In the Niger delta, the Biseni and Osiami people live together in harmony with local crocodiles. The lakes were the crocodiles live lakes are considered sacred and the crocodiles are seen as brothers to the Bisini and Osiami. Whenever a crocodile dies it gets a funeral just like a human being. This co-existence is threatened by a growing influence of international economic interest such as oil and fisheries has considerable impacts on the lives, values and practices of local and indigenous peoples in the delta.
Priest and assistant in front of shrine erected for sacrifices to the lake god at lake Esibiri (Besini). Sacrifices carried out in the shrine are mandatory and form an important function before and after the fishing festivities. Llun: D.E. clir.
the crocodile is like our brother, and so cannot be hurt
-Anonymous Osiami
The rising presence of multinationals also impact indigenous ecological governance of the natural resources in the region and threaten the ecology. More work means more people and more people increases the demand for fish. As local people are forced to adopt unsustainable fishing styles that generate more revenue, such as dynamite fishing, their traditional sustainable fishing practices are abandoned. The traditional fishing system separates lakes in two categories: those that can be entered, and those that can not be entered. Mae'r categorïau hynny'n cylchdroi i gynnal cydbwysedd rhwng galw pysgod y boblogaeth frodorol a'r amser y mae'n ei gymryd i'r ecosystem adfer y boblogaeth pysgod.
Mae'r astudiaeth achos hon yn seiliedig ar brofiad MS. Eno Anwana sydd wedi gweithio gyda grwpiau brodorol yn y rhanbarth am drosodd 15 mlynedd. I gael mwy o wybodaeth am y wefan hon a chydweithrediad rhwng actorion Darllenwch yr astudiaeth achos lawn ar ein gwefan.
Erbyn: Rianne Doller
