Beliefs and Values Programme at WWF

As part of ARC’s legacy, in 2019 WWF launched a new Beliefs & Values Programme which will have a huge impact on wildlife and landscape protection programmes around the world, on both land and marine environments. It continues many of the projects that were initiated by ARC’s Wildlife & Forests programme, which had been running since 2010.

	Monks in Cambodia protecting the forest wildlife. PHOTO: MCF

These include supporting a network of Buddhist monks leading forest and wildlife initiatives in Cambodia; engaging with Muslim leaders in Indonesia to stop the illegal wildlife trade through declaring killing certain species haram, or forbidden, as well as supporting the work of teachers and students in pasentrans, or Muslim boarding schools.

It also includes bringing together Hindu leaders, forest department officials and civil society organisations in India to ensure environmentally friendly, large scale religious pilgrimage to sacred sites inside tiger reserves.

WWF’s Beliefs & Values Programme brings religious and conservation partners together in practical initiatives to protect people and planet (which obviously embraces everything from species to habitats to livelihoods to climate change).

It is launching a new online platform on faith and conservation - the Faith & Nature Hub https://faithnaturehub.org/ - which is designed to support faith-based approaches in conservation practice.

	Meeting of Muslim organisations in Indonesia to discuss protecting the environment of the islands. PHOTO: Chantal Elkin

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