Alliance of Religions and Conservation

1. Alliance of Religions and Conservation Helping 11 of the world’s major faiths develop environmental plansto protect the living planet

2. About ARC • Founded in 1995 by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh as a secular NGO • We help faiths develop environmental programmes based on their own core beliefs, practices and teachings. • We also help secular organisations link with religions to work together. • We are not funded by any faith.

3. Long-term African Faith Commitments for a Living Planet Sept 2012, Nairobi – 27 Christian, Muslim and Hindu groups launched long-term environmental action plans.

4. 27 faith groups reaching out to 184 million people in 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa – Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

5. What people have said about this initiative... ‘A new awakening that will help shape the beliefs, behaviour and actions for a greener and better Africa’ – Dr Ali Mohamed, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, Kenya ‘Potentially transformative’ – Mr Mounkaila Goumandakoya, UNEP Director and Regional Representative for Africa

6. The plans focus on sustainable land and water management –especially • farming, • education, • women’s-led projects • tree planting • Awareness raising on environmental issues

7. Restoring the land

8. Faithful Farming • Faith-based approach to agriculture • Integrates faith teachings about caring for the Earth with practical training in conservation agriculture • Farming God’s Way for Christian farmers • Islamic Farming for Muslim farmers

9. Conservation agriculture principles • Form of climate-smart agriculture • Doubles crop yields in 5 years • Has three key principles: • No tillage or minimum tillage • Mulching:ie, covering the soil • Crop rotation

10. Farming God’s Way training, Kenya • 110 Christian faith leaders trained in Kenya & Uganda • Demonstration gardens on faith-managed land

11. Farming God’s Way in Kenya • Demonstration sites established on faith-run land • The Methodist Church has revived its Agriculture Week • Presbyterian Church of East Africa has trained at least 300 people • The Anglican Church is reaching out to 500 households through farmer field schools

12. Farming God’s Way garden at the Catholic Youth Centre Preparing the garden Healthy crops growing

13. Farming God’s Way in Uganda • Bunyoro Kitara Diocese • Preparing one of the gardens (above) • Healthy maize growing (right)

14. Islamic Farming • The first training manual that integrates Islamic teachings on caring for the Earthwith practical training in conservation agriculture • Produced by ARC & Global One 2015 in response to requests from Muslim faith partners

15. Islamic Farming • Launched in March 2014 in Kenya in partnership with SUPKEM (Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims)

16. Islamic Farming workshop, Kenya • 30 members of SUPKEM trained in January 2014 • Another 200 farmers trained by SUPKEM by March 2014 • 11 demo farms established across Kenya Practical demonstration of how mulched soil absorbs water much better than bare soil

17. Islamic Farming in Uganda

18. Islamic Farming workshop, Uganda, August 2014

19. 14 Islamic Farming demonstration farms established by UMYA/HEAR Uganda, UMWA and Gomba Women’s Environment Group • 84 smaller Islamic Farming gardens at individual’s homes

20. Engaging women

21. Women’s initiatives Women-led tree nurseries

22. 10 women-led tree nurseriesset up by the Northern Diocese, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania

23. Watering & planting techniques • Microfinance • Entrepreneurship • Nursery management • Agroforestry

24. Women-led tree nurseries in Uganda • Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese in Uganda • Working with the Mothers’ Union • Setting up 15 tree nurseries in the next 2 years • Training in agroforestry and climate change • Income generating

25. Engaging Muslim women

26. Gomba Women’s Environment Project • Women in mosques in Gomba District, Uganda • Aims to reduce the number of trees cut down for firewood • Planting 10,000-12,000 new trees a year • Develop income-generating, environmentally friendly livelihoods

27. Complementary new skills • Drip irrigation

28. Rainwater harvesting • Water reservoirs

29. Charcoal briquettes

30. Basket cookers

31. Biogas– Building the biogas unit(top left)– Cookers and lights powered by biogas (bottom left)

32. Tree planting

33. Ghana – community woodlots • Ethiopia – green mosques

34. Awareness raising in schools Faith groups are involved in up to 70% of schools in Africa

35. Faith-based Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit launched in Kenya, 2013

36. Faith-based ESD toolkit launched in Tanzania, September 2013

37. Faith-based ESD toolkit taken to Uganda, March 2014

38. School micro projects:– Vegetable gardens– Water & sanitation – Tree planting– Waste management– Bee keeping

39. Awareness raising in faith communities

40. Catholics in Kenya • Resources for catechists and for Sunday schools • Interfaith environmental awareness day

41. Greening Fridays in Uganda • Launched in 2010, held every Second Friday of Ramadan • The sermon that day focuses on the environment • Afterwards tree seedlings are distributed to worshippers

42. Greening Friday 2014

43. Development of national faith networks of environmental action

44. Launch of the Uganda network • Uganda Faiths Network on Environmental Action (UFNEA) launched in October 2013

45. Kenya Interfaith Network on Environmental Action

46. Network of Faiths on Environmental Action in Tanzania

47. A new movement of faith groups engaged in environmental action