Researchers of a new study say that religious leaders across the globe can play an important role in persevering biological diversity.
A study by Ecologists at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) reveals that religious leaders are in a perfect position to bring about change and preserve biological diversity.
"Our study investigates how the various religions are distributed around the world and how they overlap areas that are important for global biological diversity," said Grzegorz Mikusinski, a researcher at SLU who directs the project. "Our analysis indicates that the majority of the most important areas lie in countries dominated by Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism."
Most countries in Latin Americans follow Roman Catholicism and contain important areas of biological diversity. There is also a certain amount of overlapping in areas important for biodiversity like Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim regions.
"We believe that members of religious groups, guided by a moral resolution to preserve the world's natural resources for coming generations, can implement a conservation agenda both in their daily lives and in their political activities," said Grzegorz Mikusinski.
Religious leaders aim to bring out the good in every person and for decades now religion has acted as the path that teaches people right from wrong. This power gives religious leaders the potential to guide people to "miracles" also when it comes to conservation in places where the religion has a great influence on society.
"Conservation research needs to adjust its focus, toward strategies that can change people's ethical attitudes toward nature and encourage modes of thinking and lifestyles that are good for the environment," said Malgorzata Blicharska, a researcher at SLU and a co-author of the study. "Religions are central to fundamental beliefs and ethics that influence people, and they should be taken more seriously in the debate about biological diversity."
