Marine sampling in Southern France - Jo Calcutt

Taking on marine plastics

Plastic pollution continues to be a global problem. There are many ‘how to’ resources, but fewer that examine the role plastic plays in our Christian life. A Rocha’s Lead Marine Scientist Dr Robert Sluka has written a new Grove booklet called Marine Plastics which we hope will be useful for better understanding how plastic can play a positive role in healing our relationships: with God, each other, nature and ourselves. Copies can be ordered from the Grove Books website.

The booklet is a short examination of how plastic can heal or hurt relationships. Dr Sluka (Bob) examines plastic pollution considering biblical texts and the writings of several theologians, including Michael Northcott, Ellen Davis and Pope Francis. The epilogue looks at plastic in an age of Covid and broadens the discussion to Christian relief and development. The book points readers to A Rocha’s Plastics Toolbox for resources on how to practically address plastic pollution wherever we live.

Bob will be talking about his Grove booklet at an online event on 16 September. Register today to hear him speak and bring along your burning questions. Many A Rocha organizations will be conducting a plastic cleanup in September and taking part in the Great Global Nurdle Hunt in October. Contact your national office to find out what they are doing. If there are no events near you, perhaps you could lead one yourself and invite everyone along! Plastic is not the only issue impacting our planet, but it is one that we all need to be a part of solving.

Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets used as the raw material for making many of our plastic products. Photo: Benjamin Kelsey

Image of beach sampling by Jo Calcutt

Alnarp-1024x683

A new member of the family in Sweden

We are delighted to welcome our Friends of A Rocha group in Sweden as an A Rocha Associated Project. Kristna för naturvård i Sverige (KriNa for short, or in English: Christians for Nature Conservation in Sweden) is helping individuals, groups and churches in Sweden to care more for creation and protect places for biodiversity, especially locally. Their Hyllie Park Gardens Project is a joint venture with the local church and adult education college and focuses on environmental education and the creation of a meadow, wildlife habitats and nature trail that will promote biodiversity onsite.

Through practical workshops and seminars, people are learning how to make bird houses and insect hotels, as well as finding out about environmental issues such as plastic pollution and how to live more sustainably. Local children and adults are enjoying trips to nature parks and church study groups are learning what it means to be an eco-church.

In time, KriNa hopes to improve awareness of and care for nature among the children and students at its partner schools and to increase their reach beyond Hyllie Park – positively impacting biodiversity and engaging with different churches within Sweden.

Welcome to the A Rocha worldwide family, Kristna för naturvård i Sverige!

Photo by Arne Mörnerud

Conraua-sagyimase-Atewa-Slippery-Frog-Dr-Caleb-Ofori-Boateng

New species to science discovered in Atewa

The Atewa Forest campaign was boosted last month by the publication of a formal description of a new species of frog, known only from Atewa. Discovered in the forest in 2006, for some time it was believed to be the Togo Slippery Frog Conraua derooi. However, subsequent studies have concluded that it is a species in its own right. It has been given the English name Atewa Slippery Frog and the scientific name Conraua sagyimase, which honours the local Sagyimase community that has helped its conservation. The Akan common name for the new species is kwaeɛ mu nsutene apɔnkyerɛne, meaning the ‘frog of the forest streams’.

One of its distinguishing features is its loud and distinctive call. A Rocha International is working with A Rocha Ghana and the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana to survey Atewa’s streams for the frog, using passive sound recorders to record their nocturnal calls. Read A Rocha Ghana’s press release and the academic paper published in Zootaxa.

[Photo: Atewa Slippery Frog Conraua sagyimase by Dr Caleb Ofori Boateng]