Peter Minang

Lucie Félicité Temgoua

Kokou Kouami

Heritage-Sensitive Forest Policies in African context

Alessandra Manzini

Indigeneity, ecospiritual practices and biocultural conservation of sacred forests and spiritual landscapes in African contexts

Background, Rational and ConceptThis hybrid symposium, held at CIFOR-ICRAF Nairobi and online, brings together scholars, CIFOR-ICRAF researchers, Indigenous peoples, and local community members to engage in a transdisciplinary analysis of forest conservation policies and practices across African regions. By bridging scientific, traditional, and policy-oriented knowledge systems, the seminar will explore how legal and institutional frameworks shape - and are shaped by - cultural and socio-ecological power dynamics.Why this symposium mattersAcross Africa, sacred forests, groves, trees, and spiritual landscapes are not only ecological spaces but also living heritage systems shaped by Indigenous worldviews, ecospiritual practices, and complex power relations. This symposium explores how forest policies are influenced by—and can better respond to—colonial legacies, conservation regimes, climate change, armed conflict, and expanding commodity frontiers.A core focus is the context-dependent understanding of indigeneity as a decolonial and relational approach that challenges rigid top-down definitions of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IP&amp;LCs), highlighting everyday heritage, stewardship, and livelihood practices.Contributors will critically examine how power dynamics impact on Indigenous worldviews, ecospiritual practices, and forest governance systems. By highlighting the complex interactions among knowledge, belief, and practice across diverse socio-ecological settings, the symposium aims to deepen understanding of custodianship and its implications for heritage-sensitive policies in African contexts. It advances an adaptive, relational governance perspective in which sacred sites, forests, groves, and trees are understood as active agents influencing power relations.Expected Outcomes· Through collaborative dialogue and shared reflection, the symposium will surface best practices, contribute to bottom-up heritage sensitive policy design across African regions and foster new collaboration.· The momentum will be created to discuss with authors and indigenous scholars the contents of the forthcoming book “Ecospiritual practices in African contexts Power Dynamics, Biocultural Change, and Integrated Landscapes Management” enriching the conclusions and discussion part with multivocal perspectives from practitioners, indigenous and area-based scholars.

SYMPOSIUM PROSPECTUSTitle: Heritage-Sensitive Forest Governance in African Contexts.Indigeneity, Ecospiritual Practices, and Biocultural Conservation of Spiritual Landscapes.Date: 28th of January, 2026 | 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM (EAT)Venue: CIFOR-ICRAF Nairobi Campus-Board Room &amp; Online (Hybrid)Organizers: Dr. Alessandra Manzini, PLACES Lab; CY University SPIRAL funded by the EUTOPIA SIF alliance (Grant Agreement : 945380), in collaboration with CIFOR-ICRAF (Dr. Phosiso Sola , Prof. Anne Larson, Dr. Richard Sufo) and RESSAC project (funded by EU). Concept NoteThis symposium brings together a transdisciplinary cohort of scholars, CIFOR-ICRAF researchers, Indigenous peoples, and local community members to analyze forest conservation policies across African ecoregions. By bridging scientific, traditional, and policy-oriented knowledge systems, we explore how legal and institutional frameworks shape - and are shaped by - community-led forest governance and non-explicit conservation ecospiritual practices.

Calendrier

	Welcome	•	Phosiso Sola, CIFOR-ICRAF 
•	Peter Minang, Director for Africa, CIFOR-ICRAF 


 Welcome

Alessandra Manzini SPIRAL project. The symposium serves as a critical momentum-builder for the forthcoming volume 'Ecospiritual practices in African Contexts'. The final session will synthesise insights from the day to enrich the book’s conclusions, ensuring the publication reflects the multivocal perspectives of practitioners and Indigenous scholars alike.

Introduction & Book launch - Ecospiritual practices in African contexts

10:45–12:30 | Panel 1 – East Africa

This panel explores ecospiritual practices and forest governance across East Africa.

Speakers & presentations:

• Nelly Masayi (Kibabii University, Kenya)
The Role of Eco-spiritual Approaches in the Sustainable Conservation and Management of the Mt. Elgon Forest Ecosystem, Kenya
• Augustina Alvarez (Tanzania)
Sacred Forests and Ecospiritual Governance: Enduring Elements of the Pare Worldview in the Kilimanjaro Region

• Rebecca Campbell (KU Leuven) & Paula Uimonen (University of Stockholm) (confirmed)
Mangrove Worldings: Ecospiritual Practices and Climate Change Adaptation in Coastal Tanzania
•	Asma Bile Hirsi, (Independent scholar) Natural Sites and Relational Landscapes in Somalia: Local Community Perspectives on Heritage, Cultural Memory, and Conservation. 
The session will conclude with an open Dialogue & Q&A.

PANEL Spiritual landscapes in the East Africa 

Sacralisation, desacralisation and conservation of sacred forests in Central Africa

Keynote address Central Africa

•	Vitalis Pemunta, University of Gothenburg, RDC Congo Indigenous Voices in Sacred Forests: Ecospiritual Practices of the Batwa and Mbuti in Central Africa 
•	Chapgang Noubactep, Richard Sufo, Tchékoté Hervé , CIFOR ICRAF Cameroon Are Sacred Forests Still Sacred?
•	Sandrine Uwasere Rwanda National Herbarium. The Role of the National Herbarium of Rwanda in Documenting and Conserving Sacred Forests 
•	Irakiza, Runyambo, UNILAK – GER, Rwanda. Conservation of Biodiversity: The Case of Buhanga Sacred Forest, Northern Rwanda 

PANEL Spiritual forests of Central Africa

 Keynote Address Prof. Kokou University of Lomé Togo.
Ecospiritual Practices and Biocultural Governance of Sacred Forests in West Africa
Forest conservation policies in Africa have long favored technocratic and biological approaches, often inherited from the colonial period, thereby marginalizing the cultural, spiritual, and institutional dimensions of ecosystem management. This presentation analyzes the role of Indigenous ecospiritual practices in the biocultural governance of sacred forests in West Africa, highlighting their contribution to biodiversity conservation and the socio-ecological resilience of territories. Drawing on empirical data from socio-ecological research conducted in several West African countries, the study demonstrates that sacred forests, ritual groves, and spiritual landscapes constitute genuine endogenous conservation systems, structured by social norms, taboos, rites, and forms of relational governance involving humans, non-humans, and ancestors. 

Keynote address West Africa

15:45–17:45 | Panel 3 – West Africa

This panel focuses on West African ecospiritual landscapes and endogenous systems of forest governance, exploring how sacred forests, customary laws, and Indigenous stewardship practices contribute to biodiversity conservation.

Speakers & presentations:

• Fodé Soumah (CREDEB, Guinea)
Sacralization of Natural Ecosystems: Endogenous Governance of Biodiversity Conservation in Guinea

• Alison Ormsby, PhD (Forest Specialist, Adventure Scientists) (confirmed)
A Comparison of Sacred Groves of Sierra Leone and Ghana

• Sambou Clement (Sacred Forest Specialist, Senegal) & Alessandra Manzini (CY Cergy Paris)
Gnei-gnei Law and Forest Relational Governance in Diola Cosmoecology

• Oyetayo Oyelowo (Forest Institute of Nigeria) Spirituality, Beliefs and Biodiversity Conservation: Lessons from South-western Nigerian Sacred Groves.

• Kossi Hounkpati (University of Lomé, Benin) (confirmed)

The session will conclude with an open Dialogue & Q&A.

PANEL Spiritual forest of West Africa

Lessons learned and reflections toward improved policy design, relational governance, and book discussion

Wrap-up - Policy briefs Lessons learned and reflections toward improved policy

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Heritage-Sensitive Forest Policies in African context

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