Tourist potential of Tano Sacred Grove

STORY: FROM MICHAEL SARPONG MFUM, TANOBOASE B/A

Tano Sacred Grove in the Techiman Municipality of the Brong Ahafo region is one of the leading tourist sites in the country.
The Grove, a Community Based-Ecotourism Project (CBEP), was started in 1996. With the help of the Ghana Association for the Conservation of Nature (GACON), the Tanoboase community began the development of the Groove as an eco-tourism site.
In the year 2001, Tanoboase was selected as one of the 14 eco-tourism sites nation-wide to be developed under the CBEP.
The fund for the project was provided by United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The implementation of the CBEP has been a collaborative effort between the Nature Conservation Research Centre, Ghana Tourist Board, US Peace Corps Ghana, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and the project Communities.
The project is to develop community-owned and operated eco-tourism activities at environmental sensitive rural destinations, which will serve as income generating opportunities by conserving local ecosystems rather than through unsustainable exploitation.
In Tanoboase, a tourism management team comprised of local community members is directing the project at the ground level.
The grove is nestled within a semi-deciduous forest and encloses a cluster of striking sandstone rock formations.
As one hikes along the natural trails, one will observe a variety of plants, trees, birds and butterfly species. A lucky visitor may also spot antelopes, baboons and monkeys, once rare but whose population seems to be increasing in the grove.
There is a bat colony as well. A climb up to the sandstone rocks leads to a panoramic overlook that was used during the Ashanti-Bono wars. The grove tour can last approximately 1-4 hours.
One interesting attraction at the grove is the stone that has carved itself into a shape of a tortoise.
Tano sacred grove is the site of one of the earliest Bono settlements. Taakora, the highest of the Akan gods on earth, dwells at the source of the Tano River in the rove. When the first inhabitants of Tanoboase discovered the god, the grove became a place of sanctity and worship and remained so ever since.
The Tano shrine, residing in a brass pan, is currently kept in Tanoboase town but it is carried to the grove annually by a fetish for consultation.
The grove is also the site of the annual Appo Festival, which is the time of spiritual cleansing held in April and May every year.
Discover the history, tradition and natural beauty of the first settling place of the Bono people.