Okyeame Kwame admonishes Creatives to promote indigenous environmental conservation

Musician cum Climate Activist, Artiste Okyeame Kwame has urged artists and content creators to engage communities and document indigenous knowledge that has traditionally helped protect forests and other natural resources.

He said Ghana’s cultural practices, including traditional songs, drumming, festivals, myths and oral histories, could provide valuable material for contemporary creative works aimed at promoting environmental conservation and climate action.

Speaking at the Climate x Culture Summit 2026 in Accra on Thursday, October 22, he called for a community-centred approach that recognises the different cultural practices and environmental knowledge systems found across the country.

“We are the government. We are the artist. We know better, so we put a billboard in front of the Flagstaff House: ‘Stop galamsey.’ It should be dialogic,” he said.

He argued that artists should move beyond one-size-fits-all environmental campaigns and work directly with communities to understand the traditions and beliefs that influence how they relate to their environment.

“We must go into specific communities because every community has a unique way of dealing with indigenous knowledge,” he said.

Okyeame Kwame was speaking on a panel titled “The Big Picture: Climate × Culture — Why Creativity Matters in the Climate Decade,” moderated by Derick Ashilevi at the inaugural summit, organised by CultureJoint in partnership with the Office of the Minister of State in charge of Climate Change and Sustainability at the Office of the President.

The summit was held under the theme “Designing Sustainable Creative Experiences for Africa.”

Other panelists were Dr Enoch Bessah, Lead for Climate Change and Ecosystem Services Monitoring at the DIPPER Lab, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST); Valerie Kplorm Nutakor, Programme Coordinator at the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN); and Betty Osei Bonsu Adjei, Director of Operations and Programmes at the Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO).

The musician cited the Asantemanso sacred grove in Essumeja in the Ashanti Region as an example of how traditional beliefs and artistic expression can contribute to protecting forests.

He recounted local traditions associating Essumeja with the origins of the Ashanti people and described how songs, drums and myths connected with the sacred grove reinforce its cultural significance.

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