E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (EHASS)
ISSN 2720-7722 | Volume 1 Issue 5 – September 2020 pp 185 - 194
Available online at: https://noyam.org/journals/ehass/
https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2020097
© 2020 The Authors. Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers.
This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Environmental Ethics in Akyem Abuakwa:
Developing theEcological Zone through the African Worldview
ABSTRACT
Akyem Abuakwa’s geographical location puts her in a diferent environmental
condition.Both natural and human factors have combined in causing massive
environmental degradation and ecological crisis. Te environmental degradation
and ecological crisis call for exploration of indigenous knowledge to construct
indigenous ecological orientations and environmental concerns that could be
relevant to recent times. Using qualitative design, the study found out that the
traditional belief among the people of Abuakwa has created the awareness that
human beings are answerable to the line of ancestors for their stewardship over the
non-human parts of creation-land, fora and fauna; all these belong to the ancestors.
Te study proposes that environmental ethics through the African worldview and
bioethical African worldview would dictate a fresh environmental concern and
ecological orientation for the world today. Te study is relevant as it contributes to
traditional environmental conservation ethics.
Keywords: Eco-theology, communalism, conservation, kinship, ethics.
INTRODUCTION
Akyem Abuakwa’s
1
ecological zone puts her in a diferent environmental condition. Te area is endowed with rich natural
resources ranging from dense forest vegetation with a number of plant species, minerals such as gold and diamond,
among several others. It has been observed that rapid change has bedevilled the once cherished environmental condition
over the last two decades. Tis rapid change has both natural and human factors combined in causing environmental
degradation and ecological crisis. Besides the natural factors, human activities such as surface mining, logging, sand
winning, pollution of all kinds have degraded the environment creating an ecological crisis. Te environmental
degradation and ecological crisis call for exploration of indigenous knowledge to construct indigenous ecological
orientations and environmental concerns that could be relevant to contemporary times.
Tis work focuses on creating environmental and ecological awareness, which is ethically based through the
lenses of traditional African/Akan worldview. It further focuses on some traditional ethical theories and contemporary
environmental ethics and fnds out how they impact on the environmental debate in Akyem Abuakwa. Tis paper looks
at environmental ethics from African perspective, environmental ethics through traditional religious philosophy of the
people and also through the African moral world. Recommendations are made on ways by which environmental ethics
through African/Akan worldview could be harnessed to conserve and protect the environmental resources within the
study unit.
A brief geographical description of Akyem Abuakwa
Akyem Abuakwa, the largest sub-division of the three Akyem divisions is an Akan community that can be found in the
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Akyem Abuakwa, an Akan community is a traditional state and can be located in the Eastern region of Ghana; S. Asiedu-Amoako, M.K. Ntiamoah and V.S.
Gedzi. ‘Environmental Degradation: A challenge to traditional leadership at Akyem Abuakwa in the Eastern Region of Ghana’. American Journal of Indigenous
Studies, 1, (2016) A1- A13.
Correspondence
Michael Kwadwo Ntiamoah
Email: nanakntiamoah@gmail.com
Publication History
Received 19th August 2020,
Accepted 15th September 2020,
Published online 28th September
2020.
Samuel Asiedu-Amoako
1
& Michael Kwadwo Ntiamoah
2
1
Christian Service University College, Kumasi-Ghana.
2
Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ghana.
© 2020 The Authors. Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers.
This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).