American Journal of Indigenous Studies
Volume 1, Number 1, 2016
Original Research Article
Environmental Degradation: A Challenge to Traditional Leadership
at Akyem Abuakwa in the Eastern Region of Ghana
Samuel Asiedu-Amoako¹*, Michael Kwadwo Ntiamoah², Victor Selorme Gedzi³
1 Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, 2 Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, 3 Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
* [email protected]
Citation: Asiedu-Amoako, S., Ntiamoah, M.K., & Gedzi, V.S. (2016). Environmental
degradation: A challenge to traditional leadership at Akyem Abuakwa in the eastern
region of Ghana. American Journal of Indigenous Studies, 1, A1-A13. Retrieved from
http://www.asraresearch.org/ajis-vol-1-no-1-2016/
ABSTRACT
Akyem Abuakwa is suffering from environmental degradation as a result of human activities and
insatiable desire for acquiring wealth and property. Rapid environmental degradation has occurred
within the last two decades in Akyem Abuakwa. The paper examines factors contributing to the
environmental degradation and the role traditional leaders can play in conserving and protecting
the environment. Traditional leaders, ritual specialists/functionaries in African Traditional
Religion, are also custodians of ancestral lands. They possess practical indigenous ecological
knowledge for the protection and conservation of environmental resources. This ecological
knowledge, obtained from the intellectual heritage of African Traditional Religion, provides rich,
raw and insightful revelation that is hardly contained in any ecological theory. The leaders have
also religious power to institute control mechanisms to regulate human activities with regard to
the environment. The study employed both qualitative and descriptive methods; with interviews
and participant-observations as the main tools to investigate and gather data on the subject. The
paper suggests that traditional leaders employ their religious power and indigenous ecological
knowledge to conserve and protect the environmental resources within their jurisdictions. The
research is important because it has not only highlighted the plight of environmental degradation
that is destroying the eco-system in the research unit, but also suggested ways of overcoming it.
Again, it contributes to local and national theory on environmental conservation and protection.
Key Words: environment, degradation, conservation, eco-justice, sustainability, green-belt,
species extinction, pollution.
INTRODUCTION
The concern for environmental degradation appears to be among the topmost topical issues in
academic, businesses and political debates in both the developed and developing countries. Akyem
Abuakwa traditional area, which comprises a number of towns and villages, appears to be suffering
from environmental degradation as a result of human activities fed by an insatiable desire for
acquiring wealth and properties. Rapid environmental change has occurred within the last two
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decades in Akyem Abuakwa. And this rapid change seems to contribute to degrading the
environment and in the emergence of economic disparities among the population in the study area.
A sustainability theory points out that strategic planning is required for a balance between
development and environmental conservation.1 The objective of this study is to discuss activities
that have contributed to the environmental degradation and examine the role of the traditional
authorities to curb the mass environmental destructions in Akyem Abuakwa. In line with the stated
objective, the questions that are addressed in this paper therefore are: What factors contribute to
the environmental degradation in Akyem Abuakwa and what roles are the traditional leaders2 in
the area playing to avert the menace? This paper seeks to find answers to the questions, discuss
the findings, and make recommendations. This research is important because it has not only
highlighted the plight of environmental degradation that is destroying the eco-system in the
research unit, but also suggested ways of overcoming it. More also, it contributes to local and
national perspective on environmental conservation and protection.
The Study Area
Akyem Abuakwa is a traditional state and can be located in the Eastern region of Ghana. It
comprises of four administrative districts namely; East Akyem, West Akyem, Atiwa and
Fantiakwa. Each district is also composed of many towns and villages. One main natural resource
that Akyem Abuakwa has in common is River Birim,3 which is regarded by the inhabitants as a
goddess. Chiefs in these communities are regarded by their subjects as repositories of traditional
knowledge on environmental conservation and protection.
Theoretical Framework
This study follows Jurgen Moltmann and Larry Rasmussen theory of ecological life forms as a
framework undergirding this study.
Jurgen Moltmann in his analysis of The Coming of God: Christian Eschatology4, indicates that the
Western World destroys the people of the Third World by compelling them to extirpate their
natural foundation for living through cutting down of their “rain forest and the pollution of the
seas”. What the West has not well understood is that such a destruction “causes a boomerang” “on
the industrialized World by way of climate changes.” The author concludes that “without social
justice between the Industrial World and the Third World, there will be no peace, and without
peace there will be no liberation”5. Moltmann’s analysis does not only portray the politics that
exist between the rich and the poor nations in the World Market, but also the economic
stratifications that exist in developing countries like Ghana where the privileged few amass
wealthy at the expense of the wellbeing of the environment populated by poor farmers as seen at
fieldwork locations of Akyem Abuakwa.
1
See Willis, Jenkins. Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability: The Spirit of Sustainability. (Yale Divinity School,
(n.d.)): 383. www.google.com.gh. Accessed 6/12/2015.
2
Traditional leaders are African Traditional Religious functionaries. They comprise male and female chiefs, family
heads, traditional priests and priestesses, medicine men and women, among others. In traditional societies in Ghana
these religious figures are believed to be repositories of indigenous ecological knowledge of conservation.
3
This river flows in almost all the towns within traditional area.
4
J. Moltmann. The Coming of God: Christian Eschatology. (London: SCM Press Ltd, 1996): 210.
5
Ibid 211.
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Larry Rasmussen6 also argues that the degradation of the Earth’s life forms and life systems
threatens not only human habitats but also those of other creatures. Thus the main objective of the
research is to identify the specific forms of environmental degradation the research unit is suffering
from and what contributions the local leaders can make to avert the menace.
METHODOLOGY
The study used the descriptive and qualitative research methods with emphasis on participantobservation and interviews. The data gathered from the interviews were used to measure the
perceptions and opinions of the respondents. These particular research instruments helped in the
study to discover several perceptions on the environment, and the validation of existing knowledge
on indigenous environmental conservation methods. The population for the study included chiefs
and their council of elders, ministers of God, Directors of crop research institutes and mining
companies, and ordinary citizens; including farmers. These informants live in the research unit and
therefore have had daily experiences of the degradation of the environment. The information
obtained from the key informants was supplemented by field observation and relevant secondary
data.
RESULTS/DISCUSSION
In this particular section, we shall concurrently present and analyse the result of the research.
Environmental Degradation and Role of Traditional Leaders
The analytical strategy of this present section is, first, discuss the environmental degradation in the
study area and secondly, roles that traditional leaders can play to avert the menace.
In Akyem Abuakwa the first observed degradation is land conversion and habitat destruction. Two
decades ago, Bunso, Asiakwa, Sagyimase and Kyebi were small settlements surrounded by
secondary forests. But today, large acres of natural lands have been converted to human settlements
and crop lands. Secondary forests have been cleared to make way for the construction of modern
houses as the people enjoyed the fruits of the cash economy. It is common to observe that the
desire to own houses has led people to build on farmlands, wetland areas and fringes of secondary
forest. Cocoa farms have been cleared and destroyed. In the place of the green environment, heaps
of sand, gaping holes and trenches that expose the inhabitants to dangers in Abuakwa states. The
newly converted settlements are now called ‘New Sites’. These new sites have no greens and one
does not see trees, flowers and well planted grass7.
6
Larry Rasmussen. “Global Eco-Justice: The Church’s Mission in Urban Society”. In Dieter T. Hessel and RoseMary
Radford R. (eds), Christianity and Ecology, Seeking the Wellbeing of Earth and Human. (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press 2000): 519.
7
Apart from textual materials that are duly acknowledged other data that have been extensively used in this paper
come via fieldwork at Akyem Abuakwa, which comprises a number traditional satellite states (towns) and villages in
the Eastern region of Ghana.
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Most towns within the study area have their old cemeteries converted to partial or full human
settlements, desacralising the areas that used to be revered and protected. The rapid destruction of
local habitats and the conversion of farmlands to settlements far exceed what government and nongovernmental organizations are putting in place in terms of policy that lead to sustainability. The
green belts are hardly to be seen in the towns. Roads and buildings have been destroyed by erosion.
The current situation within the study area is reminiscent of Isaiah’s complaint in the then Biblical
society:
Woe to those who add house to house, and join field to field, until there is no space
left, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.8
Species Extinction
The next observable and visible form of degradation in Akyem Abuakwa is what we describe as
species extinction. It is hard to estimate the rate of species going into extinction. This fieldwork
observation was confirmed by Lartey, former Chief Director of Bunso Crop Research Centre, who,
among other things, indicated that many plant species are going extinct and therefore the Crop
Research Institute at Bunso has embarked on gathering and planting extinct plants in the research
centre to protect and preserve some of the plants. Banchie, a sub-chief in Asiakwa also
corroborated that “Many animal species are now almost extinct. Hunters and poachers no longer
get any prey because antelopes and squirrels are hardly to be found”. Forest Guards at Kyebi
Forestry informed the research team that Odum and Mahogany are now endangered tree species
in the Atiwa Forest Range and surroundings. Mining, bushfires and lumbering have destroyed
plants and animal habitats; therefore endangering lives of some plants and animal species.
Land Degradation
There are several ways in which land degradation takes place in Akyem Abuakwa. In all instances,
it is the activity of humans which leads to degradation. Much of what was formerly the high forest
in Akyem Abuakwa is no more. The forest used to have three layers or tiers with trees growing up
to about 20 meters, between 20 and 40 meters, and between 40 and about 65 meters. The lowest
tier forms a more or less continuous canopy.9The forest has undergrowth as well as woody
climbers, mosses, epiphytes, and lichens. Trees of commercial value from the forest include
Mahogany, Sapele, Guareg, Makore, African walnut and Dahoma.10Most of the trees have been
harvested for both domestic and commercial purposes.
Degradation of the land is the result of poor agricultural practices, bushfire, regular logging, fuel
wood collection and mining. At each farming season, farmers move to new forest areas where they
slash and burn, exposing the soil to the full intensity of wind, rain and the sun, leading to soil
erosion. The consequence is loss of soil nutrients and productivity.
8
Isaiah 5: 8
Dompreh, Charles. School Certificate Map Reading for West Africa. (Accra: FEP International Ltd, 1977): 27
10
Dompreh, Charles. (1977): 27
9
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Surface Mining
A serious environmental challenge facing Akyem Abuakwa is surface mining. Mining
companies such as Kibi Gold, Star Mining, Motion Mining Company, Sun Gold Mining
Company are operating in the area. Besides these recognized mining companies, the youths in
the area have grouped themselves into ‘Mining Brigades’ for mining activities. Mining activities
as a human activity devastated the land, causing soil degradation, destroying water and air
quality of the place. The Ghana State of Environment Report states:
Small scale and illegal artisanal mining (Galamsey) has made serious adverse impacts on
the environment. They leave behind them unsafe excavation, which render high quality
arable land unsuitable for cultivation. Illegal artisanal miners are a nuisance as they further
disturb claimed sites of the big mining companies. Several communities have their sources
of water polluted by the activities of small scale miners. There is a threat of mercury
pollution of water bodies in illegal artisanal mining.11
Environmental Pollution
Environmental pollution should be seen as a serious environmental degradation. Human activities
can cause environmental pollution if that activity introduces unacceptable substances in quantities
that are too great for nature to bear, into the physical and natural environment resulting in the
damaging and reducing of the quality of the environment. When the quality of the environment is
compromised, reduced or damaged, it can cause serious health hazards to humans, plants, animals
and other life forms. Passmore remarks that “it is not nice to poison your neighbour”12. For him,
pollution represents the failure to satisfy the moral obligation to prevent or minimize harm to our
neighbour, both humans and other kind of life forms. Pollution is defined as the harmful or fatal
effects of human actions, direct or indirect, that place natural and or synthetic elements in the
ecosystems where they should not be at all or in amounts that surpass an ecosystem’s capacity for
normal assimilation.13 Environmental pollution clearly shows that environmental deterioration is
the effect of humans’ mismanagement and irresponsible exploitation of the environment.14 The
burning of refuse at dump sites, saw-dust at sawmills and sand winning are all potential pollution
agents in Akyem Abuakwa.
Effect of Human Activities
The fieldwork also identified that many people rely directly on the natural resources for their
sustenance at the research locations. The people gather fruits, nuts, tubers and edible leaves from
the forest for food. They are equally dependent on animals, birds, fish, snails, crabs and mushroom
for their protein needs. The over-exploitation of these resources threatens the food needs of many.
Rivers, streams, ponds and wells serve as the source of fresh water for domestic and agricultural
purposes. The exploitation and destruction of the cover vegetation of watersheds increase
evaporation and reduce surface water availability. Consequently, most water bodies have dried up.
There is, therefore, an increasing reliance on groundwater bodies.
11
Ghana State of Environment Report (2004) : 25
Pussmore, John. Man’s Responsibility for Nature. (2ed), (London: Duckworth, 1980): 71.
13
Nash, James A. Loving Nature: Ecological Integrity and Christian Responsibility. (Nashville: Abingdon Press,
1991): 24
14
Nash, James A. Loving Nature, (1991): 24
12
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Traditional medicine is gaining prominence as a cure for many ailments. But the over-exploitation
of such flora and fauna, as indicated, affects the traditional needs of the people. Forests aid carbon
production and thereby reduce the effect of greenhouse gases. This essential carbon sink is fast
reducing as tree covers are being depleted. Preservation of ecosystem in the Akyem Abuakwa will
regulate the temperature and rainfall patterns and thus help in the maintenance of the nutrient cycle.
Vegetation cover is also very important for the preservation of watersheds. It also provides
protection to animals and provides food and shelter for human beings. The vegetation cover, thus
ensures the control of soil erosion and minimizes land degradation. Any form of destruction of the
forest to satisfy human needs reduce the capacity of trees to serve as a carbon sink resulting in the
increase of temperatures; drought, bushfires and the destruction of the habitats of animals and
plants. The direct effect of this situation on humans will be disastrous. Habitat destruction is
growing in intensity throughout the study area.
Pollution of Water Bodies
The fieldwork has further realized that one of the most serious threats to environmental
degradation is pollution of water bodies in Akyem Abuakwa. River Birim and its tributaries have
been highly polluted as a result of mining activities, indiscriminate waste disposal, farming along
the river banks and sometimes indiscriminate defecation and dumping of waste into the river and
streams. Mining companies such as Kibi Mining Company Limited and Star Mining Company
have all sited their waste dumps on the river bed. Mining companies use cyanide to wash and
retrieve gold in the river and tributaries. So also other rivers such as Supon and Bompon were
polluted.
The pollution of water bodies causes damage to aquatic life and create toxic water sources that
pose a threat to people’s health. Chemical forming along River Birim also pollutes the water body.
The disposal of domestic wastes such as garbage, excreta and liquid waste into water bodies poses
a threat to the natural environment. The most serious threat to River Birim is that all the tributaries
that feed the river have been diverted and polluted by small scale mining. Hence, these streams are
unable to supply fresh water into River Birim. Consequently, the river and its tributaries are highly
polluted and gradually drying up.
Akyem Abuakwa abounds in rich natural resources which are vital for the socio-economic
development of the area. There are rivers, forest resources, mineral deposits, good weather and
rich flora and fauna which could accelerate the development of the area. These resources are being
exploited in such a way that it is creating a severe environmental problem. For example, even
though water resources are more abundant in areas less than thirty percent of the population has
access to good drinking water because of the pollution of rivers and streams in the area. Due to the
pollution, almost every household is now drinks sachet water or water from bore holes.
Role of Traditional Leaders
In traditional societies in Ghana, traditional leadership (functionaries of African Traditional
Religion) is believed to have a repository of indigenous ecological knowledge for conserving and
protecting the environment. This knowledge, which is obtained from the intellectual traditions of
African Traditional Religion is seen as practical and can offer hope for resuscitation of degraded
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environment. This ecological knowledge is believed to be an accumulation of the history, beliefs,
practices and values of the people over the passage of time. It is believed to provide rich, raw and
insightful revelation of environmental conservation and protection that is scarcely found in
Western conservation theory.
Prior to the advent of Islam, Christianity and European influence, indigenous African cultural and
religious traditions promoted a system that allowed mutual co-existence between human beings
and nature with God in between. There was a good deal of a culture of co-habitation and copasturing15 which promoted co-existence of human beings and animals in close proximity and
within compounds.16There were establishment of sacred groves and forests all over places to
protect the eco-system. In spite of the ravages on the indigenous ecological practices by the
influence of foreign religions and European contact, remnant indigenous communities in Ghana
still maintain their old ways of conserving and protecting the environment. In Akyem Abuakwa,
for example, traditional leadership regards the Earth and River Birim as goddesses, calling them
Asaase Yaa and Birim Abenaa17 respectively. Led by the traditional leadership, the people have
succeeded in evolving religious rituals and regulations to protect, preserve and conserve the
resources of the natural environment in a suitable way. The traditional leadership and the people
also observe the traditional calendar that depicts life cycles which indicate days that ceremonies
and rituals are performed for environmental deities. Through the traditional religion, the traditional
leadership has evolved some environmental laws and ethics to protect and conserve the
environmental resources. For example, traditional leaders and other adherents of African
Traditional Religion in the study area do not go to farm or fish in the River Birim respectively on
Thursdays and Tuesdays. These are special days for the earth and river goddesses, Asaase Yaa and
Birim Abena. Believers of the traditional religion do not work on these days because they are
considered sacred.
Furthermore, the overlord of Okyeman, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin and his divisional chiefs,
family heads, priests/priestesses, medicine men see their office as a link between human rule and
spiritual governance of the traditional state. Their subjects consider them as sacred rulers who
occupy special offices that symbolize a link between the living and the ancestors. The traditional
rulers have shrines, sacred groves within their environment; religious spaces that they always
protect. Traditional leadership also prides in possessing indigenous knowledge in matters
pertaining to medicinal values, use of different herbs, leaves, roots, bark of trees and others. As
depositories of customs, knowledge, taboos and oral history, they lead their communities in
fertility festivals and rituals that may preserve and protect the environment.
Hermeneutical study of the institutions and practices of the Akyem Abuakwa people has shown
that traditional leaders over the years decided to come out with such institutions and practices in
order to conserve and protect their environment, which serves as the source of livelihood for their
subjects. Through several years the traditional leaders have succeeded in developing a body of
15
Mazrui, A. A. The Africans: A Triple Heritage. BBC Publication, 1986.
Otim, J. J. The Taproot of Environmental and Development Crisis in Africa. (ACLCA Publication No. 2, 1992): 7
17
Asaase Yaa and Birim Abenaa in the local language means the earth and river respectively. Asaase is earth and
Yaa is a female born on Thursday. So the earth or land is regarded by the indigenous people as a female goddess
literally born on a Thursday. River Birim is also regarded as a goddess, born on a Tuesday. That is why she is called
Birim Abenaa. Because of this, indigenous communities considered these days as sacred and would not go to farm on
Thursdays or fish in the river on Tuesdays.
16
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laws and rules known as taboos to regulate their people’s relationship with the environment.
Hagan18 lists seven traditional laws for the use and protection of the bio-system:
i. Laws of exclusion prohibiting entry into forest, lakes and rivers except at period of severe
scarcity and critical need.
ii. Laws of selective extraction protecting certain species or prohibiting the destruction and
use of immature animals, for example, pregnant animals were generally not killed for
consumption.
iii. Laws governing diversification of use, to avoid over-exploitation of one or two crops or
animals in the clan/ community diet.
iv.
Laws regulating exploitation, enforced by rites of closing and opening of rivers, lakes,
estuaries and forest and constant use, to enable the regeneration of species in ecosystems.
v. Laws enforcing community involvement in land preparation for farming to ensure the
containment of fire hazards.
vi.
Laws protecting special species of plants and animals from misuse, to ensure high stock
levels, for example, certain trees are not to be felled for fuel wood.
vii.
Laws regulating exploitation of trees, enforced by rites for the felling of big trees and
killing of certain animals, to ensure the protection of these organisms and also make the
ecosystem secure.
Oteng Yeboah’s study has corroborated the findings and, among other things, indicated that
“traditional religious philosophy considers belief, doctrinal, spiritual and or worship systems as
tools in ensuring the harmony of life even before the issues of biophysical resource conservation
and sustainable use come into play19.
The holistic view of reality of traditional society ensured protection of the environment. It was
traditional leaders that interpreted and enforced environmental laws. Family heads ensured that
family lands and properties were protected. Priests/priestesses and medicine men and women
invoked ancestral spirits and deities to prevent people from abusing river bodies and forests.
Customs and traditions of the people, including their belief systems; together with the desire for
solidarity, the exercise of common sense and the conscience of individuals and others mentioned
earlier on, were factors that served groups as check20 on environmental degradation in traditional
societies like Akyem Abuakwa.
Today, some communities such as Akyem Abuakwa are retrieving conservation mechanisms used
in the past to protect their environment. Apart from this, other traditional leaders such as the
overlord of Akyem Abuakwa have formed Environmental Brigade to fight environmental
degradation within their jurisdictions. Chiefs, family heads and other religious functionaries
understand that life is only possible if natural environmental resources continue to be available for
present and future human life. To them, sustainable environment does not come from law
18
Hagan, G.P, Traditional Laws and Methods of Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, in Amlalo, LD,
Atsiatorme L D, and Fiati C, eds, Biodiversity Conservation: Traditional Knowledge and Modern
Concepts.Accra:1999 p24- 29.
19
Oteng-Yeboah, Philosophical Foundation of Biophysical Resource Use with Special Reference to Ghana in Edwin
Gyasi et al (eds), Managing Agrodiversity: The Traditional Way Lessons From West Africa in Sustainable Use of
Biodiversity and Related Natural Resources. (Tokyo: UNEP, 2004).
20
KudadjieJoshua,How Morality was enforced inGa- Adangme in Ade Adebola E.A. eds Traditional Religion In West
Africa, 1983:p171.
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enforcement alone, but harnessing all methods, including spiritual ones together with social
sanctions and responsibility interweave to protect the environment which keeps as stewards
accountable to ancestors and future generations. A failure may spell punishment from ancestors,
original owners of the environment who are believed to live now in the spiritual world21. Thus, it
appears that the traditional leaders who are presently in charge of the environment that fall within
their jurisdiction have no option. They ought to act urgently to redeem their earth.
As indicated, Larry Rasmussen sustains that the degradation of the Earth’s life forms and life
systems does not only threaten human habitats but also those of other creatures. He is insistent that
the habitats of all creatures depend on “every breath we take, every morsel we chew, every song
we sing, every right we claim, every enjoyment we cherish.22 He calls on all people and
institutions, including the church not to be silent on issues concerning our environment. It means
the concept of social justice together with environmental sustainability should be practically
addressed as a global eco-justice question. This happens to be so because according to Rasmussen,
“all life’s communities, human and non-human alike have been and are being dramatically recast,
not separately, but together, as a single enormously complex community of life comprised of the
social—communal, the biophysical and the geoplanetary simultaneously”.23 Thus, it can be noted
that the major root cause of Akyem Abuakwa’s ecological crisis as seen in Ghana and with
extension of that of other parts of Africa and the world, is human greed and selfishness.24 Jurgen
Moltmann’s,25 observation that the Industrialized World destroys the people of the Third World
through trade actions that compels developing countries to extirpate their natural foundation for
living through cutting down of their “rain forest and pollute their water bodies was relevant.
Underneath the depletion of the forests and the degradation of farmlands and water bodies in places
such as Akyem Abuakwa in the Eastern region of Ghana through mining and lumbering whether
by legal or illegal means are apparently conditioned and instigated by markets in the Industrialized
World. It is even said that some traditional leadership connive with the Land Commission, Forest
officers and the Government of Ghana to take environmental decisions that ignore the concept of
environmental conservation and protection. All this demonstrates the need for a reconstruction of
thought systems and the turning back to the intellectual heritages of traditional religions; especially
with regard to the way humans view nature – that is, from a sacramental perspective. Since
traditional leadership is custodian of the land and its resources and has religious power to enforce
traditional environmental laws as made by their predecessors, their actions can protect water
bodies, the forest and the biodiversity within their jurisdiction. In fieldwork location at Akyem
Abuakwa, traditional leaders have started going back to the past to retrieve ways of conserving
and protecting the environment from the intellectual traditions of African Traditional Religion.
Characteristics of Akyem Abuakwa’s traditional religion are its reverence for nature and oneness
with it. The people’s spirituality considers God, minor gods, ancestors, human beings and the
21
Kudadjie, 1983:p171
Rasmussen, Larry. “Global Eco-justice: The Church’s Mission in Urban Society. In Dieter T. Hessel and Rosemary
Radford R. (eds), Christianity and Ecology, Seeking the Well-Being of Earth and Human.” (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 2000): 519.
23
Rasmussen, Larry. “Global Eco-justice: 520.
24
See J.J. Ongong’a. “Towards an African Environmental Theology” in Mary N. Getui and Emmanuel A. Obeng
(eds), Theology of Reconstruction. (Nairobi: Acton Publishers, 2003): 3-4.
25
J. Moltmann. The Coming of God: Christian Eschatology. (London: SCM Press Ltd, 1996): 210.
22
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natural world as interconnected. With this perspective, whoever harms nature harms God, other
spiritual entities and the human being. Whoever degrades the environment or pollutes the rivers
degrade God, the ancestral spirits and human beings. Human beings are to treat the rest of creation
with utmost respect. Consequently, human beings and the natural world seem to have made a
covenant of interdependence. Days are set aside to celebrate Mother Earth.26 Key figures who
perform the rites are traditional leaders. For the people of Akyem Abuakwa “nature is not just an
object, but a tangible reality from which humanity derives its sense of wholeness and well
being”.27This “traditional attitude to the environment is not only valid, but actually essential for
the world”.28 Chinua Achebe aptly demonstrated the interconnectivity and interdependence
between humans and nature as he lambasted that:
The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. The earth goddess whom you have insulted
may refuse to give us her increase, and we shall all perish... you will bring to the shrine of
Ani tomorrow one she-goat, one hen, a length of cloth and hundred cowries.29
The hurting of the land and its resources is reprehensible. Thus, as with traditional Ibo in Nigeria,
among Akyem Abuakwa of Ghana beliefs in the Supreme Being and other spiritual entities are
invoked to enforce environmental morality.
The land, the forests and the rivers, animals are nobody’s property. They are communally owned.
Chiefs or family heads hold them in trust on behalf of extended family members. No one has the
right to sell land or destroy rivers or the forests (groves) because people see these resources as
legacies from ancestors who they believe closely monitor how they are used. Any destruct of fauna
and flora is likely to be met with punishment.30 For the traditional leader and other stakeholders at
Akyem Abuakwa in Ghana, then, engaging in social justice and having a sacramental view of the
environment may mean making sure economic activities should not stratify society; and that any
economic activity takes into consideration the total wellbeing of the environment, which must be
sustainably safeguarded.
The above resonates with Ongong’a’s observation that the major root of the African ecological
crisis is human greed and selfishness.31 The author, therefore, calls for a construction of thought
systems to tune back to African heritage; especially with regard to the sacramental view of nature.
In this direction, traditional leadership can spearhead “to construct our thought system of African
heritage”32 and the traditional concept of land ownership, which teaches that “land belongs to a
vast family, of whom many are dead, a few are living and countless hosts are unborn”.33 This
concept of land, as indicated, shaped people’s perception and relationship with nature. That was
why in traditional society, the responsibility of taking care of the environment was not given to a
26
The earth or the land is spiritually regarded by the people in the fieldwork location as a goddess and as such, a
divine mother. As a mother, she is able to nurture and provide for all her children.
27
Ongong’a, Towards an African Environmental Theology, 2003:62.
28
AsareOpoku1999:153.
29
Chinua Achebe. Things Fall Apart. (London: Heinemann Educational Ltd, 1967) : 28
30
Opoku-Agyeman et al, Akan Traditional Beliefs and Environmental Science, Ofosu Marfo ed, Reflection on
Rneligion and Science,2008 pg.143.
31
Ongong’a, J.J. Towards an African Environmental Theology in Mary N. Getui and Emmanuel A.Obengeds,
Theology of Reconstruction, Nairobi: Acton Publishers,2003 p.3-4.
32
Ongong’a, 2003 pg. 4.
33
Benneh George( 1990), makes reference to an expression of sustainability of land made by Nana Sir Ofori Atta, in
which the late Chief conceived of the land as belonging to a vast family of whom many are dead, a few are living, and
countless hosts are still unborn.
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selected few as done in modern society, but to everyone. Traditional leaders, repository of
traditional beliefs, norms and indigenous ecological knowledge have religious power that helps
them institute taboos and other social control mechanisms to regulate human activities with regard
to the environment.
INDIGENOUS CONSERVATION MODEL OF AKYEM HEMAN34
Of notable relevance to the research is the activity of a key informant, the chief of Akyem Heman,
Mmirrikkissi Okasum Apori Atta II to conserve and protect Akyem Heman ecological zone, which
falls within his jurisdiction. It shows how a willing traditional leader is able to control people’s
relationship with the environment. On the question of the role of traditional authorities in restoring
environmental degradation, Apori Atta II observed that chiefs are custodians of ancestral lands
bequeathed to them by their ancestors. “It therefore, behoves traditional leaders to protect ancestral
lands”. The chief claimed that he and his elders resisted the policy that permitted felling of ceiba
pentandra (onyina) across the length and breadth of his traditional jurisdiction. Concession holders
could, therefore, not fell a single tree in his territory. The chief and his elders would also not allow
concession holders to prospect any mineral in his territory. The main streams: Densua, Akrasu,
Danyame and Bonto flow freely without any diversion by illegal miners.
In response to the question on how to protect and conserve the forest, water bodies, the vegetation
and other natural resources of the Akyem Heman ecological zone, the key informant pointed out
that Heman township had a population of more than fifteen thousand (15, 000) that should be
sustained by its natural resources. Accordingly, the chief and his council of elders developed a
policy of sustainable environment, which includes the following:
1. A mining company should first establish that it has the capacity to supply four gallons of
potable water per day on a sustainable basis for each household. This could be translated to
about 60, 000 gallons of potable water supply per day to the township. This becomes the
first requirement and a social contract to be agreed upon.
2. The second requirement, according to the chief and his elders, is that the law of prospecting
demands a distance of about 200ft away from any river sources. Prospective miners are
therefore uncomfortable with this second demand since Akyem Abuakwa precious minerals
are mined in the river beds and basins or along the river banks.
3. A third requirement that a prospective miner should meet in order to operate in the chief’s
traditional area is the Allodia land entitlement that local farmers possess. With Allodia title,
a farmer may have the right to his or her parcel of land and may, therefore, decide to sell
the parcel of land contrary to the directives of traditional authorities. Fortunately, the key
informant explained that all his subjects shared his policy of protecting and conserving the
environment. As a result, no person in the Akyem Heman township had entered into a
private agreement with any mining company for mineral prospecting. It is also very difficult
for any prospective miner to convince the individual landowners to lease out their right to
land. The royal key informants and his people are acutely aware that the destroyed
vegetation takes about 25years to regenerate they are prepared to protect and conserve their
environmental resources. Asked why the people of the Akyem Heman co-operated with
34
Akyem Hema is one of the towns in Fanteakwa district in the Eastern region of Ghana.
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traditional leaders to fight environmental degradation, the chief stressed the importance of
sensitization and education. He indicated that:
“People should be made to understand the benefits of prudent measures of managing one’s
natural resources. The people should be educated on the pros and cons of illegal mining or
timber lumbering activities. Such civil education should bring to light the right and
responsibilities of the people so that they are not intimidated by prospective mining
companies”.
The royal informant further indicated that traditional authorities should be trustworthy so that the
people can have faith in them. He concluded that his people had faith in him and enjoyed the
cooperation of all citizens of Akyem Heman.
The research has shown that the environment and its resources in the research units are being
degraded through human greed. It is also realized that the way environmental resources are
managed has important consequences on the economy of fieldwork locations. Due to this there is
a need for a holistic environmental management approach to conserve and manage the
environment. It means amalgamating the indigenous and modern conservation methods for more
efficient management of the environment and its resources in the research unit. The evolving
concern of the chiefs towards environmental conservation; a traditional religious philosophy of
ensuring harmony of life and the relevant attitudes towards nature must be maintained. The
Traditional concept of land ownership enjoins the living to manage and conserve the environment
for future generations while traditional leaders, traditional religious functionaries have to account
for their stewardship to their ancestors for their stewardship over the non-human part of creation—
land, flora and fauna, water bodies. In their effort to maintain the environment, traditional leaders
could influence government to avoid economic policies that may spell doom for the survival of
the environment. As indicated, a theory of sustainability suggests that strategic planning is required
for a balance between development and environmental conservation. It means that a good
environmental quality may provide an improvement in the life of the people; and if net financial
benefit from an economic activity outweighs the cost imposed on the environment through
pollution, degradation or deforestation, that activity cannot be seen as developing. Government
should therefore understand this and act to protect and encourage customary use of biological
resources in accordance with religio-cultural practices that are compatible with conservation or
sustainability of the environment.
CONCLUSION
The paper has analysed environmental degradation at Akyem Abuakwa. The environment is being
destroyed as a result of human activities fed by an insatiable desire for acquiring wealth and
property. Rapid environmental degradation occurred within the last two decades in most towns
and villages in Akyem Abuakwa. The paper examines factors contributing to the environmental
degradation and the role traditional leaders can play in conserving and protecting the environment.
Traditional leaders, ritual functionaries in African Traditional Religion, are also custodians of the
lands. They possess practical indigenous ecological knowledge for the protection and conservation
of environment. This ecological knowledge, obtained from the intellectual heritage of African
Traditional Religion, can provide rich, raw and insightful revelation that is hardly observed in any
ecological theory. The leaders have also religious power to institute control mechanisms to
regulate human activities with regard to the environment. The paper therefore, suggests if
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traditional leaders who live in the environment employ their religious power and knowledge they
may not only mobilize but also come out with control mechanisms that can conserve and protect
the environment within their jurisdictions. Moreover, the traditional methods can be combined
with modern conservation methods for a more efficient environmental management in the research
unit. The research is important because it has highlighted the plight of environmental degradation
that is destroying the eco-system in the research unit and suggested remedies to stop the menace.
Again, it contributes to local and national perspectives on environmental conservation and
protection. In the final analysis, if the recommendation suggested in relation to the research
problem is implemented, it might contribute to stemming out the hazard the environment is facing
as a result of the human activities in the fieldwork location.
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