The Conservation Potential of Religion in Thailand

1. Secular approaches to biodiversity conservation in Thailand have been inadequate (e.g., "paper parks" and deforestation).

2. Might religious approaches help? Many Thai and others relate social and environmental problems to Westernization and the decline of traditional culture, religion, and morality.

3. While about 95% of the people of Thailand are Buddhist, popular religion is even richer and more complex, with elements of animism and Hinduism.

4. Animism, Hinduism, and Buddhism have the potential in principle to be more environmentally friendly, i.e., promote a more sustainable and greener society (e.g., sacred trees).

5. To develop an argument for the relevance of religion in biodiversity conservation, first consider the possibilities of the weakest case, a single sacred tree.

6. On the surface of it, a single tree may not appear to be of any significance for biodiversity conservation. However, if that tree is appreciated as part of a set of mutually reinforcing wider systems--- cultural, ecological, geographical, and historical, rather than an isolate, then indeed it has some significance. Sacred places may be relevant for biodiversity conservation if considered collectively and cumulatively through time, since some may endure for centuries or even millennia.

7. If a single tree has significance because of its manifold functions, then the significance of a grove or forest with numerous trees is even greater and may be better appreciated.

8. Sacred trees, groves, and forests are often associated with Buddhist temples, but not always. Traditionally each village was associated with some sacred tree or trees, which may be, in effect, islands of biodiversity and its conservation.

9. However, Buddhist temples as sacred places, and Buddhist monks as highly respected and revered members of Thai society, both have special roles to play in biodiversity conservation, at least potentially if not always actually.

10. Buddhist temples, as sacred places, may contribute to biodiversity conservation in some combination of ways, depending on the particular case--- revitalization of religion and nature.

11. Monks, because of their liminal status and power, also have a special role to play in biodiversity conservation, including as an example of a green community and in tree ordination.

12. Sacred places have advantages, as well as disadvantages, for the conservation of biodiversity, in comparison to government protected areas such as national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
Sacredness may be a greater deterrent to reckless exploitation of the environment than secular laws and regulations.

13. Sacred places and religion in general merit much more serious consideration as well as much more systematic and deeper research into their relevance for biodiversity conservation.

14. It is important to consider the possibility that many sacred places are interconnected in some way, rather than isolates.

15. Sacred places may reflect a widespread, varied, and ancient "system" of religiously sanctioned and community based protected areas in Thailand, indeed, more broadly, an Asian phenomenon.