The Church Forests of Ethiopia

What makes a church? A tiny and lush forest ….”A church, to be a church, must be surrounded by a forest,” in the words of Alemayehu Wassie Eshete, an Ethiopian forest ecologist.  The church should be immersed in the creation, enjoying and protecting the forest, the banks and the mountains; all the Earth. These small green forest patches that survive amid vast expanses of deforested brown earth represent hope. They are a powerful intersection of faith and science that do well in the world.

The famous ecologist E.O. Wilson, in his book and initiative “Half Earth,” declares that the church forests of Ethiopia are “one of the best places in the biosphere.” They are proof that when faith and science make common cause in ecological issues, they come together in a long-repeated model. We have the design of life in these small circles of faith, and this is something to rejoice, protect and extend them with all the resources that we can gather together. This short documentary, 10 minutes long, shows it beautifully.