Alliance of Religions and Conservation
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Transcript of Alliance of Religions and Conservation
Alliance of Religions and Conservation
Helping 11 of the world’s major faiths develop environmental plans
to protect the living planet
About ARC
• Founded in 1995 by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh as a secular NGO
• We help faiths develop environmental programmes based on their own core beliefs, practices and teachings.
• We also help secular organisations link with religions to work together.
• We are not funded by any faith.
Long-term African Faith Commitments for a Living Planet
Sept 2012, Nairobi – 27 Christian, Muslim and Hindu groups launched long-term environmental action plans.
27 faith groups reaching out to 184 million people in 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa
– Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
What people have said about this initiative...
‘A new awakening that will help shape the beliefs, behaviour
and actions for a greener and better Africa’
– Dr Ali Mohamed, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, Kenya
‘Potentially transformative’ – Mr Mounkaila Goumandakoya, UNEP Director and
Regional Representative for Africa
• The plans focus on sustainable land and water management –especially – farming,– education,– women’s-led
projects– tree planting– Awareness
raising on environmental issues
Restoring the land
Climate-smart
agriculture
• Farming God’s Way• Islamic Farming
Agro-forestryand tree nurseries
• Tree planting for fruit, fodder, fertiliser & fuelwood
• Community woodlots & tree nurseries
Practical action for
SLM
• Water harvesting• Energy-saving stoves• Charcoal briquettes• Biogas & solar energy
Faithful Farming• Faith-based approach to agriculture• Integrates faith teachings about caring for the Earth
with practical training in conservation agriculture– Farming God’s Way for Christian farmers – Islamic Farming for Muslim farmers
Conservation agriculture principles• Form of climate-
smart agriculture• Doubles crop yields
in 5 years• Has three key
principles:– No tillage or
minimum tillage– Mulching:
ie, covering the soil
– Crop rotation
Farming God’s Way training, Kenya• 110 Christian faith leaders trained in Kenya & Uganda• Demonstration gardens on faith-managed land
Farming God’s Way in Kenya
• Demonstration sites established on faith-run land
• The Methodist Church has revived its Agriculture Week
• Presbyterian Church of East Africa has trained at least 300 people
• The Anglican Church is reaching out to 500 households through farmer field schools
Farming God’s Way garden at the Catholic Youth Centre
Preparing the garden
Healthy crops growing
Farming God’s Way in
Uganda
• Bunyoro Kitara Diocese
• Preparing one of the gardens (above)
• Healthy maize growing (right)
Islamic Farming
• The first training manual that integrates Islamic teachings on caring for the Earth with practical training in conservation agriculture
• Produced by ARC & Global One 2015 in response to requests from Muslim faith partners
Islamic Farming
• Launched in March 2014 in Kenya in partnership with SUPKEM (Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims)
Islamic Farming workshop, Kenya• 30 members of SUPKEM trained in January 2014
• Another 200 farmers trained by SUPKEM by March 2014
• 11 demo farms established across Kenya
Practical demonstration of how mulched soil absorbs water much better than bare soil
Islamic Farming in Uganda
Islamic Farming workshop, Uganda, August 2014
• 14 Islamic Farming demonstration farms established by UMYA/HEAR Uganda, UMWA and Gomba Women’s Environment Group
• 84 smaller Islamic Farming gardens at individual’s homes
Engaging women
Women’s initiatives
Women-led tree nurseries
• 10 women-led tree nurseries set up by the Northern Diocese, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania
• Watering & planting techniques
• Microfinance • Entrepreneurship • Nursery management• Agroforestry
Women-led tree nurseries in Uganda
• Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese in Uganda
• Working with the Mothers’ Union
• Setting up 15 tree nurseries in the next 2 years
• Training in agroforestry and climate change
• Income generating
Engaging Muslim women
Gomba Women’s Environment Project
• Women in mosques in Gomba District, Uganda
• Aims to reduce the number of trees cut down for firewood
• Planting 10,000-12,000 new trees a year
• Develop income-generating, environmentally friendly livelihoods
Complementary new skills
• Drip irrigation
• Rainwater harvesting• Water reservoirs
Charcoal briquettes
Basket cookers
Biogas– Building the biogas unit (top left)– Cookers and lights powered by biogas (bottom left)
Tree planting
• Ghana – community woodlots
• Ethiopia – green mosques
Faith groups are involved in up to 70% of schools in Africa
Awareness raising in schools
Faith-based Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit launched in Kenya, 2013
Faith-based ESD toolkit launched in Tanzania, September 2013
Faith-based ESD toolkit taken to Uganda, March 2014
School micro projects:
– Vegetable gardens– Water & sanitation – Tree planting– Waste management– Bee keeping
Awareness raising in faith communities
Catholics in Kenya• Resources for catechists and
for Sunday schools• Interfaith environmental
awareness day
Greening Fridays in Uganda
• Launched in 2010, held every Second Friday of Ramadan • The sermon that day focuses on the environment• Afterwards tree seedlings are distributed to worshippers
Greening Friday 2014
Development of national faith networks of environmental action
Launch of the Uganda network
• Uganda Faiths Network on Environmental Action (UFNEA) launched in October 2013
Kenya Interfaith Network on Environmental Action
Network of Faiths on Environmental Action in Tanzania
A new movement of faith groups engaged in environmental action