Bahá’í Faith and Biodiversity
In the Bahá’í Faith, nature has an important place demonstrating spiritual values, and the Bahá’í scriptures frequently illustrate spiritual themes with natural metaphors. For example, a garden of multicolored flowers shows the beauty of unity in diversity.
The nineteenth century founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh, emphasized respect for the earth: “Every man of discernment, while walking upon the earth, feeleth indeed abashed, inasmuch as he is fully aware that the thing which is the source of his prosperity, his wealth, his might, his exaltation, his advancement and power is, as ordained by God, the very earth which is trodden beneath the feet of all men. There can be no doubt that whoever is cognizant of this truth, is cleansed and sanctified from all pride, arrogance, and vainglory.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, son of Bahá’u’lláh and head of the Faith 1892-1921, frequently spoke about ecological principles evident in nature and biodiversity, and he illustrated our interdependence with nature and the importance of cooperation and reciprocity with the complementary roles of plants and animals: “Were one to observe with an eye that discovereth the realities of all things, it would become clear that the greatest relationship that bindeth the world of being together lieth in the range of created things themselves, and that co-operation, mutual aid and reciprocity are essential characteristics in the unified body of the world of being, inasmuch as all created things are closely related together and each is influenced by the other or deriveth benefit therefrom, either directly or indirectly.”
The forces driving many societies today are harmful to the relationships binding the world of being together - in both the natural world and society. If we are to build the world anew, we must make a conscious effort towards both environmental stewardship and social harmony, each reinforcing the other.
Thus Bahá’ís such as Richard St. Barbe Baker worked from the 1920s to reforest Africa and the Middle East, encouraged by the institutions of the Bahá’í Faith. Today, local Bahá’í communities often undertake social actions to protect biodiversity. On the Vanuatu island of Tanna, the youth in a village saw that their coral reef had few fish or giant clams. They developed a plan to restore traditional fishing reserves to recover the biodiversity and shared it with the village chiefs. Despite such efforts being attempted before, because this was organic to the community, and was done in collaboration with the village elders, it proved successful and sustainable.
In Norte del Cauca, Colombia, just a short distance from where the next UN Biodiversity Conference is set to be held, sits one of the newest local Bahá’í houses of worship in the world. Initial planning included a native forest around the House of Worship. This acknowledges the interdependence of social and spiritual growth with the planet’s natural beauty and diversity.
As humanity addresses a world facing evolving and deepening challenges, we must recognize the deeper value of retaining and promoting biodiversity as a reflection of who we are and who we wish to be.
Written by Arthur Lyon Dahl & Emmanuel Zapata-Caldas
Dr. Arthur Lyon Dahl is a retired senior official of UNEP, President of International Environment Forum, specialising on coral reefs and small islands. He organised the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), chairs the G20 Interfaith Forum environment working group, and now works on improving global environmental governance.
Dr. Emmanuel Zapata-Caldas is an environmental scientist working on user research and digital inclusion for agri-food systems at the Alliance Bioversity-CIAT. He is also a member of the Office of External Affairs of the Bahá'í Community of Colombia.
