Strategic adaptation of traditional festivals for the sustainable development of the biodiversity of local communities

Abstract

Traditional festivals in Ghana are cultural events that are primarily organized to venerate the ancestors while remembering iconic events in the history of ethnic societies. However, due to the deleterious condition of the environment and its biodiversity resources, there is a great potential of tactically tailoring these traditional festivals to halt this wanton destruction while ensuring the sustainable development of biodiversity. This is especially important in local communities where illegal mining activities and deforestation has soared up recently in Ghana. Three traditional festivals in Ghana, namely, the Opemso festival, Papa Nantwi festival and the Apoo festival of some ethnic societies in Ghana were phenomenologically studied in a qualitative research approach with the aim of directly observing and carefully investigating into how the traditional festivals could be used as platforms for achieving environmental sustainability. Sixty-six purposive sampled respondents, some of whom were personally interviewed, while others were interviewed in a Focus Group Discussion were involved in the study. The research revealed after the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the accrued data that traditional festivals, though earmarked for the exhibitions of the rich culture of ethnic societies, they could be harnessed as avenues for the sustainable development of local communities. The study, therefore tasks environmentalists, foresters, biodiversity conservation planners and environmental development agencies to liaisewith local communities in mapping out pragmatic environmental sustainability programs to bring to cessation, the environmental malfeasance in Ghana.