Royal Residences and Sacred Forests in Western Cameroon

Abstract

in this paper I discuss the environmental, cultural, and political significance of the palace forests of the indigenous rulers in the Grassfields region of northwestern Cameroon. All true chiefs in the Grassfields have palaces, and the possession of an impressive palace with a sacred forest adds much to the status and legitimacy of a ruler. The forests, which may be as large as 2(X} acres, lie close to the palace buildings and are homes for a variety of social institutions. They are the shrines where the palace and state gods reside; they are burial sites for young children from the palace community; they are the sites of sacrifices of appeasement; and, in several regions, they are the venue for meetings of secret societies. The forests are also the venue for the royal dances known as tefem, carried out by members of dance groups. The lefeni events involve rituals, dancing, and feasting within the forest, and are tKcasions where individuals display their social status. In this paper I explain why the ecological condition of many of these forests is still good, despite lack of specific support for their conservation from the central government of Cameroon. There is a wide range of local stakeholders with interests in the continued well being of the forests, and the general cultural revival in the region today serves to strengthen further the institutions responsible for the forests' survival.

Salvaging Nature: The Akan Religio-Cultural Perspective

“…Th ere is also evidence to show that the concept or the practice of sacred grove is popular in Africa and Asia (Laird 1999, Chouin 2002, Fomin 2008, Ntiamoah-Baidu 2008. Sacred groves are usually the indigenous reserves that have been strictly protected, and in some cases many centuries ago due to their religious and cultural significance.…”

“…Th e phenomenon of sacred groves is popular among the Akan but it is not that which necessarily adds much to the status and legitimacy of an Akan ruler as it is the case in some African societies, for instance, as among the Cameroon Grassfi elds (Fomin, 2008), even though their conservation or maintenance is the responsibility of the chief. Legitimacy to a stool lies in being a royal-being connected to the founding fathers of the community concerned through blood and being customarily enstooled.…”

Healing Animals, Feeding Souls: Ethnobotanical Values at Sacred Sites in Central Italy

“…Here, SNS are defined as "areas of land or water having special spiritual significance to peoples and communities" (Wild and McLeod 2008). Both important ecological traits and traditional customs are often preserved at these revered places (Chouin 2002;Dudley et al 2010;Fomin 2008;Ormsby and Bhagwat 2010). Furthermore, SNS are strictly related to traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and indigenous ethnobiology (Berkes et al 2000;Gadgil et al 1993).…”

Clarifying the spiritual values of forests and their role in sustainable forest management

“…These forests are not considered sacred until they are associated with a chief's palace; and in order for a chief to have legitimacy, his palace must be adjacent to a forest, which then becomes sacred with the performance, there, of certain cultural and spiritual rituals (Fomin 2008).…”