ABSTRACT
This chapter will:
address the following questions: Is it correct to assume that religious traditions teach that one should care for the natural environment? Is this relevant in practice? In what ways might religion contribute towards ‘sustainable development’?;
discuss the ways in which religious traditions are considered to teach that one should care for the natural environment;
examine the origins and nature of religious environmentalist discourses;
explore concerns about the impact of romanticized religious environmentalist discourses upon mainstream development policy and practice concerned with ‘sustainable development’, through looking at the impact of ecofeminism upon the ‘women environment development’ (WED) approach.
examine the beneficial role that religion might play in ‘sustainable development’ initiatives within international development organizations, with a particular focus upon biodiversity conservation.
