Dear Friends of Lumbini:

The Lumbini Environmental Protection Alliance (LEPA) is writing to ask for your help in protecting Lumbini's environment and the health of its local population. As you may know, Lumbini is the birthplace of the Buddha and is situated in Nepal. It is one of the four holy sites of Buddhism, the other three being Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kusinagar, all located in India. In recognition of its religious significance, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Lumbini as a World Heritage Site in 1997. LEPA is an international alliance that includes the Lumbini Development Trust (established by the government of Nepal to oversee this World Heritage Site), Lumbini Institutions (all the Buddhist monasteries in Lumbini), and the Lumbini Stakeholder Committee, comprising numerous Buddhist and non-Buddhist organizations as well as individual supporters from around the world. LEPA was established for the purpose of protecting Lumbini's sacred environment and the health of its community.

Shortly before his great passing away (maha parinibbana), the Buddha spoke to his disciple Ananda as follows:

There are four places the sight of which should arouse a sense of urgency in the faithful.

1) Here the Tathagata was born (Lumbini)
2) Here the Tathagata attained supreme enlightenment (Bodh Gaya)
3) Here the Tathagata set in motion the Wheel of Dhamma (Sarnath)
4) Here the Tathagata entered maha parinibbana (Kusinagar)

And, Ananda, the faithful monks and nuns, male and female lay-followers will visit those places. And any who dies while making the pilgrimage to these shrines with a devout heart will, at the breaking-up of the body after death, be reborn in a heavenly world.

Today, environmental pollution from heavy industry (cement and steel plants) that have located in the Lumbini region of Nepal is degrading air and ground water quality and local agriculture. It is likely impacting human health as well. A campaign has been underway for some years now to stop this desecration of Lumbini's sacred space. As the collective voice of Lumbini's friends around the world, LEPA is writing to humbly request your support in an international effort to protect and safeguard Nepal's Lumbini from the growing impacts of environmental pollution.

Intertnational Petition to Protect Lumbini's Environment