Incorporating Islamic Environmentalism in Approaches to Conservation in the Trans-Himalaya

Abstract

Conservationists increasingly acknowledge the value of co-productive conservation efforts that incorporate the Indigenous perspective. In the Trans-Himalayan context, they have begun to incorporate the Buddhist perspective in recent interventions; yet, there is an omission of Islamic environmentalism in these conversations. This omission is even more glaring when one considers that Muslims make up a significant percentage of the Indigenous population of the Trans-Himalaya. A review of the literature reveals a considerable body of Islamic scholarship on sustainable resource management in extremely harsh climates. In fact, co-productive conservation efforts in collaboration with local Muslim communities elsewhere in the world have been very impactful. While scholarship on the history of Islam in the Trans-Himalaya is limited, historians agree that, rather than being forced upon a passive Indigenous population, the widespread adoption of Islam was an active choice by a population that had plenty of exposure to different ideas and belief systems via trade. Supplementing these findings with qualitative research at the grassroots level among the Dard-Shin Scheduled Tribe in the Trans-Himalaya, the authors find further evidence of the syncretic blending of Indigenous and Islamic beliefs, deployed in service of effective natural resource management. It is, thus, proposed that future conservation efforts in this region would be well advised to adopt a more expansive approach to the Indigenous perspective.