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Team Services Manager – A Rocha UK

Join A Rocha UK as a Team Services Manager and be the linchpin in driving our mission to protect and restore nature and equip Christians and churches in the UK to care for the environment. Use your skills to streamline operations, enhance administrative processes, and support a dynamic team dedicated to environmental impact.

Please send a Cover Letter and a CV of no more than two pages to [email protected]

Closing Date for Applications: EXTENDED DEADLINE to Wednesday 27th November 11:59pm

WE MAY CLOSE THIS VACANCY EARLY IF WE RECEIVE SUFFICIENT APPLICATIONS FOR THE ROLE.

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Zwolle_MC

Building homes on the water: a rescue mission for breeding birds

Breeding birds were in trouble on the Schellerwade, a beautiful arm of the IJssel River just west of Zwolle, Netherlands. The area has traditionally been a popular breeding destination for birds like the Black tern Chlidonias niger and the Mallard Anas platyrhynchos. However, the populations of both species have been declining, with the disappearance of grasses like crabgrass, used by Black terns as natural nesting habitat, and low chick survival rates for Mallards.

The A Rocha local group in Zwolle decided to take action. Each year, they prepare a series of floating nest rafts and lay them out in the Schellerwade, targeting the Black terns. The rafts were visible from the dike and were eagerly monitored to see if they would be used. In 2022 and 2023: no success. Disappointing, but this can happen with an opportunistic species like the Black tern. But in 2024, at least six of the nest rafts were occupied with young Black terns!  

This year, the team also placed five breeding baskets along the IJssel River, a new project focused on Mallards. The baskets stand on a framework of willow branches, protecting any eggs or chicks laid in the basket from predators. Last Saturday the team collected three of the baskets and determined that none had been used by nesting ducks. The remaining two are deeper in the reed bank, amidst dense vegetation, and will be collected later this year. The team will now consider why the nests weren’t used and what could be done differently – one hypothesis is that perhaps the baskets need to be placed further into the water. Next year, they’ll try again and hope for success!  

CreationCare_MC

Raising our voices for creation care: Global Creation Care Forum in South Korea

A Rocha was at the heart of the recent Global Creation Care Forum (GCCF) held in South Korea 28 September – 2 October, immediately after the 4th Lausanne Congress. The GCCF was the first in-person global gathering of the Lausanne / World Evangelical Alliance Creation Care Network (LWCCN) since its launch in Jamaica in 2012. And what a gathering: 100+ people from 40+ countries across six continents, with more online.

Over the week, we reviewed the global creation care movement, listened to global voices and discerned next steps. There were striking differences to the 2012 Jamaica gathering: the GCCF was more diverse in terms of gender, age and nationality. It seems the global creation care movement has found its voice, and that voice is largely younger, from the global south, with insights drawn from many sources including indigenous wisdom and academic science but united around a passion for God’s word and God’s world. 

This global movement is wider than A Rocha, but we’re right at its heart. GCCF leaders included Dave Bookless from ARI and Jasmine Kwong, on the board of A Rocha’s Associated Project in the Philippines. A Rocha folk from Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ghana, India, Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda, UK and others hoping to join the Friends of A Rocha attended. Together we all drafted and will be launching a practical and biblical ‘Invitation’ to the global church to commit to caring for God’s good earth – watch this space! 

LWCCN, co-led by Dave Bookless with Lausanne and WEA colleagues, has held 12 regional conferences on ‘Creation Care and the Gospel’ covering every region, and now has a network of 1,700 leaders from 100 countries with a monthly enews, The Pollinator, sharing news and resources from around the world. 

BG website banner - Dry forest restoration, Peru (c) Xavier Saer

Double your impact for conservation this Christmas

Double my donation

We’re excited to let you know that A Rocha International will be participating again in the Big Give Christmas Challenge this December … and it’s our biggest ever!

With your support, we will protect threatened species and critical landscapes, from the forests of Africa to the mangroves of South East Asia. At the heart of A Rocha’s efforts are churches rising to the challenge alongside our local experts on the ground, working in and with communities to sustain all forms of life on earth.

The Christmas Challenge kicks off at noon (GMT) on #GivingTuesday, 3 December and continues until noon on 10 December. During that time, every contribution made through our campaign page on the Christmas Challenge website* will be DOUBLED.

Our target is ambitious, but the scale of challenges facing our planet is also immense! We want to raise £100,000 to help initiate five new conservation projects, equip churches and seminaries to care for their local landscape, and build capacity within A Rocha teams for taking care of threatened species and habitats. Already in 2024, we’ve started new projects to tackle microplastic pollution on marine sponges in India, preserve remnant forest in Peru, support forest communities to coexist with wildlife in Uganda and protect an endangered butterfly in France! Please join us this December to support innovative projects in communities and habitats of the highest need.

One donation, twice the impact.

* Please note only donations made through our campaign page on the Big Give website between 3-10 December are eligible to be doubled (while match funds last).