Daoists pledge to protect sacred landscapes

	The new Tiejieshu Ecological Daoist Temple, built at the foot of Taibai Mountain, on a popular pilgrimage route

Last month Daoist monks and nuns representing ten temples in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces signed a commitment, known as the Qinling Declaration, to protect the environment around their sacred lands and buildings. It is hoped that this will be a model for future declarations by both Daoists and Buddhists in China, to preserve some of the country’s most sacred landscapes, which are currently under severe threat from pollution, development and uncontrolled tourism.

The Daoist monks and nuns also decided to form a “Daoist Temple Alliance on Ecology Education” and agreed to send representatives regularly to workshops and to share their experiences – their problems and their successes – in protecting China’s sacred Daoist landscapes.

The Qinling Declaration and the formation of this new alliance were the culmination of an extremely successful Workshop on Daoism and Conservation held at the new Tiejieshu Ecological Daoist Temple at the foot of Taibai Mountain near Xian in central China. The temple and workshop were made possible through an unprecedented collaboration between the Daoist monks of Louguantai, local government, ARC, WWF International, and our generous Dutch sponsors including the Ecological Management Foundation (EMF).

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	We promise to... * bring ecological education into temples * reduce pollution caused by incense burners etc * use farmed land sustainably. * protect species and forests. * save energy. * protect water resources. Qinling Declaration