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‘Combine science, religion to protect environment’
Many people have heard or even repeated the popular claim that because God gave mankind dominion over the earth, humans are free to consume anything they find in nature.
However, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD), Professor Edward Wiafe Debrah, says this widely held belief was a misconception that has contributed to the destruction of the environment and the depletion of natural resources.
Speaking on the relationship between religion, science and environmental conservation, Prof. Debrah explained to The Spectator in an exclusive interview that many Christians often cited Genesis 1:28, where God blessed humanity and instructed them to “be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and every living thing that moves on the earth.”
According to him, the verse had been wrongly interpreted to mean that people have unrestricted permission to consume every animal and natural resource on earth.
”The Bible did not ask mankind to destroy or exhaust creation. Dominion is about responsible leadership and stewardship, not exploitation,” he stressed.
He said God entrusted creation to humanity with the expectation that it would be managed wisely and preserved for future generations.
”Stewardship means nurturing what has been entrusted to you and being accountable to the Master one day. We must, therefore, use our natural resources wisely rather than consume everything without replacement,” he said.
Prof. Debrah pointed out that another misconception among some Christians was the belief that since the Bible spoke about the end of the world, there was little need to conserve the environment because no one knows when the earth would end.
He described this thinking as dangerous, explaining that no one knows when the end would come and, therefore, humanity had a responsibility to care for creation while it existed.
He also challenged the belief that animals cannot become extinct simply because human beings continue to exist despite people dying every day.
Drawing a distinction between human populations and wildlife, he explained that many animal species could disappear permanently if they were harvested without limits or conservation measures.
He cited indiscriminate hunting as an example, saying many hunters entered forests and killed whatever animals they found without considering whether the populations were sufficient to sustain future generations.
”If we continue consuming resources without strategic plans for replacement and conservation, we will eventually lose them,” he cautioned.
Prof. Debrah urged society to combine scientific knowledge with religious and cultural beliefs instead of relying solely on religious interpretations to address environmental challenges.
”We have to read and understand the Bible well while applying science to our culture and religion. Religious beliefs alone cannot solve all our environmental problems,” he stated.
He emphasised that biodiversity remained essential to human survival, noting that healthy ecosystems improve food quality, reduce diseases and help clean the air through trees that absorb carbon dioxide and other harmful gases.
Touching on agriculture, Prof. Debrah encouraged farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices that protect beneficial insects, especially bees, which naturally pollinate crops.
He mentioned that attempts at artificial pollination have proved costly, making natural pollination by insects a more practical and sustainable option.
”The irony is that we spray insecticides to kill every insect on our farms, including those that are beneficial. If we reduce indiscriminate use of insecticides, nature will regulate itself through the food chain, ensuring healthy ecosystems and improved crop production,” he said.
Prof. Debrah, therefore, appealed to the public to recognise that caring for nature was not contrary to faith but rather an important responsibility entrusted to humanity.
”The earth and its resources are gifts from God. Our responsibility is not to exhaust them but to protect and manage them wisely for ourselves and generations yet unborn,” he added.
By Ama Tekyiwaa Ampadu Agyeman, Koforidua
The 30th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Media Awards has celebrated three decades of recognising excellence and contributions to journalism and national development, while highlighting the media’s role in Ghana’s democracy.
Marking the milestone, Philip Osei Bonsu of the Multimedia Group emerged as the GJA/P.A.V. Ansah Journalist of the Year.
The Ghanaian Times’ Benedicta Gyimah Foley won the Best Feature Reporting, Print category, alongside other journalists recognised across various media platforms.
Other winners included Nathaniel Attoh, Best in Sports Reporting; and Godwin Asediba of Media General, Best in TV Documentary; Doreen Ampofo of GBC, Best in Radio Documentary; and freelance journalist Nii Adjei Mensahfio, Best in Online Documentary.
Daniel Kwabena Mantey was adjudged Best in TV Feature, while Clinton Yeboah of Luv FM won Best in Radio Feature, with Gilbert Azeem Tiroog of GNA taking Best in Online Features.
For news reporting, Mohammed Fugu of the Daily Graphic won Best in Print News Reporting, Nabil Ahmed Rufai, a freelance journalist, Best in TV News Reporting; Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman of EIB Network, Best in Radio News Reporting; and Timothy Ngnenbe of the Daily Graphic, Best in Online News.
The ceremony, held in Accra last Saturday on the theme, “Celebrating Excellence, Advancing Media Freedom and Combating Hate Speech in the Digital Age”, was attended by President John Dramani Mahama as the special guest of honour.
Also in attendance were the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, among others.
In his address, President Mahama announced a GH₵10 million allocation in the 2027 national budget as seed capital for the reactivated Media Development Fund to support journalists’ welfare, professional development, investigative reporting and safety training, with additional corporate contributions expected.
Mr Mahama, also urged media practitioners to uphold professionalism and accuracy by avoiding sensationalism, unsubstantiated allegations and the deliberate pursuit of scandals, while promptly correcting inaccurate reports and apologising when necessary to maintain public trust and professional standards.
On journalists’ safety, he assured that the government would continue to act against attacks on them.
By Stephanie Birikorang
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Today, I focus on the theme of Ghanaian/African migrants in Finland and economic empowerment, a move away from the topic of personalities or groups and their accomplishments within the Ghanaian community in Finland that I have been writing on.
In recent times, African migrant associations and Finnish institutions are organising meetings or forums and help people seeking employment to meet employers or build professional networks to achieve economic empowerment.
Such forums are usually open to their members and anyone of African descent.to get into the Finnish job market.
Competences
Researchers and experts say entrepreneurship or self-employment has great potential to offer a route for migrants, including highly-educated ones, to participate in and contribute to the local economy.
Competences, including knowledge and knowhow, opportunities, and social capital such as family support, language, etc., are necessary to boost the entrepreneurship endeavour.
Competence in the official Finnish or Swedish languages is undoubtedly a key quality to improve employment prospects, especially for migrants since the overall unemployment among migrants could be higher than in the mainstream Finnish population.
There could also be particular privileges which may be the provision of the right information for potential entrepreneurs or job seekers.
Barriers and stress factors
Although language has a huge potential to contribute positively to entrepreneurship possibilities, studies have shown that some of the major stress factors are language problems, finances or economic capital among African migrants.
Other barriers or challenges may be how to grow the business venture or its sustainability.
Thus, migrant communities can generally be highly vulnerable to language barrier, lack of information, the nature of the work of migrants in professions where working from home is not possible.
Migrant associations, social networks, and information
By their activities, migrant associations are doing much to educate and create awareness as well as enhance economic empowerment through migrants’ entrepreneurship or self-employment and enhance opportunities.
Such associations and institutions become networks that create an important social capital as well as outlets for sharing and gaining information or knowledge. Also, it will all be for societal good if such activities are able to help reduce stress and anxiety in the migrants’ entrepreneurship endeavours.
As I keep pointing out, Finland is committed to the integration of migrants into the Finnish society. A number of research studies from surveys and other in-depth enquiries have shown a trend of increasing efforts to integrate African and other migrants into the Finnish society.
Public agencies, migrant associations and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Finland have been publishing information to help educate people, which is also good for their wellbeing.
Generally, migrant associations formally create awareness among their members and other migrants usually in collaboration with some Finnish institutions, and are thus an important tool for several migrants to be positively active and to get their interests and claims heard.
As I wrote previously, the role of migrant associations acting as bridge-builders for the integration and inclusion of migrants through participation in the decision making process and by acting as a representative voice is highly appreciated in Finland. Thank you!
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