1. Rationale
At
the dawn of the new millenium, we are faced with the reality of serious
environmental crisis. This crisis has
hit many of us in the form of so-called natural disasters like droughts and
floods, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, super-cyclones and typhoons. Many of these environmental disasters,
however, are also the result of selfish systems and greedy policies of some
people and governments. The modern market-driven development is depleting
faster the non-renewable resources of our mother Earth. Large-scale pollution
of the earth, air and water is the order of the day. In recent years, global warming has reached a critical level.
Tons of all types of wastes are dumped into the oceans much of which can never
be recycled or treated. The results of human cruelty and callousness are felt
all over the world. On top of the
global warming or green house effect and the subsequent enlarging hole in the
ozone layer, there is also bio-piracy in terms of animal and plant
species. In Asia, we also recall the
forest fires in Indonesia; the high pollution levels in several Asian cities;
the continuing nuclear build-up in some Asian nations; and the pollution
through overpopulation (the world's population has reached six billion with
just India and China putting up more than 2 billion). We have now gradually
realized that the resources of nature are indeed finite and therefore, we human
beings might not survive if nothing is done to deal with these environmental
disasters.
Various
movements and conferences worldwide have come about to help raise the
consciousness of people. These include Stockholm '72, Rio '92, UN Climate
Change Conference in '95, Save-the-Planet Crusade, Earth Angels, Greenpeace
Ship, Narmada Bachao Andolan and the Kyoto Environment Summit in '97. Very concerned individuals have issued
warnings as in the Limits to Growth debate in the 70s and its sequel, Beyond
the Limits: Global Collapse or a
Sustainable Future in the 90s. Carl Sagan, an astro-physicist had
sounded a warning about the possibility
of a 'nuclear winter" or even of a “nuclear summer”. But governments and
politicians have paid very little attention to such warnings and debates, to
such individuals and movements.
Instead,
life seems to go on as usual. We used
to be alarmed at a Bhopal Gas tragedy in ’84 and Chernobyl ‘86 and Siberian
Blast ‘93 but not any more. There is
very little outcry against some of the issues raised earlier and even more
recently against the one hundred metric tons of cyanide spillover from a gold
mine in Romania affecting rivers and wildlife in Romania, Hungry and
Yugoslavia.
In
India, the Mangalore Power project, Granite industry in Andhra Pradesh and
Tamilnadu, Nylon industry in Goa have provoked some protest among some sections
of society but the majority seems to support the Big business. In Japan, the government has promoted a
policy of nuclear development despite the number of problems that have been
reported. The Japanese government does not listen to the residents around the
power plants and many of the NGOs who have been against the policy of nuclear
development which will certainly bring serious environmental disasters. It is very clear that the delicate, fragile
balance in the ecosystem has been disrupted by similar developments in other
parts of Asia.
Some people may blame
pollution on poverty. Others may say that over-population is both a cause and a
consequence of poverty. But there is something more behind all this and that
is, economic development and environmental well-being are inseparable. For
indeed, poverty is closely related to development. To tackle the environmental issues, we also need to deal with the
problem of poverty and its related issue of “development”. The so-called
unbridled “development theory” that has exploited the environment can not be
justified any longer. That’s why we
need to articulate a concept of sustainable development. Particularly in the
Asia-Pacific region, exploitation and destruction of nature has been justified
in the name of progress and development. Many countries in the Asia-Pacific
have suffered from ceaseless environmental disasters. It is our responsibility to struggle against this false
justification.
It is time to pay serious
attention to the Bible's teachings about the environment. In the creation story
in the Old Testament, there is an inherent logic in creation, a causal
relationship and a built-in interdependent structure that enables or
facilitates nurture and nourishment and provides support and sustenance to life
in its totality. Human life is located
within this large and universal framework.
Human beings are never meant to be in isolation or in separation from
the rest of creation. There is a definitive and inextricable relationship
between nature and human beings in terms of dependence and
interdependence. As Christians, it is
our responsibility to face up to our responsibility by articulating and living
out our biblical perspective and praxis in communion with God's creation.
This urgent situation has
prompted the WSCF-AP Region to initiate this “Ecology Concerns Project”. The
project aims to enable the WSCF A-P constituency to become more aware of the
environmental issues affecting the world and particularly the Asian region, in
order to respond appropriately with a vision and action plan towards a more
environmentally sound and sustainable community.
2. Objectives
1) To
enable participants to analyze the causes of ecological disasters that have
prevailed in the rapidly industrialized world, particularly in the Asia-Pacific
region.
2) To
provide a venue for participants to study and analyze together the current
issues of environment and ecology.
3) To
inspire participants to develop a vision and perspective on the concept of
“sustainable community”.
4) To
give participants an opportunity to have a deeper understanding of ecology from
biblical perspectives.
5) To
encourage the WSCF-AP and its local movements to involve actively in
eco-friendly practice and education.
3 Time Table
May - August
Formulation
of Selection Criteria, Participant Selection, Invitation, Identification and
finalization of venue, Invitation of resource speakers/facilitators.
August - October
Participants'
initial integration, Research with organizations in respective countries,
Report writing, Identification and arrangements for exposure, Preparation of
workshop materials.
October 19-26
Actual
workshop in Pu-Li Youth Camp, Taiwan
November - December
Establishing
and arranging tie-up activities, Implementation of Action Plan, National
Movements Follow-up activities and Monitoring