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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>Vatican environmental news</title>
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					<title>New pope: &#8216;let us be protectors of creation&#8217;</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/new-pope-let-us-be-protectors-of-creation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/new-pope-let-us-be-protectors-of-creation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Mar 2013 16:54:00 +0000</pubDate>
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							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
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						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
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							<![CDATA[Conservation and Religion]]>
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							<![CDATA[Vatican]]>
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							<![CDATA[Christianity, Environment, Green, Hunger, Pope, Poverty, and Religions]]>
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							<![CDATA[Pope Francis I. Photo by: Casa Rosada. In his first homily as the new pope, Francis I spoke of the need to act as protectors both for the environment as well as for the poor and weak. With his focus on the environment the new pope echoes both his namesake, Saint Francis of Assisi, as [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Pope Francis I. Photo by: Casa Rosada. In his first homily as the new pope, Francis I spoke of the need to act as protectors both for the environment as well as for the poor and weak. With his focus on the environment the new pope echoes both his namesake, Saint Francis of Assisi, as well as the previous pope, Benedict XVI who championed environmental causes from climate change to biodiversity as crucial to the Catholic religion. &#8220;Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be &#8216;protectors&#8217; of creation, protectors of God&#8217;s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment,&#8221; Pope Francis I said during his homily at his first mass in St. Peter&#8217;s Square. It was estimated that 20,000 people attended. Pope Francis I has been said to set a new tone in the Vatican already by employing a simpler, less ornate style. The new pope, perviously Jorge Mario Bergoglio, elected on February 28th is the first to come from the Americas (Argentina), the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first Jesuit. Bergoglio was elected after Pope Benedict XVI resigned from his post due to failing health and old age, the first pope to do so in nearly 600 years. Although little reported, Pope Benedict XVI pushed for a new focus on environmental issues in the Catholic Church, often linking environmental degradation to western&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/new-pope-let-us-be-protectors-of-creation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29358</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sri Lanka to give poached ivory to Buddhist temple, flouting international agreements</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/02/sri-lanka-to-give-poached-ivory-to-buddhist-temple-flouting-international-agreements/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/02/sri-lanka-to-give-poached-ivory-to-buddhist-temple-flouting-international-agreements/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Feb 2013 18:26:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
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										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
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											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, and Vatican]]>
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											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Buddhism, Christianity, Crime, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Governance, Green, Ivory, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Poaching, Religions, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
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							<![CDATA[The Sri Dalada Maligawa Buddhist Temple, which may soon receive 359 elephant tusks. The Sri Lankan government is planning to give 359 elephant tusks to a Buddhist temple, a move that critics say is flouting the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The illegal tusks were seized in Sri Lanka last May en [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[The Sri Dalada Maligawa Buddhist Temple, which may soon receive 359 elephant tusks. The Sri Lankan government is planning to give 359 elephant tusks to a Buddhist temple, a move that critics say is flouting the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The illegal tusks were seized in Sri Lanka last May en route to Dubai from Kenya; they are believed to stem from hundreds of butchered elephants, including juveniles, inside Africa, possibly Uganda. The decision comes after a high-profile National Geographic article, Ivory Worship, outlined how demand for ivory religious handicrafts, particularly by Catholics and Buddhists, is worsening the current poaching crisis. In 2011, it was estimated that 25,000 elephants were illegally slaughtered for their tusks. &#8220;I don&#8217;t believe that Sri Lankan&#8217;s who revere elephants would ever condone the brutal killing of elephants for ivory, the general public are unaware of the nature in which this ivory was obtained,&#8221; Manori Gunawardena, an elephant researcher in Sri Lanka told mongabay.com. Critics say that releasing the ivory to a third party, in this case the Sri Dalada Maligawa Buddhist Temple, violates CITES. In addition, Kenya has demanded that the illegal tusks be returned to them. &#8220;We want the ivory back to undertake DNA profiling to establish its exact origin; to use as exhibit in case of any arrest. The Sri Lanka Government should follow the rules of CITES convention as a party to CITES,&#8221; Patrick Omondi, the Senior Assistant Director with the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS), told mongabay.com. Sri&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/02/sri-lanka-to-give-poached-ivory-to-buddhist-temple-flouting-international-agreements/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29634</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vatican condemns elephant poaching, pledges steps</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/02/vatican-condemns-elephant-poaching-pledges-steps/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/02/vatican-condemns-elephant-poaching-pledges-steps/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Feb 2013 14:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
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										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
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							<![CDATA[Conservation and Religion]]>
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							<![CDATA[Africa and Vatican]]>
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											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Christianity, Crime, Education, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Green, Ivory, Law Enforcement, Poaching, Pope, Religions, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
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							<![CDATA[Elephant herd in Kenya. It&#8217;s estimated that around 25,000 elephants were killed by poachers in 2011, though the number could be even higher. Photo by: Rob Roy. Responding to an investigative report by National Geographic, the Vatican has condemned elephant poaching for ivory and pledged three steps to help in the battle to save the [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Elephant herd in Kenya. It&#8217;s estimated that around 25,000 elephants were killed by poachers in 2011, though the number could be even higher. Photo by: Rob Roy. Responding to an investigative report by National Geographic, the Vatican has condemned elephant poaching for ivory and pledged three steps to help in the battle to save the world&#8217;s elephants. The National Geographic article Ivory Worship by Bryan Christy, looked at how religions&#8212;specifically religious items for Christians and Buddhists&#8212;were playing in the growing demand for black-market ivory, which is currently resulting in the violent deaths of tens-of-thousands of endangered elephants every year. &#8220;We are absolutely convinced that the massacre of elephants is a very serious matter, against which it is right that everyone who can do something should be committed,&#8221; reads a letter by Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Holy See Press Office in the Vatican. He notes that according to Catholic tradition, &#8220;Creation is entrusted to humanity to be cultivated and safeguarded as a precious gift received from the Creator and therefore should not be destroyed, treated violently, or exploited but rather treated with great responsibility toward the creatures themselves and toward future human generations so that they might be able to enjoy these essential and marvelous goods.&#8221; The Vatican has announced three steps to help fight the ivory trade, according to Lombardi&#8217;s articles. The Vatican plans to bring the issue to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace to help study the problem; spread awareness of the problem via&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/02/vatican-condemns-elephant-poaching-pledges-steps/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29639</doi>				</item>
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