African Sacred Groves

Ecological Dynamics and Social Change

Michael J. Sheridan, Celia Nyamweru

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Hardback

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English

Ohio University Press
18 April 2023

Trees, wildflowers & plants

In western scholarship, Africau2019s so-called sacred forests are often treated as the remains of primeval forests, ethnographic curiosities, or cultural relics from a static precolonial past. Their continuing importance in African societies, however, shows that this u201crelic theoryu201d is inadequate for understanding current social and ecological dynamics. African Sacred Groves challenges dominant views of these landscape features by redefining the subject matter beyond the compelling yet uninformative term u201csacred.u201d The term u201cethnoforestsu201d incorporates the environmental, social-political, and symbolic aspects of these forests without giving undue primacy to their religious values. This interdisciplinary

book by an international group of scholars and conservation practitioners provides a methodological framework for understanding these forests by examining their ecological characteristics, delineating how they relate to social dynamics and historical contexts, exploring their ideological aspects, and evaluating their strengths and weaknesses as sites for community-based resource management and the conservation of cultural and biological diversity.

Edited by: Michael J. Sheridan, Celia Nyamweru
Imprint: Ohio University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 23mm
ISBN: 9780821417881
ISBN 10: 0821417886
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 18 April 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Michael Sheridan is an assistant professor of anthropology at Middlebury College. Celia Nyamweru teaches in the Department of Anthropology and the African Studies Program at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York.

Reviews for African Sacred Groves: Ecological Dynamics and Social Change

"""The essays in this volume provide an enlightening tour of the issues around conservation and sacred sites. They demonstrate the complexities of the issues linking such sites to globalization, communal control of local resources, and its potential difficulties, and changing social and cultural practices."" -- African Studies Review ""The great strength of African Sacred Groves is in demonstrating that sacred groves simultaneously represent ecological, socio-political, and symbolic processes."" -- Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa ""This book provides an excellent reference for refocusing conservation efforts in Africa, and a useful paradigm to apply wherever preservation requires balancing ecological values with social and economic interests."" -- CHOICE"