Download TEP Benin spiritual values

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