Totemic Beliefs and Biodiversity Conservation among the Tiv People of Benue State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Biodiversity depletion has been a major problem in many communities of the world including Benue State, Nigeria. The use of indigenous beliefs by some communities has been reported to assist in the conservation of biodiversity. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of identifying such beliefs that have been used or are still being used as tools for biodiversity conservation by the Tiv tribe of Central Nigeria. Both in-depth interview with key informants (IDI) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) methods were used. In the case of IDI, traditional rulers as custodians of the peoples’ culture were purposively chosen while in FGD, elders among households were chosen. It was found that 18 totems which included animal, plants and shrines/deities exert significant influence in the conservation of biodiversity in the study area. Therefore Totemism should be used pari-pasu with other conventional methods to conserve biodiversity.

Key words: Totem, biodiversity depletion, indigenous beliefs, conservation.