Generational shifts in sacred groves’ management among the Bena community of Njombe, Tanzania

In many parts of Tanzania, sacred forests are preserved primarily by indigenous people as abodes for ancestral deities and symbols of cultural heritage. However, over the past three or four decades, knowledge of and respect for sacred forest management practices among the Bena community in Njombe, Tanzania, have declined. This article examines these shifts and determines whether the dynamics pose a threat to the sustainability of sacred woods in the respective community. Based on oral and written evidence, the paper establishes that generational shifts are evident, as a materialistic society increasingly disregards spirituality in favour of economic gains in grove management. It argues that although the traditional Bena culture of administering sacred sites has endured, it has undergone, and continues to undergo, systematic self-redefinition, with the responsiveness of Bena youths to sacred forest traditions a point of concern. Generational shifts have profoundly impacted the management of sacred groves, primarily by eroding traditional belief systems and ecological knowledge, while simultaneously presenting new avenues for conserving sacred forests and combining environmental and spiritual rationalities for contemporary management.