A Buddhist monk rests in Sra Damrei, a peaceful spot in the Phnom Kulen National Park in Cambodia. Religious leaders across the world are helping to mobilise people of faith to take climate action, including protecting forests. Image: Guillén Pérez, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0/ In Eco-business
The first step is to commit to the comprehensive Faiths for Forests Declaration, and then use their resources including issue primers, faith toolkits and country fact sheets to mobilize for change together. This work is global, with focus on Peru, Brazil, Columbia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia.
Hear Jane Goodall introduce the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative working to prevent tropical deforestation by raising awareness, mobilizing faith-based action, and influencing policy.
Laura Vargas, Photo Credit: @Interfaith Rainforest
For example, in Peru The main drivers of deforestation in Peru are agriculture and livestock, gold-mining, roads and illegal logging. The expansion of oil and gas drilling also poses a major threat to Peru’s rainforests…. Legal recognition of Indigenous and community forest rights in the Peruvian Amazon has been found to reduce deforestation and disturbance by as much as 81% in the year following titling, and by 56% the year after.
Laura Vargas is the country facilitator; she brings decades of leadership work in social justice work in inter-religious and faith-based organizations.
The fires in Brazil are raging, and when faiths
“speak with one voice on issues like forest protection, their moral authority is magnified, giving them greater ability to influence policies through their influence on individuals and institutions.“
For more information on actions you can take to support rainforests in Brazil, connect with the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative in Brazil at brazil@interfaithrainforest.org.You can also directly support the Yawanawa as they battle fires. The initial modest funding request has been met; since the needs are ongoing more support is welcome.