ARC - About ARC

The Alliance of Religions and Conservation

Question:

	ARC is a secular body that helps the major religions of the world to develop their own environmental programmes, based on their own core teachings, beliefs and practices.

	We help the religions link with key environmental organisations – creating powerful alliances between faith communities and conservation groups.

	ARC was founded in 1995 by HRH Prince Philip. We now work with 11 major faiths through the key traditions within each faith.

ARC celebrations in Kathmandu 2000

	Who were the first environmental campaigners?
Answer:
	The world’s religions
Why?
	Because in all their sacred books, through their traditional practices and running as a thread through the protection of sacred sites runs care and compassion for the natural world.

Holy books and sacred sites
By drawing on holy books, sacred sites, and the widespread assets of the faiths, ARC helps create environmental projects such as forest management, organic farming, educational projects and sacred nature reserves.

The world’s third largest group of investors
The 11 faiths in ARC own seven percent of the habitable surface of the planet, and if they invested together, would be the world’s third largest identifiable block of holders of stocks and shares.

Every town and village
Between them the faiths reach out to every village and town, have the trust of more people than any other national or international group and their followers number at least two-thirds of the world’s population.