Queen Elizabeth tree planting - cropped (David McKay)

Environmental education: sowing seeds for a sustainable world

In May, A Rocha staff, and Ugandan teachers and church leaders gathered at Kira Farm in Uganda for the A Rocha environmental education conference and workshops. 

The five-day conference was part of A Rocha International’s ongoing work to strengthen capacity for environmental education and build on the excellent work already being carried out by A Rocha organizations across Africa. Participants learned about the role of environmental education for reconnecting people and nature and for inspiring action for a sustainable world. They were encouraged to reimagine how they could be more effective and reach a wider audience, including sharing new methods for delivering environmental education. 

As part of the workshops, 35 teachers and six church leaders visited Kiteezi Church of Uganda Primary School near Kampala. Five years ago, Ibrahim Ssekama, one of the school’s teachers, asked A Rocha Uganda for help growing vegetables around the school grounds and incorporating environmental topics into the curricula. Since then, the school has received fruit trees through Gifts with a Difference, and they have extended the area for growing crops. Now they have huge cabbages and lots of other vegetables growing, and their whole compound is looking very green. Sack gardens demonstrate what can be done where land is scarce and plastic bottles are reused for growing seedlings. 

The teachers and church leaders went home equipped with new ideas, and enthused by a deeper understanding and with a stronger commitment to caring for creation in their work and communities.  

The conference and workshops could not have taken place without the generosity of all those who supported A Rocha International during the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2021. Thank you for enabling work like this to happen! 

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The John Stott Birding Day

John Stott was at the forefront of bringing creation care to the attention of the global Church. He cared deeply for the plight of the planet because he was hardwired with a love of nature in general and of birds in particular. He was among the first and most faithful friends A Rocha has had and so last year, in celebration of the centenary of his birth, we launched the John Stott Memorial Birding Day. Participants in 21 countries took part in a bird race, seeing an amazing combined total of 1089 species in 24 hours!  

This year, we have an audacious goal. Will you help us reach John Stott’s life total of 2000 species? We are joining ebird’s Global Big Day, using their platform for record keeping. You can take part as an individual, but we recommend you form a team of three to five.  

Take part in the bird race on 14 or 15 May or go on a John Stott-inspired retreat using our resource. Visit www.johnstottbirdingday.com for more information. 

Here are the winners from last year
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When is a woodland not a woodland? When it’s a wetland.

Did you know the Dakatcha Woodland in Kenya is also a seasonal wetland? 2022 is the first year that World Wetlands Day has been observed officially by the United Nations. Wetlands, like forests, can act as ‘carbon sinks’, attracting carbon and sequestering it so that it cannot escape into our atmosphere. Wetlands like Dakatcha are also home to incredible biodiversity.  

Sadly, wetlands are under threat. Mining and agricultural activities have destroyed nearly half of Kenya’s wetlands over the past 50 years. A report by the National Environmental Complaints Committee found that the area of wetlands had shrunk by around 40% between 1970 and 2021.   

The seasonal wetlands of Dakatcha Forest are the known breeding grounds of Clarke’s Weaver, an endangered bird found only in Kilifi County. They are particularly at risk because they appear dry for much of the year, which means the forest is converted into agricultural land. 

One of the problems A Rocha Kenya is facing is selective logging for charcoal production and pineapple farming. With easy access to chainsaws and motorbikes to transport charcoal, forest clearing has intensified in recent months, and the indigenous forest is being burnt down at an alarming rate. In turn, the price of land is also increasing as local landowners then sell their land to speculative buyers and companies interested in pineapple farming in the rich red magarini soil. 

A Rocha Kenya continues to work to secure this land before it is lost. Scouts govern the forest to make sure the area is well protected and to resolve any conflicts that may arise. The science team also go for a one-week camping trip in Dakatcha each month to record the biodiversity and set the foundation for future research and conservation decisions.

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Wild and Wonderful

Wild and Wonderful is a website with free Eco resources for schools, churches and families. The school resources were initially created for A Rocha Netherlands by long time A Rocha friend Petra Crofton.  

The Explore Creation pack for churches links Bible, ecology and creation care and consists of six sessions about life in different places such as the dark, the sky, and the water. Each session offers outdoor and indoor activities.  

There is an Explore Creation workshop for schools too, with ‘Life’ stations and mini-activities. The resources have been tried and tested for nearly ten years and are meant to inspire and encourage children as well as parents and leaders/teachers. As the school materials were initially created for A Rocha Netherlands, they link in with national primary school curriculums and follow the wild adventures of four 11-year olds (Science Geek Christy and her Eco-Logbook – A Rocha International)  

On the website, you’ll also find Extra Resources with crafts, trails, quizzes, recipes and a book club manual. The project supports A Rocha and Climate Stewards, and was funded by Scientists in Congregations with the aim of offering free materials to churches, schools and families using story and adventure as starting points. 

www.wildandwonderful.uk  

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Standing up for nature

Our latest issue of Field Notes explores ways we can stand up for nature. One way is to engage with the next Convention on Biodiversity (CBD COP15). If you have no idea what that is all about, never fear: read our beginners’ introduction and all will become clear! There are also lots of stories of A Rocha’s conservation work around the world to inspire you. 


Heather and Bob Sluka nurdle hunting

Life as an A Rocha volunteer

Heather, you recently spent three months volunteering with A Rocha Portugal at their centre, Cruzinha. Can you tell us about what you got up to?

I did a mix of jobs around the centre and in the garden, but one of my main long-term projects was helping another research intern who was studying the flow of plastics in the nearby Alvor estuary.

What did you enjoy most about your time there?

The people! Everyone was so welcoming and I learned a lot from each person I met. I learned about birds from watching the ringers and about moths from Paula. And I learned about Portuguese food and traditions from the local team. We had fun all together and I made friends I never would have met if I had not gone. That is the coolest!

Sounds like you had a great time! Do you have any advice for those considering volunteering with A Rocha?

For me, the best part about volunteering with A Rocha is the community that you become a part of and getting to know all the people you are there with. One thing I did while at Cruzinha was to ask the most weird and far-fetched questions I could think of during our mealtimes. It was a way to start conversations you might not otherwise think of, and the absurdity of some of my questions gave everyone a good laugh!

 

Mekse-ploughing

From Lebanon with love

Joy Mallouh has been chair of A Rocha Lebanon since 2010 and is now stepping down in to make way for new leadership. We asked him to tell us about some of the highs and lows of his time on the board and his hopes for A Rocha Lebanon’s future. 

In 1996 when Chris Naylor began the process of founding A Rocha Lebanon he asked if I would join. I caught the dream and since then I have dedicated my time and effort working on the by-laws, joining the founding board and working alongside Chris in bringing the dream to fulfillment. Ever since I had spent time living in Germany I had been interested in creation care and wanted to do something for the Lord in my own country. A Rocha was the answer. 

The best times I experienced on the board were with Chris. He taught me a lot from his experience, knowledge and enthusiasm and we witnessed the restoration of the Ammiq marsh and the building of the eco-restaurant. Best of all was working with Christians of different traditions, with Jesus at the centre of our faith. I thank the Lord for the trust that was put in me and his support when A Rocha Lebanon was going through difficult experiences. I have attended several A Rocha forums [a gathering of A Rocha leaders from around the world every three years] and experienced the best fellowship. A Rocha is a family of faith – very humble Christians leading transparent and sincere lives in relationship with the Lord Jesus.  

My hope is that A Rocha Lebanon would influence churches and individuals to stay firm in faith and that God would show his glory through our work in nature, teaching a new generation to love God and his creation in practical ways. I hope more people will join A Rocha Lebanon to support the work and help with our scientific research.  

It was quite a difficult decision to distance myself from my A Rocha Lebanon responsibilities but I will stay dedicated to its cause and vision and give as much support as I can. I suffered a stroke on 17 March 2021. Please pray I will be healed and able to walk again in nature, loving God in the silence and beauty of this planet he has given us as a home. Thank you and may the Lord bless you all. 

Plastic-free Feb beach clean up - ARP

Tackling the ‘Age of Plastic’

Plastic – that useful, resistant and inexpensive material that also ends up in the sea, in our food and in our guts – is hard to avoid. When we read predictions that there will be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050, we are galvanized to act![2] A Rocha teams took up the challenge of ‘Plastic-Free February’ and tackled reducing single-use plastic in their homes, workplaces and churches.

The French team at Les Courmettes committed to reducing the plastic they use as a community and started by making yoghurt to avoid the individual plastic pots that are the norm. The Dutch team shared ideas and encouragements with participants across the country via weekly emails and an online platform. In Portugal, the team is on their second year of the challenge, having reduced their centre’s plastic waste by almost half in their first February. This year they are building on that success plus sharing tips and getting people out on a beach clean to get plastic physically off the coast.  

Queen, A Rocha Kenya’s Marine Environmental Educator, made it personal. After reading about a Cattle Egret that died from getting tangled in plastic hair, Queen switched from her trademark coloured plastic braids to natural hair. She says she needed to set a good example for the students and community members with whom she discusses the challenges of plastic dependence!

Join with us in reducing our dependence on plastic, whatever the month.  

[1] https://news.un.org/en/story/2017/04/556132-feature-uns-mission-keep-plastics-out-oceans-and-marine-life

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Meet A Rocha International’s new Deputy Executive Director

A Rocha International is happy to announce the appointment of Rev Dr Ben Lowe as Deputy Executive Director. Ben moved from Singapore to the USA as a teenager and is currently based in Florida. He has been part of the A Rocha family for many years, most recently working as a Senior Advisor to the Executive Director. We asked him a few things we thought you’d like to know.

1. Deputy Executive Director – what does one of those do?
Ha, how much space do you have for this answer?! Basically, I’ll be working closely with our Executive Director Simon Stuart, our trustees, and the rest of the management team to help lead ARI and support the good work that our teams are doing. This includes managing, fundraising, strategic planning, lots of praying, and much more! I’m also eager to continue immersing myself in A Rocha projects around the world and getting to know folks I haven’t had the opportunity to meet and work with yet.

2. Tell us some of the life experiences that have equipped you for this role?
Growing up and working in various cultural, geographic, and community contexts makes me incredibly excited about learning from and championing the great diversity of people and work across the A Rocha worldwide family. I’ve also long been personally and vocationally focused on bridging faith with conservation and science, whether as an ordained minister in the Christian and Missionary Alliance, or in my doctoral research on the human and religious dimensions of environmental change and conservation.

3. What is your favourite thing to do when you aren’t working?
Spending time with friends, whether out on the water, around a campfire, or over good food! I also love all things fish; my feelings about fish are similar to how Simon Stuart feels about amphibians and many across A Rocha feel about birds.

Please join us in praying for Ben and welcoming him to his significant leadership position which he will take up in early February. 

Courmettes-1

France – Les Courmettes

France – Les Courmette

Courmettes 1Le Domaine des Courmettes is A Rocha France’s second site, an hour’s drive up into the hills northwest of Nice. It offers 600 ha of preserved wildlife in a variety of natural habitats and a breathtaking view of the French Riviera. The Domain is open to the public, with several hiking trails.

This is a pioneering experience, with a small on-site team and volunteering needs in many areas: building, painting, roofing, insulating, administrating, welcoming visitors and hikers, nature surveying, path-making, marketing, hosting commercial events, and so on. Les Courmettes holds huge potential for touching hearts and lives and helping visitors connect with the losses generated by climate change and the joys of living healthily. Come and be a part of it as an individual or even better, as a group!

A Rocha also hopes to develop various environmental education tools in the near future, as well as eco-tourism in the years to come.

Volunteers at Les Courmettes are welcomed for stays of at least two weeks. Living conditions are a little rougher than at Les Tourades, especially during the winter months, and city dwellers might feel somewhat isolated over longer stays. Count on about 130 euros for a week’s full board (subject to change).

Those who participate in outdoors work need to be physically fit and able to hike around the Domain. Ability in French, while not essential, is an asset. Because the community at Les Courmettes is an international one, we do not offer a French-language immersion experience

Long-term volunteer positions at Les Courmettes include:

  • logistics assistant for events management and welcoming visitors (with organisational and people skills)
  • building maintenance coordinator (with a variety of construction and home improvement skills)
  • land management assistant (with skills in environmental management)
  • renewable energy project manager (for implementation on site and to offer feasibility studies for churches and parachurch structures)
  • environmental education assistant (with skills in education, small group leadership, graphic design and drawing)
  • gardening and house help (with agriculture and organisational skills).

These team members may live on or off-site; they would join the team for six to 12 months or more. They must be financially self-supporting, and A Rocha France is available to help volunteers raise support from their local communities.

To apply, please fill out our volunteer application form.