Blackened, charred trees, a church on the verge of collapse and temporary housing scattered along the vast landscape are all remnants of the Kinglake bushfire that ravaged the region just over nine months ago.
However, in an act of healing and revegetation, a tree-planting ceremony took place in the centre of town on the 29th of November that was organised by the GreenFaith Australia ‘Walking Humbly’ tour and was also one of the many places visited by the participants.

The ceremony saw the planting of twenty small trees and a fresh garden patch at a newly built playground. Kinglake primary school students were accompanied by members of diverse faiths and communities who were partaking in a three-day spiritual journey throughout regional Victoria.

The tour, a project organised by GreenFaith Australia, attracted participants from diverse faiths, from Christian to Sikhism, Buddhist to Jewish, Muslim to Catholic. Some also came from overseas: India, The U.S, Israel and the Philippines, just to name a few, and joined with urban and rural Australians on an extended bus tour. From Nagambie to Castlemaine, Shepparton to Healesville the participants were exposed to different interfaith practices.

Being inside a Sikh Gurdwara (Temple) in Shepparton with a didgeridoo playing by an Indigenous Australian, Uncle Reg Blow, was a unique occurrence. Hearing about the immense struggle that the farmers of rural regions are battling with water shortages, being invited onto the Yorta Yorta region, sacred Aboriginal land and seeing the devastating effects of the bushfires at Kinglake were certainly humbling experiences. 

The trip was organised as a pre-event to the Parliament of the World’s Religions happening in Melbourne this month that combined interfaith practice and educational forums about the problems that Australia is facing in terms of the environment and climate change.

GreenFaith Australia aims to bring together people from different faith communities and spiritualities in Melbourne with an emphasis on ecological matters and how these issues can be addressed through faith practice and spirituality. One of the founding members of GreenFaith Australia, Elyse Rider, who’s research into the intersection of the emerging interfaith and ecofaith movements forming the basis of the organisation, said that the project: “Had changed and evolved through the course of the year..so many inspiring people had put a lot of effort into this journey.”

In regards to her PhD research, Rider said that the trip was important for her to gain an understanding of that connection between the environment and faith practice, which in turn should be more incorporated on a wider scale, rather than just the discussion of economics and politics that generally happens.

Jayson Burhop, an environmental activist with the climate action group in Castlemaine, stated that “South Eastern Australia is being very heavily impacted by the drought, with 10 years below average rainfall..people are really starting to associate these dry periods as being associated to some degree by climate change.”

The farmers at the Shepparton Chocolate Apple Factory are examples of those heavily affected by the drought, giving omissions on the cost of water: “Water normally costs us forty dollars a mega litre. Over the last few years it has gone up to a thousand dollars. So we have gone from a water bill of $4,500 to 50,000 in one year. So as farmers we are disillusioned, disheartened and very frustrated.”

Other places visited included the Worawa Aboriginal College in Healesville, Victoria's only independent Indigenous college, the Golden Dragon Chinese museum in Bendigo, Sikh Gurdwara's in both Shepparton and Blackburn with accommodations on the beautiful Nagambie lake.

While at times overwhelming in regards to the constant exposure to different faith practices, from Shabbat ceremonies to Sikh prayers and chanting on the bus trips, the journey offered quite a unique experience to gain insight into spirituality that was combined with heavy discussion of environmental issues and seeing the impact of climate change in regional Victoria first-hand.

For more information about GreenFaith, visit www.greenfaithaustralia.org.au