Sacred Texts and Environmental Ethics: Lessons in Sustainability from Ethiopia (original) (raw)
Theological ambiguities: A challenge to a constructive ecotheology in Africa.
This paper is written following an evaluation of the church role towards ecological crisis that is happening at the Mau forest complex in Kenya. The place of the church in Kenya, and Africa is central, and the church theology still plays a normative role. Mau forest complex is a very important ecological feature in Kenya, and a major catchment area. As much as this very vital ecological feature and a major catchment area is experiencing degradation, churches in Kenya have remained aloof silent, and if anything is happening, it is not something tangible in comparison to the actions taken by the churches in Kenya towards other socio-economic and political issues in Kenya. It is within this understanding therefore that this paper is written to evaluate the reason behind this silence.
2020
Using an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach, this study investigates the ecotheological contributions of three main interlocutors from East and Southern Africa, namely Samson Gitau, Kapya Kaoma and Jesse Mugambi, all of whom are African theologians. The three theologians seek to address ecological degradation from an African ecological perspective, by drawing on African Indigenous Knowledge Systems and African Christianity and Religiosity. The contributions of the three theologians in their respective chapters enable the study to identify the systems and practices that are under-researched and not utilised even though they are ecologically sensitive systems. Owing to a number of factors, African Indigenous Wisdom Knowledge Systems have not been adequately explored. African Indigenous Wisdom is a body of knowledge systems with ecological overtones. From a theological and African religiosity perspective, Gitau, Kaoma and Mugambi highlight the need for natural theology to be adopted by the Church as an institution. Gitau stresses the importance of relations based on the African concept of God, humanity and creation. The study addresses the gap in the existing knowledge by drawing on the main interlocutors to investigate the ecological crisis and by adopting an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach. According to this approach, as applied by Gitau, Kaoma and Mugambi, the indigene's systems are not adequately explored and churches in Africa are ecologically insensitive. African churches ought to embrace Indigenous Wisdom Knowledge Systems and form an African eco-theology. The study has brought to the fore the ecological overtones of African religious belief systems and African Christianity that, together, provide the basis for Christian ecological ethics inside and outside the faith community. Gitau, Kaoma and Mugambi condemn the Church as an institution and other voices for not taking a leading role in addressing contemporary ecological issues.
This research article is about the African religious worldview in conservation of natural environmental resources using the Sengwer tribe as a case in point. The Sengwer are a hunter -gatherer tribe who inhabit the Cherang'any Hills forests in the northwestern part of Kenya. The current environmental situation in the area is worsening due to the destruction of the water catchment area, which threatens human existence in the region. Measures laid down by the government and various stakeholders to tackle environmental degradation have not yielded the expected results. This prompted research to ascertain the Sengwer religious worldview on natural resource conservation and the challenges they face in utilizing their indigenous religion to combat environmental crisis. The findings of the study established that the Sengwer religious worldview dovetails with environment conservation. The main components of the Sengwer worldview, the Supreme Being, ancestors, the universe, the community and their social system provided a framework for sustainable utilization and conservation of natural resources. The study identified the various challenges that the Sengwer face, and the measures they have taken to ensure that they can utilize their religion to tackle the environment crisis. This paper provides salient recommendations on how various stakeholders can partner with and utilizes the indigenous African religion in conservation efforts, and is expected to benefit government agencies, policy makers, and researchers in environment matters and religion.
Global Ecology and Conservation, 2021
Despite expanding interest in nature's contributions to people (NCP) studies, understanding of sacred natural sites' contributions to human society and the restoration of fragmented landscapes remains relatively limited. This study examines the diversity and extent of NCP by church forests in a fragmented tropical landscape in southern Ethiopia. We identify 339 church forests in the Gurage Zone and examine them using a combination of historical (1967) aerial photographs and recent (2017) orthophoto images, supplemented by vegetation sampling and in-depth interviews with key informants from 42 selected church communities. Church forests can be found in all agro-ecological zones and across the entire vegetation types in the Gurage socio-ecological landscape. In the last five decades, the extent of church forests has been remarkably persistent, and 67% of the forests have seen an increase in size even while surrounding state-and community-controlled forestland has been degraded over time. Interview findings suggest the church forests' persistence is in large part due to the church compound being seen as a sacred space and hence respected and protected by the community. This powerful social norm has allowed for multiple uses of the church forest to continue over time through sustained forest management. More than 15 distinct contributions of church forests to local communities were identified including material, nonmaterial, and regulating NCP categories, suggesting church forests deliver a wide range of NCP in addition to their well-established ecological and conservation value. Findings underscore the current contributions of church forests to local people in southern Ethiopia, as well as the potential for church forests to support the restoration of degraded landscapes through integration into regional landscape planning and management policies.
Religion & development/Religion and development, 2024
In Africa the environment is sacrosanct and treated with great respect, particularly in communities where traditional beliefs and practices prevail. The sacredness of the environment is based on the African people's fundamental belief that the spiritual and the secular worlds are two sides of the same coin endowed with divine power and presence. As a result, the line of demarcation between the two worlds is blurred. They complement each other in the sense that each derives its meaning, significance and importance from the other. Since the natural world is imbued with the divine, it is considered an extension of the supernatural world. In the absence of written legal frameworks, the environment, in indigenous communities, is protected through religious beliefs and practices. This article analyses the basic approaches of the African people towards nature and their fundamental belief that the environment is an integral part of God's creation and must therefore be preserved and conserved for future generations. The article notes that in contemporary Africa the emphasis on material values is leading towards the total destruction of the environment, thus putting humanity at the intersection of self-destruction -something that needs to be avoided at all costs. Religion & Development 2 (2023) 445-462
The observation and assessment carried out in the church exhibited the age long tradition of forest conservation around the compounds of the church, including the existence of traditional forest protection, utilization and plantation practices. These well preserved church as a museum of biodiversity. They are developed as a result of faith. Reverence for such heritage by surrounding inhabitants comes through religion; it is not the result of obligation or fear. The main causes for the preservation of church forests in Entoto St.Raguel church in their faith. The general attitude of the people in the study area about the church forest is that church compounds forests are the property of God not of individuals or other groups. God preserved them for the purpose of his people. They are strictly looked upon as sacred objects of the house of God. Since the study area is mostly populated by orthodox Christians, due to this, there is no negative attitude or constraints towards the church forests by other religious groups. All the dewellers give reverence for church forests. But, due to the presence of small number of people in the church there were not enough organized activities of new plantation of indigenous tree species programs applied by the church communities.
2018
In Ethiopia, natural forests and woodlands cover only 12.3 million hectares, of which the remaining closed natural forests are 4.12 million hectares or 3.37%. Between 1990 and 2005, Ethiopia lost over 2 million ha of its forests with an average annual loss of 140,000 ha. amidst of the successive wave of deforestation and depletion, however, unique and valuable natural forest remnants survived in and around churchyards and monasteries of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC). EOTC is one of the oldest Christian churches with about 50 million followers, of which 450,000 clergy serving in about 40,000 parish Churches and 2,000 monasteries distributed all over Ethiopia. The Church, through its immense contributions, has influenced and shaped what is believed today to be the Ethiopian culture, which can be exhibited from literature, architecture, art, music, environment and medicinal heritages. The sacred grounds of most of these ancient churches and monasteries contain natural f...
Religion, Ecology and Sustainable Development: Towards a Theology of Reconstruction
For many years science, engineering, policy, law, and economics were considered indispensable for understanding and resolving environmental problems. We now have abundant knowledge from these disciplines about environmental issues, but still not sufficient will to engage in long-term change for the flourishing of the Earth community. Thus, there is a growing realization that religion, can make important contributions, in collaborating with science and policy, to address complex ecological issues in Africa in general, and Ghana in particular. In order to solve the ecological crisis we need to develop new methods of thinking, to elaborate new moral and ethical values, and new patterns of behaviour. This study argues that one such method is through the theology of reconstruction. Source data for this work are mainly analysis of secondary data collection. The study concludes that through the theology of reconstruction for sustainable development, religion should fully consider divine-human-earth relations.
Eston Dickson Pembamoyo , 2023
Trees provide oxygen, improve air quality, climate amelioration, conserve water, maintain soil, and support aquatic and wildlife. Thus, a balanced ecosystem is essential for the survival on Earth. Therefore, genuine faith ecological responses are critical to promoting and transmitting acceptable traditional, scientific, and social-ecological values, beliefs, and practices. In their missional commitment and actions, churches must seek to build resilient ecologies in their society because that is where sustainable life and livelihood come from. Trees provide shelter, water, and food; fruits, flowers, vegetables, tubers, roots, medicines, herbs, spices, and grains. This article consequently examines tree preservation as a theological, social, and economic issue. As such, ecological care is an interdisciplinary matter requiring a multidimensional approach. The data for the article was collected, processed, and analyzed through semi-structured interviews. We also engaged in group discussions, literature reviews, desktop investigations, and participant participation. It is established that a missional church is central and well-positioned to bring all stakeholders together to protect and preserve trees—the source of wealth and health—life.
Indigenous Religious Environmentalism in Africa
Religions: A Scholarly Journal, 2012
The worldview of a given people is a super structure upon which their patterns of behaviour are anchored because it is the ideological framework which underpins the way each society interprets and interacts with the world. In the case of the body of knowledge that is described as indigenous knowledge systems (I.K.S.), there is ample evidence that indigenous peoples in the world have a peculiar way of perceiving reality and this perception underpins their understanding and attitude towards human experiences including the environment. This paper contributes to the prevailing discourse about the usefulness or otherwise of I.K.S. to the conservation of the ecology. It examines the relevance of the indigenous spiritual lifeways and cosmovision of the Asante (also known as Ashanti) ethnie, in Ghana, West Africa, to ecological harmony and sustainability. It does so by exploring the Asante Sekyere community, which is a sub ethnic group of Asante. The study opines that Sekyere I.K.S. is rooted in an indigenous worldview which creates a link between spirituality and the environment. Nevertheless, this link, which aids the Sekyere to develop a strong affinity with nature and inevitably underpins their attitude towards the environment, has been weakened chiefly by the historic but prevailing phenomenon of Westernisation, because of the invasion of Western colonialism and its cultural ramifications.