In the West African nation of Benin, the ancient spiritual religion of Vodun, rooted in a deep connection between humans and nature, has become a primary tool for protecting the country\u2019s disappearing mangroves. By invoking the authority of the Zangb\u00e9to deity local communities and conservationists create spiritual sanctuaries that forbid the destruction of mangroves under threat of divine punishment..<\/p>\n
Mangroves are vital carbon sinks, but Benin\u2019s mangroves are under extreme pressure from logging, salt production, intensive agriculture, and urbanization. According to a study published in 2025, mangrove cover in the country decreased by 29% between 1995 and 2015. To combat this loss, the NGO Eco-Benin<\/em> partners with Vodun dignitaries to designate specific areas as sacred. In the last decade, this collaboration has preserved about 500 hectares (more than 1,235 acres) of mangroves. The process involves seeking permission from the spirits through a F\u00e2 priest, a mediator who uses a traditional spiritual language to communicate with the divine..<\/p>\n Isidore Jinou, a 57-year-old advertising director and the son of a fisherman, emphasizes the importance of this spiritual oversight for the Mono River region in the southwestern corner of Benin. This region is home to Bouche du Roy, an estuary and one of the richest mangrove ecosystems on the Beninese coastline. \u201cAll our resources, all our wealth comes from the water,\u201d Jinou, who was initiated into the Vodun religion 14 years ago, told Mongabay. \u201cThere is a certain communion between mangroves and us humans. So it [the mangrove] has a soul. We consider it a living being that we must not destroy or mistreat.\u201d<\/p>\n The community\u2019s belief in the Zangb\u00e9to, a respected deity that forbids woodcutting, enforces spiritual regulation. In villages such as Dado, spiritual guardians oversee the respecting of these traditions. During ceremonies, a miniature Zangb\u00e9to is placed on a tree to signify a \u201cpact\u201d between spirits and the community, effectively banning fishing or woodcutting in the area.<\/p>\n The Beninese government, which officially recognized Vodun as a national religion in 1996, now incorporates these traditional systems into its environmental strategy. Adjakou Akoutan Adjinda, Benin\u2019s director general of the government agency for water, forests, and hunting, says in the video that the state actively supports these traditional conservation frameworks. \u201cI think the two are complementary,\u201d Adjinda says. \u201cThe local authority, which embodies the public force, is involved. The communities, through their chiefdoms and their deities, are involved. This will allow us to take all aspects into account and hope for better results for the conservation of mangroves in Benin.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the video by Jah\u00ebna Louisin, Cynthia H\u00e9gron, Leslie Cauquais, Florian Roche, and Juliette Chapalain<\/p>\n Banner image: Mongabay journalist Jah\u00ebna Louisin documents the role of Vodun traditions in conserving mangroves in southern Benin. Image courtesy of Cynthia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vodun spiritual practices help preserve Benin’s mangroves. Since 1995, 29% of mangrove cover was lost, but sacred zones protected 500 hectares. Local beliefs enforce conservation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test2.cryptofinancewire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test2.cryptofinancewire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test2.cryptofinancewire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test2.cryptofinancewire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test2.cryptofinancewire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/test2.cryptofinancewire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":873,"href":"https:\/\/test2.cryptofinancewire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799\/revisions\/873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test2.cryptofinancewire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test2.cryptofinancewire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test2.cryptofinancewire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test2.cryptofinancewire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Voices from the Community<\/h3>\n
How Spiritual Regulation Works<\/h3>\n
Government Support for Traditional Conservation<\/h3>\n