The concept of 'cosmovision' has been known to development researchers ever since it formed the basis of a study by B. Haverkort and others in Peru in the early 1990s. They perceive the whole of nature as a living being, like an animal, the parts of which are all interdependent. Human society is one of these parts.
Man thus works and communicates with nature rather than trying to conquer it.
This is very different from the Western view that places man in opposition to nature. A people's cosmovision shapes not only their behaviour and social organization but also their technology. There is of course no one, single 'cosmovision'. Cosmovisions, based as they are on perceptions and beliefs, differ from one culture to the next. In the Bolga District in Ghana, local people have preserved two patches of forest as dwelling places for the spirits and gods.