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Ethiopia/Ghana/Kenya/ Nigeria/Rwanda/ South Africa/Tanzania/ Uganda/Zimbabwe
Africa’s Faiths Commit to a Living Planet under a World Bank–Supported Initiative
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escribed as the biggest civil society movement on climate change in history, and the biggest mobilization of people and communities that we have ever seen on this issue, faith groups have a crucial role to play in protecting our planet. Nowhere is this more true than in Africa, where 90 percent of the population describe themselves as either Christian or Muslim—with 470 million Christians and 234 million Muslims. Moreover, faith leaders are figures of huge influence and trust. They cannot be ignored in the search for a coordinated response to protecting our planet. The Alliance of Religions and Conservation, a secular body that helps the world’s major faiths develop environmental programs based on their own core teachings, beliefs and practices, is doing just that, with support from the World Bank’s African-led TerrAfrica partnership. The innovative project is a new awakening to help shape beliefs, behavior, and actions for a greener and better Africa. The unprecedented outreach to 184 million people provides an extraordinary opportunity for long-term engagement to achieve long-lasting impact and create a more sustainable Africa. In fact, 27 faith groups in Sub-Saharan Africa have received support under the project to consult with their own local communities—in their mosques, temples and churches, with their young people’s associations and women’s groups, and in their schools—on actions needed to protect their environment. The resulting long-term plans of action on the environment were endorsed by the highest authority of the faith groups, ranging from the National Muslim Council of Tanzania to the Hindu Council of Africa,
the Qadiriyyah Sufi Movement in Nigeria, and the Protestant Council of Rwanda. This is the first time that African faith communities have come together to develop long-term plans on the environment, and this offers a unique opportunity for the World Bank, through TerrAfrica, to further build on its initial pioneering engagement to secure practical results. The 27 faith groups in 11 different countries proposed a range of practical actions for their 184 million followers. Plans focus on community awareness raising, conservation and climate smart agricultural practices, including the sustainable use of land and water and environment education in faithrun schools. Many of the plans focus on using faith institutions as model demonstration centers to teach followers simple techniques of sustainable conservation agriculture. The faiths are also planning massive reforestation and tree-planting programs, with over 43 million trees to be planted in the next seven years. In Ethiopia, where 85 percent of people make their living from the land, and with a church membership of 43.5 million people, this engagement could have a huge impact. The Orthodox Church, with 500,000 clergy, proposes that its 3,000 monasteries be not only spiritual centers, but become monastic communities that act as pioneers for the introduction of environmental conservation and carbon trading, as well as centers of demonstration and learning for improved agricultural practices, sustainable land management techniques, and innovations such as the introduction of biogas digesters and solar energy.
L and for Life . AWARENESS CREATION
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