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Forêt Sacrée de Kpassè (Kpassè Zoun)
Ouidah, Atlantique Department, southern Benin
Benin
Active (Vodun pilgrimage & festival)
Single grove
- Location
- Ouidah, Atlantique Department, southern Benin
- Coordinates
- ~6.36°N 2.09°E
- Elevation
- Coastal lowland
- Size
- Originally ~30 ha, now ~4 ha (urban-reduced)
- Age / Founded
- 16th century (King Kpassè of Whydah); Vodun festival opened 1992
- Status
- Active (Vodun pilgrimage & festival)
- Deity & Religion
- King Kpassè (deified; transformed into an Iroko tree); Vodun pantheon
- Community & Guardians
- Ouidah Vodun adherents (Fon)
- Vernacular name
- Forêt sacrée / Zoun (Vodun grove)
- Record type
- Single grove
Cultural practices & uses
Vodun pilgrimage, initiation & ritual; brightly painted deity sculptures (Cyprien Tokoudagba)
Plant species
Semi-wild woodland; sacred Iroko (Milicia excelsa)
Biome & fauna
Coastal Dahomey-Gap forest island
Threats & protection
Threatened by timber/firewood & land pressure; protected by leaders + forest agents
Source
Forêt sacrée de Kpassè (Wikipédia FR); Ouidah Origins