean ...

The Protected Landscape Approach: Linking Nature, Culture and Community
Box 1.
The Sacred Forest Groves of Ghana
Small patches of forest were set aside, as sacred lands that could not be touched, and were strictly
protected by customary law. Such areas still exist in Ghana and are known as Abosompow or
Asoneyeso (Shrine), Mpanyinpow (ancestral forests) and Nsamanpow (burial grounds), and are
collectively known as sacred or fetish groves. Many are small, often less than one hectare, patches of
forest which were protected because they supported sacred, totem or tabooed species. The Boabeng-
Fiema Monkey Sanctuary is an example of a grove protected because the forest supports the black
and white colobus monkeys, which are considered sacred by the people of the two villages.
Sacred groves are controlled by the traditional authority (fetish priest, chief or clan head), but the
responsibility is vested in the entire community, with a select group having authority to enforce the
rules. For example Nkodurom grove, of approximately 5km 2 has been preserved for at least 300
years, and is composed of primary forest. The final authority over this grove rests with the Ashanti
king, though the functional authority is vested with the village chief. Taboos governing the grove
include the prohibition of:
all forms of use, including farming, hunting and collection of any plant material;
access, except to traditional authorities for the performance of customary rites or other
authorized persons;
access to all persons on Thursdays (as the spirits are believed to be resting on that day); and
access to menstruating women.
There are traditional guards patrolling the grove who will arrest intruders. The grove has not been
demarcated. There are no written rules, and the grove has no legal basis. But the rules are strictly
observed, and the traditional guards receive no payment. The sacred groves have survived because of
the strong traditional beliefs upheld by the local people and the spiritual, religious and cultural
attachments to the groves. The sacred groves in Ghana form a matrix of biotic islands with the
potential for conservation of remnant communities of flora and fauna. In many areas sacred forests
constitute the only remnant forest amidst severely degraded forest and farm lands. The survival of
sacred groves is threatened by the erosion of traditional beliefs that have sustained the systems. The
number of sacred groves has gradually shrunk in size due to encroachment by surrounding farms,
and a number have been lost to development projects. As a result, a possible management strategy for
the sacred groves of Ghana could include:
a national inventory of the groves and the biological resources in them;
legislation to reinforce the traditional regulations regarding use and access; and
provision of resources to improve local people’s capability to manage their groves.
Source: Ntiamoa-Baidu (1995)
islands of old growth in the region. The felling of trees is not allowed unless with the express
permission of the deity (Jeanrenaud, 2001). In two sacred groves in Kerala, India, four
threatened tree species were found (Nair and Mohanan, 1981). In Nepal, in one valley alone,
sacred groves are storehouses of useful plants (up to 150 species) which are otherwise absent or
rare in the rest of the valley (Mansberger, 1988). However, use may also be determined by the
relative power of the deity. For example, in Nanhini village in Ghana no one is allowed to enter
the sacred grove of the Goddess Numafoa, or ignore her taboos. But in the same village there is
a lesser deity, and that deity’s taboos are less strictly adhered to (Jeanrenaud, 2001). In
Venezuela, Maria Lionza is the forest Goddess, and depicted astride a tapir. The forest home of
the forest goddess Maria Lionza is a 40,000ha tropical rainforest that has not been used for
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