ABSTRACT

The Kendeng Mountains are of global importance to bats, birds, and butterflies. An endemic species of bat, instrumental in protecting the ecological balance, lives here, as do many species of birds, for example the beautiful green peacock, butterflies, and dragonflies. The ethics of partnership and equality between the earth and humans are strongly upheld in Gunarti’s sense of spirituality. This view, which Merchant expresses with the idea of nature as autonomous, is real and legitimate. This idea is what gave rise to the socio-cultural environmental ethic that colors the preservation movement of the Kendeng Mountains. In their opposition to the global cement industry, the ecofeminist activists of the Kendeng Mountains can be used as an instructive example of the ways spiritual ecology and partnership ethics might help promote the flourishing of life in the planetary future.