Zerihun Doda
Researcher
Supervisors: Dr Rajindra K. Puri, University of Kent at Canterbury, the United Kingdom and Dr Anna Waldstein, University of Kent at Canterbury, the United Kingdom
Supervisors: Dr Rajindra K. Puri, University of Kent at Canterbury, the United Kingdom and Dr Anna Waldstein, University of Kent at Canterbury, the United Kingdom
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Papers by Zerihun Doda
Keywords: biocultural diversity, ancestral values, Afrocarpus falcatus, SNS, conservation, Sidama, Ethiopia
Keywords: biocultural diversity, ancestral values, Afrocarpus falcatus, SNS, conservation, Sidama, Ethiopia
Empirical studies exploring the mutual interdependence between ecology, biodiversity and traditional religions and their resulting positive effects on society and environment in Ethiopia are scarce. Their coupled existence and endangerment are also little understood. Some emerging studies have generally focused on the role religious places and institutions play in the conservation of biodiversity, such as endangered fauna and fora (Desalegn 2009; Massey et al. 2014). Others have attempted to examine the relevance of traditional religions and sacred sites from the perspectives of anthropology, politics, and jurisprudence (Hamer 2002; Markos et al. 2012; Dillu 2009; Kife 2014). Studies such as these do not, however, address the socio-ecological and biocultural relevance and values that bind local biodiversity and native religions. In the following, I attempt to report on the coupled existence and endangerment of native religions and local biodiversity from a broadly biocultural diversity perspective, drawing on lessons from studies conducted from 2008–2010 in four Southwest Ethiopian communities, commissioned by the Council of Nationalities (CoNs) and the Christensen Fund (TCF). Data from fieldwork conducted during three trips – in Wonsho Sidama from January to March 2008, in Basketo and Me’enit from June to October 2008, and in Ţambaro and Sidama from July to September 2009 – is used to provide insights into native-religion-mediated identities, ecology biodiversity and endangerment.