________________
JAIN DIGEST
investigate the application of non-harmful technologies such as bio-gas and solar energy. Earlier this year, the Baha'i Council established an Office of the Environment which willcollaborate with WWF and the United Nations Environ- ment Programme on a world wide shceme for tree-planting and training in agro-forestry. According to its director, Mr Lawrence Arturo. "The Baha'i approach to the preservation of nature is based on a new vision for humanity and the natural environment that emphasises spiritual values, unity of effort and the establishment of a self-sustaining, everadvancing civilization."
Buddhism
For the Buddha, the forest was a place of peace and harmony, his home for 40 years and the place where he taught and meditated. Yet in the last half a century, Buddhist Thailand has destroyed 80% of the forests that once clothed the land. The country is in great danger of dying of exposure as rainfall declines, soil erodes, streams dry up and rivers silt up. Forest monks all over the country are now working with villagers to reforest the brutally logged lands, establish sus- tainable practices of agriculture and agro-forestry and protect wetlands. The Buddhist Nature Conservation Programme run by Wildlife Fund Thailand provides practical and financial assistance for the monks and villagers, runs Buddhist ecology training seminars and publishes educational materials produced by the monks and scholars.
Christianity: Western
The Living Churchyards Project in Britain assists communities to establish their local churchyards as a wildlife sanctuary. The 20,000 churchyards across the land provide a vital refuge for ancient wildflowers, butterflies, birds, bats, snakes, toads, hedgehogs, foxes, etc., many of which are now under theat from modern farming methods and urbanisation. For Christians, their church graveyard bustling with wildlife is an example of the bounty of God's Creation and of the duty of humanity to care for that Creation. It is a symbol of the Christian belief in life after death as well as being a place of peace and harmony in which to pray or reflect.
Christianity: Greek Orthodox
The Greek Orthodox Church has selected a monastery in the Northern Greek village of Ormylia as the centre for a pilot project where the Christian teachings on care for Creation will be put into practice through the introduction of organic farming in an area severely damaged by extensive use of harmful pesticides. The monastery which receives over 100,000 visitors a year will recruit a team of consevation experts to train and work with the nuns. An education and information centre and meeting place at the monastery will teach organic farming, engage in recycling campaign against the use of harmful pesticides and provide expertise for similiar projects at other monasteries.
Judaism
The work of Jewish communities in the UK and USA are inspired by the achievements in Israel where almost 200 million trees have been planted and maintained in the last four decades, greening vast areas of desert. There are also the wildlife reserves. The Hal-Bar Biblical Wildlife Reserve was established to restore some of the world's most endangered
animals to their natural habitats. Wild asses, ostriches, lebexes, white oryxes, addaxes, wolves, foxes and hyaenas, are bred and raised. The Reserve is commonly referred to as Noah's Ark for like its Biblical namesake it saves creatures from the destruction brought about by humanity's greed and violence. Hinduism
A reforestation and clean-up project at Vrindavan, near Delhi, is being run by local Hindu groups and WWF India. They are working to return the holy land of Krishna to its description in Bhagavat Purana: "Vrindavan, filled with trees which are the source of life for all people. The project, to be officially launched on Krishna's birthday in 1992, will include a nursery where pilgrims can buy saplings to plant along the pilgramage circuit as an act of devotion, and a Krishna ecology centre staffed by local people who will oversee the maintenance of the trees and produce educational exhibits and brochures. The work, which has the full backing of the national and U.P. state governments, will extend to include an interstate clean-up of the Yamuna River which runs through Vrindavan and, like the Ganges, is suffering from silt from the deforestation in the Himalayas and pollution from major cities and industrial dumping.
Islam
British Muslims are establishing the Mirabutun ecology centre, which will be a national and international focus for Islamic environmentalism. When completed, the centre will be home to a Muslim community as well as providing training and information in alternative energy, organic farming and human ecology (mutua). The spiritual foundation of the centre is provided by the Qur'an which praises Nature as evidence of God's greatness and omniscience and teaches that God has appointed humanity as the guardian of nature.
Sikhism
Hemkund in the mountains of the Punjab is the site where the last human Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh meditated. Like Vrindavan, it is visited by hundreds of thousands of devout pilgrims every year. The stunning natural landscape, including a valley of the flowers where many rare species grow, is in danger of being devastated by the sheer numbers of people who visit, the rubbish they leave and the proposed new road and hotel developments.
Work is underway by sikhs to conduct an environmental impact study of the area and develop an alternative planfor sustainable use of Hemkund as a pilgrimage site. The Guru Granth Sahib will form the basis for materials reminding Sikh pilgrims that to destroy nature is to destroy the work of God: "Nature we see, Nature we hear, Nature we observe with awe, wonder and joy...All nature is yours, O powerful Creator, You command it, observe it and pervade within it".
Kerry Brown WWF Network Consultant
Jain Education Intenational
Page 33 For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
