Northern Buddhists launch new ecological network

	L-R: Tubadan Rinpoche, vice-president of the Chinese Buddhist Association and abbot of the Yonghegong Monastery (the Lama Temple) in Beijing; Ven. Loga Rinpoche, from Tibet.

As the sound of chanting spread across a room full of several hundred Buddhist monks in Ulan Baator this morning, the newly elected President of Mongolia launched a unique event.

The occasion was the launch of the Northern Buddhist Conference on Ecology and Development.

The meeting was historic for two key reasons. It was the first conference bringing together the Buddhist monasteries in Mongolia since 1911. It is also the first body to broker partnerships between Buddhist communities, Northern Buddhist governments, the World Bank and other international bodies.

	If just one tree were planted in the Gobi whenever a Mongolian person dies, then within one generation there would be up to 2.7 million more trees in the desert, with all the wildlife and climate support that these new woodlands would bring with them.

Joining leading Buddhists from Russia, Mongolia, China, Korea, and Cambodia were senior figures from the World Bank, Dutch Government, international environmental organizations such as WWF, and the Alliance of Religions and Conservation.

President Elect His Excellency Nambar Enkhbayar – who is also ARC’s International President - heralded the meeting as “a moment that Buddhism could begin to take its rightful place in civil society in Asia.”

	Nambaryn Enkhbayar, President Elect of Mongolia and International President of ARC, opens the first Northern Buddhist conference on Ecology and Development

Teresa Serra, Director for Environment and Social Development of the World Bank, spoke of the recent interest of the World Bank in working with religions. She also, most importantly, expressed the Bank’s firm commitment to continue to develop this aspect of its community based programmes.

In a powerful presentation, the Vice President of the China Buddhist Association, the world’s largest national Buddhist group, spoke about the need for Buddhists to once again help locate the philosophy and beliefs of compassionate protection of nature which: “for centuries has protected the environment of China and Mongolia.”

This was reflected in the speech of the Minister for the Environment of Mongolia who drew attention to: “the vital moral, ethical, practical and spiritual need for myths and legends which help us understand our interrelationship with all aspect of creation.”

	“This is a moment that Buddhism can begin to take its rightful place in civil society in Asia,” Nambaryn Enkhbayar, President Elect of Mongolia.

In a day packed with practical project outlines, such as Russian Buddhists working actively with ecologists to combat erosion, and the idea of Mongolians adopting a new custom of planting a tree in the Gobi to commemorate each person who has died, the potential for Buddhism to help create a more ecological world was clear.

“We hope this is the beginning of many more practical partnerships in this region,” said Martin Palmer, Secretary General of ARC. “In the past ten years we have already done some very successful work with Buddhists, the World Bank, WWF and governments." He cited the reintroduction of sacred ecological texts to encourage Mongolian Buddhists to protect their landscape, and the work in the Buddhist sacred mountains of China. "These, and other projects, have shown it is possible to work together to make real changes. The Northern Asian Buddhist network has a very exciting future.”

The Northern Buddhist Conference on Ecology and Development runs from June 20 to 22 2005.