Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on sacred forests in the North Pare Mountains, Tanzania, and questions the relationship between local Pare worldviews and discourses of Christianity and Islam which drives their conservation. In spite of not being gazetted by the State, studies show that sacred forests in North Pare have a wider variety of endemic flora and fauna and are better preserved than national forests reserves. Although they are small in size, sacred forests are thus important globally, but as in many parts of the world, the introduction of alternative faiths and formal education based on Western scientifical truths, among other things, has weakened their precolonial significance. Inevitably, such 'modernity discourses' have diluted the concept of interconnectedness of all beings and the interrelations between the visible and non-visible worlds, upon which the eco-centered African holistic vision of creation existed. However, the findings of my research, collected by means of an ethnographic fieldwork in the Kilimanjaro area, show that Pare customs and traditions have not completely vanished and are still the main reason for - and primary task of - sacred forests conservation. While the modern conservation agenda often builds its policies on the assumption of a traditional/modern dichotomy, the article analyzes to which extent Pare customs and traditions have mixed with and incorporated new philosophical categories and (Western) scientific concepts to give new meaning and relevance to sacred forests and their preservation. These reflections are not only necessary to stop reproducing the boundaries of the colonial world, but also to complement recent conservation efforts in a new perspective.