From November 8 to 13, 2016 GPIW convened 20 young ecologists from throughout the African continent for a program called the Inner Dimensions of Climate Change. This gathering took place in Marrakech, Morocco on the occasion of the United Nations COP 22 global climate negotiations and was sponsored by the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association (DDMBA). GPIW and DDMBA were joined by the Earth Charter International (ECI) as a co-partner.
The five day program in Morocco comprised two days of focused dialogue on the regional and local responses to climate action and mitigation in the Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern regions of Africa. Thematic discussions examined the future of Africa’s waters, the impact of pollution, as well as the inroads toward small scale and regenerative agriculture and the importance of indigenous planting practices for the preservation of African biodiversity.
After identifying the external challenges, the conversation turned inward, examining the awareness and sensitivity that is needed at the individual level in order to assist society at the collective level to examine deeply our relationship to the Earth and her abundant gifts. The group also explored the concept of “RIGHT ATTITUDE,” how the cultivation of our personal consciousness can create inner balance that positively impacts the outer community.
The youth delegates in attendance represented the following African nations: Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Nambia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
They were joined by faith leaders and mentors that included Dr. Aliaa Rafae, Founder of the Human Foundation (Egypt), Ven. Bhante Buddhrakita, Founder of the Uganda Buddhist Center (Uganda), Ven. Chang Ji Fa Shih, Representative of the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association (Canada), Chief Tamale Bwoya, Chief of the Buganda Kingdom (Uganda), Jana Long, Founder of the Power of One Yoga Center (USA), Rev. Richard Cizik, Founder of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good & Climate Advocate (USA), Sraddhalu Ranade, Scholar at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram (India) and Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Lakota Nation Leader & Elder (Lakota Nation, USA).
Also present were experts from in the field of ecology in Africa: Dr. Fassil Gebeyehu (Ethiopia), Scientist and Coordinator of the African Biodiversity Network and Robert Kugonza (Uganda), Climate Change Adaptation Science Fellow of the African Rivers Network.
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The gathering revealed a perspective of African youth today that is not often promoted in the mainstream. A majority of the participants strongly emphasized a return to values and methodologies of earth stewardship cultivated by their ancestry. Speaking to the decline of the sacred connection between man and nature, one delegate passionately offered that “Youth don’t even know their own culture. We have diluted everything. Even parents don’t know culture. We have to go back to grandparents…The old people who had the wisdom are dying
!” The y
outh participants offered many personal accounts illustrating the earth honoring practices that are inherent in their lineages. Some spoke of communal sharing during harvest season, respecting the natural elements by singing to the water, and storytelling with elders around the fire.
The gathering comprised
a millennial generation
well aware of the dangers of multinational and post-colonial interests contributing significantly to environmental degradation on the continent.
Some spoke to the proliferation of mining for conductive minerals for smartphones and precious ore for the global jewelry industry. The sanctioned dumping of electronic waste into the African market from the European technology production/consumer sector is also growing in prevalence.
Responding to the challenge of external influences disrupting a balanced relationship between people and nature in Africa, some shared that outside intervention should not be ignored, rather controlled. Chief Tamale Bwoya of the Buganda Kingdom, elder and mentor to the program emphasized that the African voice is integral in the monitoring process. He said, “We need to reflect on how to integrate foreign values with our traditional values. We [Africans] have a global role to play.”
The voices of emerging African leaders gathered spoke of their responsibility to
recall and preserve ancient wisdom that can protect the distinctive quality of the holistic African community. The youth identified the lure of urban lifestyles as a factor removing young Africans mentally and physically from the breadth and wealth of African ecology. Alternatively, many of the youth shared that the
gathering was a welcomed platform for sharing that expanded on usual formal policy/government themes. The dialogue was an opportunity to discuss ecology and development issues through self-awareness and mindfulness concepts, factors that the youth collectively agreed are critical in shaping humanity’s relationship to the environment.
The mentors offered that living in harmony with the natural elements, ecology and wildlife starts with the community life through the practice and knowledge of local customs. Ven. Bhante Buddharakkita (Uganda), founder of the Uganda Buddhist Center, shared a story of sitting with his grandmother by the fireside as a child, though not with his mother. This was a direct example of the traditional ways not being upheld by the baby boomer generation of the past 20 to 40 years. Tioaksin Ghosthorse (North America), a Lakota Nation leader shared that reverence for the natural elements is very similar in North America to the African perspective. He
said
, “We do not have a word for domination (over the environment). It’s all about relationship. Water is our communication vehicle – to communicate with all life.” Jana Long, Founder of the Power of One Yoga Center based in a major US city, highlighted the unique position of the African youth to lead in upholding earth and community sacred practices. She shared that being rooted in their land and knowing their people is a privilege not many African diaspora communities have access to.
In addition to examining the historical, political and cultural implications of the climate crisis, the dialogue covered specific ways nature and the human community is impacted. Dr. Fassil Gebeyehu (Ethiopia), Scientist and Coordinator of the African Biodiversity Network comprising 30 partners in 12 African nations, said that the dominance of rational thinking in modern science has disconnected humans from the traditional ways of being within nature. As a result, people are losing the ability to cultivate communication with and gain knowledge from plant life.
Observations of ecosystems, he suggested, offers a wealth of knowledge on how to interrelate within community, as well as provide information and resources for health purposes. He emphasized that it is through the experience of direct interaction within nature that you can tap into the great wisdom that is encoded there, but nature has to be preserved and engaged with harmoniously in order for these gifts to be revealed. The statistics he offered highlighted Africa as the home of 60 to 70 thousand plant species, which covers 70% of the Africa landmass, particularly the Congo. This vast amount of species is declining due to habitat destruction with the introduction of alien species, including seeds designed to increase food productivity rather than food stability.
He concluded saying that “…agriculture in Africa is not just about food, it’s about integrity and spirituality.”
Chief Tamale Bwoya also summarized the ecological and food crisis affecting Africa as both material and spiritual. He stated that “…the task is to redefine Africa in terms of values. We are under spiritual captivity and losing African wisdom partly through governments that are imparting/imposing foreign knowledge, cutting indigenous forests, manipulating the way we think.”
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The dialogue underscored that the rapidly changing African ecology presents a unique problem for African societies. The Chief noted that the essence of traditional African spirituality is rooted directly within nature. The ecological system in all its facets is at the very center of African indigenous spiritual practices and rituals. In the African outlook, nature is directly linked to human psychological, cultural and spiritual development and wellbeing. It is therefore vital for the environment to stay intact because that is the hallmark and resource for cultivating a healthy people and culture.
Insights from the youth perspectives addressed environmental issues on the continent by region and nation, which included:
· A young woman researcher in agrobiodiversity in Tanzania from the African Climate Change Fellowship program shared that Africa’s ecosystems are being modified by human as well as climactic influences. The increase in temperatures on the continent has destabilized the environment, causing too little or too much rainfall and other weather variables that are highly unpredictable. She offered that in the next 30 years almost all crops will be changed as a result, along with animal species going extinct and indigenous food types disappearing.
· An avid eco activist from Ghana spoke in detail about the impact of gold industry on the nation’s ecology. He offered that within the past 5 to 7 years Ghana’s fresh water sources have been devastated by the lack of gold mining regulations, which pumps chemicals and heavy metals into local fresh water sources during the gold extraction process and destroys the landscape of the waterways. He highlighted that this has partly become possible because the local leadership is compromised in values and profiting from an external markets. He said, “The land belongs to the chiefs. Chiefs are supposed to protect the land and people. Chiefs now put a price on trees.”
· The delegates from Sudan presented on their work with the Nile Champions Initiative. A grassroots effort to raise awareness among communities living along the Nile River on ways to reduce waste, address pollution, and maintain a healthy relationship with the waters. Their methods include door-to-door advocacy and theater workshops.
· The delegate from Egypt, a representative of the Food & Agriculture Organization for North Africa gave an overview of the global food crisis impacted by climate change. She offered that after year 2030 net global agriculture production will decline with tropical countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America being most negatively impacted. Her presentation identified four key methods to safeguard food security for the global population:
o
Availability
of sufficient quantities and quality of food supplied domestically or imported
o
Access
by individuals to adequate resources (income and land) to acquiring appropriate foods for a nutritious diet
o
Stability
in availability of and access to food, regardless of economic or climatic shocks or cyclical events (seasonal food scarcity).
o
Food utilization
through adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and health care to reach a state of nutritional well-being.
· A representative of the African Rivers Network (ARN) based in Uganda spoke to the impacts of dam construction. His role is to mobilize voices to speak against the human rights injustices of the dam projects imposed by the contractors and the government as their employers. He identified the current challenges as: Forceful evictions from lands; Poor or No compensation for affected properties; Rock blasting impacts on health and local infrastructure; Denial of access to essential needs like water, which is fenced off for dam construction. As a network, ARN helps to identify the necessary platforms and offices to direct the concerns of affected communities and persons; Help citizens formulate petitions; and engage funders to safeguard their policies, such as the World Bank, European Investment Bank, African Development Bank and others.
· A youth herbalist and student of ethnobotany also in Uganda identified the environmental problems of Africa not merely as a manifestation of external effects. He honed in on the theme of discussion when he said, “How do we fight the root cause of climate change, which lie within us?” In other words, indicating that the mindset and relationship of the individual to him/herself directly impacts the community and ecology. If the individual is imbalanced and harmful to him/herself, then you see this manifest at the macro level.
After the intimate group discussions, the third day of the program included a day at the civil society forum of the COP22 UN Climate Summit in Marrakech, Morocco. Here international NGO’s held side events and presentations; it was an opportunity for the youth delegates to network and meet global organizations doing similar ecological work.
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GPIW and The International Council for the Day of Vesak (ICDV) hosted an official side event at the COP22 Green Zone. This included a two hour panel that explored the shift in mindset that is needed for our positive ecological efforts to be sustained. In addition to the spiritual teachers and mentors present, GPIW invited three young women ecologists from the Inner Dimensions youth program to speak.
All panelists addressed that actions on behalf of Earth’s living systems cannot be reduced simply to technology innovation, political or economic policies. They asked the audience to consider the deeper change that is needed, and emphasized that there is action to be taken in the outer world, but it must be action that comes from a connection with the sacred in life – otherwise we will just be reconstellating the patterns that have created the current environmental and social imbalance. The session discussed the environmental crisis as a spiritual crisis and the need to bring back again an ancient memory where honor, gratitude and reverence for the Earth were interwoven into life.
One of the GPIW youth panelists, an environmental scientist and PhD candidate from Zimbabwe researching the impact of mining on South African wetlands, spoke directly to the impact of the Inner Dimensions youth dialogue on her personal thinking about climate and ecological issues. She shared with the COP 22 audience the following:
Being a part of GPIW has made me see environmental science in a different light…As scientists it is time for us to have a paradigm shift, moving from what we know based on evidence and technology, to change our behaviors as individuals on how we are going to impact on the environment. Understanding that the environment gives back to us and we therefore have to stop thinking just in terms of making profit. I’m beginning to see that we have to look at science beyond getting results and see it in in a more ethical manner…As scientists we need to look an interdisciplinary research, engaging with social scientists, chiefs and religious leaders working as one group. We need introspection to make conscious decisions as ecologists and religious leaders, to say that whatever happens, it begins with me.
Along with the climate/eco specific focus throughout the dialogue, there was emphasis on the contemplative approaches needed to address these critical issues. The conversation was framed by insights from the Buddhist and Yogic perspectives on “RIGHT ATTITUDE,” how the cultivation of our personal consciousness can create inner balance that positively impacts the outer community. Ven. Chang Ji of the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association and Ven. Bhante Buddhrakita introduced the concept of how mindset and attitude can change a personal or community story, as well as help youth become clear to identify leverage points for positively evolving the narratives in their lives. Ven. Chang Ji added that seeing life less in terms of “more” and shifting mindset toward ways that make life “better” is a critical step in this process. Similarly, Ven. Buddhrakita offered that three attitudes are necessary to help refocus perspective on life:
1)
Attitude of compassion
– Compassion is a state of mind that identifies with suffering of others. It is a boundless state that must extend to the earth. “Small things matter a lot, if you think small things don’t matter, then sleep with one small mosquito” –Dalai Lama
2)
Attitude of Non-greed
– A shift to generosity, contentment and gratitude. If you remove a tree, plant 2 trees. That is generosity.
3)
Attitude of wisdom + understanding
– Become interconnected, interrelated. How can you dominate something that is interconnected to you? Understanding the law of interdependence: “If you don’t transform your mind, there is no transformation outside.”
From the Yogic perspective, Sraddhalu Ranade and mentor to the program and scholar from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in India emphasized that spiritual sciences teach humanity how to live in harmony with the existing world. He shared that the principle of karma states that if one sends out a thought of hatred, it will rebound. With this idea, Sraddhalu empowered the youth with the notion that one affects the world by his/her intention because we all are beings interconnected as a greater whole. He concluded that “You become an instrument for an action that can change the world. You are connected to the whole which is working through you.”
The final day of the Inner Dimensions Morocco youth program involved a team building outdoor trek through a Berber village and forest in the Ourika Valley of the Atlas Mountains. This shared experience helped to bond the group and connect the participants to the nature and local landscape of Morocco. Overlooking the pristine snow covered tops of the Atlas Mountains, the concluding circle of the dialogue allowed everyone to offer reflections on the impact of program and time spent together. Many shared that their personal consciousness was raised as a result of the program’s content, and emphasized they would bring forth these insights in their work at home.
For more photos of the Morocco program,
click here.
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