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Thathe Vondo Holy Forest
Soutpansberg Mountains, Thohoyandou area, Limpopo
South Africa
Active
Single grove
- Location
- Soutpansberg Mountains, Thohoyandou area, Limpopo
- Coordinates
- ~22.9°S 30.4°E
- Elevation
- Soutpansberg (~1,200 m)
- Size
- Not specified (forest + burial ground)
- Age / Founded
- Ancient (Venda ancestral)
- Status
- Active
- Deity & Religion
- Ancestral spirits + guardian sacred white lion; Venda (Vhavenda) traditional religion
- Community & Guardians
- Vhavenda (Venda) people
- Vernacular name
- Zwifho (Venda sacred forest)
- Record type
- Single grove
Cultural practices & uses
U phasa rituals; ancient royal burial ground (no stopping/exiting cars); taboo entry
Plant species
Afromontane forest
Biome & fauna
Soutpansberg Afromontane forest; near Lake Fundudzi & Phiphidi Falls
Threats & protection
TEK-based protection; biodiversity-loss pressures
Source
'Traditional ecological knowledge… Thathe Vondo, Limpopo' (ScienceDirect 2019); 'Retrieving Intangibility… Thathe Sacred Forest, Phiphidi, Lake Fundudzi'