Imagine it is the end of the day. What are the last thoughts you have as you drift off to sleep? The conversations you had with friends and family? The programmes you watched on TV or online? The stuff you bought or wanted to buy at the shops? The sport you played or watched?

We inhabit a very human world, where people and people-made products take a lot of our time and attention. But take a moment to step back and you soon realise that there is a huge world around us which operates alongside the human sphere. Trees grow along man-made streets. Birds fly in the sky and nest in our homes. What’s more, this natural world is closely intertwined with our human one. The food we eat originates in the soil or on trees, and prices are impacted by the success or failure of the harvest. Too much snow and schools close. The sun shines and t-shirt sales go through the roof.
So what is the relationship between humans, arguably the dominant species on earth, and the natural world around us? Do we have license to use what the world offers – plants, animals, natural resources – however we want? Or is there more to it than this? Are we superior to other animal species, or created as equals by the same God? What is the impact of our human lifestyle on the natural world around us – and what should it be?

Christians believe that the Bible gives good principles for the way we connect with planet earth and everything it. In this section, you can find articles about Christian perspectives on animal rights and the environment. There are also examples of how Christians have put these ethics around the environment into practice at an everyday level.