A Rocha is an international Christian organization engaging communities in nature conservation which carries out community-based conservation projects as its response to the global crisis of biodiversity loss.

More information can be found at https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/ and https://www.arocha.org/en/

Here are a selection of sources of information on environmental issues.  The challenges ahead look like they are going to need a lot of faith and courage: we continue to work and pray for peace and justice in the world.

Church

As well as A Rocha’s Eco Church initiative, there are other faith groups taking action:

• The Diocese of Guildford has a section on the environment, with ideas about what churches, as communities, can do, as well as suggestions for individual actions. https://www.cofeguildford.org.uk/making-disciples/improving-church-buildings/the-environment
• The Church of England has a section on their website, too, laying out the Church of England’s environment programme, led by a bishop – https://www.churchofengland.org/about/environment-and-climate-change
• Operation Noah has a strapline ‘Faith-motivated. Science-informed. Hope-inspired.’ https://operationnoah.org/
• Christian Climate Action is a group which carries out acts of witness and non-violent direct action, taking inspiration from Jesus’s response to injustice – https://christianclimateaction.org/ . Recently they have worked closely with Extinction Rebellion (XR).
• The Climate Coalition is a group linking up and working with many national organisations, for example, the National Trust, The Wildlife Trusts, Triodos Bank, Oxfam, and Tearfund. It has a distinct section recognising the action of faith groups.  https://www.theclimatecoalition.org/faith-members
• And just a reminder of how to find A Rocha, an international faith/climate organisation – https://www.arocha.org/en/

Locally – Epsom and Surrey (and beyond)

• Sustainable Epsom and Ewell – our partner at the first Eco Fair at church has plenty of interesting and useful local information and a good long list of links on all sorts of eco subjects, and how we can make changes. www. Sus  tbc and Facebook @SustainableEpsomEwell.
• Knepp Estate – a former struggling arable farm south of Horsham in West Sussex, now following a plan of ‘rewilding’, which is bringing back variety and numbers of birds, insects and plants not seen for a while in the British countryside.  There are public footpaths through the site, and the estate offers ‘safaris’ and camping and glamping. The free-roaming animals provide low-intervention and lower carbon meat.  https://knepp.co.uk/home

Nationally and internationally

There are many examples of national and international organisations, of course.  Here are just a few which may be less well-known:

• World Land Trust – protecting land and consequently animals around the world, and planting trees, with Sir David Attenborough as one of their patrons –  https://www.worldlandtrust.org/
• Doughnut Economics – a new model of ‘economics for the 21^st century’ described by Kate Raworth, looking at social and planetary boundaries, and the concept of ‘enough, sufficient’, which towns and cities can use to improve life for their residents – https://www.kateraworth.com/
• Great Green Wall Africa – an initiative to build a green belt of trees across Africa to combat the growing desert – https://www.greatgreenwall.org/
• Drawdown – https://www.drawdown.org/
• Water Bear – films – https://www.waterbear.com/
• IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, drawing together science from around the world – https://www.ipcc.ch/