INDIGENOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN ECOSYSTEM CONSERVATION: RESPONSE OF THE CHURCH
Abstract
The Akan people of Ghana’s beliefs and practices, enforced by taboos regarding ecosystem conservation, foster a sustainable use of the environment. Akan beliefs and practices highlight their moral import, are crucial in preserving the environment, and protect water sources, the natural vegetation and wildlife and endangered nonhuman species. However, the church has not taken the indigenous beliefs, practices and taboos seriously. The decline of these has led to the degradation of the Ghanaian environment. This article aims at drawing the church’s attention by arguing that the indigenous beliefs and practices are more earth-friendly and consistent with biodiversity than modern or Western ways of life and that they represent the best chance for successful ecological practices that enhance ecosystem conservation.Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this Journal.
This is an open access journal, and the authors and journal should be properly acknowledged, when works are cited.
Authors may use the publishers version for teaching purposes, in books, theses, dissertations, conferences and conference papers.
A copy of the authors’ publishers version may also be hosted on the following websites:
- Non-commercial personal webpage or blog.
- Institutional webpage.
- Authors Institutional Repository.
The following notice should accompany such a posting on the website: “This is an electronic version of an article published in Scriptura, Volume XXX, number XXX, pages XXX–XXX”, DOI. Authors should also supply a hyperlink to the original paper or indicate where the original paper (http://scriptura.journals.ac.za/pub) may be found.
Authors publishers version, affiliated with the Stellenbosch University will be automatically deposited in the University’s’ Institutional Repository SUNScholar.
Articles as a whole, may not be re-published with another journal.
The following license applies:
