Representative bark texture, not a photograph of a documented Onyina — a species-verified image is still to come.
Akan
Onyina
Kapok · Silk Cotton
Ceiba pentandra
Where It Grows
Widespread across forest and transition zones
Anyirawase — Named for the tree — onyina/onyaa — that once marked the site.
Approximate — anchored to the nearest known place name.
Explore full map →Why It's Protected
Widely regarded in Akan cosmology as the dwelling place of spirits — many stand untouched for generations near shrines and family compounds not because of a written law, but because cutting one without the proper rites is considered a serious taboo.
Uses & Benefits
- —Silky floss from the seed pods used as stuffing and insulation
- —Massive buttressed trunk gives shade to entire compounds
- —A living boundary marker between family and village land
If you would not let a human being die, why would you let a forest burn? Every material is alive — the tree is not a metaphor. The tree is ancestor.
See the Nipa Dua Foundation's environmental work →