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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on Buddhism</title>
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				<item>
					<title>Nepal’s Supreme Court halts industrial development in Buddha’s birthplace</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/nepals-supreme-court-halts-industrial-development-in-buddhas-birthplace/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/nepals-supreme-court-halts-industrial-development-in-buddhas-birthplace/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Aug 2025 15:48:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/29151536/%C2%A9-WWF-Nepal-Samir-Jung-Thapa-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305178</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Birds, Buddhism, Conservation, Environmental Law, Noise Pollution, Pollution, and UNESCO World Heritage Site]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Whenever Chandra Prakash Pathak visits neighboring farms in his hometown of Lumbini, in southwestern Nepal, he sees a thick blanket of black smog. The problem is more severe in winter, when the country doesn’t receive much rainfall. “The farmland is also covered in dust from the manufacturing plants and industries in the area,” [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Whenever Chandra Prakash Pathak visits neighboring farms in his hometown of Lumbini, in southwestern Nepal, he sees a thick blanket of black smog. The problem is more severe in winter, when the country doesn’t receive much rainfall. “The farmland is also covered in dust from the manufacturing plants and industries in the area,” Pathak told Mongabay by phone. It’s not just people who are affected, he added: birds, rivers and farms are also impacted by the industrial pollution from factories churning out everything from cement and steel to liquor. “The farmers can’t grow rice, wheat, mustard, canola, potatoes or lentils, and have to feed their livestock contaminated water from the Tinau River,” he said. There’s also a spiritual dimension to the problem: Lumbini is famed as the birthplace of the Buddha, and is also home to a population of sarus cranes (Grus antigone) a threatened species closely associated with the Buddhist faith. Relief on all those fronts could soon arrive as Nepal’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to strictly implement a decade-old guideline to halt industrial development around Lumbini to protect its heritage and biodiversity — a move welcomed by local communities and conservationists, but one that has also raised concerns over jobs, investment and the impact on the local economy. Winter smog in Lumbini. ACS Earth Space Chem. 2021, 5, 2, 226-238. CC BY ND 4.0 Responding to a public interest litigation petition, Justices Kumar Regmi and Sunil Kumar Pokharel also imposed restrictions on heavy truck&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/nepals-supreme-court-halts-industrial-development-in-buddhas-birthplace/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305178</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Concrete sprawl in Buddha’s birthplace in Nepal threatens sarus cranes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/concrete-sprawl-in-buddhas-birthplace-in-nepal-threatens-sarus-cranes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/concrete-sprawl-in-buddhas-birthplace-in-nepal-threatens-sarus-cranes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2025 11:40:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mukesh Pokhrel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299230</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Buddhism, Cities, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Farming, Fragmentation, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LUMBINI, Nepal — Legend has it that before he became the Buddha, a young Prince Siddhartha Gautama nursed an injured sarus crane (Antigone antigone)  back to health. Since then, the bird and the faith have been closely intertwined, and nowhere more so than in Lumbini gardens in Nepal, hailed as the birthplace of the Buddha. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[LUMBINI, Nepal — Legend has it that before he became the Buddha, a young Prince Siddhartha Gautama nursed an injured sarus crane (Antigone antigone)  back to health. Since then, the bird and the faith have been closely intertwined, and nowhere more so than in Lumbini gardens in Nepal, hailed as the birthplace of the Buddha. Yet with the recent commemoration of Vesak, the holiest festival in Buddhism, marking the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha, the fate of the sarus crane in Lumbini looks grim. Sajrudin Musalman grew up here seeing the birds wherever he went, he tells Mongabay. They would drift gracefully over his home and fields, sparking wonder and delight, he says. “When cranes came close, it felt like something out of this world,” says Musalman, now 72, who lives near the ancient ruins believed to mark the Buddha’s birthplace. “We’d scour the fields for their nests, thrilled just to find their eggs.” Buddhist monks in Lumbini.  Image by Aleksandr Zykov via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). Things have changed in the intervening decades. Musalman is the mayor now, and he doesn’t see as many cranes as before. Unplanned urbanization and land-use change in Lumbini have pushed the sarus crane out of its habitat and slashed its population. Musalman’s views are echoed by others in the region. A recent study incorporating responses from 459 people across four districts in Lumbini province reported that 59% of respondents said they believed the range of the bird has shrunk in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/concrete-sprawl-in-buddhas-birthplace-in-nepal-threatens-sarus-cranes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299230</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal, centuries-old Buddhist incense tradition faces overharvesting, climate threats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-nepal-centuries-old-buddhist-incense-tradition-faces-overharvesting-climate-threats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-nepal-centuries-old-buddhist-incense-tradition-faces-overharvesting-climate-threats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 May 2025 16:12:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Durga Rana Magar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299204</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Buddhism, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Drought, Illegal Trade, Mountains, Plants, Protected Areas, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MANANG, Nepal — In Bhraka village of western Nepal’s Manang district, 72-year-old Buddhist nun Tashi Lama sits in silence, chanting as she turns her prayer wheel. Ever since she took her vows at 25, her mornings begin with prayers and the lighting of sang, a sacred incense made from dried branches and leaves of black [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MANANG, Nepal — In Bhraka village of western Nepal’s Manang district, 72-year-old Buddhist nun Tashi Lama sits in silence, chanting as she turns her prayer wheel. Ever since she took her vows at 25, her mornings begin with prayers and the lighting of sang, a sacred incense made from dried branches and leaves of black juniper (Juniperus indica) and wild wormwood (titepati) among others. “Lighting sang purifies our environment. It’s something we do every day wishing that peace prevails in the world,” Lama told Mongabay. “Its cedar-like scent evokes calm and hope.” Like Lama, thousands of Buddhists in Nepal’s Trans-Himalayan regions such as Manang and Mustang, and those with roots to the area residing around the world light the sang as part of a sacred tradition at the break of dawn wherever they are. However, the sacred tradition which has been going on for centuries is under growing threat from overharvesting, tightening conservation regulations and a warming global climate. Residents of Manang in Nepal need to hike long distances to collect juniper leaves. Image by Durga Rana Magar. At the centuries-year-old Kagyu Monastery in Bhraka — situated at an elevation of 3,475 meters (11,400 feet) above sea level — 48-year-old caretaker Karma Chhiring Gurung, also begins his day by lighting the incense. “Our ancestors taught us that God will be happy and satisfied if we light sang, and we have been doing it ever since,” he told Mongabay. Black juniper, locally known as dhupi, trees grow only between 3,600-4,800 m&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-nepal-centuries-old-buddhist-incense-tradition-faces-overharvesting-climate-threats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299204</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ecology monks in Thailand seek to end environmental suffering</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/ecology-monks-in-thailand/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/ecology-monks-in-thailand/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2018 11:59:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kiley Price]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/09134555/Three-monks-by-Kiley-Price_1200px-cropped-768x464.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=209165</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation and Religion]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Buddhism, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Farming, Food, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Monocultures, Religions, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As development in Thailand is increasing, so is deforestation. Acres of forests are cleared for contract farming, habitats are torn down to make room for new factories, and soil is eroded, causing massive flooding during the rainy season. But amid the environmental wreckage, some trees remain untouched. These trees are wrapped in iconic bright orange [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As development in Thailand is increasing, so is deforestation. Acres of forests are cleared for contract farming, habitats are torn down to make room for new factories, and soil is eroded, causing massive flooding during the rainy season. But amid the environmental wreckage, some trees remain untouched. These trees are wrapped in iconic bright orange robes and deemed sacred, protected from harm and destruction. These trees have been ordained as monks. At a time when Pope Francis is calling upon religious leaders to step up as environmental advocates, Thai Buddhist monks are answering the call. Through rituals like tree ordinations, some monks in Thailand are integrating Buddhist principles into the environmental movement in order to garner support from their followers and encourage sustainable practices. Dr. Susan Darlington, professor of anthropology and Asian studies at Hampshire College in the U.S. and author of the book The Ordination of a Tree, explains that protecting trees is a form of merit-making, an important practice in Buddhism. By accumulating merit through performing good deeds, Buddhists are ensuring a better next life and taking a step closer to reaching enlightenment and, ultimately, Nirvana. An ordained tree wrapped in the orange robes of a Buddhist monk found in a forest of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Image by Kiley Price. “Making merit is extremely important for Thai Buddhists,” Dr. Darlington said. “They see [tree ordination ceremonies] as an act of making merit, which can help with rebirth and, in some cases, having a better life now.” One of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/ecology-monks-in-thailand/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-209165</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Prayers for dying elephants: Buddhists hold prayer ceremony for elephants decimated by poachers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/prayers-for-dying-elephants-buddhists-hold-prayer-ceremony-for-elephants-decimated-by-poachers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/prayers-for-dying-elephants-buddhists-hold-prayer-ceremony-for-elephants-decimated-by-poachers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2013 19:51:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/03/prayers-for-dying-elephants-buddhists-hold-prayer-ceremony-for-elephants-decimated-by-poachers/</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation and Religion]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Buddhism, Conservation, Crime, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Green, Ivory, Law, Mammals, Poaching, Religions, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A monk at Wat That Thong temple in Bangkok During a Buddhist merit-making ceremony to pray for the tens of thousands of elephants poached annually. Photo by: © WWF Thailand. Buddhist leaders prayed for slaughtered African elephants in Bangkok, Thailand last week, reports WWF. During a special merit-making ceremony, often reserved for the recently deceased, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A monk at Wat That Thong temple in Bangkok During a Buddhist merit-making ceremony to pray for the tens of thousands of elephants poached annually. Photo by: © WWF Thailand. Buddhist leaders prayed for slaughtered African elephants in Bangkok, Thailand last week, reports WWF. During a special merit-making ceremony, often reserved for the recently deceased, Buddhist monks, abbots, and leaders prayed for the tens-of-thousands of elephants that have been killed for their ivory tusks. Bangkok is currently hosting an international meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), where the elephant crisis is being discussed. &#8220;Having prestigious leaders from the Buddhist community in Thailand lead this ceremony here, which is usually practiced for a family member who has passed away, emphasizes that we are all interdependent and part of one great web of life,&#8221; Phansiri Winichagoon, country director of WWF-Thailand, said. Elephant poaching is decimating populations across Africa with experts warning that 25,000 elephants are being killed annually. No where is the slaughter worse than in the Congo Rainforest, home of the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis). New research estimates that 60 percent of the world&#8217;s forest elephants have been killed in the last ten year alone. Poachers, often connected to criminal syndicates, have also become more brazen. Some parks have seen whole elephant herds slaughtered, including babies. Elephants are highly-intelligent and emotional animals, forming strong bonds with family members. In addition, elephants play a large ecological role in the environment, including dispersing many rainforest seeds. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/prayers-for-dying-elephants-buddhists-hold-prayer-ceremony-for-elephants-decimated-by-poachers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29414</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]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/02/sri-lanka-to-give-poached-ivory-to-buddhist-temple-flouting-international-agreements/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, and Vatican]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Buddhism, Christianity, Crime, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Governance, Green, Ivory, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Poaching, Religions, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![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;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![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>
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