EcoSikh
EcoSikh is a global response from the Sikh community to the threats of climate change and the deterioration of the natural environment.
The organisation arose as part of the Long Term Plans for Generational Change programme initiated in 2009 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) to help the world’s major religious traditions create long-term plans to improve their relationship with the environment.
In 2019 the Sikh Union, along with The Friends of Longford Park, and a team of volunteers, planted 550 trees on Sikh Environment Day (March 14) as part of the EcoSikh movement.
Students from Longford Park and Grange Hurst primary schools along with dignitaries from local churches, including Coventry Cathedral and St. Pauls Church, Mandhirs (Hindu temples) and Gurdwaras, attended a tree planting ceremony at Longford Park, Foleshill.
Chairman of the city’s Sikh Union Palvinder Singh Chana told the Coventry Observer: “As Sikhs, our connection to the environment is an integral part of our faith and identity. Observing the 9th annual Sikh Environment Day, is a time for Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike to reflect upon our relationship with the environment. Through His teachings, our first guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, explained that the world we humans create around ourselves is a reflection of our own inner state.”