A Rocha Kenya has an exciting project that incorporates environmental education, community conservation, scientific research, and a business that meets a need for sustainable and local economic development - a holistic solution to real needs. Learn more about this project, and others like by clicking here.
I look forward to providing a first hand set of reflections on the work of A Rocha abroad as I visit the Uganda site during the summer of 2010.

One of the questions I receive from people within the church is, “Why is the stuff that A Rocha gets involved with of importance to us?” We have a mandate within the Christian faith to steward the natural world - it is the first commandment given in the Bible. In addition, the poor in the world are usually the first to be impacted by environmental degregation and the Biblical focus on justice is inescapable, thereby making wise stewardship of our natural resources an issue to great importance. Join us as we explore these topics at our upcoming symposium to be held at Santa Barbara Community Church. To RSVP and learn more check out this invite (.pdf)

In the coming weeks I’ll post brief summaries of A Rocha’s world wide work in order to provide examples of the A Rocha vision in action as we begin providing more tangible conservation opportunities here in Santa Barbara at our project site (aka Center).

A Rocha France is located Les Tourades in Provence. Protecting the nearby Marais des Baux is a priority. The first phase of work there involved a consultation with all the landowners and other users of this wetland, was completed in 2008. The second phase, begun in November, is focused on guiding four wetland owners as they redefine their land management for better biodiversity and economic results.
A second center, Les Courmettes in the Côte d’Azur, opened its 600 hectares (1500 acres) to the public
in spring 2009, primarily for environmental education. Within four different ecosystems over a 600m altitudinal range, visitors can focus on the realities of pollution and climate change. migration routes. However, there is intense, indiscriminate hunting. During the last three years, the team undertook
a community conservation project (in partnership with the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon)
to identify and conserve new Important Bird Areas (IBAs). As a result, eleven new IBAs were declared by BirdLife International following the assessment of over 30 national sites and over 3,000 hours of field monitoring.  A huge new national bird database was established, site management committees were formed at each new IBA and over 70 local participants were trained in bird identification and site monitoring.

-taken from A Rocha’s 2008/2009 International Review

We are hosting our first camp for childrens ages 5-11 during the second week of June at our project site in the San Marcos Foothills. Each of the three our mini camp days will have a theme including geology, botany, and water. Activites and games will bring the story of our local natural resources to life. We look forward to sharing stories and images from this event in future posts.

We are excited about the emerging A Rocha work that is happening in San Luis Obispo. SB A Rocha friend Ashlee and crew are working to bulid a set of community based projects and educational outreach event. Check out their group on Facebook “SLO A Rocha”.

I just listened to a talk given by Peter Harris at a Wheaton College chapel service in 2006 regarding the role of Christians and the environment. I recommend steaming or downloading it here.

Check out this review of the Hope For the Planet Tour - something A Rocha UK has been working on in conjunction with a few other NGOs.

Congratulations to Trinity Western University’s A Rocha student chapter on their upcoming community garden event. Check it out.

Here is a brief review by a student of Kingfisher’s Fire - a book written by A Rocha founder Peter Harris.

Happy New Year!

Check out the Living Lightly 24:1 website (http://www.livinglightly24-1.org.uk/), a simpler, greener lifestyle commitment from A Rocha UK. “There must be more to life than working, consuming, acquiring and being sucked into a value system that we know is wrong.”