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Big Give

Double your impact

We’re excited to let you know that in 2026, with your help, we hope to mobilize and equip over 35,000 young people to care for creation. Every region of the world is experiencing acute crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. Species and habitats, tropical forests and reefs are being lost daily. Temperatures are rising while governments cut funding for conservation programmes. With their futures at stake, young people care deeply about the state of the world and want to contribute to solutions. However, they can be paralyzed by eco anxiety, lack relevant training or simply don’t know where to begin.    

Investing in young people has always been an important part of the A Rocha mission. We have been selected to participate in the Big Give Christmas Challenge again and this year your support will help us reach even more young people through Environmental Education programmes, internships, volunteer placements, capacity building and youth-led research projects. Your gift will equip young people to understand better the connection between creation care and the Christian faith. Reaching this many young people would make a significant impact and we’d love your support.   

The Christmas Challenge kicks off at noon (GMT) on #GivingTuesday, 2 December and continues until noon GMT on 9 December. During that time, every contribution made through our campaign page on the Big Give Christmas Challenge website* will be DOUBLED.  

One donation, twice the impact.  

*Please note that only donations made through our campaign page on the Big Give website between 2-9 December are eligible to be doubled (while match funds last). The donate button will appear on the campaign page when the Christmas Challenge launches. 

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High Seas Treaty

You may remember in our July enews we reported on the UN Ocean Conference, held in Nice, France. In that story, we highlighted the situation of the high seas – the vast maritime area that lies beyond the jurisdiction of any state. Sometimes described as the ‘Wild West’ where anything goes, this area covers half of the planet and nearly two-thirds of our seas. Slowly but surely, that era of lawlessness is giving way to hope, as real protection for this vulnerable part of the ocean becomes possible. 
  
In June 2023, governments adopted the High Seas Treaty – a landmark agreement designed to protect the ocean, including addressing the threats of deep-sea mining and geoengineering while safeguarding lives and livelihoods. 
 
The Treaty opened for State signatures in September 2023. By June 2025, perhaps encouraged by the Ocean Conference, the number of signatories had risen from 30 to 51. By the end of August, 55 had signed. Then 57. The milestone of 60 ratifications loomed: at 60, a 120-day countdown is triggered, after which the High Seas Treaty will enter into force. Slowly the numbers crept up…and on 19 September, two years after opening, the 60th State ratified the treaty. Numbers continue to climb – the current count is 75 signatories. On 17 January 2026, the High Seas Treaty will come into effect as a legally binding international agreement. 
  
The ocean is vital – producing oxygen, storing heat and carbon, providing food and livelihoods, carrying goods and sustaining countless forms of life – the list goes on. What happens next with the Treaty will be interesting to see; there are still multiple agendas and priorities at play. But we hold hope that this marks a major step toward caring well for this vulnerable area that means so much to the equilibrium of our world.

A Rocha International's booth at the exhibition. Left to right: Ed Walker, Avinash Krishnan, Judith Ochieng and Nicholas Warren.

The 2025 IUCN World Conservation Congress

Once every four years, the IUCN World Conservation Congress brings together governments, NGOs, indigenous people groups and volunteer scientists who are working urgently to protect nature and conserve life on Earth. Of the 1,400+ members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), A Rocha International is the only global Christian conservation organization. This October, we brought a distinctive perspective to the Congress, which is responsible for shaping the global conservation agenda.

In the Congress’ forum, for example, A Rocha hosted the live podcast ‘The Missing piece in conservation? Engaging world faiths and worldviews at the grass roots.’ The worldviews of more than three-quarters of the world’s population are shaped by faith, and religion remains an underused force in protecting nature. Faith influences what people love and, ultimately, what they protect. We brought together conservation professionals from a variety of faith traditions to discuss why, in the words of our Director of Theology Dave Bookless, ‘Faith groups need a place at the table’, with examples from the field and an optimistic vision for the future.

‘Nature knows no borders – and neither should our efforts to protect it,’ remarked A Rocha’s Conservation Practice Lead, Nicholas Warren, who attended the Congress. This spirit pervaded the Exhibition, where Congress attendees and the public gathered to share stories of innovation, struggle and success in conservation. Hundreds of languages were spoken and thousands of ideas were exchanged. The A Rocha International delegation mirrored this multiculturalism: Nicholas Warren and Ed Walker joined from the UK, Avinash Krishnan from India, and Judith Ochieng from Kenya. A Rocha Ghana is also a member of the IUCN, represented by Seth Appiah-Kubi, Jacqueline Mbawine, Daryl E Bosu and Godwin Evenyo Dzekoto.

During the Congress’ Awards Ceremony, the Harold Jefferson Coolidge Memorial Medal was awarded to Dr. Simon Stuart, a former Executive Director of A Rocha International, in recognition of his transformative impact on global species conservation, particularly through his work on the IUCN Red List and amphibian conservation. In his acceptance speech, Simon thanked A Rocha co-founders Peter and Miranda Harris for helping bring his faith and love of nature together and said, ‘Conservation is a collaborative effort, and the true heroes are usually unseen, so I’m proud to accept it on their behalf.’ 

Finally, at the Members’ Assembly A Rocha voted on key resolutions for the IUCN that will shape conservation priorities worldwide. These discussions are urgent as we strive to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, making the world ‘nature positive’ by 2030. 148 Resolutions were passed, focused on coordinated solutions that benefit people and nature. For example, the Assembly voted to recognise ecocide as a crime, define ethics around the use of synthetic biology for conservation, encourage soil security laws, and improve tree planting practices by ‘Planting the right tree in the right place for the right purpose’.  

Congratulations to A Rocha Ghana, who successfully advocated for Motion 104: Safeguarding biodiversity and human rights in energy transition mineral governance. This groundbreaking resolution calls on governments, companies and civil society to ensure that the global shift to renewable energy does not come at the expense of biodiversity or the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. The global shift to renewable energy and decarbonisation has significantly increased the demand for energy transition minerals, such as the bauxite mined in Ghana’s Atewa Forest. Motion 104 recognises the critical need to address climate change while also upholding ‘conservation justice’ for people and planet.  

The IUCN President, Her Excellency Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, left the Congress with a powerful statement: ‘Ours is not an easy task, but it is an essential one: to bridge divides – between science and policy, between climate and biodiversity, between people and the planet itself. To remind the world that nature is not only a victim of our excesses, but a powerful ally in our survival… Let us leave Abu Dhabi with the confidence that what unites us is far greater than what divides us — our shared belief in the resilience of life itself.’ We leave the Congress encouraged and equipped for the next several years of conservation.