Deforestation and the Islamic Stewardship Ethic
- Introduction ===============
1.1. The Logjam of Deforestation
Forests cover around 31% of the Earth’s land.1 Each year, forest loss reaches 13 million hectares, according to an estimate by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).2 Forty percent of the remaining forests are in danger because of human action. Forests are also being damaged by natural disasters like volcanic eruptions or intense mud slides.
In many cases, these forests cannot be naturally regenerated.3 While this paper will not discuss the natural loss of forests, it will explore the man-made activities that lead to reduction of forest cover, as well as the actual ethical efforts that can be taken to combat deforestation.
It is important to understand that forests are the home of many species of plants and animals, and they provide a home to around 1.6 billion people, who are relying on forest’s benefits to live. Forests are providing food, clothing, fresh water, medicine, and shelter, and are they are a natural source of oxygen for livings in general. In fact, many species are in danger due to deforestation.4 In order to control deforestation, it is important to know the main causes of the cutting down of forests and to follow successful examples of forest management.
The rate of deforestation has been elevated in many places around the world because of people’s activities, especially in European lands that have been cleared over the last 8,000 years, in order to accommodate for farming and building.5 Even though across the globe, the average speed of deforestation has been slowing down recently, in some countries, like Brazil and Indonesia, the rate of forest loss is still high.6 Many management models are seen nowadays to manage this kind of environmental crisis. In some cases, the real accomplishment of preserving forests can be attributed to ethical choices.7 Going deep to the root causes of deforestation, then understanding how to solve the causes ethically can be the key to combat the issue of excessively cutting down trees.8
Some people believe that the separation between the earthly living world and religion can be a reason for many environmental crises. They also believe religion is the key root of the existence of earth and its resources come from God. Religions help us to shape our attitude toward the environment. They also help us to understand how, through our control over the earth’s resources, we ought to treat other humans, and in what way we should communicate with the nature.9
In this way, religions modify the views and beliefs of the world, which motivate basic approaches and values of diverse cultures and societies. Religious morals and ethical values form activities toward others, along with our relationship with all the surrounding living creatures like plant and animal life.10 According to Abedi-Sarvestani and Shahvali:
Since environmental ethics is [are] essentially based on intrinsic value and beliefs, religions have been getting more recognized to define proper environmental ethics mainly because they try to illuminate what possessed
intrinsic value and also what is the criterion for evaluating a behavior toward nature as [a] moral one. 11
Religion has received considerable attention with respect to environmental protection due to the critical examination of science and technology by Sarvestani and Shahvali.12 As with Christianity and Judaism, in Islam, taking care of the environment is an important matter of concern.13 But few believe that these religions are mainly anthropocentric and consider nature as a secondarily important thing.14 Supporters of these religions could say that the specific attributes of humans do certainly place them on a separate plane from other creatures; however, the Islamic religion requires humans to have a special concern toward the natural environment through accountability to God. Such accountability will not overlook probable consequences to other living organisms when making decisions for the wellbeing of the environment. Before exploring the Muslim ethics that are possibly related to the problem of forest loss, it is essential to first identify the main causes that bring people to cut down trees.15