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Sissala / Gbele Tendaana Sacred Groves (regional)
Sissala area & Gbele Resource Reserve fringes, Upper West Region (nr Tumu)
Ghana
Active
Regional cluster
- Location
- Sissala area & Gbele Resource Reserve fringes, Upper West Region (nr Tumu)
- Coordinates
- ~10.55°N 1.95°W
- Elevation
- Savanna woodland
- Size
- Groves within/around Gbele Reserve (4th-largest in Ghana)
- Age / Founded
- Traditional (earth-priest institution)
- Status
- Active
- Deity & Religion
- Earth/land deities via tendaana (land priest); Sissala traditional religion
- Community & Guardians
- Sissala communities; tendaana, naamene (chiefs), diviners, magazias
- Vernacular name
- Tengani / Tendaana earth-shrine grove
- Record type
- Regional cluster
Cultural practices & uses
Earth-shrine groves; tendaana endorsed as most effective forest custodians
Plant species
Open savanna-woodland flora
Biome & fauna
Guinea savanna; roan antelope, hartebeest, bushbuck, waterbuck, duikers, warthog; elephant migratory route
Threats & protection
State reserve + customary tendaana protection; bushfire/farming pressure
Source
'Are Modern Institutions Effective in the Conservation of the Forest Flora of Gbele Resource Reserve...'; Frontiers in Forests & Global Change 2024