Each month Holistic, Inc highlights various global citizens whose life demonstrates a unique contribution in "making humanity human again".  Global Spotlight of the Month Is...

  The Tributary Fund 


Environmental conservation has different meanings to different people. Communities in the western world, perhaps see conservation as “reduce, reuse, recycle,” organic farms, water and air filters, composting or wilderness protection. The idea of conservation, primarily a western concept, might have no meaning whatsoever for a group of indigenous people in Brazil.. Concepts on conservation depend on cultural background, religious belief system, and the availability of environmental information.

After working as an environmental advocate during the last fifteen years, I’ve spent hundreds of hours trying to understand how to reinvigorate this movement—to find methods to galvanize our population and make environmental protection an absolute imperative. After teeth gnashing and brain racking, I still haven’t come up with a silver bullet, but observed some approaches. Will they turn the tide? I’m not sure. Will they better ensure the success of individual conservation projects? Maybe…


The next place I found middle ground surprised me. The following passage is an excerpt from the chapter, “The River God’s Daughter” that I wrote for the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature (Thoemmes Continuum, 2005):

Cancer Alley is an eighty-mile strip along the Louisiana Gulf coast. Leave the city limits of New Orleans and drive past renovated plantation houses in a verdant lush landscape sheltered by giant oak trees draped with Spanish moss. Cross a bridge or two, follow white herons skimming brackish waters and watch the world begin to change. Small houses replace white-columned antebellum mansions. Deciduous trees give out to bare dirt. Gigantic refineries line the shore and a dead zone spreads out to sea

Cancer Alley has earned its name. Refinery effluent leaks into the groundwater; to breathe the air is to gulp carcinogens. Populations of poor and primarily African American families live in company towns full of loud mechanical noises, acrid smells and poison. There are over one hundred petrochemical plants along this stretch of coast that dump about a billion pounds of toxic chemicals every year into the air, water and onto land. 

I visited Cancer Alley in 1999 to participate in a demonstration organized by a Margie Eugene-Richard and the Sierra Club. This wasn’t the type of protest that I had attended in the past, occasions dominated by well-meaning college students excited by rebellion. This was more in line with a revival. Mothers and grandmothers spoke about clean water and babies with cancer.. Their message was steeped in Jesus and the right to a clean piece of God’s green Earth. Gospel music filled the park as women belted out songs over a scratchy sound system. I found myself swaying, humming and I may have thrown out a Halleluiah or two. I was inspired, but much more importantly these women were too.

This group of powerful women in Louisiana lead by the dynamic Margie Eugene-Richard is working within their churches and communities to enact change one peaceful protest and legislative issue at a time. Of course this isn’t the first time religion has coupled with activism. The pages of history are scored with bloody, tyrannical acts launched in the name of some belief system or another. And, on the flip side, there are many cases of productive efforts spearheaded by religious activists to fight against war, racism, poverty and sexual abuse. If religion/worldview and conservation can follow suit, ride tandem, and build as a grassroots approach rather than a missionary effort, our earth might be truly benefited by their duet.

Religion (myth, culture, worldview) has shaped human society. If religion is responsible for the world that we live in today, could conservation principles play on existing religious ethics to help the way people think and act? As organized entities, could religion groups become major constituencies in support of environmental goals? Can conservation groups collaborate with religious leaders in crafting scientific conservation strategies? These questions I pursue in this paper stem from my own interest to bolster the conservation movement and an interest in the creation of new models for protection efforts. I have concluded three things: first, community needs must be addressed including job development; second, conservation ethics must be built on existing beliefs and sense of morality; and third, we must find and stick to common ground. 

This paper will jump in an out of cultures and through history. The text presented is only my own opinion based on personal experience and instincts. All religious beliefs are complicated. Since many are thousands of years old, they do not refer directly to conservation, a relatively new concept. But in examining each religion, perhaps modern interpretations can justify both conservation as well as moral responsibility. This is the challenge— conservationists working hand and hand with religious beliefs in order to justify protecting the planet? This effort drives The Tributary Fund.


Global Spotlight (with Included Pic)

THE TRIBUTARY FUND'S MISSION

The Tributary Fund engages communities in conservation solutions by connecting religious, scientific and local leaders.

STRATEGY

Protection of native species, lands and waters succeeds only when local priorities are understood and cultural cadence guides protection efforts. Each project TTF undertakes joins culture and conservation. TTF is not a religious organization but recognizes the immense power and importance of religious beliefs.

TTF envisions a day when:

Protection of our planet is regarded universally as a moral issue.
Scientists working in the most remote corners of the world approach communities with cultural sensitivity to involve them in effective methods of conservation.
Community well-being is viewed as intrinsic to overall ecosystem health.
TTF is an international authority and information clearinghouse that offers funding, community support, and expert staff to guide remote conservation projects.
Protection of native species, lands and waters is integral to cultural traditions and practices.

 www.thetributaryfund,org