The EarthStory Podcast returns for a second season. Sampson Kofi Nani shares a wide-ranging conversation about the natural world in Ghana. Sampson Kofi is a research assistant at Ashesi University in Berekuso, Ghana. He shares with us his hopes for instilling the next generation with a love for the environment. He sees love of the environment as an act of protection for biodiversity. In the face of illegal mining and deforestation efforts, Sampson Kofi has an urgent reminder: destroying the natural world does not lead to greater wealth, it leads to harm for everyone. He invites us to consider that we all seek solace and serenity in natural spaces. Therefore, we should seek to protect this serenity of our children and grandchildren for generations to come. Thank you for listening.
Read the Transcript
[00:00:01.980] - Will Rand
Welcome to Season 2 of the Earth Story podcast. My name is Will Rand. Thank you for being here.
[00:00:09.210] - Will Rand
So much has happened since we were last together. For one, we have a new short video series. If you haven't already watched, Earth Story has released two parts of a video series called Earth Story in Ghana. You can watch these videos on our Substack or YouTube pages. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to travel to Ghana and meet some truly extraordinary conservationists and ecologists who are working to restore the land.
[00:00:38.660] - Will Rand
The first video in the series shares stories from the magnificent canopy walkways of Kakum National Park. With naturalist and teacher Joseph Acquah. The second video shares the story of gardens of Ghana in the village of Yamaransa. Our friend Alrie Middlebrook from Build25 was a part of starting this project, and it has been stewarded by the educators in Yamaransa and Rueben Foster, who shared the story with us so beautifully in the video. Today, we are starting our podcast season with the third installment of our Earth Story in Ghana series. After we had arrived home again, my partner, Viveka and I shared a wonderful Zoom conversation with our new friend, Sampson Kofi
[00:01:23.620] - Will Rand
Sampson is a research assistant at Ashesi University, educator in the village of Berekuso, and a true philosopher about the natural world. He speaks of love like a muscle that must be strengthened by learning why it matters to be intentional about caring for the natural world.
[00:01:45.800] - Will Rand
I guess my first question is just what is your relationship with the natural world like at this point in time?
[00:01:54.310] - Sampson Kofi
My relationship with the natural world grew up from my experience I've experienced growing up as a young boy in the countryside in the Volta region of Ghana. That's in Eastern Ghana. And then living part of my adult life in Accra as well. And then back to the Eastern region of Ghana, where I currently school and work. So I've been able to live across different climates of Ghana.
[00:02:23.840] - Sampson Kofi
I can say Ghana is divided into three main climates. We have the Southern Belt, the Middle Belt, and then the Northern Belt. So the Northern Belt is a bit dry. They have a drier climate, and the Middle Belt may be a bit dry. And then the Southern Belt is full of rain, and it's wetter for most parts of the year. So growing up in the Volta region, Peki specifically, we live very close to the environment. Peki is full of hills, hills full of trees, and the natural life, everything. You get to see animals in their natural habitats. You get to enjoy the fresh air and everything that is in there. So growing up as a child, I have a very deep connection with the natural world.
[00:03:13.670] - Sampson Kofi
Then there's this transition to Accra. You come to Accra. Accra is an urban center of Ghana. There are literally no trees. The forest cover in Accra is not as much as we have in Peki. So the quality of the air in Accra is even quite questionable. So when you get into the cities, you realize the air is not as fresh as it is in the countryside. So, it wasn't as enjoyable as I had it when as a child growing up.
[00:03:45.520] - Sampson Kofi
Then quickly to Berekuso, where I currently live in the Eastern region of Ghana. Berekuso shares many similarities with where I grew up. It's also a hilly. It also has a lot of hills. The temperatures quite similar to that of Peki. So, they share a lot of things in common, apart from a very bad road that we have here, which is quite dusty. There's a lot of fresh air here. I'm sure you guys can also I guess to that. I'm able to compare life living in the natural world compared to where there is no natural life, as in probably life in the countryside that is in Peki and then in Berekuso, as compared to life where there is limited sources of life, like trees, like Accra.
[00:04:38.420] - Sampson Kofi
So that helps me to connect to nature. I get to understand the importance of these trees to me firsthand, because I've lived in a place where there are lots of trees, and I've lived in a place where there are scarce trees. So I can understand from my perspective.
[00:04:55.150] - Viveka Hall-Holt
How have African traditional religions protected the environment around? We talked about that a little bit when we were walking back from Berekuso.
[00:05:07.890] - Sampson Kofi
Well, I'm glad a casual conversation during a walk developed into a bigger conversation like this. In fact, I would go back into my growing up as a young boy in Peki. So growing up in Peki: Peki has seven communities. And then each of these communities have forests, dedicated forests that are like sacred groups. And those places, nobody goes there to farm. Even the leaders of the community only go there on certain times. Those places are thickets of forests. Every community has them. In addition to the mountainous regions. And then straight into Accra, they don't have anything like that. And then back to Berekuso , there is something like that. So there is this connection between the African tradition and then the protection of natural environment. They achieve this mainly through superstition. So when they create superstition around these forests, these superstitions lead to reverence for the forest. People feel like, Okay, there are some deities in the forest. If I go and I cut down a tree in that forest, something like this may happen to me. These forests are there. Personally, I've never been into any of them because I'm also scared. And I think it is that fear that wards of people from destroying those forests.
[00:06:38.690] - Sampson Kofi
So why not? If these superstitions, even though they can be scientifically proven to be superstitious. I think if they have the tendency of protecting the environment, why can't we just uphold them and then use them as a means of protecting the environment? So we grew up believing that, Okay, there's something in this forest, nobody should go there. And the forest is there. And in fact, these forests have naturally become places of abode for endangered species because people don't go there to hunt or do anything. So we got to see different types of life, different living organisms in those forests, because animals in there are safer to live their lives because there is no hunting permitted there, and people don't disturb them as much as they do in other forests or other bushes. So, African traditional religion is a very great source for protecting the environment because of the superstition.
[00:07:37.600] - Sampson Kofi
However, that brings into being the element of fear. As I mentioned in our previous conversation, human beings always have a prize. They have an innate reward towards overcoming their fear. So if you make people fear things, they are more likely to go back on their fears, or they are more likely to turn down their fears should they defeat those fears.
[00:08:06.410] - Sampson Kofi
So for instance, there is a forest in my hometown. We were told that, Okay, there's a deity in there. I shouldn't go in there. But some part of me wants to go into that forest because if I managed to go inside that forest, it's a means of overcoming my fear, and it's an innate trophy for me. So eventually, if I managed to go in there and I realized that, Okay, well, there's nothing in here, then I would realize that, Well, these people have been deceiving us for quite some time. And immediately I get to know this. There is that high probability that I may also start doing things that may end up destroying this wonderful forest.
[00:08:46.380] - Sampson Kofi
So, whereas superstition is good, I think for our parents, I'm trying to bring in three generations in here. So our parents' generation were raised in that fear, the fear of those superstitions. So you don't go into this forest, and then they don't go unless, of course, on special occasions. And we are also told those things. So they tell us, Okay, don't go in there. But as young people as we are, we always have, we are always curious, we have that inquisitiveness to explore those forests.
[00:09:21.150] - Sampson Kofi
So I don't think in our current jurisdiction or in our time, that fear will work anymore because we are getting enlightened. We are getting to know a lot of stuff. So raising us in fear will not work anymore. People veer into those forests, and once they realize that there is no harm or no harm can be done to them, They realize that, in fact, they can destroy this forest and nothing will happen to them. And of course, I think when they realize our generation, the fear of those superstitions is no longer working with us, I think we are trying to make laws. But the one thing also with the laws is laws can easily be broken. I know of people who... There are countless laws in Ghana protecting our forest, but people still go to forests to mine. So what happens? I think when people still go to forests to mine and then destroy this forest, and what happens after they destroy them? They get punished. But one question I always ask myself, if there's a tree that has been there for hundreds of years and someone goes to cut down that tree and the person gets punished, does that the tree the person cuts?
[00:10:31.600] - Sampson Kofi
Absolutely no. That punishment, probably the person will just be fined or just be sentenced to prison for some number of years. But the life that the person has destroyed and the benefits that we tend to gain from these trees have been cut off forever. So eventually, fear of the unknown is quietly fading off. And that brings to light one of the efficaces that we can use. So I think we can start trading a new generation. So our generation will have to also start a new way or a new efficient way of protecting the environment.
[00:11:09.580] - Sampson Kofi
I think, in my opinion, I think the best way is to promote love for the environment because when people love something, they tend to cherish it. If you love something, and you know the benefits of that thing to you, you don't go about destroying it, even if you know there is something in there or not. So, in the generation to come, we should teach them that, okay, you have to love this forest, not because there is a god in there that will kill you if you go and cut a tree, but because these trees provide us with wind breaks.
[00:11:45.080] - Sampson Kofi
Now, with my living experience in Peki, these forests have immense benefits apart from being home for these endangered species. They also serve as wind breaks. So no matter how strong winds blow, you don't You don't see people's building, you don't see the wind ripping of people's buildings and all that. So these are all protections. So if people get to know that the importance of these trees beyond what they see, I think they may get to love the trees. And love is the greatest weapon to go upon to protecting the environment.
[00:12:29.720] - Viveka Hall-Holt
Going back to the trees and the impact of different philosophies like Western scientific philosophy, or European, maybe I should say, scientific philosophy, and also African traditional religion. I know that you are a Christian. It was so wonderful to go to church with you. Please say hi to everyone at your church, by the way. Oh, yeah? Well, it will be a memory that I will have for a very long time. So thank you so much for that. (And that doesn't have to go into the podcast.)
[00:13:25.370] - Will Rand
Well, I was going to ask, I wanted to learn a little bit more about the mining situation, too? Just from whatever you understand about it, I would love to learn a little bit more about that.
[00:13:39.480] - Sampson Kofi
Okay. I think there are two... From what I know, there are two major forms of mining, the large scale and the small scale mining. So the large scale mining is carried out by big multinational companies. I think two major ones in Ghana are AngloGold Ashanti and then Newmont. So they do a lot of underground mining, deep shaft mining. Whereas small scale mining is usually open land mining. People dig the ground, and then they get the minerals, and then they go to sell them off. It's locally called Galamsey. Galamsey is actually a slang term for gather and sell. So the local people, because of the difficulty in saying gather and sell, they name it Galamsey.
[00:14:37.070] - Sampson Kofi
Now, in the past, people used just shovels and other digging equipment to dig. So the effect of the degradation is not as much as these present times where people are using bigger machinery like excavators to dig. And I mean, if people use shovels, they are not able destroy as much as people who use excavators. And in fact, there is a disregard. There is a very great disregard for the loss in the country as much that people tend to mine in waterways.
[00:15:13.800] - Sampson Kofi
And eventually, some of the chemicals they use in the mining is mercury, which is a very heavy metal. It can stay in the soil for a very long time. So, at the end of the day, when this mercury ends up in our water bodies, it may end up consuming them with its adverse health effects on us. And one worrying trend is that these miners, these illegal miners are not only destroying water bodies, they are also destroying forests with a lot of impunity because wherever they know the prospects of gold, they just go in there and they mine. And the devastation is so crazy. They do a lot of crazy damages on the environment. In fact, the metals, the chemicals, they use a lot of chemicals in their processes. And because they do a lot of digging, they do a lot of deep pit stuff. Sometimes when they are done, they don't do a lot of land reclamation. So when it rains, water gathers in these pits. These are very deep pits, super deep. So water gathers in them. And once in a while, we hear that people fall in them and they die.
[00:16:30.410] - Sampson Kofi
But still, these things do happen. And as I mentioned earlier, the reason they usually cite is economic gain. So unemployment is one of the main driving forces behind this. I think, should I say, people are getting greedier by the day because it is believed that most of those people who are actually doing the illegal mining are young men from these small communities who are supported by very rich, opulent people who dwell in the cities. So they dig up everything, get their gold, and then they give it to their bosses who live in the city. So that is something brief I know about the illegal mining scenario in Ghana.
[00:17:19.280] - Will Rand
So I want to go back a little bit to: you were talking about the difference between the urban environment in Accra and the fact that mining is a problem in these forests. And one thing that's so interesting when you grow up, you were talking about growing up in spaces where you were close to trees. You saw them as wind breaks. They were part of the shelter of the Earth, part of the natural landscape around you. But if you were growing up in Accra, that's a very different landscape, and you might not necessarily see the trees the same way.
[00:18:01.780] - Viveka Hall-Holt
Or have that relationship with the trees, like when you grow up with them.
[00:18:06.990] - Will Rand
Right. And so I guess I'm just wondering, how do you bridge the gap between life in the big city and a life in a big city that progress equals sometimes more money and means sometimes doing things like mining or extracting from the forest, how do you bridge that gap to help people realize what they're really doing when that's not the landscape they understand?
[00:18:38.480] - Sampson Kofi
So as Will mentioned, before I even proceed, I'd want to say we have to make people aware that there is more to the environment than economic gain. So the environment gives us more than just money. And there is this belief in Ghana that if we... They will get to a time, If we end up destroying all the forest and we had all the money in the world, that's where you get to realize that you can't eat money. You can't put money on your plate and eat it. Neither can you drink money. So people must be made aware that, well, it's good to have money, but of course, the environment is also very important. They should be aware of this. And once the awareness comes in, they will get to know, they will tread cautiously when dealing with the environment, because eventually, they will get to know that, well, when we destroy all this, when we destroy the environment, and there is nothing more for us to gain from it, we can't eat the money that we have.
[00:19:38.330] - Sampson Kofi
I learned back then, back in Ghana in 1983, there was a famine. Back then, and I learned people were having money all right, but because there was no food, the famine was brought about by a long season of drought and then bushfires.
[00:19:55.170] - Sampson Kofi
So that should even be a reminder for us that if we destroy the environment all in our quest for economic gain, is to get to a time where most of the things that we are looking for, we will get them, but the basic needs, like food, clean air, will be lost in our desire to get greater things. In fact, when you travel out of Accra into the countryside where there are lots of trees, even the ambience alone and the serenity is something that is more enjoyable than all the luxury in Accra. When I visit Peki, it's a whole new environment, fresh air. The quality of the air alone is welcoming. I may enjoy the luxury in Accra, but when I go to Peki, the peace of mind and the serenity, the ambience is also different. And that is what makes life what it is. I mean, enjoying the small things and taking pride in them is more important than getting all the money in the world.
[00:20:57.510] - Viveka Hall-Holt
Thank you for sharing that. It's hard to hear because I can tell that you really care about the environment and especially the trees. And of course, water is important for all the fish and the animals and the people.
[00:21:18.780] - Will Rand
So as you hold all of these things, what is it that gives you hope moving forward? What do you hope to see as a new sense of harmony evolves between the human community and the natural community in Ghana?
[00:21:33.950] - Sampson Kofi
I would say, I mentioned that now you go to most urban communities and they are seeing the relevance of trees. So you They go to people's houses and they are planting trees because they realize that people who cut down trees have hotter homes. Their homes are warmer than people who have trees in their homes. One good thing, one good aspect of inculcating this culture is that when you go to most schools, most schools are now prioritizing the planting of trees on their campuses. I'm glad when I was doing National Service in the Berkekso Basic School. I also tried planting a tree. At least I planted two trees, more like a reminder of my time there. I'm glad with more of those efforts, I think we can also help to achieve that.
[00:22:29.830] - Sampson Kofi
As I said, little children should be made to understand the essence of trees. They shouldn't destroy trees and all that. So I'm glad they are picking it up from the basic school level where they are inculcating the tradition of planting trees in to children. And over here in Ghana, we have a National Tree Planting Day. I don't quite remember the actual day it is, but it's an exercise we do every year where the government of the day supports a forestation, a reforestation programs.
[00:23:02.480] - Sampson Kofi
They give seedlings to people who are willing to plant trees around their houses for free. And I think most of these are yielding efforts. They are yielding a lot of effort. And I also hope people will start to have this innate love for the environment because in that sense, love is all it is. If you love the environment, you go and plant more trees. Or even if you you won't plant trees, even if you won't add to the number of trees that are there, you won't go about destroying the ones that are there. There is this saying that I identify a lot with that goes like, If you won't make the system better, just leave it as it is. If you won't add to the number of trees that are there in the environment in Ghana or in your community, just leave the ones that are there that you came to meet. I mean, so that people who are coming after you also get to enjoy them. If they will also choose to increase it, fine. If they won't, well, they should also leave it as it is so that we will continue generations after generations to have this benefits of the trees. So some of these give me hope for a better life of trees and the environment in general.
[00:24:23.400] - Will Rand
That's just wonderful. Thank you so much for everything you've shared with us today.
[00:24:35.200] - Will Rand
This interview took place on two continents. Sampson Kofi recorded from the lush forests in Berekuso, Ghana, and we recorded from our home in Kenmore, Washington, a natural wetland and the ancestral homelands of the Duamish and the Suquamish tribal nations. We honor their lasting wisdom of harmony with this land and the great cedar trees, tule reeds, and salmon. You can share your stories with us on our new Substack page, as well as on our web page at midpenearthstory.org. Until we meet again, may you find the courage to face each moment, and always remember that this Earth depends upon your unfolding story.
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