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The role of taboos in conservation of sacred groves in Ghana's TallensiNabdam district Rita Yembilah Barre a; Miriam Grant a;Dianne Draper a a Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

To cite this Article Barre, Rita Yembilah , Grant, Miriam andDraper, Dianne(2009) 'The role of taboos in conservation of

sacred groves in Ghana's Tallensi-Nabdam district', Social & Cultural Geography, 10: 1, 25 — 39 To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/14649360802553194 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14649360802553194

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The role of taboos in conservation of sacred groves in Ghana’s Tallensi-Nabdam district Rita Yembilah Barre, Miriam Grant & Dianne Draper Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, T2N 1N4, [email protected] More than half of Ghana’s forest cover has been lost to deforestation. Although the Tallensi-Nabdam district has suffered deforestation, portions of the biosphere called sacred groves have survived. The purpose of this study was to explore the particular reasons why the groves have thrived by articulating precise sacred grove taboos, many of which are gender specific. Our enquiry led to a compendium of taboos categorized into environmental, social and regulatory conventions. We found that the adherence to taboo and fear of repercussions, including barrenness and even death, plays a role in the continued preservation of the sacred groves. Also, people who do not adhere to traditional religions still stayed away from sacred groves to avoid dealing with traditional authorities. The paper indicates that in spite of modernization, taboos serve useful purposes in the conservation of biodiversity within sacred groves. The paper extends the argument that biodiversity conservation is linked with cultural preservation. Key words: deforestation, sacred groves, taboo, conservation, Ghana.

Introduction Under the auspices of UNESCO, the Man and Biosphere (MAB) programme was launched in the early 1970s to reduce biodiversity loss by focusing on ecological, social and economic dimensions of environmental protection. MAB has three aims: (1) to reduce biodiversity loss through research and capacity-building for ecosystem management, (2) to promote environmental sustainability through the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), and (3) to enhance the linkages between cultural and biological diversity.1

UNESCO (n.d.) defines Biosphere Reserves as ‘areas of terrestrial and coastal ecosystems promoting solutions to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use’ that serve as living laboratories for testing and demonstrating integrated management of land, water and biodiversity. As indicated in Figure 1, Biosphere Reserves have a core area (Zone 1) in which human interference is prohibited (except for conservators). Research activities are permitted in the buffer zone (Zone 2), while the transition zone (Zone 3) may be used for human habitation and sustainable activities.

ISSN 1464-9365 print/ISSN 1470-1197 online/0809/010025-15 q 2009 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/14649360802553194


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Rita Yembilah Barre et al.

Figure 1 The zonation of Biosphere Reserves. Source: UNESCO (2007). Although globally the WNBR has 525 Reserves, only sixty-eight are distributed over thirty African countries (UNESCO n.d.). The only Ghanaian Reserve is the Bia Forest Reserve, established in 1983. While symbolic of UNESCO’s recognition of biodiversity within Ghana, the Bia is situated in the rainforest, leaving the savanna, including numerous sacred groves, vulnerable to deforestation. The WNBR’s emphasis on the linkages between culture, sacred sites, and biodiversity forms the basis of our contribution to understanding the interactions between culture and biodiversity in northern Ghana. Within the MAB/WNBR framework, the relevant issues to this research are: a. establishing a knowledge base on cultural practices fostering local-level sustainable use of biodiversity in biosphere reserves b. raising awareness of the role of sacred natural sites, cultural landscapes and intangible heritage in ecosystem management.2

Our research, conducted in Ghana’s TallensiNabdam district, is intended to advance these goals of the MAB and contribute to the growing knowledge in this area. Our research also ties in with the Millennium Development Goal on ensuring environmental sustainability (MDG no. 7). Following adoption of the Millennium Declaration in 2000, eight Millennium Development Goals were to be achieved by 2015. These goals include eradication of poverty, expansion of primary education, promotion of gender equality, and reduction in child mortality. Other goals are to: improve maternal health, combat key diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, promote environmental sustainability and work toward a global partnership for development (UNDP n.d.). To facilitate this process, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was set up in 2004 to assist selected poor countries on the basis of good governance, promotion of economic freedom and investment in its people. Administered by the MCC, the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) contains the pool of aid funds given to selected


Role of taboos in conservation countries. In 2006, Ghana was a beneficiary of a US$547 million MCA grant to bolster its economic growth efforts. However, all of Ghana’s elusive economic development, since independence, has come at serious environmental costs. About 1900, Ghana’s rainforests covered approximately 8.2 million hectares; a dwindling 1.3 million remain today (Ofori-Sarpong 1999). This rapid decline is from exploitation by largescale timber and mining companies, smallscale chain-saw operators, illegal mining, bush fires and fuel wood use in the country. Statistics show that: woodfuels constitute about 80% of the energy consumed in Ghana. Firewood accounts for over 90% of rural energy use, while in urban Ghana, charcoal makes up about 70% of energy consumption. At current trends of utilisation, estimates indicate that by 1992 Ghana will begin to consume more woodfuel than the forests are able to regenerate. (Laing 1991: 33)

The sustainable yield of forest utilisation in Ghana has been exceeded, leading to environmental degradation (Miller 2004). OforiSarpong (1999) projected that an annual depletion rate of 2 per cent would deplete the forests by 2020. In 1986, the United Nations Sudano-Sahelian Office (UNSO) and Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency,3 warned that Northeastern Ghana was at high risk of desertification. Since then, the situation has worsened and rural people pay the price in poor soils, scarce water and longer periods seeking fuel wood. One glimmer of hope is a traditional worldview that ascribes nature a sacred place and contains a system of taboos and adherences that preserve portions of the biosphere. Scattered around the country, these places include sacred groves, similar to the Biosphere

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Reserves UNESCO seeks to protect. Through these sacred groves there is potential to recognize the role of culture in biodiversity conservation.

Sacred groves and religious practice in Tallensi-Nabdam Sacred groves are areas of vegetation preserved through local taboos and sanctions that express ecological and spiritual values (Agyepong, Nabila, Gyasi and Kufogbe 1999). Sacred groves occur so commonly in the Tallensi-Nabdam district that renowned anthropologists (Fortes 1945), agriculturalists (Ramsey and Rose-Innes 1963) and geographers (Hunter 1965) commented on their occurrence although none studied the reasons for their preponderance. Locally, the sacred groves are called Tenggbama (plural) or Teng-gban (singular) and translate literally as land skin. In Northern Ghana, the secular heads of traditional society (chiefs) sit on cow skins to mark their office. The ‘land skin’ signifies the spiritual hub of the community and is presided over by the Teng-Ndaan [owner of the land, shortened to Ndaan (singular); Ndaan-nam (plural)]. The Ndaan, the mediator between the physical and the spiritual, is chosen from the local community to perform rites related to the spiritual needs of adherents. Each sacred grove has a name and a legend regarding its creation. Typical legends are that groves started because an ancestor died there, received good fortune or first settled on the grove site. The relationship of groves to lineages varies widely between communities, although generally Ndaan-nam come from families which originally settled the land. However, in the Nabdam area, only the most senior males from certain kin groups are eligible to be


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chosen as Ndaan, whilst in Tallensi, all males are eligible. Irrespective of eligibility, contenders present a fowl to the soothsayer who performs a ritual in which the fowls are ‘supernaturally’ killed. The presenter of the fowl that lies facing upward in death is the chosen Ndaan. The most powerful grove in Tallensi is believed to be the Dunkpaliga whilst the Sakoran Moog is its counterpart in Nabdam. Sacred groves are visited only if one has legitimate business there. Religion comprises beliefs and practices associated with the supernatural (Nukunya 2003). Although early missionaries believed that Africans had no concept of God, by studying religion from a Ghanaian perspective, Rattray (1916) discovered that an African’s concept of God is endogenous. African Traditional Religion is built on belief in God, divinities, spirits, ancestors and magic (Idowu 1973). Ghanaian traditional belief comprises the High God, small gods, ancestors, witchcraft, magic and sorcery, and divination (Nukunya 2003), elements that are present in traditional worship in TallensiNabdam. It is common for natives to punctuate everyday conversations with ti ba nam (our forefathers), thus invoking the spirits of the ancestors in their lives. Ancestors, however, are not worshipped but venerated because ancestors lived blameless lives and died naturally in old age (Sarpong 1974). Their strength of character puts them in a good position to mediate for the living. Mediation is critical. The Ndaan mediates with the ancestors, who mediate with the small gods, who mediate with the High God on behalf of the people. Small gods are believed to inhabit forests, rivers, rocks, and even earth but not the sky. Natural objects are revered but not worshipped for being the abode of the small gods. It is believed that if one has not offended the gods there is nothing

to fear from the groves. Contrary to belief in malevolent spirits in parts of Asia, adherents of Ghanaian traditional religion refer to wicked gods which do not give enough warning before bringing tribulation to offenders. Traditionalists in Tallensi-Nabdam believe that gods derive power from the Supreme Being and the gods’ efficacy depends on their standing with Him. Since this belief is tied to the conduct of worshippers, the gods demand exact compliance with regard to ritual. Traditionalists contact the spirits through divination which thrives on the manipulation of objects to tell the future, discover the unknown or interpret events. Divination is conducted by soothsayers, although herbalists also use the art.

Research design We conceptualised a qualitative study spanning eight villages (Tongo, Baare, Yagzore, Gbeogo, Nangodi, Sakoti, Ndong and Nyogbare) and fifteen sacred groves in the TallensiNabdam district (Figure 2). In total, forty-two people were interviewed including forty residents of the traditional areas and two grove custodians selected on the basis of their unique relationship with two of the most powerful groves in the area. In this largely undifferentiated district (in terms of culture, economic and social status) groves in the Tallensi area are purported to be more powerful and have stricter rules compared to the Nabdam area. The forty resident respondents comprised twenty-five males and fifteen females aged between 18 and 70. Respondents were selected based on their willingness to participate and on their potential to contribute relevant knowledge. This included elderly men and women likely to be


Role of taboos in conservation

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Figure 2 Location of some villages in relation to the major roads. Source: Rita Yembilah Barre. knowledgeable about the groves and associated practices, and a mixture of Christians and traditional worshippers.4 Interview topics included the significance of the sacred groves, taboos, and penalties. A cross-sectional system of data coding and analysis was used to analyse and interpret field data (Mason 1996). Throughout the text, specific interview results are referenced using interview codes such as ‘007, Tallensi’.

Sacred sites and cultural and biological diversity Literature on sacred sites supports the contention that grove conservation is an indirect result of the adherence to religious practices (Bharuch 1999; Chandran and Hughes 1997; Falconer 1999). Their origin should not detract from the conservation outcome;

instead efforts could be made to promote the cultural and religious conditions that preserve the groves. Sacred groves have been affected by local people’s exposure to imported religions, formal education and increased migration (Bharuch 1999; Dittoh and Bruce 2001; Falconer 1999), factors that influence cultural facets of society although ‘scores of sacred groves persist’ (Chandran and Hughes 1997), as shown in Figures 3 and 4. An inventory of groves in the study area shows groves in the region are still held in high esteem as evidenced by the fact that four villages in the Tallensi area have as many as twenty-four groves. Geographical manifestations of belief in sacred groves are numerous. In the Middle East and North Africa, single trees can be considered sacred, a practice found, but uncommon, in Tallensi-Nabdam. In addition, the bare ground can be considered sacred and


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Figure 3 The Bogr Zoor grove in Nangodi. This is reputed to be the third most powerful grove in Nabdam. Photograph: Rita Yembilah Barre. is usually protected by a heap of stones. Sacred groves vary in size from more than thirty hectares to less than a hectare (Mgumia and Oba 2003). There seems to be worldwide unanimity that sacred places are the abode of spirits, and cannot be worshipped in their own right. Parallels can be drawn regarding why sacred groves are established in parts of the Middle East (Dafni 2006) and Ghana (this article). Groves in Tallensi-Nabdam are not distinctly related to the cemeteries of chiefs, an important departure from what transpires in

Figure 4 The Dunkpaliga grove in Tongo. Reputed to be the most powerful grove in Tallensi. Photograph: Rita Yembilah Barre.

Tanzania (Mgumia and Oba 2003). Sacred groves exhibit shared characteristics in countries as diverse as Zimbabwe, Japan and Estonia. The sacredness of particular trees or groves often transcends religious and temporal divides; sacredness does not rule out the mundane uses of such sites, and many groves are actively managed to maintain their cultural manifestations. Practices associated with the groves show few signs of diminishing (Soutter, Ntiamoa-Baidu, Smith and Rana 2003). Falconer (1999) makes three observations regarding groves and conservation: (1) the younger generation tends to disregard the sacred taboos; (2) the protection of sacred forests varies so widely it is difficult to identify groves that can be used as conservation models; and (3) a clearer understanding of the spiritual, mystical and political functions of the groves is needed before research can be conducted on their physical condition and conservation value (Falconer 1999, emphasis added). Although cognizant of Falconer’s observations, the preservation of sacred groves should be seen as fulfilling some human obligations to earth. A draft of the Earth Charter presented at the World Summit on Sustainable Development stressed ‘respect and care for the community of life in all its diversity’. That document also termed the preservation of the environment a sacred responsibility tied to justice and peace (Taylor 2004). For this reason, this paper contends that deep knowledge of the mystical and spiritual powers of groves should not be prerequisites for harnessing their conservation value. The practices relating to groves should be acknowledged in their own right. Falconer (1999) suggests that formal education and introduced religions threaten the survival of the groves. However, the traditional worldview of the majority of Ghanaians has not


Role of taboos in conservation changed (Nukunya 2003). Busia (1950) studied the religious choices of Ghanaians and concluded that people’s profession of Christianity is a ‘thin veneer’ because often Christians turn to traditional African religions. This implies that people (even those who profess to be Christians) avoid the groves because they believe, at least partially, in the power of traditional deities, which protects the sacred groves from destruction (Soutter, Ntiamoa-Baidu, Smith and Rana 2003). Taboos are ‘prohibitions which, when violated, produce automatically in the offender a state of ritual disability . . . only relieved when the relief is possible, by a ceremony of purification’ (Webster 1973: viii). Sacred sites remain sacred by peoples’ adherence to taboos and rituals of purification. Taboos specify what can and cannot be done and should not be confused with ‘social conventions of a negative sort without an obvious utility’ (Webster 1973: vii). Douglas (1966) and Adler and Fardon (1999) also discuss similar positions. Taboos identify and classify transgressions, and isolate the institutional location of danger through specification of the dangerous, which protects society from the danger (Adler and Fardon 1999), ideas Douglas (1966) espoused in her significant Purity and Danger. Webster (1973: 371) maintains that taboos have economic and social aspects, the former relating to ‘food rules’ and the latter, to a state of mind that compels everyone to unquestioningly obey, thus making taboos self-enforcing ‘thou-shalt-nots’. Taboos have been examined from a pathographic perspective through autobiographic accounts of how patients behave depending on perceived source of ailments (Brown 2001). The willingness of people with infectious diseases to acknowledge their condition publicly suggests that taboos influence the representation of illness and disease. The prohibitive, classificatory and

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pathographic functions play out in the context of sacred groves.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge in conservation Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) connotes knowledge, practice and belief concerning the relationship of living beings to one another and to the physical environment (Kimmerer 2002). The crux of TEK is the role local people and their knowledge can play in ecosystem management. Literature on TEK emphasises the explicitly ecological aspects of traditional knowledge (Lalonde 1993; Phuthego and Chanda 2004) to the neglect of beliefs and practices. Spiritual beliefs and practices (taboos) play a pivotal role in the conservation of sacred natural sites. When asked to compare groves with surrounding vegetation locals often described groves as ‘thick’, ‘moist’, ‘dark’, or ‘green’, indicating that groves stand apart from the rest of the vegetation. Although some taboos forbid using grove trees in certain ways, other taboos reinforce sacredness and conservation. Ideally, proponents of TEK would acknowledge these relationships and integrate them into strategies for biological and cultural conservation. Stevenson (2005) offers a framework for the integration of indigenous peoples into environmental decision making and suggests that locals should be consulted first since they can provide ecological, economic, political and socio-cultural information necessary for conservation. Much as this framework is well thought out, it can be improved by isolating, understanding and including the role of taboos in conservation. Taboos are greeted with scepticism in much of the ‘scientific’ community. Kimmerer’s (2002) article on TEK and science emphasises


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that the next generation of natural resource managers needs exposure to TEK. Much as the ‘scientific’ benefits of TEK are important, nonscientific knowledge is crucial to the success of programmes distinctly connected to traditional worldviews. For instance, locals in Northeastern Ghana refrain from planting trees because they believe that one transfers their spirit to the tree and if it survives, the person will die. Resource managers need to accommodate superstitious positions such as this to achieve biodiversity conservation.

Sacred groves and the lives of local people Sacred groves play important roles in the lives of people rooted in traditional religion. The groves meet spiritual, social, economic and political needs, and are consulted to pacify or to make requests. For pacification, the ‘problem’ normally involves contravention of taboo, in which case the gods, through a soothsayer, name the penalty. When making a request, a person decides what to sacrifice upon receiving a desired answer. People from other locations also consult grove gods, most commonly for wealth. Communities sacrifice for many reasons: before the raining season and after the harvest, Ndaannam perform sacrifices to solicit a good season or to offer gratitude for the harvest. During drought, the custodian may mediate with the gods for rain. The gods are consulted to ward off misfortune or to ask favour. This study yielded sixteen adherences categorized into environmental taboos, social taboos and regulatory conventions. The difference between taboos and regulatory conventions is that breaking taboos without pacification brings punishment while breaking regulatory conventions sends a message of bad grove stewardship.

Environmental taboos These taboos perform distinctly environmental functions of preserving the vegetation and wildlife in the groves. The foremost taboo is that people should not enter the groves without good reason. ‘Ordinary people only go there when they have an offering to make or want to appease the gods’ (007, Tallensi). In some locations, provided they had no sinister intentions, ordinary people could sit at the edge of the grove and present problems; in other places people always had to be accompanied by the Ndaan. It is taboo to enter groves without the prescribed attire, although the rules are stricter where groves are more ‘powerful’. Women should wear a cloth around their chest, and more recently, they can wear a knee length skirt but not anything that covers the shoulders or neck. Men must be bare-chested and wear traditional or western-style shorts without sandals. Grove custodians should be clad in their ‘official’ attire, which they wear all the time: traditional shorts (kpalang), skin (gban) worn across the back, hat (Ndaan zupibg) especially reserved for them and a walking stick (duo). Men from the grove custodian’s household dress like the Ndaan (except where their status prohibits it) without the duo. Women from the Ndaan’s household cannot attend sacrifices unless they are requesting some service from the Ndaan. In Tallensi, the dress codes are strictly enforced. If someone enters a grove inappropriately clad, any excess clothing would be left in the groves. One respondent, referring to the Laatii said, ‘this grove is like that. If you are about to enter it, you have to take off your clothes. No hats and sandals are permitted. If you enter it with clothes on, a taboo has been broken’ (005, Tallensi). The same rule applies to children who are ‘old enough to run


Role of taboos in conservation around and into the groves. They are old enough to understand what they are told not to do and what to do if they do the wrong thing. Those clothes have to be left in the grove before they leave the grove’ (005, Tallensi). In Nabdam, the rules are different. Dress codes constituted taboo in some groves but not in others. ‘There are very many small groves that people can enter with clothes but with the Babur and Kpalyeong [groves], no one enters them in clothes’ (008, Nabdam). Dressing properly before entering groves is intended to humble visitors in the presence of the gods. Observing dress rules separates everyday life from encounters with the gods. It is forbidden to use sharp instruments on grove trees or to take wet, dry or fallen wood or twigs from groves or to take grove wood into homes. The only exception is for old women—because of their age and possible inability to look far for wood. They can take only fallen dried wood and twigs, which must be used outside the household compound. Although these prohibitions do not extend to fruit, fruits are to be picked only for personal use: ‘the people dare not to try to deceive the gods. Human eyes may not see them but the gods have and the repercussions will come; unless the person goes to pacify. No one can do that [pacify] without admitting the transgression’ (Grove custodian, Nabdam). Sometimes, seeds must be deposited at the grove, implying that fruit can only be eaten there, and suggesting that groves could be storehouses for untainted genes of scarce tree species. No adult is permitted to climb grove trees to harvest fruit. If a child falls from a grove tree, something sinister may be about to happen. A male child is required to run around the grove tree three times, and a female, four times and report the incident to their parents for the appropriate steps to be taken. Three is understood to be the lucky number for males and four for females

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and these represent the number of times people can legitimately ‘have a go at’ almost anything. It is taboo to extract any product from groves for medicinal use because at any point in time people are in need of roots, bark or leaves to cure ailments. Coupled with the steep prices of orthodox medicines, this taboo is firmly enforced in both the Tallensi and Nabdam traditional areas. Bharuch (1999) reported that some groves in India had complete bans on activity. In our study, the fruit ban in certain groves was seasonal while the prohibition to tamper with trees for medicine or firewood was in force year round. Groves with fruit restrictions were the most potent ones as measured by how quickly they addressed problems or punished offenders. Apart from these restrictions, groves could be visited at any time ‘but generally no one goes to the grove at night unless the person is in serious trouble. In that case he goes with the grove custodian . . . There is no taboo that says today or this month don’t go to the grove, or don’t take anything from it’ (017, Nabdam). Some groves, however, are never visited in the afternoon. ‘People who live in the community know which groves are day or night groves’ (Custodian, Tallensi). These groves are very powerful; non-natives are never taken there.5

Social taboos The presence of groves in communities reminds people to conduct themselves properly. Social taboos regulate individuals’ interactions and the expected behaviour when they go near the groves. Social taboos are parallel in importance to environmental taboos since they enhance the sacredness of the groves, where sacredness is directly proportional to level of conservation.


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If a person breaks the taboo of swearing by the groves, the person immediately has to pacify the gods by asking the grove custodian to perform a sacrifice for them. Community members cannot wail, scream or yell except on receipt of terribly bad news. When near groves, people must refrain from making unnecessary noise and from fighting. If one has seriously offended a neighbour, for example by stealing an item, and has not made peace at the grove, she or he is not to eat or drink with the victim. Disregarding these taboos not only represents irreverence for the gods, but puts offenders in bad standing with the ancestors and small gods. Social taboos guard the serenity of the gods’ surroundings and maintain reverence for the community’s spiritual hub. By extension, trees in the groves remain safe from plundering. With the exception of some groves in Gbeogo, when a sacrifice has been performed, women of childbearing age are forbidden to eat the meat on penalty of barrenness. Women comply because a taste of such meat cannot compensate for the threatened price— especially since the culture thrives on fecund women. It is taboo for menstruating or pregnant women to enter a grove even with the Ndaan; therefore women are asked their state when requesting help. If either case applies, the sacrifice will proceed, but she will wait on the fringe of the grove while the others sacrifice on her behalf. Menstruating women are considered unclean and pregnant women are seen as infirm and unable to withstand any actions especially if the gods have reason to be upset with them. Apart from the taboos, two practices which we refer to as regulatory conventions, emerged from this study. Firstly, residents are enjoined not to farm too close to groves. They may cultivate the land in all directions from the grove but must ensure no harm comes to it. In

Figure 5 A grove in Yagzore saved from a bushfire. Photograph: Rita Yembilah Barre. the localities studied, about five to ten metres separated groves and farmlands. Secondly, people are encouraged to cut the grass around the groves at the onset of the dry season to protect them from fire. As Figure 5 shows, locals endeavour to protect the groves from fire. At the height of the bush fire risk season, this grove located in Yagzore was saved because surrounding grass had been cut. The taboos and conventions discussed above are inexhaustive factors that have built sacred groves into physical and cultural relics. The socio-psychological context in which taboos thrive is necessary to understand why and how taboos tend to be self-enforcing.

Exacting compliance In the Tallensi-Nabdam area, traditional worshippers strongly believe in negative repercussions for contravening taboos so efforts are made to avoid transgressions, failing which, necessary steps are taken to avert trouble. This is the reason: Our ancestors said some things are taboo and we believe them. We believe if anyone breaks a taboo there is a consequence. If a woman of childbearing age eats the sacrificed animal, the result will be

Role of taboos in conservation


barrenness. Our ancestors said so. We do not know if it still works, but we believe it enough not to want to do anything wrong. (005, Tallensi)

The gods, however, differentiate between the transgressions of ‘strangers’, ‘children of the land’ (teng-bii) and ‘strangers who know’. Strangers are people with no kinship ties to the community and people with a traceable history who have been disconnected from it, resulting in unfamiliarity with traditional expectations. Strangers who are seen transgressing ‘minor’ taboos are notified and warned not to repeat that behaviour. They may pacify the gods by offering money to the Ndaan for a sacrifice. In the event the offender is not noticed, ‘no harm will come to him because the gods understand he does not know’ (011, Tallensi). ‘Children of the land’ are natives of the community who have been raised according to traditional standards. They have knowledge of taboos, practices and etiquette and face stiff punishments for disobedience. People without kinship ties to the community who have been socialized there and have knowledge of traditional expectations, are ‘strangers who know’. Irrespective of their knowledge and length of stay, they are not children of the land. They cannot contest the position of Ndaan, which demonstrates the connection of the office to ethnicity. However, penalties are the same for teng-bii and ‘strangers who know’. A ‘child of the land’, who breaks taboo, is to report to the grove custodian who asks the culprit to visit the soothsayer for a pronouncement of the fine, which depends entirely on the outcome of divination. The fine could be a fowl, guinea fowl, sheep, goat or cow depending on the gravity of the transgression, although sometimes large sacrifices have been demanded for minor offences. Generally, if one reports himself/herself, the fine is a fowl or

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guinea fowl if the offending action is minor such as entering a grove with clothes on. The determination of minor and major offences is relative to the other taboos. Entering with clothes on—although strictly enforced in some areas—is minor compared with cutting branches, digging roots or fighting at the grove. If the offending action is major, the fine is a goat or sheep. If an offender cannot afford the fine, he may be asked to present a lesser fine which could be water. But the inability to afford a fine is rare as every household rears animals. It is believed that barrenness would result if a woman of childbearing age eats meat from a sacrificed animal. The story is told of a woman who disregarded this taboo in the Dunkpaliga grove in Tongo (see Figure 4) and paid the price. She married three times but was unable to have children, so the marriages broke up. Since her story spread far and wide she moved to Southern Ghana. ‘She comes home from time to time, but there is still no child at her back’ (001, Tallensi). A woman in Sakoti recounted how her Aunt developed swellings on her limbs and was sent to both the hospital and herbalist for treatment to no avail. The family consulted a soothsayer who intimated that she had taken wood from the Kpalyeong grove in Sakoti (which she admitted) and that the wood should be returned and a sacrifice made for her recovery. Since all the wood in the house had been packed together and they could not tell which was from the grove, they carried all the firewood to the grove and a sacrifice of a sheep was performed. After about three days, the swellings began to heal and she recovered (009, Nabdam). Asked about the result if an offender, who is a ‘child of the land’, disregards the fines, the responses were unequivocal: ‘the grove gods will come after them if they insist that the


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groves are just trees. Disaster will strike sooner or later’ (Ndaan, Tallensi). ‘The person can walk away, but death will not be very far behind’ (004, Tallensi). The 1996 story of four young men who left the village of Kongo demonstrates the alleged power of traditional deities. When they returned home, they renounced their faith in traditional religion, went against the counsel of old people and cut wood from the groves to build their houses. One by one, they died tragically, and evidenced to believers that the groves are still potent (Grove custodian, Nabdam). The belief in taboo translates into the notion of disease causation: diseases are either ‘physical’ or ‘spiritual’. Unlike physical ailments, spiritual ailments do not respond to physical treatment. This is where Brown’s (2001) work comes into sharp focus. People may hide their ailments because of possible connections to taboo, and this reflects the downside of taboo. For breaking taboos without seeking redress, transgressors eventually become sick; ailments are not specific as the gods choose ‘how to remind you of your crime’ (003, Tallensi). The ailment could be a ‘normal’ disease such as fever, stomach-ache, swollen limbs, diarrhoea, broken bones, and sometimes, a series of misfortunes. That is why it is standard practice to visit the soothsayer at the start of illness, even as the sick person is taken for medical advice. If the ailment is not spiritual, the doctors are left to do their work. If it is spiritual and peace is not made with the gods, the person inevitably will die. But there was a note of conciliation concerning the action of the gods: The gods are not quick to kill people. There are graduations of sicknesses or misfortunes and the gods expect you to take cue and seek redress. It is only when they are tired of waiting or realize you are stubborn they will kill you. You can be in poor

health for five years. It is not as if the person will be sick all the time. The symptoms will come and go and come again. Maybe, a different disease. Doctors will treat but it will not go. Herbalists will treat but it will not go. That is when you know the sickness is spiritual. Any grove that kills without warning is a wicked grove.6 (014, Nabdam)

Fear of repercussions is not the only reason people obey the taboos: some respondents avoided sacred groves not through belief but to avoid the fines. One young man in Nangodi did not see the rationale in giving an animal to the grove custodian and a group of people to eat at his expense. ‘I do not know if the taboos work or if the gods work. It is difficult to rear animals. A small goat is now almost 120,000 cedis [sixteen Canadian dollars in 2003]. I could use that to pay my daughter’s school fees’ (019, Nabdam). According to the Ndaan in Tallensi youth who migrate come home with a tendency to disobey traditional laws in general but the role of the grove custodian makes it difficult to disregard his office since when one is ready to build a house, the grove custodian must cut the sod. Some Christians we interviewed flatly refused to give their allegiance to ‘such demonic practices’ but avoided the groves to prevent having to deal with soothsayers and Ndaan-nam, thus contradicting the view that Christianity is a threat to the groves (see Falconer 1999). A general observation is that the society is not divided based on belief or disbelief in the groves. At Ndong, we interviewed a woman from a house in which traditionalists and Christians lived together in harmony, a common situation. Although the TallensiNabdam society is undergoing gradual social transformation in terms of exposure to western education, different faiths and migration, people respect the groves as the

Role of taboos in conservation spiritual hub of these communities, which safeguards the groves from destruction.


Full circle: TEK and sacred groves conservation in Tallensi-Nabdam This paper has discussed the cultural aspects of TEK which local people have used to manage sacred groves. This segment is devoted to a discussion of how programmes such as the MAB can harness TEK to continue the conservation of sacred groves, especially since modern influences have not left the sacred groves completely unscathed (Dittoh and Bruce 2001). Firstly, it is important to realise that the world’s biodiversity is not confined to biodiversity hotspots. Attention should be given to places of seemingly low biodiversity that local communities have managed in spite of wider deforestation. Secondly, such initiatives should be context specific and utilize local people (Ndaan-nam) and local institutions. The MAB should conduct feasibility studies on how to harness community power brokers into its initiatives since these people have an understanding of how their communities work. Thirdly, the power dynamics should be acknowledged. Local people should have the turf in terms of expertise. Practitioners must yield expertise to local people for two reasons— so that locals would be more inclined to use their agency and to ensure locals would drive a large part of the agenda. Fourthly, there have been reports of animosity between local people and protected areas because of the exclusionary approach to protected area management. Sacred groves are endogenous protected areas which gives them a margin of community acceptance. To conserve the groves in tandem with local communities, conservators must resist the temptation to annex the groves for

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‘proper’ conservation. Fifthly, conservators should be explicit about their intentions for the sacred groves, what communities stand to gain or lose, and encourage communities to provide leadership on how cultural and biological diversity can be conserved. The emphasis should be on three pillars: context, participation and continuity. We have presented the beliefs and practices that amplify the context in which indigenous people conserve sacred groves, how taboos contribute to conservation outcomes in deteriorating environments and how social taboos contribute substantially to the reverence of groves and the inclination to conserve them. The adherence to taboo even translates into nonpunitive regulatory conventions, facets of grove practices that reinforce the belief in taboo. We also learned useful lessons for conservation programmes. Since it is critical to understand the relationship between people and the environment, conservationists need to engage in dialogue with communities to have a clear understanding of what can and cannot be done before designing conservation programmes. For instance, the majority of respondents in the study area were open to outside help for the continued conservation of the groves, but noted that their religious and cultural beliefs should not take second place. Often, researchers romanticize culture and assume that once the objective is to preserve culture there will be zero opposition from local communities. Failure to grasp the centrality of religious and cultural beliefs for locals could derail wellmeaning, potentially mutually beneficial efforts. Sacred groves are repositories of species nearing depletion which, if continually conserved, could potentially serve as gene banks for the propagation of endangered tree species. The MAB programme presents an excellent means to maintain both biological and cultural diversity throughout the region.

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Acknowledgements We acknowledge the contributions of John Zoogah, Len and June Perry, Nicholina Yembilah and Solomon Barry for their support. We would like to thank all respondents and field assistants who participated in this study and especially Subazaa Dok who died shortly after an inspiring interview. Notes 1 2 3 4 5

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See ,unesco.org./mab/index.shtml.. See ,unesco.org./mab/index.shtml.. Workshop on Combating the Effects of Drought and Desertification, Accra, Ghana, 1986. Most of Northern Ghana’s significant Muslim population is concentrated in urban areas. Our sense is that night ‘groves’ are not trees but the bare earth, although conclusive evidence could not be collected at the time of this work. Wicked groves are purported to be so powerful and vengeful that not enough time is given for offenders to seek redress. ‘Night groves’ might also be termed wicked since they are also supposedly very powerful.

References Adler, J. and Fardon, R. (eds) (1999) Taboo, Truth and Religion. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books. Agyepong, G.T., Nabila, J.S., Gyasi, E.A. and Kufogbe, S.K. (1999) Population, land use and the environment in a West African Savanna ecosystem: an approach to sustainable land-use on community lands in northern Ghana, in Baudot, B.S. and Moomaw, W.R. (eds) People and Their Planet: Searching for Balance. New York: St Martin’s Press, pp. 39–52. Bharuch, E. (1999) Cultural and spiritual values related to the conservation of biodiversity in the sacred groves of the Western Ghats in Maharashtra, in Posey, D. (ed.) Cultural and Spiritual Values of Conservation: A Complementary Contribution to the Global Biodiversity Assessment. London: Intermediate Technology Press, pp. 382–384. Brown, J. (2001) Silence, taboo and infectious disease, in Mills, A. and Smith, J. (eds) Utter Silence: Voicing the Unspeakable. New York: Peter Lang, pp. 83–91. Busia, K. (1950) Report on a Social Survey of SekondiTakoradi. London: Crown Agents.

Chandran, S. and Hughes, D. (1997) The sacred groves of South India: ecology, traditional communities and religious change, Social Compass 44: 413 –427. Dafni, A. (2006) On the typology and the worship status of sacred trees with a special reference to the Middle East, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2: 26. Dittoh, S. and Bruce, J. (2001) African traditional cosmovision and agriculture, The Savanna Farmer 2(1): 7 –11. Douglas, M. (1966) Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. New York: Praeger. Falconer, J. (1999) Non-timber forest products in Southern Ghana, in Posey, D. (ed.) Cultural and Spiritual Values of Conservation: A Complementary Contribution to the Global Biodiversity Assessment. London: Intermediate Technology Press, pp. 366–370. Fortes, M. (1945) The Dynamics of Clanship Among the Tallensi. London: Oxford University Press. Hunter, J. (1965) Population pressure in a part of the West African Savanna: a study of Nangodi, Northeast Ghana, Annals of the Association of American Geographers 57(1): 101–114. Idowu, E.B. (1973) African Traditional Religion: A Definition. London: SCM. Kimmerer, R.W. (2002) Weaving traditional ecological knowledge into biological education: a call to action, BioScience 52: 432 –438. Laing, E. (ed.) (1991) Ghana Environmental Action Plan, Vol. I, Environmental Protection Council. Accra: Advent Press. Lalonde, A. (1993) African indigenous knowledge and its relevance to sustainable development, in Inglis, J.T. (ed.) Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Concepts and Cases. Ottawa: International Development Research Center, pp. 55–62. Mason, J. (1996) Qualitative Researching. London and Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Mgumia, F.H. and Oba, G. (2003) Potential role of sacred groves in biodiversity conservation in Tanzania, Environmental Conservation 30: 259– 265. Miller, G., Jr (2004) Sustaining the Earth: An Integrated Approach. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. Nukunya, G. (2003) Tradition and Change in Ghana: An Introduction to Sociology. Accra: Ghana Universities Press. Ofori-Sarpong, E. (1999) Ghana’s disappearing forests: causes and solutions of deforestation, Bulletin of Ghana Geographical Association 21: 47–53. Phuthego, T.C. and Chanda, R. (2004) Traditional ecological knowledge and community-based natural


Role of taboos in conservation resource management: lessons from a Botswana wildlife management area, Applied Geography 24: 57–76. Ramsay, J. and Rose-Innes, R. (1963) Some quantitative observations on the effects of fire on the Guinea Savanna vegetation of Northern Ghana over the period of eleven years, African Soils 8(1): 318 –367. Rattray, R.S. (1916) Ashanti Proverbs. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Sarpong, P. (1974) Ghana in Retrospect: Some Aspects of Ghanaian Culture. Accra: Ghana Publishing Corporation. Soutter, R., Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y., Smith, J. and Rana, D. (2003) Recognising the contribution of sacred natural sites for biodiversity conservation, paper, World Park Conference, Durban, South Africa. Stevenson, M. (2005) Traditional Knowledge and Sustainable Forest Management. Edmonton: Sustainable Forest Management Framework. Taylor, B. (2004) A green future for religion?, Futures 36: 991–1008. UNDP (n.d.) About the MDGs: what are the Millennium Development Goals?, ,http://www.undp.org/mdg/ basics.shtml. (accessed 3 March 2008). UNESCO (n.d.) The World Network of Biosphere Reserves, ,http://www.unesco.org/mab/wnbrs.shtml. (accessed 28 December 2007). Webster, H. (1973) Taboo: A Sociological Study. New York: Octagon Books.

Abstract translations La place des tabous dans la conservation de bosquets sacre´s dans le district Tallensi-Nabdam du Ghana La de´forestation a entraıˆne´ la perte de plus de la moitie´ du couvert forestier au Ghana. Alors que le district Tallensi-Nabdam a beaucoup e´te´ touche´ par la de´forestation, certaines parties de la biosphe`re, connues sous le nom de bosquets sacre´s, y ont ećhappe´. L’e´tude pre´senteé ici a pour objet d’explorer les raisons particulie`res pour lesquelles les bosquets se portent bien graˆce a` des tabous de´veloppe´s sur les bosquets sacre´s et dont la plupart se distinguent selon les deux sexes. Cette exploration de´bouche sur une pre´sentation de tabous sous une forme abre´geé qui se subdivisent selon les conventions environnementales, sociales et re´glementaires. Il en dećoule que

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l’acceptation des tabous ainsi que la crainte de subir des conse´quences, telles que la terre ste´rile ou meˆme la mort, contribuent a` soutenir les efforts de pre´servation des bosquets sacre´s. De plus, les gens qui n’acceptent pas les religions traditionnelles ne se sont pas aventure´s dans les bosquets sacre´s pour e´viter de se heurter aux autorite´s traditionnelles. Cet article souligne que, malgre´ la modernisation, les tabous occupent une place de choix dans la conservation de la biodiversite´ des bosquets sacre´s. L’article renforce ainsi l’argument que la conservation de la biodiversite´ et la pre´servation culturelle sont interde´pendants. Mots-clefs: de´forestation, bosquets sacre´s, tabou, conservation, Ghana. El papel de los tabués en la conservacioń de los bosquecillos sagrados del distrito Tallensi-Nabdam en Ghana Ghana ha perdido ma´s de la mitad de sus bosques a la desforestacioń. A pesar de sufrir una cierta desforestacioń, partes de la biosfera en el distrito Tallensi-Nabdam han sobrevivido. El objeto de este estudio es de explorar las razones concretas por las que los bosquecillos han crecido con fuerza mediante la articulacioń de tabués precisas de los bosquecillos sagrados, muchos de los cuales son de geńero especı´fico. Nuestra investigacioń nos llevo´ a un compendio de tabués categorizados como convenciones medioambientales, sociales, y reguladoras. Descubrimos que la observancia del tabu´ y el miedo de las repercusiones, incluso la esterilidad y la muerte, influyen en la ininterrumpida conservacioń de los bosquecillos sagrados. Adema´s, hasta las personas que no observan las religiones tradicionales se mantenıán fuera de los bosquecillos sagrados para evitar contacto con las autoridades tradicionales. El papel senãla que, a pesar de la modernizacioń, los tabués tienen una funcioń u´til en la conservacioń de la biodiversidad en los bosquecillos sagrados. El papel extiende el argumento de que la conservacioń de la biodiversidad esta´ relacionada con la preservacioń cultural. Palabras claves: desforestacioń, bosquecillos sagrados, tabu´, conservacioń, Ghana.