Conservation and Religion News

Pope Francis, 1936-2025.

Pope Francis’ uncompromising defense of nature may be his greatest legacy

Justin Catanoso 24 Apr 2025

Taboo against harming strangler fig spirits protects forests in Indonesian Borneo

Liz Kimbrough 22 Dec 2025

Noraeri Thungmueangthong is a village leader in Huay Ee Khang village in northern Thailand.

Forest sanctuaries and spiritual balance in the Karen highlands of Thailand

Carolyn Cowan 22 Oct 2025

In Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands, youths blend ancestral and world faiths to protect forests

Keith Anthony Fabro 14 Oct 2025

Locals worship an old banyan (Ficus benghalensis) tree in Narayanganj district.

Bangladesh protects sacred forests to strengthen biodiversity conservation

Abu Siddique 23 May 2025

Pope Francis, 1936-2025.

Pope Francis’ uncompromising defense of nature may be his greatest legacy

Justin Catanoso 24 Apr 2025

Typically found in habitats near rivers, lakes, and wetlands, the lowland tapir is a superb swimmer.

Indigenous guardians embark on a sacred pact to protect the lowland tapir in Colombia

James Hall 20 Nov 2024

A Dayak elder with a young member in Sungai Utik.

Borneo’s ‘omen birds’ find a staunch guardian in Indigenous Dayak Iban elders

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 15 Nov 2024

Santa Marta's traditional medicine doctors Mauricio Martínez, Elicia Martínez and Viviana Montero stand among a plot of land containing curative plants.

The Panamanian shamans working to save their ancestral medicinal plants

Adam D. Williams 22 Oct 2024

Alexandrino Garcia, an Abuelos de Tajín, in front of a Totonac altar in his house. Image by Monica Pelliccia.

In Mexico, Totonac spiritual guides work with scientists to revive ecosystems

Monica Pelliccia 7 Oct 2024

Why the Maxakali people are calling on their spirits to recover the Atlantic Forest

Xavier Bartaburu 25 Sep 2024

Aba Gebreselassie stands near a big tree in the forest around Ura Kidane Mihret Monastery in the Zege peninsula, Ethiopia.

Guardians of the sacred: Ethiopian Orthodox monks on spiritual forest conservation

Solomon Yimer 27 Jun 2024

‘On the map’: App shines light on 5,000 ‘invisible’ families in Brazil’s Cerrado and beyond

Sarah Sax 10 Sep 2021

Brazil judge blocks appointment of missionary to indigenous agency

Sam Cowie 26 May 2020

COP25: Laura Vargas inspires with power of faith in defense of forests

Justin Catanoso 10 Dec 2019

Vatican calls landmark meeting to conserve Amazon, protect indigenous peoples

Justin Catanoso 4 Oct 2019

Interfaith leaders step up to protect the world’s ‘sacred’ rainforests

Justin Catanoso 17 Sep 2019

An indigenous Colombian takes in deforestation close to the Amacayacu National Park in the Colombian Amazon.

Scientists team up with indigenous, faithful to fight for forests

Andrew J. Wight 11 Dec 2018

Ecology monks in Thailand seek to end environmental suffering

Kiley Price 13 Aug 2018

Religious leaders mobilize to protect indigenous people and forests

Liz Kimbrough 2 May 2018

UN’s Tauli-Corpuz, accused of terrorism in her native Philippines, plans to keep investigating ‘atrocities’ against indigenous peoples at home

Philip Jacobson 20 Mar 2018

Faith in the forest helps Indonesia’s Dayaks keep plantations, loggers at bay

Hans Nicholas Jong, Indra Nugraha 8 Feb 2018

Pope’s message to Amazonia inspires hope, but will it bring action?

Justin Catanoso 22 Jan 2018

Pope set to visit site of deforestation, indigenous struggle in Peru

Mongabay.com 19 Jan 2018

People of all faiths face climate change with hope, action, urgency

Justin Catanoso 13 Jun 2017

Emmylou Harris links climate change to refugee crisis, lends her voice

Justin Catanoso 7 Jun 2016

Indigenous land and forest rights in the spotlight during pope’s visit to Mexico

Sandra Cuffe 17 Feb 2016

Top Vatican official: climate change action is a “moral imperative”

Justin Catanoso 1 Feb 2016

An unconventional trinity: conservation, religion, and evolution

Fred Bercovitch 22 Dec 2015

Catholic bishops ask for binding, transformative COP21 climate treaty

Justin Catanoso 27 Oct 2015

Papal encyclical draws harsh critique from Peru’s private sector

Justin Catanoso 24 Sep 2015

Pope’s encyclical draws support from Peru’s #1 environmental official

Justin Catanoso 23 Sep 2015

Pope and Peru’s top mining CEO agree and at odds on environment

Justin Catanoso 22 Sep 2015

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