First Islamic Conservation Guide launched - to help Muslim fishermen protect their seas

The world's first Islamic conservation guide was launched in Zanzibar on March 30, 2008 by the UK-based Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES) and the Directorate of Fisheries in Zanzibar. The pioneering instruction manual, written and published by IFEES, uses lessons from the Qur'an to show how vital fishing resources can be protected.

Launched on 29th February 2008 in Weshe on the island of Pemba, the manual is part of a project to protect the Misali conservation area, where fishing provides direct livelihood for 11,000 people, and which has until recently been threatened by unsustainable practices including dynamite fishing. The island's growing population also faces other challenges - common to many traditional communities - like depleting resources and the threat of industrial development.

The Islamic environmental education programme devised by IFEES works by bringing members of the fishing community together with local institutions, government officials and religious leaders in an effort to promote sustainable practices - especially within the designated conservation zone. Founder and director of IFEES, Fazlun Khalid said, “This is a really exciting project, and the first of its kind.  At a time when the Shariah is being misunderstood in some parts of the world, it is good to demonstrate how it can contribute to protecting the environment. I hope this will be the first of many projects that use the Qur'an to promote conservation.”

The programme has also been developed with CARE International, Zanzibar, and is part of a series of initiatives to protect the Misali Island Marine Conservation Area and the nearby Ngezi Forest through extending savings and credit schemes; promotion of eco-tourism; and investigating how religious ethics can be explored in order to improve conservation awareness within communities.

Misali is characterised by remarkable species diversity. about 350 fish species and 40 genera of hard corals have been recorded in the area, while the square kilometer of the island itself supports endangered nesting turtles, green monkeys, endangered and endemic Pemba Flying Foxes, globally endangered coconut crabs and various species of rare birds.

 

TANZANIA: Fishermen say no to dynamite - using Islamic environmental principles

In 2000 the Muslim fishing communities of Pemba and Misali islands in Tanzania pledged to conserve Misali Island. Behind this Sacred Gift - given by both the Government of Zanzibar (as land manager and owner of all land and sea in Zanzibar), and the Misali fishing community (as traditional owners, managers and users of the area) - was an extraordinary story.

Misali Island is one of the most important turtle nesting sites in the Zanzibar archipelago and home to some of the most magnificent coral slopes in the western Indian Ocean. In the 1990s it was under severe threat from dynamite-fishing. For the 1,600 or so fishermen who were traditional owners of the area, dynamite fishing seemed a blessing. Suddenly, instead of having to waste time looking for fish sites, they just dropped some explosives and there was plenty to eat.

What they did not know (and did not think was their business) was the terrible destruction they were doing, not just to the fragile reef ecosystem but also to their own long-term survival. Dynamite takes out young fish along with the mature ones, while traditional fishing leaves the young to slip through the nets and breed later. The explosion also destroys the very environment within which the fish live. In the long run, nobody benefits.

The question became how to help the fishermen understand the problems they were causing, and then stop them. It was the kind of environmental problem that many governments around the world are trying to address. At first, the government and environmental agencies launched an education program. But few fishermen paid attention to government leaflets. Then dynamite fishing was officially banned. Despite the threat of gunboats the communities refused to accept the ban.

Then a startlingly simple solution was developed. The fishing villages of the East African coast are mostly Muslim, organized under a religious leadership of sheiks who have enormous authority in the communities. The basis of these fishing families’ lives is Islam, with its Qur’an, Shariah laws, and the traditions and customs of the faith.

In 1998, in a joint venture with ARC, CARE International, WWF International and the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Science, the sheiks on Masali island came together to explore Islamic teachings about the appropriate use of God’s creation. From these studies the sheiks drew the conclusion that dynamite fishing was illegal according to Islam. They used Qur’anic texts such as “O children of Adam! … eat and drink: but waste not by excess for Allah loveth not the wasters” (Surah 7:31) or Sura 6:141: "...it is He [Allah] who produces gardens, both cultivated and wild.... Eat of their fruits when they bear fruit and pay their dues on the day of their harvest, and do not be profligate. He does not love the profligate."

This Sacred Gift has already become a model for other Islamic fishing communities around the world.

 

These two stories come from the website of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, a secular body based in England that helps the major religions of the world to develop their own environmental programs, based on their own core teachings, beliefs, and practices. ARC helps religions link with key environmental organizations, creating powerful alliances between faith communities and conservation groups. ARC was founded in 1995 by HRH Prince Philip, and now works with 11 major faiths through the key traditions of each faith. ARC and the United Nations Development Programme began work in December 2007 on a programme that will involve major traditions in 11 of the world's faiths drawing up seven-year plans of action to be launched in 2009. You can also find stories about the Misali fishermen on the BBC and Christian Science Monitor. See:  Eco-Islam hits Zanzibar fishermen, Daniel Dickinson, BBC News, Feb 17 2005; and African fishermen find way of conservation in the Koran, by Eliza Barclay, Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 31, 2007.

 

A practical Muslim Theology of the Sea is published

The first Muslim Theology of the Sea, written and designed by Fazlun Khalid and Ali Kh. Thani, was published in May 2008 by the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES). While it was initially created as part of a Teachers’ Guide Book for Islamic Environmental Education, to promote conservation among the Muslim fishing families on Misali Island, Tanzania, most of the theology and teachings are appropriate and useful for any marine conservation programme in Islamic areas, particularly in the tropics and sub-tropics - and the wording and geographical references can be adapted accordingly.

The publication and distribution of the book was made possible by the generous support of Muslim Hands, Nottingham, and Islamic Relief Birmingham, UK. The authors have foregone their copyright so that through this resource Muslims – wherever they live – may take a step towards preserving this green planet for future generations. They have, nevertheless, given permission for ARC to republish this Muslim Guide to Marine Stewardship on the ARC website. (ARC was part of the management team who first worked with Misali islanders to stop dynamite fishing and take leadership on the management of their own marine environment, based on Islamic principles on how to live.)

 

Africa Muslim Environmental Network created 

During a unique meeting in 2005, an Africa Muslim Environment Network was created that is dedicated to helping all Muslim Groups and traditions in Africa make partnerships between themselves and with secular groups to undertake environmental, educational and development projects. AMEN will launch model projects on Islamic micro-finance based around tradition of the zakat (which is the welfare tax paid annually by all adult Muslims as one of the Five Pillars of Islam). It will also coordinate the revival of traditional and sustainable fishing practices along the East African coast, as well as: an environmental audit kit for Mosques throughout the continent; teaching modules of Islam and environment for Madrassa colleges and a programme of coastal forest protection along Islamic guidelines.

 

The Qur'an says that humanity's role is to be Khalifa - the vice regent on earth for God. This does not mean we therefore have the right to do as we wish with God's creation. Our role is to protect all life and to use it thoughtfully and carefully so that on the Day of Judgement we can report back to God that we have been true and faithful Khalifas. This was the first meeting of its kind in Africa – and it was part of how the Muslim communities are beginning to see if together they can help Africa recover the proper relationship between humanity and creation as stated in the Qur’an. It is a relationship which makes sense to Muslims because it is under God's guidance. 

 

For other stories about fish and fisheries, see:

Fish farming is new chance for self-reliance for northern Ugandans

Indian fisherwomen develop economic independence

Helping consumers, companies protect fisheries, marine environment

'Blue revolution' enriches diets of millions around the world

Seaweed absorbs aquaculture industry wastes, preserves biodiversity

 

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