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Protecting Ethiopia’s Church Forests: The Disconnect Between Western Science and Local Knowledge

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Religion, Sustainability, and Place

Abstract

Religious-based stewardship is an underappreciated example of forest protection. Often referred to as sacred forests, the protected sites exist because local religious communities value them. In addition, given their socio-ecological benefits, scientists, NGOs, and governments also hold great interest in protecting them. In recent years, it is common for these outside actors to suggest to communities (or, indeed, push them to implement) ways to bolster conservation in the face of the potential “threats” of modernity. The case of Ethiopian church forests explores the received wisdom about this type of sacred forest and exposes how it is often based on neo-Malthusian assumptions about nature-society relationships in Africa. The chapter considers whether scientific imaginaries are a barrier to long-term church forest protection.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Picker Interdisciplinary Science Institute at Colgate University and the US National Science Foundation (Grant # 1518501) funded a research team of ecologists, physical and human geographers, religion scholars, and historians. The work presented in this chapter draws on the empirical evidence generated by this multidisciplinary project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, USA

    Peter Klepeis

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  1. Peter Klepeis
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Correspondence to Peter Klepeis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geography and Sustainability, Salem State University, Salem, MA, USA

    Steven E. Silvern

  2. Geography and Environmental Studies, Emory and Henry College, Emory, VA, USA

    Edward H. Davis

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Klepeis, P. (2021). Protecting Ethiopia’s Church Forests: The Disconnect Between Western Science and Local Knowledge. In: Silvern, S.E., Davis, E.H. (eds) Religion, Sustainability, and Place. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7646-1_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7646-1_9

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