Environmental ethics

Cultures and religions of the world can provide a solid foundation for changing people's attitudes on the preservation and conservation of the environment. World religions and cultures, particularly orien tal belief systems, do not inherently sub scribe to the abuse and exploitation of nature for material and selfish gain.

However, no culture and no part of the world has remained immune from mankind's irreverence towards nature, an irreverence that has brought in its wake the destruction of our own habitat, our progeny, and ourselves. To arrest this pro cess, to fight for the survival of presentand future generations, we need help from all sources. World religions and cultures, and the ethical values emanating from them, are certainly some of the basic determi nants that could greatly assist in this great cause.

In their own way, each culture and reli gion offer a unique set of moral values and rules to guide us in our relationship with the environment. In this book, the author has discussed this issue, starting from a bird's eye-view of world religions and what they say about environmental pro tection, and then discussing in detail about Hindu culture and religion, and ending it with a general discussion about our Dharma to the environment. Included in this expo sition is a proposed code of environmental conduct.