Religions Conserving Nature Together? The Contributions of and Conflicts in an Interfaith Initiative for Nature Conservation in Germany
Final Report Abstract
The inclusion of the environment, nature conservation, and climate protection in religious discourse and practice raises important scientific questions about how these issues transform religions. However, despite the growth of religious and interreligious environmental initiatives in Germany, only a few studies on this topic have been published so far. This absence is conspicuous because of the long history of German environmental protection, federal funding for religious-based sustainability projects, and the increase in interfaith initiatives in response to increasing social diversity. In view of fears that social cohesion is diminishing and the environmental situation is deteriorating, an interfaith nature conservation project could be an effective means of promoting peaceful coexistence while raising awareness of the commonalities shared by all members of society. But how and to what extent would such a project change the understanding of both religions and nature conservation? This study investigated this question through the Religions for Biological Diversity project, which has been federally funded since 2017. With five sub-projects, the Religions for Biological Diversity project aims to build networks between members of nondenominational conservation organizations and members of often conflicting religions in order to raise awareness of nature conservation. Using action research, document analysis, participation observation and interviews, this study shows that this interreligious project was dominated by the Established religions in Germany on all levels. Still, despite the project’s promotional materials homogenizing religions based on liberal Protestant norms, the project offered vehicles that allowed diverse religious actors to maintain their individual faith commitments. These religious actors expressed very different understandings of nature conservation, extending far beyond scientific and technocratic parameters and at times being merely symbolic. Yet they also tended to view nature through traditional religious values (justice, love, unity), thereby humanizing nature and making its conservation more relevant to their religious practice. Finally, this interreligious project was challenged not only by controversies surrounding Islam but also by many nature conservationists, who refused to collaborate with religious actors to conserve nature. By scientifically investigating interreligious nature conservation projects, the motivations, intentions and outputs of religiously-based activities in the field of nature conservation can be examined, so that how and to what degree concern for the environment is a dynamic factor of religious transformation may be better understood. Keywords: Religion and environmental protection, nature conservation, interreligious dialogue, Germany, biodiversity
Publications
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Mobilizing Faith Communities for Bee Preservation. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 14(3), 412-438.
Dohe, Carrie B.
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Special Issue Introduction. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 14(3), 315-323.
Dohe, Carrie B.
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Religious Environmental Activism. Routledge.
Köhrsen, Jens; Blanc, Julia & Huber, Fabian
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“Conflicts, Cooperation and Competing Conceptualizations of Religion and Nature Conservation in the German Religions for Biological Diversity Project.” Kyung Hee University Institute for Liberal Arts and Education, South Korea. Humanitas Forum 8(2): 67-99. 2022
Carrie B. Dohe
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Schützen die Religionen die Natur zusammen?. Handbuch der Religionen, 1-30. Westarp Science Fachverlag.
Dohe, Carrie
