Promoting environmental and infrastructural resilience through selected cultural practices.

Abstract

The wanton destruction of the natural resources in the environment as well as the poor infrastructure in communities has been the main causative agents of negative environmental tendencies such as deforestation, land degradation, and habitat destruction. However, since the dawn of time, some local communities have craftily promoted and sustained the resilience of their environmental resources and infrastructure through the use of cultural practices. The purpose of the study was to investigate into these cultural practices using the case of the Buoyem community in the Techiman district in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. Ultimately, the study aimed at accentuating the significant roles that the often neglected practices in the cultures of people can be utilized in arresting environmental and infrastructural challenges faced in Modern Ghana. The study was driven in the qualitative research approach with the research method being phenomenological study. Qualitative data analysis was used in interpreting the accrued data for the study. The study revealed that cultural practices such as the institution of sacred groves, taboo systems, communal labour and the ideals of living in harmony with nature, respect for the elderly and communal living were seen as the instruments in promoting environmental and infrastructure resilience in the Buoyem community. The study recommends that if environmentalists and infrastructure developers tactfully tap and incorporate cultural practices in their developmental strategies and policies, it would aid in averting the recurring environmental challenges in Ghana.