By Ruben D. Manahan 4th Reporter

To at least one group, the movement to save the environment from degradation should take on a spiritual approach.
Arnel Caranto calls it “ecology ministry.” He is executive director and founder of Lifelong Initiatives for the Formation of Ecosystem (LIFE) Inc., a nongovernment organization that envisions to contribute significantly to educating people about a host of environmental issues.

“We don’t own this planet,” Caranto told The Manila Times in a roundtable interview on Friday. “We are only stewards. And as stewards, we both have the privilege and the responsibility to take good care of this earth.”

And in promoting environmental management, science and religion have to work together, he said. “How can you separate them?”

Caranto’s Life Inc. is based at the Roman Cathorlic San Ilde-fonso Parish in Makati City.

He added that their beliefs are ecumenical. “Our teachings are very open-minded.”

In pro-environment campaigns, in fact, “what’s missing is the spirituality side of it.” He said, “You cannot separate the two in some ways.”

Indigenous inspirations

Also, Caranto said that they even draw inspiration from the spirituality of indigenous peoples, whom the executive director claimed were the “best caretakers of our environment.”

“They only get [from nature] what they need,” he added.

Noel Guivani Ramsical—a lawyer, University of the Philippines Los Baños professor and member of Life Inc.—explained that central to the indigenous people’s beliefs is: “The land is the mother [of all living things].”

Ramsical, who was also with Caranto at The Times’ roundtable, is himself a member of the indigenous tribe Ibanag of Northern Luzon. And he has done research on aboriginals in Australia and other places.
He said that learned that indigenous people around the world see the land as their mother, and they treat it with respect—such as refraining from spitting or urinating on the earth.

“They [even] recycle,” Ramsical added.

The Inuit in North America, for example, have an interesting hunting ritual, he told The Times. When the natives kill bear, they give thanks to it for providing them with sustenance.
“They don’t waste anything. That’s a basic issue,” he added.

Referring to indigenous cultures, Ramsical said, “They know how to regulate their desires.”
“They also give back what they take,” he added.

Promoting life

Caranto, a devout Catholic, told The Times that he sees no conflict with their native spiritualism.
Life carries out it advocacies through hosting conferences and workshops—some that even gained the support of the British Embassy in Manila.

Life also works with the youth sector, Caranto added. They published two graphic novels with assistance from the Haribon Foundation of the Philippines and the Danish government.

The conduct theater programs, since the executive director has a background in that. He was particularly proud of a group that used be part of a gang in Tondo—a depressed district in Manila—who produced a music video about the environment. Life now uses that to recruit other young Filipinos to their cause.
Based on its profile, Life Inc. raises environmental stewardship campaign through climate change mitigation and adaptation (way of life), ecological solid waste management (mindset and values) and environmental management-biodiversity (sustainable development).

“So far, we’re getting positive results,” Caranto told The Times.

Asked if they fears that crooked politicians and other bad elements that drag that work against their group, Caranto said, “We don’t get scared. As long as we are doing what we believed in, we would continue this.”