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Benin is the only country in the world that recognizes Vodoun or Orisha, an ancient animist cult of West Africa, as one of its official religions. A popular joke says that the country’s population is 30% Catholic, 20% Muslim, and 100% Vodoun. This statement reflects on the wide range of supernatural origins attributed to phenomena which are difficult to explain. Such is the case of diseases whose traditional treatment involves in a combination of herbal remedies and spiritual ceremonies. Nonetheless, African traditional religions and beliefs are still regarded with some reservation and even skepticism by researchers and scholars. Extensive work has been done in the fields of social and cultural anthropology, but research directed to assessing the constraints and potentials of traditional spiritual values for resource use, ecosystem services and, ultimately, conservation has been insufficient. Traditional health practitioners Ethnobotanical work was carried out with 67 traditional health practitioners (THP, including seven Babalawos, or Fa oracle priests), and 13 Orisha adepts in Koko, a village of Tchá ethnic origin in the region of Bantè, in central Benin. Research methods included plant collection and herbarium identification, interviews, cultural domain analysis, and participant observations. We consider a THP as a healer whose method of diagnosis is by divination or spirit consultation. One of our main objectives was to document the ecological knowledge embedded in traditional religious beliefs and its implications for sustainability. With a population of about 4500, the community is located in a vegetation zone characterized by woody savannahs, inselbergs, and semi- deciduous dense forests. Koko’s economy is based on subsistence agriculture, petty trade, and apiculture. Regionally-endangered plant species used in Orisha ceremonies such as the nicker nut (Caesalpinia bonduc), wild banana (Ensete livingstonianum), the shea-butter tree (Vitellaria paradoxa), the 60 | THE ECOSYSTEM PROMISE Diana Quiroz, MSc from Mexico is PhD Researcher at Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis. She works within the framework of the 5-year research project ‘Plant Use of the Motherland-Linking West African and AfroCaribbean Ethnobotany’, carried out at Leiden and Wageningen University, the Netherlands. P e t er - J an Van D amme How traditional religious beliefs contribute to the conservation of ecosystems in a small rural community in Benin, West Africa. glossy-leaved gardenia (Gardenia nitida), poison devil’s pepper (Rauvolfia vomitoria), and the mulere tree (Schrebera arborea) are widely grown in the home gardens of THPs. Medicinal plants that are not officially listed as endangered in IUCN’s red list, but whose rarity and even disappearance was reported in the region of Bantè, include the poison arrow vine (Strophantus hispidus), Phyllanthus alpestris (a relative of the child pick-a-bag plant, P. amarus), the ancient bdellium tree (Commiphora africana), and the smoothfruited zanha tree (Zanha golungensis). The last individuals of these species have been taken from the wild and are now successfully cultivated at Koto Alusha medicinal plant garden, a sacred grove in the center of Koko, managed and used by the members of the Association de Tradipracticiens de la Commune de Bantè. The garden not only serves as space for plants introduced from the wild to grow undisturbed, but also makes for a refuge for plant and animal species which were not introduced by its keepers: notably the IUCN red-listed species Pararistolochia goldieana and Turraea heterophylla. Practices The contribution of traditional religious beliefs to nature protection, however, is not limited to the creation of sacred groves or similar forms of ex-situ conservation. Spiritual values play an important role in directing resource use to sustainable, ecologically-sound, and efficient practices. For instance, the so-called totems or interdits are a set of taboos that keep adepts of different cults from using animal and plant products. Taboo plants species with threat status in Benin and in West Africa include the toddy palm (Borassus aethiopum), the iroko tree (Milicia excelsa), and the candlewood tree (Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides). The burning of wood from the silk cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) and the red kapok tree (Bombax costatum) is also forbidden. D i ana Q u i r o z spiritual values By Diana Quiroz Spiritual values play an important role in directing resource use to sustainable, ecologically-sound, and efficient practices. Statues of the twins, a pair of vodoun idols, surrounded by fruits and seeds of endangered species such as Caesalpinia bonduc, Tetrapleura tetraptera, and Afzelia africana. Other species not seen in the picture include Schrebera arborea, Ensette livinsgtonianum, and Xylopia aethiopica. They are sold at almost every market in Benin, as they are common ingredients in medico-magical preparations and rituals. These plants are often found cultivated in home gardens of traditional health practitioners and soothsayers. Other species, albeit not endangered, offer important ecosystem services and forms of use that might pose a threat at the community level (such as extraction for lumber) are controlled by the interdits. Belief has it, that by disobeying taboos, adepts break the fragile equilibrium which their Orishas help them maintain. As a consequence, sinners will experience ill-health, misfortune, and even death shortly afterwards. In addition to products, ecosystem service processes benefit from religious beliefs. The njangsa (Ricinodendron heudelotii), a taboo species, has recently been assessed as one of the trees with both the highest carbon sequestration potential and fallow improvement of cash crop tree plantations in West Africa. The ‘brother of iroko’ (Antiaris toxicaria) and the African border tree (Newbouldia laevis) have also proven important for the latter purpose. Another notable example of the above is the local cult for bees, or Nonon. The formation of a new colony in the village is regarded by adepts of this Orisha as an omen, which can only be interpreted by oracle priests if the colony is left undisturbed to permanently install itself or to leave. Incidentally, bee keeping is one of the main sources of income for the community and one of the moving forces in the on-going reforestation project of the area. S o l è ne B r i è re The role of AFRICA | Benin Pararistolochia goldieana, a tropical forest climber with the largest flowers of Africa, is listed as vulnerable in IUCN’s red list. Human activities such as logging and agriculture are the major threats to this plant. The flowers are used by the Tchá of Benin in the treatment of gout and as a female aphrodisiac. Here, it is depicted growing in Koto Alusha medicinal plant garden and sacred grove in Koko, Benin. THE ECOSYSTEM PROMISE | 61