This book argues that African spiritual traditions, philosophies, and everyday practices offer crucial, yet often overlooked, perspectives for rethinking global sustainability policies. Premised on the understanding that spirituality is fundamentally interwoven with the ecological world, it outlines an ecospiritual relational worldview where rivers, mountains, and forests are beings with which humans share an interdependent existence. This perspective directly challenges dominant Euroamerican narratives.

This collection intervenes directly in scholarly debates surrounding Indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) and its politicization. It proposes a scholarly appreciation of ecospiritual practices as an interpretive framework through which to understand the multiplicity of ways African communities experience, interpret, and relate with landscapes. It calls for an urgent shift to reimagine ecological governance from within African ontologies.

Alessandra Manzini is Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow in Geography at CY Cergy Paris University, France. Her global research project, SPIRAL, investigates how indigeneity and ecospiritual practices contribute to socio-ecological resilience and biocultural diversity conservation to inform global sustainability policies.

Paula Uimonen is Professor in the Department of Social Anthropology at Stockholm University, Sweden. She specializes in anthropology of art, digital media, visual culture, world literature, water and ocean. Her current research project Swahili Ocean Worlds (2022-2024) explores relationships with the sea and sustainability in fishing communities in Tanzania.

Houria Djoudi is a researcher and writer of Amazigh origin focusing on climate change, local knowledge systems, and social justice. Trained as a pastoralist, she researches natural resource management and amplifies Indigenous voices in global climate policy.

Ngambouk Vitalis Pemunta is a research fellow and visiting lecturer in Global Health at Heidelberg University, Germany. He specializes in marginalized populations, health equity, and the social dimensions of health, conducting ethnographic research in conflict and post-conflict regions.

Phosiso Sola is a Senior Scientist at CIFOR-ICRAF, specializing in natural resources governance, bioenergy, carbon, and livelihood development. She leads integrated restoration, livelihood, and carbon development initiatives in East and Southern Africa.