So what is A Rocha anyway?

A Rocha was set up in 1982 by Peter and Miranda Harris who left behind the joys and challenges of Church ministry in Liverpool to set up a Christian Bird Observatory in Portugal. Since then it has blossomed into an international organisation which, inspired by God's love engages in scientific research, environmental education and community based conservation projects. I am working as a conservation intern at the BC centre of A Rocha Canada. The site used to be an upscale riding estate but it is now a hub for environmental education, sustainable agriculture work and conservation projects that seek to maintain and restore the biodiversity of the Little Cambpell River watershed,
change lives and inspire people to care more deeply for the natural world.

Up close and personal with part of God's beautiful and awe inspiring creation

Pretty cool huh? But what has living as a Christian got to do with conservation? I can't really do this topic justice in a brief blog, so I'll just make a few points. Firstly, as a Christian I acknowledge God as creator of the universe and the world. Whatever methods He chose to do that, whether in a single seven day stint, over billions of years through the fascinating system of evolution by natural selection, or any other combination thereof, all Christians agree that He is creator. This means that the plants and animals of the natural world are part of God's ongoing work of creation. Secondly, Genesis 1 indicates that God created man to 'rule over' creation.  As a result of these two points I feel that Christians living for God should not 'rule' in a way that involves irresponsible and destructive exploitative practices. Instead we should seek to reflect God's great and awesome love for all of the creation through a 'rule' characterised by love and thoughtful, mature and selfless responsibility. This responsible 'rule' would benefit individual plants and animal species, and aid the function of natural ecosystems. This in turn would aid humanity, who despite their best efforts depend almost entirely upon healthy ecosystems for their survival, a point that is particularly important for us to grasp if we are to help the most vulnerable, struggling and impoverished of nations and people.

I'm not trying to say only Christians should care about conservation or that we should all go live in communes, but there is a lot to be done, I'm glad God's called me to this and I hope to be able to help people understand that there's a little we can all do to become better stewards of this planet, whether that's recycling, eating free-range chicken or taking part in a study to maintain the biodiversity of the amazon rainforest. Everybody is unique and therefore everybody has unique talents, passions and callings. Variety is, as they say, the spice of life.

international Christian organization which, inspired by God’s love, engages in scientific research, environmental education and community-based conservation projects. - See more at: http://www.arocha.org/int-en/who.html#sthash.UMd1v7WJ.dpuf