The vegetation cover of the Northern Region is fast disappearing.
What were once thick green forests are now lifeless and bare lands.
This is as a result of illegal logging, charcoal burning and bushfires.
However, at Yiwagu, a farming community in the Savelugu municipality in the Northern Region, a small forest still thrives.
The 10-acre patch of woodland is not protected by law, but by traditional belief.
This forest is home to the Maltiti Shrine, a lesser god, which is believed to be powerful and protects the people of the area.
Sacred site
The sacred site, believed to be inhabited by a spirit symbolised by a lion, serves as a guardian that shields the land and its people from harm.
Abukari Wumbei Gun daa Naa, the Chief Priest of the shrine
"Maltiti” literally means "Do good for us" in Dagbani.
For generations, the people of Yiwagu have considered the Maltiti Shrine not just a place of worship, but the very soul of their community.
The forest is sacred, and no tree is felled; no animal is hunted, and no firewood is collected.
Anyone who breaks these taboos, they say, risks the wrath of the spirit.
Within the sacred grove, hunting and harvesting of firewood are strictly forbidden.
The animals that live there are regarded as messengers or companions of the shrine’s spirit.
In fact, the people of Yiwagu hold this belief with great reverence, and the shrine’s presence has shaped their traditions, relationship with nature and their way of life.
Significance
Narrating the significance of the grove, the Chief Priest of the Shrine, Abukari Wumbei Gundaa Naa, explained that the shrine was not used to destroy people spiritually, except when one flaunted the traditional laws of the shrine.
"We don't use it to harm, but rather to heal and provide guidance and blessings to people who need it. I can't mention names, but prominent people have been coming here for spiritual support," he stated.
He added that the protection of the shrine was vested in the hands of the community's traditional leaders and its natural laws that backed it.
Gundaa Naa further stated that the shrine played a significant role in the community through guidance and protection, not only for the people but for both living and non-living things.
To protect the shrine and tradition, he indicated no person dared tamper with the forest.
Secrecy
A resident, Yakubu Alhassan, explained that the Maltiti Shrine was serving as a guide for the community’s agricultural activities.
“The shrine tells us when to plant and when not to; we watch the colour of the grass and the flowering of certain trees — they signal the coming of the rains," he said.
He added that the shrine had brought blessings to many who visited it with challenges, adding, “People from all walks come for support.
The shrine only supports what is good and helpful."
A farmer, Bawah Sulemana, recalled how he once recovered from an unexplained illness through the shrine’s help.
“I woke up one morning and my left arm couldn’t move.
After visiting the shrine and following the elders’ guidance, I became well again," he said.
Sulemana, however, expressed concern about the gradual loss of trees around the forest, warning that deforestation could weaken the shrine’s spiritual and ecological strength.
