The Environmentalist’s Perspective : Spirituality Save the Earth

If you are rich and you stay in a poor environment for long, you will become poor. If you are poor but you learn how to live it up among the class of the rich, it won’t be long before you join the rich class.

Many of the most important conservation places in the world are sacred. Sites like the Nyanga, Domboshava, Chinhoyi Caves, Masvingo, Mazowe, Kariba, Zambezi River and the Mosi Oa Tunya, are deeply rooted in local spiritual and cultural traditions. These places also face overwhelming threats, including deforestation, pollution, unsustainable extraction, high temperatures and low rainfall. Such threats not only endanger the integrity of ecosystems but also leave the people who live there impoverished and vulnerable.

Environmentalists are now using Faith Based Organizations to recruit agents for the Environmentalist movement. Over 80 percent of people in the world follow a specific faith; there are at least 2 billion Christians, 1.34 billion Muslims, 950 million Hindus, and 200 million Buddhists worldwide. Most of these faith organizations have an element of preserving nature and engaging in friendly practices that nurture people and preserve the environment.

World Wildlife Fund, WWF’s Sacred Earth program works with religious leaders and faith communities who best articulate ethical and spiritual ideals around the sacred value of Earth and its diversity, and are committed to protecting it.