Hello Adom,

Yes they can.I exploited that opportunity last year while on fieldwork in the Rumpi Hills Forests of southwest Cameroon.The response was amazing.Forests are disappearing and with it "bushmeat" & the local Muturu cattle (humpless shorthorn cattle) on which the people depend for income & protein.

The Muturu cattle which was abundant and endemic to these hilly forests are now extinct with the last killed some 5 years ago.During traditional ceremonies, it was easier & cheaper to slaughter a cow because every household had one.Nowadays,  meat,fish,pork & chicken must be bought & transported from semi-urban areas above 65km on motorbikes through rough & rugged terrain.

Ethnology is a field that should be exploited.

Goodluck

Hello Adom,

Yes they can.I exploited that opportunity last year while on fieldwork in the Rumpi Hills Forests of southwest Cameroon.The response was amazing.Forests are disappearing and with it "bushmeat" & the local Muturu cattle (humpless shorthorn cattle) on which the people depend for income & protein.

The Muturu cattle which was abundant and endemic to these hilly forests are now extinct with the last killed some 5 years ago.During traditional ceremonies, it was easier & cheaper to slaughter a cow because every household had one.Nowadays,  meat,fish,pork & chicken must be bought & transported from semi-urban areas above 65km on motorbikes through rough & rugged terrain.

Ethnology is a field that should be exploited.

Goodluck

Dear Beckline, That is a powerful discovery and encouragement,

That is a powerful discovery and encouragement. Thanks

Yes, such occassions are useful to reach the members of a community. People will be in good mood to accept something ,ore easily in compared to normal situation

Surely. It is a very good opportunity.

Regards

Thanks Dr. Beckline, Dr. Ray and Prof. Aristidis for your kind participation in the discussion. I am heartily grateful. Kind regards

Dickson

Dear Sir,

The subject idea is ideal. It is being practiced around the globe. The theme will rejoice the sense of festive activity and rejuvenate the biodiversity system.

Yes, sure

Of course yes. Such social activities are playing essential role in communications between nations.

Regards

Yes of course the traditional festivals can be used as 'fertile' occasions for promoting biodiversity conservation.

Nice query@ Dickson Adom

Yes, it will be interesting to tap into the opportunity.

Many thanks Dr. Segun, Dr. Jahangir and Profs Houda, Mahesh and Emad for your rich comments and support for the discussion. Kind regards

Interesting comment as usual from you my friend Prof. Aparna. Thank you dearly for supporting the discussion. Kind regards

Surely, truly, it can be done and is already being done directly and indirectly. The Osun Osogbo groove is a conserved forest and it is used annually for the Osun festival. The forest is more than half a kilometer square. There is no tree felling or other human activities to breach the greenery of this forest. A ritual procession takes off from the palace and the main market of Osogbo, both are contiguous, and heads to this groove in the conserved forest. The procession is a massive one of people of all nations and they end up in the groove where the stage would have been set for the Osun ritual which climaxes the festival. Also, Osun is a river and River Osun runs through and waters this forest.

Cultural change plays a major role in farmers’ choice of varieties. The loss of local culture and increased assimilation into a general or dominant culture may eliminate preferences and practices that make a diversity of crop types valuable. Certain varieties that are used as ingredients in dishes prepared for customary festivals and events will disappear if those festivals wane ....

https://www.myanmarfswg.org/sites/myanmarfswg.org/files/uploads/library-books/agrobiodiversity_conservation_and_economic_development.pdf

Of course yes.

Sure it's a great opportunity to keep traditions alive and pass to the next generation too

Excellent examples and comments Prof. Adewale, Prof. Krishnan, Prof. Hind and Dr. Jeevan. I heartily appreciate your support to the discussion. Best regards

Festivals have already crowds of people and we can save money ,time and energy while circulating flyers to attract and invite people, yes festivals provide opportunity to use them for philanthropic, educational and other beneficial purposes.

Yes cultural biodiversity

All the ancient cultures respected the nature and its phenomena, as it nurtured the humanity to be developed. Traditional festivals are linked with the respect to the nature; and people have a mood to rejoice with the society and nature. It can be a platform to link people with nature, however it should have a proper planning so that people would take pleasure to hear the words for conserving biodiversity.

I utterly agree with you Dr. Prabhat, Dr. Akinyemi and Dr. Nazia. Thanks for your valuable opinions and support for the discussion. Kind regards

It is good opportunity and a chance to promote biodiversity conservation. Yes!

Cultural festivals connect biodiversity and conservation

Culture and tradition often plays an important role in the conservation of biodiversity. Ingredients that make part of a festival or celebration are naturally protected because they serve a purpose and have ritual significance...

https://www.bioversityinternational.org/news/detail/cultural-festivals-connect-biodiversity-and-conservation/

Surely.The right platform for extension.

Thank you Professors Ljubomir and Ajit for your very useful and valuable comments as well as informative link. Kind regards

Festivals, lectures and awareness-raising seminars that demonstrate and encourage the importance of biodiversity conservation can be used.

I support the idea but I am not sure wether younger people are firmly anchored in old traditions; modern Western influences are very strong. But it should be important that future teachers are well-known with their old traditions.

Hein Rettter

Thank you for your great view, Prof. Hein. In my country Ghana and other regions with high cultural climate, traditional festivals hold a lot of weight in educating the youth, making it an excellent platform for biodiversity conservation education.

Yes sure. Traditional festivals can be used as fertile occasions for promoting biodiversity conservation.

Yes. We have a myriad of festivals which are a symbol of bio-diversity conservation for eg all festivals focus on cleanliness, preserving nature, following practices which encourage 'Live and Let Live', worship of all natural beings and elements like the sun, moon, stars, reptiles, animals and our Mother Earth.

Many thanks Drs Abdullah and Mona for your kind contribution to the discussion. Best regards

This is an excellent question that can positively impact African communities. As a layman in this field and as a humanist, I will greatly encourage this.

Why not only the Festival? But also the Exposition? The Event of Commerce?

All platforms is good for education, biodiversity conservation, protection of NATURE

Best regards

Dear Dr. Adam,

As Mona Prashar has already mentioned in the post, we worship Mother Nature and in fact it's the universal phenomenon.

That's the reason we have 'International Earth Day' celebrations all over.

In India we call it 'Vasundhara Day': Vasundhara meaning the Mother Earth.

Also for centuries we have been worshiping the Sun, the Moon, the Fire, the Sky and all relevant super powers of Nature, the rain, the rivers the ocean, the plants, the animals, the birds and all leaving beings which are there on this earth and are the important connect of biodiversity and biological cycle.

Most of the festivals in Hindu religion are aimed at all above concepts and have been nicely interlinked with the culture, religion and religious celebrations which span through out the year.

Most of them are also related to farming, agriculture and thereby are directly or indirectly related to conservation of nature.

There are folk dances, folk songs and scores of tribes and their unique ways of nature conservation and sustaining biodiversity.

Regards,

Wildlife festivals promote a variety of social, educational, economic, recreational, and community development goals. As ecotourism activities, wildlife festivals should also promote conservation goals. This article examines five potential conservation benefits of wildlife festivals which can be generated by providing: 1) incentives to establish protected areas; 2) revenue for wildlife and habitat management; 3) economic impact to nearby areas, encouraging residents to conserve wildlife; 4) alternatives to other uses that cause more environmental damage; and 5) support for conservation by educating local and nonlocal participants. The discussion includes wildlife festival examples, along with research and management needs...

https://martinezbeavers.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2011-Event-Management-Potential-conservation-benefits-of-wildlife-festivals.pdf

I follow