Faith and Forests

	Copyright ARC

Because of their age and beauty, many myths and legends are associated with trees: the Buddha is said to have meditated for years beneath a bho tree now called a ‘bodhi tree’ or ficus religiosa. The yew in pre-Christian and Christian Britain is believed to protect those who shelter beneath it. The fact that trees are crucial to a healthy natural environment is one reason they are sacred within the great faiths.

** Religious Forestry Standard: The road to Ise 2013.

ARC is working with Japanese Shintos and Swedish Lutherans, as well as WWF, FSC and others, to establish international standards for religious-owned forestry which was launched in Gotland, Sweden, at a meeting in late August 2007. Link here for the current status of the project, here for the FAQ about the process and the original Visby meeting, here for the press release in Swedish, and here for the press release in English. It is hoped that it will result in millions of hectares of religious forestry being managed ecologically

	Banners of the faiths. Visby Faiths and Forests Gathering 2007. Photo: Ben Campbell CI.

** Link here for a keynote speech about faiths and forestry presented by ARC at a paper industry meeting about forests and the environment.

** Sacred Land worked with Yews for the Millennium, launched by the Conservation Foundation to preserve ancient British yews.

** In France, Sacred Land worked with a community of Orthodox nuns to preserve their forest as an eco-system.

** In Japan, ARC is working with Shinto leaders to preserve their sacred groves, and shift to FSC-equivalent timber for their temples.

**In an unprecedented move, the Church of Sweden agreed in 2000 to move towards certifying 15 per cent of its forests – more than 100,000 hectares – as sustainably managed under the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) guidelines.

** Hindu groups and the Orissa government have agreed, under the Sacred Gifts programme, to re-establish the state’s sacred forests to provide sustainably-managed wood for the annual festival of Lord Jagannath.

Further forestry links