Abstract
This paper examines the role of traditional religious beliefs and traditional leaders in conserving remnant patches of a unique type of dry forest in the Zambezi Valley of northern Zimbabwe. We examined aerial photographs spanning more than three decades, interviewed and surveyed local residents, and met with communities to learn about the environmental history of the forests and the factors that have affected land use in the area. Our results show that forest loss is dramatically less in forests that are now considered sacred, or were in the past connected to sacred forests. This supports our hypothesis that traditional spiritual values have influenced human behavior affecting the forests, and have played a role in protecting them until now. We also found that rates of forest loss have been much higher in an area where traditional leaders are relatively disempowered within the post-independence political system compared to an area where traditional leaders have more power. These findings lead us to conclude that a strategy that links the conservation of culture and nature is likely to be more effective in conserving forests than a strategy that ignores traditional beliefs, values, and institutions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Bourdillon, M. F. C. (1987). Shona Peoples. Mambo Press, Gweru, Zimbabwe.
Brown, M., and Wyckoff-Baird, B. (1992). Designing Integrated Conservation and Development Projects. Biodiversity Support Program, Washington, DC.
Byers, B. A. (1996). Understanding and Influencing Behaviors in Conservation and Natural Resources Management. Biodiversity Support Program, Washington, DC.
Byers, B. A. (2000). Understanding and Influencing Behaviors: A Guide. Biodiversity Support Program, Washington, DC.
Child, B. (1996). The practice and principles of community-based wildlife management in Zimbabwe: The CAMPFIRE programme. Biodiversity and Conservation 5: 369–398.
Child, G. (1996). The role of community-based wild resource management in Zimbabwe. Biodiversity and Conservation 5: 355–367.
Cunliffe, R. N. (1992). An Ecological Resource Survey of the Communal Lands of Centenary District. WWF Multispecies Animal Production System Project, Project Paper No. 26, Oct. 1992. WWF-World Wide Fund for Nature, P.O. Box CY 1409, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Derman, B. (1996). Changing Land-Use in the Eastern Zambezi Valley: Socio-Economic Considerations. CASS-WWF Joint Paper. Centre for Applied Social Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box MP 167, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Dorm-Adzobu, C., Ampadu-Agyei, O., and Veit, P. G. (1991). Religious Beliefs and Environmental Protection: The Malshegu Sacred Grove in Northern Ghana. From the Ground Up Case Study No. 4, Center for International Development and Environment, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.
Dzingirai, V., and Bourdillon, M. F. C. (1997). Religous ritual and political control in Binga District, Zimbabwe. African Anthropology 4(2): 4–26.
Fairhead, J., and Leach, M. (1997). Misreading the African Landscape: Society and Ecology in a Forest-Savanna Mosaic. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Fearnside, P., and Ferraz, J. (1995). A conservation gap analysis of Brazil's Amazonian vegetation. Conservation Biology 9: 1134–1147.
Hoare, R. (1998). Muzarabani Elephant Research and Monitoring: Interim Report, December 1998. Report prepared for the Muzarabani Rural District Council on behalf of the Muzarabani Elephant Project and the Zambezi Society.
Hoare, R. E., and Du Toit, J. T. (1999). Coexistence between people and elephants in African savannas. Conservation Biology 13: 633–639.
Hughes, D. M. (1995). Community-Based Forest Management in the Lucite (Rusitu) Valley: People and Policies of a Proposed Mozambique-Zimbabwe Transfrontier Conservation Area. Consultant's Report for the The World Bank, Maputo, Mozambique.
Keel, S., Gentry, A. H., and Spinzi, L. (1993). Using vegetation analysis to facilitate the selection of conservation sites in eastern Paraguay. Conservation Biology 7: 66–75.
Khan, M. L., Menon, S., and Bawa, K. S. (1997). Effectiveness of the protected area network in biodiversity conservation: a case-study of Meghalaya state. Biodiversity and Conservation 6: 853–868.
Kiester, A., Scott, J. M., Csuti, B., Noss, R. F., Butterfield, B., Sahr, K., and White, D. (1996). Conservation prioritization using GAP data. Conservation Biology 10: 1332–1342.
Lan, David. (1985). Guns and Rain: Guerillas and Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe. James Curry Ltd: London and University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.
Maphala, J. M. (1994). Customary woodland management practices in Gokwe. In Clarke, J. (ed.), Building on Indigenous Natural Resource Management: Forestry Practices in Zimbabwe's Communal Lands. Forestry Commission of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box HG 595, Highlands, Harare, Zimbabwe, pp. 12–14.
Metcalfe, S. (1994). The Zimbabwe Communal Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE). In Western, D., and Wright, R. M. (eds.), Natural Connections: Perspectives in Community-based Conservation. Island Press, Washington, D.C. and Covelo, California, pp. 161–192.
Murphree, M.W. (1994). The role of institutions in community-based conservation. In Western, D., and Wright, R. M. (eds.), op. cit., pp. 403–427.
Musvoto, C. (1994). Resource use and management in Jinga Village. In Clark, J., op. cit., pp. 15–19.
Muzarabani Rural District. (1995). CAMPFIRE Programme 1995 Annual Report. Muzarabani, Zimbabwe.
Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y. (1995). Indigenous vs. introduced biodiversity conservation strategies: the case of protected area systems in Ghana. African Biodiversity Series Number 1, May 1995. Biodiversity Support Program, Washington, DC.
Omari, C. K. (1990). Traditional African land ethics. In Engel, J. R., and Engel, J. Gibb (eds.), Ethics of Environment and Development: Global Challenge, International Response. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona, pp. 167–175.
Peres, C. A., and Terborgh, J.W. (1995). Amazonian nature reserves: an analysis of the defensibility status of existing conservation unites and design criteria for the future. Conservation Biology 9: 34–46.
Reid, W. V. (1996). Beyond protected areas: changing perceptions of ecological management objectives. In Szaro, R. C., and Johnson, D. W., op cit., pp. 442–453.
Schoffeleers, J. M. (ed.). (1978). Guardians of the Land: Essays on Central African Territorial Cults. Mambo Press: Harare, Zimbabwe.
Soulé, M. E., and M. A. Sanjayan. (1998). Conservation targets: Do they help? Science 279, 2060–2061.
Spierenburg, M. (1995). The Role of the Mhondoro Cult in the Struggle for Control over Land in Dande (Northern Zimbabwe): Social Commentaries and the Influence of Adherents. CASS Occassional Paper—NRM Series; 1995. Centre for Applied Social Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box MP 167, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Surveyor-General. (1995). Mhangura, Sheet SE-36–1. Topographic map from Office of the Surveyor-General of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box CY 540, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Szaro, R. C., and Johnson, D.W. (eds.). (1996). Biodiversity in managed landscapes. Theory and practice. Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York.
Timberlake, J., and Cunliffe, R. N. (1997). Sites of Interest for Botanical Conservation in the Communal Lands of the ZambeziValley, Zimbabwe. Consultant's Report for The Zambezi Society. The Zambezi Society, P.O. Box HG 744, Highlands, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Timberlake, J. R., Nobanda, N., Mapaure, I., and Mabasa, L. (1991). Sites of Interest for Conservation in Various Communal Lands of N. and W. Zimbabwe. Report No. 1, Communal Lands Vegetation Survey. National Herbarium, Harare, Zimbabwe. 16 pp.
Wells, M., Brandon, K., and Hannah, L. (1992). People and Parks: Linking Protected Area Management with Local Communities. The World Bank, World Wildlife Fund, and U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington, DC.
Zambezi Society. No date. The Muzarabani Experience. Number 3 of a series of occasional Backgrounder Papers. The Zambezi Society. The Zambezi Society, P.O. Box HG 744, Highlands, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Byers, B.A., Cunliffe, R.N. & Hudak, A.T. Linking the Conservation of Culture and Nature: A Case Study of Sacred Forests in Zimbabwe. Human Ecology 29, 187–218 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011012014240
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011012014240